Idea Transcript
TERRA INCOGNITA
An analysis of a geographical anachronism and an historical accident
Aspects of the cultural geography of British Honduras C.A,
by
John Cater Everitt B.A.,
Leicester University, 1967
A THESIS SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILLPENT OF
THE REQUIiWXENTS FOX THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF =TS
i n the Department
of Geography
@
JOHN CAT=
EVERITT 1969
SIWOX FRATEX9 WIVERSITY September, 1969
APPROVAL I
Name:
John Cater Everitt
Degree:
Master of Arts
Title of Thesis:
Terra Incognita.
An analysis sf a
geographical anachronism and an historical accident; or Aspects of the cultural geography of British Honduras C.A.
Examining Committee:
C
P.L. Wagner Senior Supervisor
E.M. Gibson Examining Coniittee
R.C. Brown Exampning C o m ittee
M.C. Kellman Exam3~1ingCommittee
7
J.E. BairdExternal Examiner Instmcter, History Department Simon Fraser University, R.C. .
The research contained in this thesis was based upon the whole of the Colony, and was conducted in all of its
constituent districts, but does not puport to be a s m e y
of every part of every district.
As will becane apparent
through the course of this work, Eritish Honduras has no well integrated transportation system, and although the research was conclucted during the dry season, there were a nunber of locations which were still cut off fron normal access.
To quote the Roaan Catholic priest at San Antonio
oledo do),
"Some years you can reach them and some years
you can't." The published bibliographic material on the Colony is incomplete because figures have never been collected except for the most basic demands of the census.
Even
this material is at times of doubtful validity, as it often asks questions which the people do not understand or ccnnot answer or are too suspicious to atlswer.
This
is especially true with reference to contemporary figures on racial groups, national incow and general soeHal and econoqic characCeristics of the Col-ony. Another reason for the inconpleteness of the naterial is that on a nrrnber of occasions the factual material ~ h i c hhas been collected
has been subsequently destroyed by n a n or m t r r e ( s e e p. 13).
Much of the rnateria1,whichis used in this work has been published elsewlzere, but the bulk of it is the result of the author's travels in British Bonduras.
Many of the
opinions expressed are solely those of the author, but
where a deeper significance, over a loager period of time, is inferred, the material was often collected from inter-
views with various Hondurans.
FZost important in these
(r
discussions were government officials, especially the District Officers; the Social Development Officers; Leo Bradley, the Chief Librarian and one of the most knowledgeable men on local lore, in the Colony; and Iiudy Castillo the Infomation Officer.
But discussions with
the non-official people of the country also proved of immense value and often filled saps left by the official sources.
Before such information was used attenpts were
made to cross-check the material with other nenbers of the populace in order to give it a nore conplete factual basis.
This approach, similar to the participant observer
technique bras considered to be the nost valuable with.in a country where the people are of different cultural backgrounds, where there is no tradition of formal investigatory techniques, and where statistical data are incomplete or non-existent.
The methodolozy is sirnilar to that adopted by GibSs (1883) and iiombs (1883) and makes the best use of limited infonaation sources, within a country whose variegated iv
colorrr and character w i l 1 , n e v e r be co~pletelyreduced t o t a b l e s and graphs.
1
ABSTRACT
This study is an introductory survey of some aspects
of the cultural geography of British Honduras
C,A.
The
problem which was investigated was twofold; firstly, how this enclave of the British Empire grew up to be Britain's b
only colony in Central America, despite the numerous and powe&ul
pressures in existence to prevent such an occur-
rence.
Secondly, to what extent the many cultural groups
who go to make up the population of British Honduras have
established distinctive cultural landscapes within the country, and how well integrated these separate cultural landscapes are into an overall British Honduran landscape.
I consulted relevant bibliographic material, in order to discover the historical conditions that have enabled the Colony to be founded, to survive, and to grow in size, population and importance, It was hypothesized that for British Honduras to survive, as a cultural anachronism within the context of Central America, there must have been a more poxerful force at work than simply historical accident. Thus, secondly, a field examinatton of the country was conducted in order to reveal the personality, or personalities
of British Honduras.
Each district and the capital city
were investigated in order to find evidence for the hypothesis.
T2ie backgrounds of the cultural groups were i n v c s t i -
gated wherever possible, gnd examination made of their group identities, and of the identity of the groups with the country as a whole.
A selection of ethnographic studies of
the surrounding culture areas of the Caribbean, the Western Caribbean, and of hispanic Central America, were investigated to see how far the Colony is part of any one of these
.
areas. *
.It was concluded that there is indeed a strong nationalistic feeling within the Colony which, despite its changing nature over time, might have been a contributory factor in the survival and growth of the country.
Al-
though there is some evidence that there is a 'British Honduran' feeling within the Colony, there is also considerable evidence that the numerous cultural groups still strongly identify with themselves and with the landscapes with which they have contemporary and historical association.
Since Hurricane Hattie in 1961, however, there is
some evidence that these cultural groups are being broken up and spread out in a greater mixture throughout the Colony. This is partly the effect of the dislocation caused by the
hurricane but also partly an effect of the present economic situation within British Honduras.
It might also be a
reflection of the changing values and attitudes of the members of the groups, as the country comes Ln greater contact with the industrial societies of the world. vii
TABLE OF CO?ITENTS
PAGE
.................. . CULTUAAL GKO'UPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
FROPI HOPDUnAS TO BXITISH HOiqDUXAS
6
INTRODUCTION
.......
.......... Independence o r independence? . . . . . . . RESEk?CHSOVXCZS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTEA TVO: THE BACKG2OU;i'D O F B R I T I S H HONDUXAS . . O X I G I N S AND EA3LY SZTTTLSIEIU' . . . . . . . . . . T H E P O S I T I O N OF THE COLONY
The Europeans move i n
...........
....... living.
7 10 12
17 17 21
The B r i t i s h assert themselves
27
The problems of making a
31
THE IBFLUZNCE OF THZ PHYSICAL BACKr3-OUND
--
.
1
The boundaries of t h e Colony
........ ..... SWNQ . . . .
CH-APTEX THXEE: THE CAPITALS OF THE COUNTXY
BELIZZ CITY
.=
CAPITAL C I T Y IN A
...
34 46
52 52
. . . . . . . . . 62 T h e Local Areas of t h e c i r y . . . . . . . . . 74 People and P l a c e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 TUE KXW CAPITAL . .C A P I T A L C I T Y 18 TYE ZUqH . . 111 The cornposition of t h e c i t y
PAGE
......... THE LOCATION OF THE DISTXICT . . . . . . . . . TEE ISLAND VILLAGES OF THE COLONY . . . . . . .
