Great Corn Island and Little Corn Island, the day is here once again, when we remember and celebrate the freedom of our ancestors.
The history of our islands is built upon the strength and resilience of those who have roamed these soils for centuries, like the Kukra people, the first to walk the shores of these lands and harvest its grounds up until the mid-1600s. These people were later scattered, caught, and enslaved by the first set of Europeans who visited, some perishing while others merged with the enslaved Africans that were brought over later on from the other side of the Atlantic.
With the arrival of the first British settlers between the late 1600s and early 1700s, Quinn Hill and the southwest area of Great Corn Island became the home of the first foreign families that inhabited the islands, as it was a strategic point, not only for the height of the hill that allowed arriving or passing vessels to be spotted easily, but the shores of Southwest Bay also served as a natural port, where many would anchor when coming from nearby or foreign lands.
These families migrated to the islands to exploit its grounds, and for that reason, they brought over enslaved people from Africa, who would work tirelessly and in inhumane conditions, either at households or on the plantation grounds, where cotton and sugar cane were harvested and later exported to the Greater Caribbean and England. Many of the enslaved people rebelled and tried to escape the life that was forced upon them; some were killed, others were sent away, and the majority were forced to continue working under rain and sun with chains tied to their feet.
However, fate gave a twist and the destiny of these people changed one day. It was on 27 August 1841, that the news of freedom reached our land. Colonel Alexander McDonald, Superintendent of the English Crown in British Honduras, arrived early in the morning on a war vessel at Southwest Bay. He summoned all enslaved people and asked them to call those who were considered their owners at that time, and he proclaimed the Emancipation Act, which, among other things, according to the original document, said:
“…be it enacted, that all enslaved persons on the Corn Islands shall, from this day forward, be free and forever released from slavery.”
McDonald said these words and proclaimed it in the name of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Robert Charles Frederick, King of the Mosquito Coast.
This moment represented a key point in our islands’ history, as there would be no more suffering and chains, for slavery was no more. For that reason, the newly freed women and men decided to celebrate that day with supper; they went to the swamps to catch land crabs and to the fields where they had worked for many years to gather breadkinds and herbs to prepare a crab soup. That night, they ate, sang, and danced to the sound of traditional rhythms, celebrating their freedom.
But the tradition of celebrating emancipation began years later, when Reverend Edward Kelly, from Belize, founded the Ebenezer Baptist Church and School in 1852. Kelly, the son of former enslaved people, reminded the locals of the importance of remembering their parents’ and grandparents’ freedom, and together with the residents, introduced the Emancipation Day celebration in North End, at Bernard Bank, under a big fig tree.
The celebration at first was a Thanksgiving service, where poems, songs, traditional food, and games took place with young and old joining in. But over the decades, especially after 1980, it expanded and became a local holiday as we know it today, with the government promoting and assuming its organisation along with the neighbourhoods.
As we review our historical passages, it is important to acknowledge these two questions: what does celebrating this day truly signify for us as islanders, and primarily for the Creole people? And what does emancipation mean?
This day is more than floats or “carrozas”, as we call them, it is more than the carnival, or even more than the election that takes place. Celebrating this day, our Emancipation Day, is a remembrance of the struggles of our ancestors; we remember those who perished fighting for their freedom and we celebrate the legacy that has been handed down to us by our grandparents. We celebrate the rich culture that we have, evident not only through our features, but also through our food, language, and beliefs.
On this day, we do not celebrate crabs, as delicious as the soup may be; we celebrate our identity, we celebrate who we are. And for that reason, we must all remember that our responsibility is to conserve our culture not only on special occasions, but to let our culture be part of our daily life, and share it with others – with our family, neighbours, and friends – so we can all embrace and enjoy our roots for them to live on.
Emancipation means being proud of who we are and where we come from. It is not celebrating chains, but celebrating authenticity. It is to embrace who we are, the things that make us different, that make us unique, and proud, while still being part of a greater nation like ours. That and much more is emancipation, and we must keep it, we must celebrate it, we must conserve it, we must never let it die, no matter how near or far we are from home.
As we reconnect with our history and shared heritage, let us also remember those who dedicated their lives to conserving it – our grandparents, our great-grandparents, or remarkable people who sadly are no longer with us, like Mrs Lestel Downs and others, or those who still live today and whose ancestral knowledge we should embrace.
So, my brothers and sisters, islanders, let us not forget who we are, and why we celebrate this day. Let us continue being proud of who we are and continue living day by day our identity.
Happy Emancipation Day to all!
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