Karifuna (C)

The Carib word for the Carib women. Father Breton says: "The women are called Calliponam". Some linguists say that this is the name of the women "in the women's language". There is also confusion over the pronunciation of the letters "L" and "P" in the Carib language. In many cases these letters were actually pronounced as "R" and "F" respectively, so Breton's Calliponam may actually have been Carifunam, which became Karifuna. The Black Caribs of St. Vincent who were expelled by the British in 1797 to Rautan Island off Belize, and who now live in southern Belize, call themselves the "Garifuna". The main Carib cultural group in Dominica, established in 1978, call themselves The Karifuna Cultural Group.

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