136
TIE MAISLAXDSETTLET4EIL'TS
143
OF BRITISH HONDUXAS
. . . . . . . . CULTUML PATTEZNS AMD AXTIFACTS . . . . . . . .
.................. C u l t u r a l Groups . . . . . . . . . . . Settlezent Fatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . P l a c e Name Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . .
125 128
145
Y
Housing
CHAPTER F I V E :
....... ...............
THE NOZTHZRN DISTXCTS
COROZAL DISTLILCT
..*....... Thepeopleofthearea . . . . . . . . . . . Housing i n t h e n o r t h . . . . . . . . . . . . Landscapes i n Corozal . . . . . . . . . . . A r e v o l u r i o n i n t h e landscape . . . . . . . P l a c e name e v i d e n c e of c u l t ~ r a li n f l u e n c e s . The Location of Corozal
OXhEt7G3 bW.4LK DISTXICT
.............
......... The A d n i n i s t r a t i v e c e n t r e . . . . . . . . . . . Landscapes i n Orange Valk D i s t r i c t . Housing c o n d i t i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . C u l t u r a l groupinss . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Nennonites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S i t u a t i o n of t h e d i s t r i c t
145 148
153 155 166
166 166
172 182
183 189
191 193 193 193
196 203
204 205
PAGE
. SITUATIOil tJITKIiL' THZ COLOilY . . . . . . . . . WESTEAN DISTIY'LCT LAE:DSCLPES . . .
CKWTEA S I X :
CAY0 DISTaICT
..T I E
WESTEIN DISTXICT
........... The B e l i z e R i v e r V a l l e y . . . . . . . . . . The upland a r e a s o f Cayo D i s t r i c t .
Roadside O b s e r v a t i o n s
............. STAPIN C3EEK DISTALCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . L o c a t i o n of S t a n n Creek . . . . . . . . . . P a t t e r n s of economic a c t i v i t y . . . . . . .
CHAPTEA SEVEN:
THE SOUTH
224 224 226 226
232 247
258 258 258
260
..............
267
S e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n s of n o r t h e r n S t a n n Creek
269
C u l t u r a l Croups
....... TOLEDO DLSTAICT . .THE DEZP ...... The s i t u a t i o n of t h e a r e a . . . . . . . . . Settlement Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . C u l t u r a l Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S o u t h e r n housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . P l a c e nanes i n t h e Deep SouZh . . . . . . . S o u t h e r n S t a n n Creek D i s t r i c t
SOUTH
281 293
293 295 300 320
325
PASS
. ................... Census Populations 1810-1969 . . . . . . .
APPENDICES :
345
I
346
Populations of Towns and Districts in
............. Density of Topulation . . . . . . . . . . . British Honduras
I11
IV
VI VII
348
Number and Proportion of Persons of
................. Urban and Rural Proportions of Zach Race . . Distribution of House-type indicators . . . Deaths due to Hurricane Hattie . . . . . . . Each Race
V
347
349 350 351
352
PAGE
............... B r i t i s h Honduras: Ancient Kaya S i t e s . . . . i 3 r i t i s h Xonduras: Farming Population . . . . BelizeCity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Location of t h e new c a p i t a l s i t e . . . . . . Belize D i s t r i c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corozal District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orange Walk D i s t r i c t . . . . . . . . . . . . Cayo D i s t r i c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stann Creek D i s t r i c t . . . . . . . . . . . . Toledo D i s t r i c t ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B r i t i s h Honduras
2 18
35 53
112 129
167 194
225 259 294
PLATES
A s t r e e t scene i n B e l i z e a f t e r E u r r i c a n e H a t t i e . The wooden b u i l d i n g s a r e b a d l y dacnaged and t h e s t r e e t i s blocked b u t t h e b r i c k - b u i l t b u i l d i n g on p. 37 t h e r i g h t i s v i r t u a l l y undama~ed...........
-
Reproduced by permission o f E.Z.
Cain.
C
A f t e r H a t t i e many of t h e s t r e e t s under w a t e r , and p a s s a b l e , i f a t p e d e s t r i a n s . Many of t h e houses i n s i m i l a r s t y l e s and o f t e n w i t h ials..
were blocked and a l l , only t o were r e b u i l t t h e same mater.p. 39
Reproduced by permission of E.E.
Cain.
.............. . . .
One of t h e o l d e s t b u i l d i n g s i n B e l i z e City. Note t h e b r i c k baseaent and t h e r e n a i n s of t h e a t t i c p. 41 window i n t h e ' r o o f ' .
...........
Reproduced by permission of E.E.
Cain.
Once one of t h e open spaces i n t h e c i t y b u t r e duced t o a junk-yard by Hurricane H a t t i e . T h i s i s one of t h e o l d e r a r e a s of 3 e l i z e C i t y a s i s evidenced by t h e s t y l e of house i n t h e l e f t background ( s e e t e x t ) . p. 43
.............
Reproduced by permission of E.E.
Cain.
An a e r i a l view of B e l i z e C i t y , looking n o r t h west. Note, t h e promontory t h a t i s t h e F o r t George a r e a ; t h e s h a r p d i v i s i o n between c i t y and swamp i n m i d d l e - l e f t of t h e p i c t u r e ; and t h e lowl y i n g Xiders Cays t o t h e m i d d l e - r i g h t . . Through t h e c e n t r e of t h e c i t y runs Haulover Creek. p. 56
.
The edge of a c a n a l a f t e r t h e 1961 h u r r i c a n e . Many of t h e l e s s s u b s t a n t i a l l y b u i l t houses were t o t a l l y demolished. Xote t h e bed by t h e s i d e of p. 58 t h e water.
................
~ e ~ r o d u c eby d permission of E. E. Cain.
(vii)
The Collet Canal, ,one of the open sewers of the city, built as a drainage channel in an area which is only about two feet above mean sea level. To the left is part of the Queenls Square area and to the right is Plesopotamia. The 'construction1 on the edge of the right bank is a public lavatory, P.60
.
(viii)
Crumbling remains of one of the earliest basements ever built in the settlement of Belize. The bricks were transported from Britain as ballast in wood-carrying ships. Slaves were once (reputedly) chained to the walls of such basement areas.. p. 63
.
0.
(ix).
One of the contributors to the disaster of Elattie was the rotten condition of the stilts on which the houses were built. City regulations now demand concrete bases to the pillars to provide strength and durability. p. 65
.........
