(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . FANA and the Garifuna Nation of Belize, sign Cooperative Agreement Rebuilding Trade Routes. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-16 For expedience’s sake the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas -FANA SandHill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) - SandHill Over the years I would hear different tales speaking about what had once been trading and interactions between the Indigenous populations of the Americas, Polynesian Islands, and Hawaii. The route continued going from Hawaii to the mainland of what would be known today as San Diego or San Francisco to the East, and interacting with the Japanese to the West. Long before the Europeans arrived and destroyed the Indigenous Kingdoms and Nations, trade routes were established with the Vikings, long before Columbus got lost on his epic journey to India. As my journey continued in learning more about the Indigenous Inhabitants of the USA (pre the European incursion), I learned that there had been trade routes going from what would now be the East Coast to the West Coast. This route traveled through multiple Indigenous territories. Routes had once been established between the Americas, where goods were traded from South America, through Mexico through the southern Tribal Nations boarding with Mexico, through to the Western Tribes and East Coast Tribes onward to the Caribbean. From African trade routes to the Caribbean and to the shores of the Americas. There were diffident ancient trade routes long lost in history. However, it is these very routes that FANA and its Allies are reestablishing as FANA communicates with Indigenous Tribal Nations around the world. From the East Coast to Hawaii through to the Polynesian Islands, from South America through Canada to Newfoundland. From the East Coast of the USA through the Caribbean to Africa. As it was with all the indigenous Nations the Europeans interacted with, both the FANA member Tribes and the Garifuna have suffered the loss of their ancient trade routes, ancestral homes, faced enslavement, were denied the right to practice their culture and religion, and experienced the genocide of many of their people. Both were being forced to assimilate into the European Culture. I want to take this moment to give a brief history of the Garifuna of Belize, before speaking about the Cooperation Agreement between FANA and the Garifuna. I am quoting, “The Garifuna people are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian Creole. The Garifuna are the descendants of indigenous Arawak, Kalinago, and Afro-Caribbean people.” If you would like to learn more, please click the link at the bottom of this article which connects you to a website that tells the history of the Garifuna people. Most, if not all of you are aware of FANA from the other articles I have written, If you are first learning about FANA, please refer to my other articles. The different treaties and contracts that FANA has accomplished in 2022 - 2023 are astounding. The years of communicating, building trust, and dealing with the delays due to COVID and its strains were worth the virtual meetings’ long hours, and lack of sleep due to time differences. One such result is the Cooperation Agreement between FANA and the Garifuna. On August 18, 2023, FANA and the Ambassador At Large for the Garifuna Nation of Belize, signed a Cooperative Agreement as a result of months of communicating. The signing took place during the First Annual Meshanicut Cultural Placemaking Confestival Weekend held on the weekend of August 17th, 2023 in Providence Rhode Island, where a series of historical moments occurred for the member Tribes of FANA and its Allies. I was at the signing of the Agreement over that weekend. It was a sight to behold as history was being made for the first contact FANA member Tribes and for the people of the Garifuna. I would like to give some background to the readers regarding how this Agreement came to be. FANA’s Minister of International Affairs and UN Ambassador Principal Chief Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway was instrumental in establishing a relationship with the Garifuna Ambassador - At - Large Cynthia Ellis. That relationship was paramount in forging a friendship that resulted in the creation and subsequent signing of the Agreement. The Cooperation Agreement addresses the support each entity will give to the other in the interests and goals of each party. The Agreement is concise as to mutually respecting each other’s sovereignty, culture, customs, trade, and laws. Each party will promote the interests and goals of FANA and the Garifuna. Each party will work diligently to find and return ancient/old artifacts that were stolen from them. Members of both FANA and the Garifuna will attend one another’s Tribal meetings when it is necessary to do so. They will begin again to reestablish the trade routes running from South America to North America by trading goods and establishing an understanding of the different histories affecting the Indigenous living in the Americas and Mexico. Before ending this article, I would like to mention two things. I would like to acknowledge the SandHill who attended the weekend and the titles they have either with FANA and/or with the SandHill Tribe. The first to be mentioned is SandHill Principal Chief Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway who is FANA’s Minister of International Affairs and Ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Carrie Jones is a SandHill Tribal Member and is the first SandHill woman to ever be appointed to sit on the SandHill Tribal Council. Ms. Maria Lorena Cosme who is a SandHill Tribal Member and FANA’s Director of Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Outreach to the Nations. Norris Branham who is a SandHill Tribal Member who also sits on the SandHill Tribal Council and is FANA’s Director of Visual Media and Digital Content, and myself, SandHill Press Director and Government Liaison as well as FANA’s international Press Director. I would also like to mention that Mr. Guadalupe Casas Acosta, Mazatzin D. H. C, who is FANA’s Ambassador and Cultural Attaché for Outreach and Repatriations of Antiquities and Artifacts, will be assisting in the endeavor of locating and returning stolen artifacts and antiquities. As mentioned in previous articles, his embassy will be opening just outside of Mexico City. Please take the time to learn a little bit about the Garifuna of Belize. The first link is a brief section on the history of the Garifuna People. https://belize.com/history-of-the-garifuna-people Please click the link below to view the signing of the Agreement. If you cannot open the link, please copy and paste. https://youtu.be/Wsanwsc_9a8?si=iPmliz-HFLyymIJ_ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/16/2199742/-FANA-and-the-Garifuna-Nation-of-Belize-sign-Cooperative-Agreement-Rebuilding-Trade-Routes?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/