I am an author of Garifuna descent from Belize, Central America. The Garifuna people arrived from West Africa to the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Yurumein ) around 1635 and were exiled by the British in 1796 to the Carribean coast of Roatan, Honduras. After the Garifuna people settled in Honduras, many decided to migrate and built communities in Belize, Guatemala, and Bluefield Nicaragua along the Caribbean Sea in coastal towns and villages. My father's people came to Belize on November 19, 1802. We were not an enslaved group. Garifunas are tri-lingual and speak English, Spanish, and the Carib language, which is an Arawakan language. On May 18th, 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the Garifuna language, dance, and music in Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua to be a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."