(XI
The remains of the market area after Hurricane Hattie; a view from the swing-bridge. The building on the left was totally de-roofed and both were badly damaged by winds of more than 200 m.p.h..p. 67 Reproduced by permission of E.E. Cain.
(xi)
Compare the present-day market area to that shown in the previous illustration. In the background is the swing-bridge. p. 69
............
(xii)
One of the older buildings of Belize City, now serving as government offices, and located at the bridge-foot next to the Paslow Building, the only post-office in the city (left back-ground), The age of the building is indicated by the steep pitch of the roof and the use of the top-storey/ roof area. Note also the shutters, symbolic of p. 76 the old Belize.
..............
(xiii)
Compare this to the previous picture. Originally it had a similar roof, but this was destroyed by Hurricane Hattie and this cheaper version was added as a temporary measure which has becone pernanent. p. 78
................,
(xiv)
. . Not t h e roof f r o n t h e p r e v i o u s p i c t u r e , b u t a l s o In t h i s owes i t s o r i g i n s t o Hurricane H a t t i e . case t h e b u i l d i n g was blown away and t h e f a m i l y now o c c u p i e s t h e r o o f . p. 80
..........
(m)
Not a l l of t h e houses were r e b u i l t a f t e r H a t t i e . Two f a m i l i e s l i v e i n t h e s e ' s h a c k s t , which a r e , - a t y p i c a l of B e l i z e City. p. 82
(mi)
Some of t h e o r i g i n a l houses i n t h e Old Town a r e a had s h i n g l e d s i d e s , o f t e n made o u t of c e d a r , once a minor e x p o r t of t h e Colony. Note a l s o t h e b r i c k p. 84 basement, and t h e s h u t t e r s .
.........
........
(xvii)
I n t h e F o r t Georpe a r e a t h e r e a r e a number of l a r g e houses b u i l t when B e l i z e was having b e t t e r fortune. Even t h e s e l a r g e ( o f t e n ) mahogany b u i l t b u i l d i n g s were placed on h i g h s t i l t s . Verandahs are t y p i c a l of t h i s age and l o c a l a r e a , a s a r e p. 85 t h e s h u t t e r s and l a r g e l o t s .
.......
( x v i i i ) The F o r t George p a r k , a showplace r a t h e r t h a n a n area of r e c r e a t i o n a l u s e , t h i s open space i s u s u a l l y d e s e r t e d , e x c e p t f o r t h e o c c a s i o n a l bandp. 86 concerts.
.................
(xix)
Yarborough cemetery, now d i s u s e d , e x c e p t as a l o c a t i o n f o r d r y i n g t h e laundry of t h e l o c a l i n habitants. I n t h e background i s S t . John's Cathed r a l , a brick-built structure b u i l t i n the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h Century. p. 88
............
( X d
The a r e a k n o ~ ma s The ( ~ e w t o w n )Barracks now houses government a d v i s e r s from B r i t a i n and Canada. These houses were b u i l t , and a r e owned by t h e government. p. 90
............
(xxi)
,
The government housing deve lopnent i n Kings Fark n e a r t h e C i n d e r e l l a Tom border. The houses are s t r o n g and w e l l b u i l t b u t d i f f e r c o n s i d e r a b l y p. 95 i n s t y l e from t h e ' n a t i v e - b u i l t ' d w e l l i n g s .
.
(xxii)
Symbol of hope f o r t h e f u t u r e . The new b r i d g e , being c o n s t r u c t e d l a t a p o i n t which i s p r e s e n t l y a t t h e edge of town; t h e p r o j e c t i s f i n a n c e d by t h e Royal Bank of Canada. p. 100
.........
( x x i i i ) Semi-detached houses a t t h e new c a p i t a l s i t e . A n experiment which h a s proved none t o o p o p u l a r , a s t h e r e i s no t r a d i t i o n of such d w e l l i n g s i n p. 114 thecountry..
............
S i n g l e s t o r e y , semi-detached houses a t t h e new capital site. p. 116
...............
One of t h e s i n g l e f a m i l y d w e l l i n g s b e i n g b u i l t a t t h e new c a p i t a l s i t e . Note t h e o t h e r b u i l d i n g s i n t h e background, i n d i c a t i n g t h e close-packed housing a t t h e s i t e . p. 118
............
(xxvi)
The b r i g h t s p o t of t h e new c a p i t a l s i t e i s t h e c i t y c e n t r e . I n t h e middle of t h e p i c t u r e i s t h e L e g i s l a t i v e Chamber, which i s being c o n s t r u c t e d i n pseudo-Mayan s t y l e , a s a l i n k t o t h e Colony's p a s t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . 1 2 0 Temple of t h e Masonary A l t a r s , Altun H a ; t h i s a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e i s p r e s e n t l y being excavated by , t h e Iioyal O n t a r i o i4useusn. I t l i e s i n t h e area o f Kockstone Pond V i l l a g e , a l i n e a r s e t t l e ment which r u n s a l o n g two converging r o a d s from p. 131 Lucky S t r i k e on t h e Northern Highway.
...
(xxviii)
an Pedro, -Ambergris Cay. F i s h i n g v i l l a g e and h o l i d a y r e s o r t , t h e growth of t h i s s e t t l e m e n t h a s been s e v e r e l y r e s t r i c t e d by land s p e c u l a t o r s (seetext). . . . p . 137
............
(xxix)
Housing on Ambergris Cay i s similar t o t h a t i n B e l i z e C i t y a l t h o u g h t h e p o p u l a t i o n of San Pedro i s of Spanish o r i g i n , and c o n t a c t s w i t h t h e c a p i t a l p. 139 a r e not frequent.
.............
(xxx)
Cay Caulker ( c o r k e r ) i s s i m i l a r i n a nunber of ways t o t h e s e t t l e m e n t on Ambergris Cay. The . ' houses a r e once a g a i n s i m i l a r t o t h o s e of B e l i z e . The p o p u l a t i o n i s of more mixed o r i g i n t h a n t h a t of San Pedro and c o n t a c t s w i t h t h e c a p i t a l c i t y are more r e g u l a r . p. 1 4 1
.............
(xxxi)
Housing i n t h e B e l i z e River v a l l e y . The s t y l e i s t h a t of t h e c a p i t a l c i t y , b u t t h e m a t e r i a l s are d i f f e r e n t . I n t h e s e a r e a s cabbage-wood i s o f t e n s u b s t i t u t e d f o r pine. p. 144
........
5.
