Thread by @guyfroy

1/12 I aim over this month to highlight of Afro heritage who are hero’s to me. Some be well known internally, other not so much. This list is about me sharing daily a black historical ( living or deceased) figure who has contributed to me being me, & I wish to celebrate that.

2/12 I’m Vincentian🇻🇨 by birth and wish wish to highlight is Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer, also known as Satuye a Garifuna (Black Carib) chief as my first #BHM. It’s a lengthy tweet. I make no apologies.

3/12. The Garifuna are the indigenous Caribbeans who inhabited the island including St Vincent & Grenadines before the British laid claims to the island in 1672. By the time of Chatoyer’s rule, the people had mixed with the enslaved Africans* mostly from West & Central Africa.

4/12. During the early years of slavery on the island of St Vincent, the British pushed to take control of the Garifuna people and their lands which would then give them control over the whole island eventually.

5/12. By the 1700s, several Garifuna had been captured into slavery to join the enslaved Africans or were expelled from their lands. This understandably had a major impact on relations with the British.

6/12. The first Carib War started in 1769 with disputes after rising tensions between the indigenous people & the British who were trying to take over the Garifuna, eventually with full control over the island, in 1772 Chatoyer led his people in a battle with the British forces.

7/12. The battle led to the signing of a peace treaty in 1773 that would make sure that the Britsih leave the Garifuna people alone and the two parties could live in harmony but that was not the end of Britain’s attempt.

8/12. The British overlooked the treaty in several ways by 1795. Angered by their inability to keep to their end of the deal, Chatoyer encouraged his people to fight the British in another battle.

9/12. The Second Carib War began on March 14, 1795. On thefirst day of the Second Carib War, Chatoyer lost his life after he was killed by Major Alexander Leith who worked under the British forces led by General Ralph Abercromby at Dorsetshire Hill.

10/12. Despite his death, the 2nd Carib War continued until 1797 . Chatoyer’s death attracted the French who had themselves lost the island to the English and made them support the indigenous people in the war .

11/12. His death angered his people leading them to fight more fiercely and manage to take over a great part of the island until 1797 when General Ralph Abercromby & his men defeated the a sizeable portion of the Garifuna were exiled to Roatán close to present-day Honduras.

12/12. For his bravery and leadership, Chief Joseph Chatoyer is not only celebrated in St Vincent and Grenadines but also in several countries such as Costa Rica, Haiti and Belize. Chatoyer is St. Vincent & the Grenadines only National Hero**.

* Other their irises suggests that the Africans arrived in the region and mused with the Caribs prior to the arrival of the British.
** National Hero’s Day is celebrated in St Vincent & the Grenadines on 14th of March, the anniversary of the death of Chatoyer.

*Other theories