Punta

Punta is an Afro-indigenous dance and cultural music of the Belizean, Guatemalan, Honduran and Nicaraguan Garífuna people, originating from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (also known as Yurumei). It has African and Arawak elements which are also the characteristics of the Garífuna language. It is also known as banguity or bunda. The diaspora of Garífuna people, commonly called the "Garifuna Nation", traces its ancestry back to those West Africans who escaped slavery and the Indigenous Arawak and Kalinago peoples. Punta is used to reaffirm and express the struggle felt by the indigenous population's common heritage through cultural artforms such as dance and music; to highlight their strong sense of endurance; and reconnect to their ancestors. Besides Honduras, punta also has a following in Belize, Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United States. Lyrics may be in Garifuna, Kriol, English or Spanish. Most songs are performed in the indigenous Arawakan languages of the Garinagu and are often simply contemporary adaptations of traditional Garífuna songs. Being the most popular dance in Garífuna culture, Punta is danced specifically at Garífuna funerals, on beaches, and in parks. Punta is iconic of Garífuna ethnicity and modernity and can be seen as poetic folk art that connects older cultures and rhythms with new sounds. Chumba and hunguhungu, circular dances in triple rhythm, are often combined with punta.