( x x x i i ) More B e l i z e D i s t r i c t housing. I n t h i s example t h e r o o f i s s t i l l t h a t c h e d , a l t h o u g h t h e rest of t h e house f o l l o w s t h e u s u a l Belizean p a t t e r n , even down t o t h e s t i l t s . The b u i l d i n g i n t h e Cabbage-wood background i s a s e p a r a t e k i t c h e n . i s again t h e building material. p. 146
......
( x x x i i i ) T h e e a s t e r n approach t o H a t t i e v i l l e , a "temporaryt1 s e t t l e n e n t s e t up a f t e r t h e 1961 h u r r i c a n e a s p. 156 a n emergency r e s t c e n t r e .
.........
( x x x i v ) One of t h e windowless h u t s i n H a t t i e v i l l e , 300 f e e t by 30 f e e t . Each h u t c o n t a i n s s i x t y 10 f e e t by 15 f e e t rooms, each housing one family. p. 158
.
( r m ) The f e r r y a t Bermudian I,anding.
During t h e r a i n y season t h e r i v e r r i s e s t o t h e t o p of i t s banks ( n e a r t h e pick-up t r u c k , and behind t h e photographer). This f e r r y i s t y p i c a l of t h o s e i n p 162 thecolony.
...............
xxxvi) Corozal T o m i s a m i x t u r e of housing t y p e s . This i s similar t o those i n Belize City, although t h e r e c e s s e d verandah i s more t y p i c a l of t h e n o r t h e r n d i s t r i c t s . Note t h e s t i l t s and t h e k i t c h e n a r e a added t o t h e house a f t e r i t s i n i t i a l c o n s t r u c tion. p. 169
...................
(xxxvii)'I'he back a d d i t i o n t o t h i s house i s incomplete and shows t h e pikce-meal Belizean method of b u i l d i n g ; once a g a i n i t s l o c a t i o n i s Corozal TOG^. p
...................
171
( x x x v i i i ) The o n l y t h a t c h - r p o f e d b u i l d i n g i n Corozal Town; it i s used a s a storehouse!kitchen. The r o o f i s t y p i c a l of t h e n o r t h e r n and c e n t r a l a r e a s of t h e p. 173 Colony, w i t h t i g h t , well-trimned t h a t c h i n g .
.
(xxxis) A f t e r Hurricane J a n e t a l a r g e number of c o n c r e t e block houses were b u i l t i n Corozal Town. A n atternpt was made t o i m i t a t e t h e c o u n t r y ' s boardb u i l t housing s t y l e s , a l t h o u g h most of t h e p r e h u r r i c a n e d w e l l i n g s had been t h a t c h e d h u t s . p. 175
..
(a)
The new Corozal? A t l e a s t t h e mayor ( t h e owner of t h i s house) would l i k e t h i s t o be adopted as t h e norm by t h e populace. I t i s much n o r e of t h e s t y l e of a Mexican house, and r e s e m b l s s c l o s e l y some t o be seen a c r o s s t h e Hondo Aiver i n Chetunal. I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o note t h a t extensions t o t h i s t y p e of house t a k e a d i f f e r e n t form t o t h o s e p. 177 p r e v i o u s l y noted.
~............
( x ~ i ) Mennonite houses i n t h e c o l o n i e s of B r i t i s h Hond u r a s t a k e a number of f o r n s , and a r e m o s t l y i n b e t t e r c o n d i t i o n t h a n t h i s one. The f r o n t i s a f i l l e d - i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e house-proper which p. 206 c a n be seen behind.
............
( x ~ i i ) A b e t t e r c p a l i t y Idennonite house a t Blue Creek. The narrowness t h e house i s one roorn i n width a n d verandahs a r e t y p i c a l of Kennonite housing. p. 208
--
--
( x L i i i ) Blue Creek once a g a i n , t h i s b u i l d i n g i s made of c o n c r e t e - b l o c k s , but r e t a i n s i t s c h a r a c z e r i s t i c shape. The motorcycle belongs t o an American s t u d e n t - v o l u n t e e r from a EIennonite c o l l e g e . , p, 210 (xLiv)
A r i v e r bank v i l l a s e n e a r Cayo. D e s p i t e i t s proximity t o the administrative c e n t r e , Santa Falrnilla h a s l i t t l e c o n t a c t w i t h t h e to?^, a n d i t s i n h a b i t a n t s a r e a s k k g t h e government f o r a b r i d g e . A t p r e s e n t t h e y have t o dorey ( c a n o e ) p , 231 e v e r y t h i n g a c r o s s t h e r i v e r t o t h e road.
..
(XLV)
San I g n a c i o , Cayo D i s t r i c t , one of t h e m o s t p i c t u r e s q u e s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e Colony. p , 235
..
( x ~ v i ) Most of t h e b u i l d i n g s i n San I g n a c i o a r e made of boards and have g a l v a n i s e d r o o f s . T h i s one i s c u r r e n t l y being b u i l t about t h e o l d , more t r a d i t i o n a l d w e l l i n g ; a n o v e l way of s o l v i n g t h e p r o b l e n of t h e t r a n s i t i o n a l p e r i o d of house. . p . 2 3 7 moving..
...........
( x ~ v i i )Once a g a i n , n o t a l l t h e houses i n San I g n a c i o are i n good c o n d i t i o n . Cabbage-wood i s a g a i n p. 239 t h e building material.
..........
( x L v i i i ) A n A m i s h 4 e n n o n i t e house n e a r S a n t a E l e n a , Cayo District. The Mennonites u s u a l l y b u i l d t h e i r own houses on a f a m i l y b a s i s , a l t h o u g h sometimes are f o r c e d t o h i r e a d d i t i o n a l h e l p . The w a t e r t a n k i s f i l l e d by t h e copious r a i n f a l l of t h e c o u n t r y , v i a t h e r o o f and t h e g u t t e r i n g s y s t e m p. 245 (xLix)
Mountain P i n e Ridze n e a r Augustine. Much of t h e wood h a s been renoved by l o g g e r s and l i t t l e Natural r e g e n e r a t i o n planting h a s taken place. i s the c a u s e of t h e p r e s e n t wooded a r e a s . S o t e p. 249 t h e dense p a t t e r n of logging t r a c k s .
....
(L)
Not a l l of t h e upland a r e a of Cayo D i s t r i c t h a s been denuded. This r i v e r i s one of t h e headwaters p. 251 o f t h e B e l i z e Xiver.
(Li)
The H u m i n g b i r d Highway. T h i s i s one of t h e o r i g i n a l ( r a i l w a y ) b r i d g e s and t h e l i n e s of t h e tracks are s t i l l e v i d e n t . p. 261
...........
