MARCH 14, 1795

BLACK CARIB GARIFUNA CHIEF SATUYE (JOSEPH CHATOYER) KILLED IN ST. VINCENT

Chatoyer was a Carib chief who led two wars against the British colonial rule in Saint Vincent. In 1772, the First Carib War forced Britain to sign a treaty in 1773–first time Britain signed an accord with non-white people in the Caribbean.  By 1795, the population believed that Britain did not intend to keep the treaty.  This led to the Second Carib War.  Chatoyer divided the island with his brother Duvalle. Chatoyer, joined by French radicals, marched to Dorsetshire Hill for an attack on Kingstown.  On March 14, the British attacked Dorsetshire Hill where Chatoyer was killed.  The rebellion continued until October 1796 under Duvalle, but Chatoyer’s death and desertion of the French turned the tide of the war.  The remaining rebels were deported to Honduras where they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America eventually becoming the Garifuna people. A national hero of Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Belize, and Costa Rica, Chatoyer is honored with a monument on Dorsetshire Hill.

Sources:  Carletta Denise, “March 14, 1975:  Chief Joseph Chatoyer Is Killed,” Black Then: Discovering Our History, 3/16/2017.  Retrieved 6/24/2019, https://blackthen.com/%E2%80%8Bmarch-14-1795-chief-joseph-chatoyer-is-killed/.  “Garifuna: Africans in St. Vincent, Caribbean and Honduras, South America,” Black History Heroes.  Retrieved 6/24/2019, http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2014/02/the-garifuna-pueblos-africans-in-st.html
Engraving: Antonio Brunias (1730-1796) and Charles Grignion the Younger (1754-1804), 3/18/1796.   Public Domain in U.S.:  Pre 1/1/1925.  Public Domain elsewhere where copyright term is author’s life plus 100 years or less.