.........
( ~ i i ) Alabama, once known a s Waha L,eaf Camp. The banana c u t t e r s l i v e i n t h e s e houses, purchased f o r $200 S.Y. from t h e Hercules Cozpany, once of Independence. p. 263
.............
(Liii)
I n a number of c a s e s t h e ' H e r c u l e s 1 houses have been adapted. Here a shop has been m d e by j o i n p. 265 i n g two of them t o s e t h e r .
.
xix
.
.
(Liv)
Georgetovm, the oqly inland Carib village in the Colony. Its houses were built on an aided selfhelp basis and are the cheapest design possible. They allow for expansion, however, and that in the foreground exhibits such endeavour in an additional back section. p. 270
........
(Lv)
Silk Grass, financed by the Jamaican government, was built as a relief project after Hurricane Hattie, but nos? half of its barrack-like huts stand empty, their inhabitants having returned to their former hones, or left to seek their p. 272 fortunes-elsewhere.
. . . . . . . . .
(Lvi)
Mullins River (Old) Town after Hurricane Hattie. The eye of the stom passed throuph this once thriving settlement which has since all but p. 2 7 4 died..
..................
Reproduced by permission of E.E. Cain. (Lvii)
Mullins Xiver (Old) T o m was devastated by the eye of Hurricane Hattie, and was never rebuilt. p.276 Today the bush is slowly reclaiming the area.
.
(Lviii) Hullins Xiver (Rew) To1.m was constructed on an aided self-help basis after Hattie, but the life and vigour of the settlenent, once the eighth largest in the Colony, was snuffed out by the hurricane and the present village is a shadow of its former self. p. 278
............
(Lix)
Stann Creek Town; Carib capital of the Colony. Once again the buildings are sirnilar to those p. 280 of Belize City.
..............
(Lx)
Unusually, the sea-front area of Stann Creek Town is presently little developed, although housing is now being located in this district.
. p.282
S t a n n Creek Town a f t e r H u r r i c a n e H a t t i e . Tne town s u f f e r e d g r e a t damage b u t h a s r e c o v e r e d w e l l and now s u p p o r t s a p o p u l a t i o n of 8,000, 3,000 p. 284 more t h a n i n 1961.
..............
Reproduced by p e r n i s s i o n of E.E.
Cain.
~ o m e r c e Bight ' v i l l a g e w a s once a t h r i v i n g coco. n u t p l a n t a t i o n about t e n rniles south-west o f S t a n n Creek Town.. Today t h e v i l l a g e i s d e s e r t e d and overgrown, and o n l y a h a n d f u l of people l i v e i n t h e area.
.......
%
.
Reproduced' by permission of E.E.
Cain.
Seine B i g h t , v i l l a g e i s a Carib f i s h i n g s e t t l e ment on P l a , c e n t i a s p i t . Host of t h e houses, b u i l t on sand i n a s i r n i l a r way t o t h o s e on t h e n o r t h e r n c a y s , a r e made of boards and have z i n c r o o f s , a l t h o u g h sorne a r e made of t h a t c h i n t r a d i t i o n a l style* ; .p.288
..................
( Lxiv)
A b r i d g e i s o u t on t h e Southern Highway. When t h i s o c c u r s a l l t r a f f i c h a s t o be r e - r o u t e d a l o n g o l d l o z g i n g r o a d s through t h e B e l i z e E ' s t a t e l a n d s t o t h e e a s t . Approaching d r i v e r s have l i t t l e warning,. a p a r t f r o n t h e h a l f o i l drums s t r a t e g i c a l l y placed one hundred y a r d s from t h e b r i d g e . They have t o back-track two m i l e s t o t h e detour'. p , 2 9 0 1ndependenc$, t r u l y t h e end of t h e end of.' t h e earth. I n t h e foreground t h e r e were once nunerous houses b u i l t by t h e Hercules Company, many of which are now l o c a t e d a t Alabama (!?aha L e a f ) . . p.2g2
(Lxvi)
One of t h e house; b u i l t by t h e Young f a m i l y , a Confederate group from t h e Southern United S t a t e s . T h i s b u i l d i n g i s occupied by a descendent of t h e I t was b u i l t around t h e t u r n original settler. of tfie c e n t u r y . p. 305
...............
(Lxvii) The East Indians live along the roadside, often in poor quality housing, but with a lot of personal space for each family. The living quarters are in the middle-ground. The other buildings p. 310 are cooking and storage spaces.
......
(~xviii)~anAntonio, o ole do District, the largest village in the counfry. This picture is atypical, as p.313 most of the 220 buildings are thatched huts.
.
Kekchi Indians at Laguna village, building a hut, using traditional methods and collective labour. This building was to be a Cabildo; the Alcalde's (headman's) courtroom and a public meeting place. They use bush-wood often brought several p. 315 miles and thatch the roof with cohune palm.
.
A Kekchi hut in Toledo District. The walls are not air-tight but are apparently water-proof. The overhan~ingroof greatly adds to the weatherp. 317 proofing of the hut.
............
(Lxxi )
.-
The houses of the Caribs in Punta Gorda vary in style, but a large nunber are made of pimento wood and have thatch roofs. The roof style in the south of the Colony is very different to that p. 321 of the north.
...............
(Lxxii) h Carib house in Funra Gorda, this shows considerable expertise in construction,.and features of both Indian and 'Belizean1 character. The stilts are popular even on houses of 'native' style, . p . 323 and the roof is typically southern.
.
xxii
It is a pleasure to acknowledie the numerous debts
of gratitude incurred in the preparation of this thesis: to Simon Fraser University, which provided the bulk of the funds for my visit to British Honduras; to the faculty and t
staff of the Geography Department at S.F.U.;
-
to a number
of the Graduates at Simon Fraser; to many people within the Colony who helped me complete my work; in particular an expression of gratitude to Leo Bradley, of the National Library service, the various District Officers of the country, and the Social Development and Agriculture departments without whom I would not have reached many of my goals; to my Committee in the Department of Geography; to
.
the Department Cartographers and the Audio Visual Depart-
merit; and to Roy Beaumont who was a great help in the processing of my photographic materials.
Lastly a thanlcyou
to my close friends, without whom X would have completed my task much sooner. Fig. 1 was reproduced by kind permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office,
Figs. 2 and 3 were re-
produced from DOS (~isc.) 241M and DOS (~isc.) 24lN by kind permission of the Controller of H.M. Office.
Stationery
Fig. 4 was reproduced by kind permission of the
British Honduras Chamber of Commerce.
Fig. 5 was repro-
duced by kind permission qf the British Honduras Reconstruction and Development Corporation.
Figs. 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, and 11 were reproduced from the Directorate of Overseas Survey's map DOS 958 (Second Edition) by kind permission of the Controller of H.M.
Stationery Office,
F i g s . 4 and 5 can be seen on a larger scale as Figs.
9 and.10 in Romney, D.H. London, 1959.
(ed.),
Land in British Honduras,
INTRODUCTION
"If the world had any ends British Honduras would certainly be one of them. It is not on the way from anywhere to anywhere else. It has no strategic value. It is all but o uninhabited. Aldous ~ u x l e ~ l
...
This study is a preliminary survey of the cultural geography of a community which, through a series of 'historical accidents' tempered with a sprinkling of human design, has become what Parsons would term a 'cultural anachronismt, "preserved through isolation and the persisf
tence of the human spiri.t.~l*
An attempt will be made to
investigate the ways in which a number of very different
-
cultural groups, which make up the population of the Colony,3 have responded over an extended period of time to their somewhat unique pattern of physical environments.
The pattern of this work will be twofold:
it w j - l l be-
gin with an explanation of the post physical, cultural, and economic landscapes of the country, as it is hypothesized that these have played important parts in the story
of the Colony, and also have had significant effects in the shaping of the present environment.
An attempt will be
made to find out so:ne of the reasons for the patterns of
Culture which developed and explain how these have been incorporat~dwi2hin the physlczl s t r u c t x r e of the country.
Place name evidence,,and the evidence supplied by some
of the features of the current house-types will.be examined to see how far the cultural patterns have been translated into the environment. 4 Secondly the origins of the various cultural groups will be discussed and an exmination will be made of how
Ear they have tzanslated their individualized cultural backgrounds into their present environments.
This will be done
on a regional basis, with the administrative boundaries of the country, both internal and international forming the edges of the areas which will be exanined.
There are a
number of reasons for this not wholly satisfactory approach, the main one being the effects of the more recent history of the Colony.
The last ten years have seen more movement
than ever before of cultural groups away from their traditional heartlands.
To examine the groups individually
would involve repetition of material concerning the landscapes where a number of these groups have come together. This approach in itself has its difficulties, and to avoid much of the repetitive description of the cultural groups which could occur, comprehensive studies of each group will only be undertaken for the areas where these groups have had most effect over an extended period of time.
To be
able to adopt this approach, something must first be said about each cultural group.
CULTURAL GROUPS I
In British Honduras there are three major cultural groups (numerically) and at least nine minority groups. largest is the meole5
The
element, a term used here to de-
signate the descendents of the original settlers, the Baymen6
and their Negro slaves.
In practice there is a wide
variety of racial types ranging from the Negro to the Caucasian, but within the Colony the term Creole is used for all, and this terminology will be retained.
They are
found chiefly around Belize City, the cultural core of the Colony.
The second most important group is the Amerindians or Mayan ~ndians ,7
both terms being used in their description.
As will be noted later, there are four groups of Mayan Indians, most of which are separated areally as well as tribally, but all of which are to be found on the inland borderlands of the Colony.
The Mestizos, the third major element, are a mixedblood group resulting from intermarriage between the Amerindians and whites, usually of Spanish origin.
This group
also predominates away fron Belize City, but is found nearer the more densely inhabited areas of the north and west, and especially in the administrative centres of Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo, and the town of Benque Viejo.
There are fewer Mestizos in the southern part of
t h e country, as t h e Amerindians of t h i s area have experienced l i t t l e c o n t a c t , u n t i l r e c e n t l y , with European elements. 8 Both of t h e l a t t e r two groups have e n t e r e d t h e Colony from t h e a d j a c e n t a r e a s now c o n s t i t u t e d as t h e Republics of Mexico and Guatemala.
They a r e , t h e r e f o r e , d i f f e r e n t i n
t h i s r e s p e c t from t h e o t h e r c u l t u r a l groups who e n t e r e d B r i t i s h Honduras mainly from overseas. The l a r g e s t of t h e minority groups i s t h e Carib Indian element, which i s found i n i s o l a t e d communities (using t h i s term i n a c u l t u r a l sense and n o t n e c e s s a r i l y a s
a comment upon a c c e s s i b i l i t y ) along t h e coastlands of t h e Colony, south of B e l i z e City. The Nennonite elements of t h e Colcny a r e i n c r e a s i n g both i n nurnbers and i n economic importance, and are t o be found c h i e f l y i n Orange Walk D i s t r i c t , although t h e r e a r e two s e t t l e m e n t s near Cayo. Other minority groups who are t o be found s c a t t e r e d throughout t h e country include Chinese, B r i t i s h , North Ameri c a n , Spanish, Syrians and East Indians.
Most of t h e s e
peoples a r e c u l t u r a l elements r a t h e r than c u l t u r a l groups,
as t h e y a r e n o t g e n e r a l l y found i n c l u s t e r s , b u t s c a t t e r e d throughout t h e Colony.
The nomenclature used to describe the Colony is itself somewhat varied and confusing.
From its origins in the
seventeenth century until the early eighteenth century tht settlement was more often than not described as being located in Honduras.
It was only one of a number of such
communities, and.for a long time was no more important than the others. With the passage of time it grew both in size and in importance and became known to both friend and foe as the 'settlement of Belize,' and %p
to 1840 the n a m Belize
was applied both to the capital city and to the colony as a whole ,
-- a usage which still obtains in Spanish-American
circles. "lo
From 1872 onwards "the Colony of British
Hondurasw was 'c&
jurel as well as
'& facto'
t'he name
of the settled area, when the British government at last recognised the area for what it had really been for half a century or more
-- a colonial country.
More confusion is
added to the question by the self determination principles of the present government which has decided that it will not wait for independence before re-adopting the name 'Belize1 for the country as a whole.
Thus the current literature
abounds with references to the country as both '5elize1 and Jikitish Honduras'.
It would be easy, but historically in-
correct, for the present author to follow Allsop1s exanple and adopt the "official. international nomznclaturet1l1 of
' B r i t i s h Honduras' i n a l l cases; but an attempt w i l l be 5
made, where p o s s i b l e , t o use t h e contemporary usage, and
t o avoid f u r t h e r confusion t h e t i t l e Belize City, o r Eelize
,
~ i s t r i c l2 t
w i l l be used where appropriate.
THE POSITION OF THZ COLONY P h y s i c a l l y i r i t i s h Honduras i s a c o a s t a l s t r i p of e a s t e r n C e n t r a l America, but c u l t u r a l l y and economically the Colony has l i t t l e i n common with t h i s l a r g e r r e g i o n and h i s t o r i c a l l y has been shown by Clegern t h a t t h e mainstream of econornic and c u l t u r a l i n f l u e n c e has been outwards from t h e B r i t i s h settlement t o the? neighbouring c o u n t r i e s .
"As p i r a t e s ' l a i r o r woodcutters1 camp o r t r a d i n g wharf,
as enclave o r s e t t l e m e n t o r colony, t h e a r e a around Belize
w a s a bridgehead of B r i t i s h i n f l u e n c e on Spanish A n e r i ~ a . ~ ~ ' ~ "Although t h e Spaniards had s e t t l e d t h e h i g h e r lands n o r t h
and south of B r i t i s h Honduras, they never attempted t o s e t t l e w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s of t h e colony, f o r t h e dense f o r e s t s of t h e country, guarded by t h e malarisus swamps of t h e c o a s t , had o f f e r e d no inducement f o r settlement f r o n t h e sea.
The Colony has developed, t h e r e f o r e , l a r g e l y
independent of i t s ' n a t u r a l h i n t e r l a n d , '
having i t s o r i g i n s
s u i g e n e r i s t o t h e Central American mainland. B r i t i s h Honduras h.as n o t , however, been c u t o f f fram 1 i
o u t s i d e i n f l u e n c e s , and has a t p r e s e n t , and has.had i n t h e
8 past, a number of important links with other cultural areas in Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas.
As Crosbie
and Furley have pointed out, historically British Honduras has been "inclined towards the sea and to the historic links with the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean and across the Atlantic to Britain."15
To this statement
must be added the qualifying point that for the lzst hundred years the Colony has become increasingly oriented towards North herica,16
and most particularly to the United States. 17
This has been both a cultural and economic phenomenon and appears likely to gain increased momentum in the future. Crosbie and Furley's remark has considerable validity with respect to the early history of the Colony despite its relative isolation (see Fig. 1) from the rest of the British West Indies, (Jamaica, its nearest neighbour and the only island with which Belize has had consistent historical contact, is some 700 miles away). But despite these many and various historical and contemporary links it cannot be said that there is a common British West Indian consciousness, and even less that British Honduras forms part of anything approaching such a
.
consciousness
"Isolation and ,competitionimpel British West Indians to emphasize their differences;.... Each island feels superior or jealously guards some special vkrtue. 'The sea tends to divide rather than unitet wrote the future Lord Halifax a generation ago about the difficulty of federating the West Indian archipelago.
'Sentiment and deyelopment do not flow naturally over the sea from one island to another. ln18 These words were written of the islands but apply equally well to the mainland settlements in the Caribbean area.
This
lack of contact has meant that very different cultural elements of daily life which otherwise might have been changed
by steady influence of West Indian norms continued to remain predominant.
For instance, the attitudes towards the tilling
of the land and towards slavery were originally very different in this British settlement and the consequences of these differences can still be seen today. For very similar reasons, some of the conclusions which have been reached about the British Caribbean societies are relevant, indicating that these culture areas have had some long lasting effects upon the Colony. Firstly British Honduras is a plural society, as are so many of the Caribbean societies.19
That is to say that
the Colony contains a number of cultural groups who have adopted similar institutions, but practise them in different ways, and to such an extent that they may be termed different cultures.
*'
Smith's definition of societies
as "territorially distinct units having their own governmental institutionsn is not always sufficient as Lowenthal has pointed out. i
But in the context of the physical and
cultural isolation of British Honduras, it will suffice.
f
This is not to say that-the society of British Hon-
duras is altogether pluraF; ''if it were, it would not be a society at all, but only an assemblage of functionally un-
related comunities,n22
It is hypothesized that the
Colony exhibits plurality to an extent such that it can survive as a society within the number of very different environments which are to be found within the country, whilst being homogeneous enough to be able to exist as a single political entity. Secondly, the lingua franca of the country is English, which is taught in the schools between the ages of six and fourteen, and the majority of the population use a form of English as their first language,23
Also a large part of
the population is Protestant, particularly around the capital city. Moreover, the country has a sense of independence which dates from its foundation, which is comparable to that of other Caribbean countries.
But this is not meant to
suggest that the Colony ever considered itself as part of the British West Indies, Indeed, Itthereis considerable evidence that they viewed the island colonies as an adjoining room in the imperial mansion. ,I 24
Independence or independence? The West Indies Federation was founded in a sea of distrust and nationalism, but it is significant.that British
Honduras d i d n o t consent t o join i t t o begin with.
There
were many Hondurans who a t f i r s t s i g h t saw i n t h e proposed Federation, n o t progress towards t h e goal of independence, b u t merely a change of masters.
They b i t t e r l y r e s e n t e d
'merging t h e i r i d e n t i t y ' i n a g e n e r a l West I n d i e s amalgamation, where t h e i r comparatively small population would f i n d B r i t i s h Honduras overshadowed by such more f o r t u n a t e
rivals as Jamaica o r ~ z r b a d o s . " ~ ~ This sense of independence, but independence a s a ' B r i t i s h Caribbean Colony' had been a d i s t i n g u i s h i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t h e country's p o l i c y long before t h e 1950's.
V i r t u a l l y from t h e foundation of t h e s e t t l e m e n t ,
t h e c o l o n i s t s had been c a l l i n g upon t h e B r i t i s h government t o formally annex t h e settlement and bring it i n t o t h e 'imperial mansion'.
The Archives a r e f u l l of r e f e r e n c e s
t o t h e s e demands from t h e e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h century onwards, although i t w a s not u n t i l 1862 t h a t t h e mother country f i n a l l y took heed and formally annexed t h e settlement,
This
was d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t t h e home government on num-e m u s occasions had had t o concern i t s e l f w i t h t h e home and f o r e i g n a f f a i r s of Belize, A t many s t a g e s of i t s e x i s t e n c e , t h e s e themes of love
of t h e homeland and freedom from e x t e r n a l i n f l u e n c e s has taken on an almost Victorian and Kiplingesque c h a r a c t e r .
" 0 , land of t h e g ~ d sby t h e Carib Sea, Our manhood we pledge t o t h y l i b e r t y ! No t y r a n t s here l i n g e r , despots must f l e e This t r a n q u i 1 haven of democracyv26
But it must be recognised t h a t t h e B r i t i s h Honduran concept of l i b e r t y of t h e seventeenth, e i g h t e e n t h , and n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s was a very d i f f e r e n t phenomenon from
.
the Belizzan l i b e r t y of today, and undoubtedly had very d i f f e r e n t e f f e c t s upon t h e Landscape.
Today t h e c a l l i s
more and more f o r t o t a l independence from B r i t a i n , which
w i l l almost c e r t a i n l y lead t o a n i n c r e a s e i n t h e a l r e a d y high degree of North American economic and c u l t u r a l intervention.
S.A.
school.
Haynes work (above) i s more a poem of t h e o l d
I1Milton Aranats ' B i r t h of a Nation,'
composed t o
mark t h e achievement of i n t e r n a l s e l f government, p u t s t h e c a l l i n a more urgent, more s p e c i f i c form:
' R i s e up, d e a r f r i e n d , and grasp your neighbour's hand ; With common h e a r t subdue t h i s , n a t u r e ' s land! I n y e a r s t o come a f u t u r e generation W i l l rise and stand an independent nation. 11127
--
The i n v e s t i g a t i o n i s based upon two sources: search and b i b l i o g r a p h i c m a t e r i a l .
f i e l d re-
The former c o n s i s t e d of
a t h r e e month v i s i t t o t h e Colony, during which most p a r t s of t h e country were i n v e s t i g a t e d ; t h i s v i s i t was conducted during p a r t of t h e d r y season of 1969 ( t h e d r y season r u n s from l a t e Decenber t o e a r l y June and t h e r e s e a r c h was con-
ducted from January to ~pril).
This is important to keep
in mind, as the country presents a very different prospect to the researcher during the wet season, and might lead to
some very different opinions and results.
The bibliographic material is scanty, partly because only a little has ever been collected, and partly because a large amount of what was collected has been subsequently destroyed by the ravages of climate28
and man. 29
NOTES ON THE INTRODUCTION
lHuxley, Aldous, Beyond t h e Mexique Bal (London: Chatto and Windus, 1934), p. 35.
,
*parsons, J. J. "English Speaking Settlements of t h e Western Caribbean," Yearbook of t h e Association of P a c i f i c Coast Geographers, X V I (Chaney, Xashington, 1954), p. 15. 31n t h i s account 'Colony1 w i l l be used t o d e s i g n a t e B r i t i s h Honduras, i n o r d e r t o avoid confusion with t h e 'colonies1 of t h e Mennonite settlers which a r e located withi n t h e country. 4The r e s e a r c h on house types s t e m s mainly i r o n two a r t i c l e s : Kniffen, F. "Folk Housing: Key t o Diffusion,I1 A.A.A.G. 55 (No. 4, December 1965), pp. 549-77 and R i c h r t , John E. "House facades of t h e Northeastern United S t a t e s ; a Tool of Geographic A n a l y ~ i s ,A.A.A.G. ~~ 57 (No. 2 , ~ u n e 1967), pp. 211-238. %he term Creole i s used i n B r i t i s h Honduras t o d e s i g n a t e a negro o r a person of mixed white and negro parentage. The d i f f e r e n c e between t h i s usage and t h a t of t h e Southern a r e a s of t h e United S t a t e s should be noted. Baymen were t h e o r i g i n a l white s e t t l e r s of t h e woodcutting colonies around t h e Bay of Honduras, t h e name r e f e r r i n g t o t h i s physical f e a t u r e .
,
,
71n t h i s account t h e terms 'Indians1 'Amerindians' and 'Mayan Indians1 w i l l be used interchangeably, and r e f e r ences t o o t h e r groups w i l l be made as 'East I n d i a n ' , etc,
8The Spanish speaking elements of t h e Colony, c o n s i s t i n g of people of Spanish descent, Mestizos, and many of t h e Mayan Indians w i l l be r e f e r r e d t o a s t h e Hispanic elements of t h e country, 9 ~ h ewhole of t h e c o a s t a l a r e a of t h e Bay of Honduras was f o r some t i m e known simply a s Honduras. I t i s a tern which comes from the Spanish word "honduraIt, depth, t h e soundings along t h e c o a s t having been found unusually deep by t h e Spaniards, e s p e c i a l l y c l o s e i n shore.
ll~llsop,S.R.R., llBritishXonduras: the linguistic dilemma,11Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 2 (Nos. 3-4, SeptemberDecember, 1965), p. 54. 12~elizeCity is physically part of Belize District, which is one of the administrative areas of the country, but is administratively a separate unit. 13clegern, W.M., British Honduras: Colonial Dead End 1859-1900 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 157.
Fn
l$wayne, Sir Eric, "British Honduras Journal, Vole L (No. 3, 1917), p. 164.
,"Geoaraphical
- 15parsons, op. cit., p. 54.
16The term is used to refer to the United States and Canada, 17~efersto the United States of America. I8loventhal, D. T h e Nest Indies Chooses a Capital," Geo~raphicalReview, XLVlII (l958), p, 341. lglowenthal, D. *'The Xange and Variation of Caribbean Societie~,~' in Wagner, P.L. and Mikesell, M.W. (eds. ) , Readinzs in Cultural Geo~raphy(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, l962), pp. 187-194 and Smith, M.G. "Social and Cultural Pluralism in the Caribbean," of the New York Academy of Sciences, LXXXIII (Article 5, l96O), pp. 763-777. 20~mith,K G . , "Social Structure in the British Caribbean about 1820," Social and Economic Studies, I (No. 4, 1953), pp. 75-76. 21~owent'nal,D. "The Range and Variation of Caribbean Societie~,'~ p, 187.
24~legern,
cit., p. 161.
25~aiger,S.L., British Iionduras. Past and Present George, Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1951), p. 227.
o on don:
26~aynes,S.A., "Land of the Gods," Belizean Poets (~elizeCity: Government Information Service, undated), P. 3. -
41
k a n a , M.,
"Birth qf a Nation," Ibid., p.
28~ritish Honduras has been particularly unfortunate in the preservation of its archives. Besides all the ravages caused by decay, damp and the insect pests that abound in a tropical climate, both fire and tempest have been particularly destructive.ll The various invasions of the Spanish in earlier times "must also have destroyed any orderly collection of records that existed.18 For a fuller account of such troubles, see the Introduction to Volume 2 of the Archives (footnote 13, Chapter One, below), pp. ix-xii. 2 9 large ~ quantity of records were apparently once destroyed in the administrative offices in Cayo District, They had because they were 'taking up too much room.' earlier been removed to the Western District from Belize City, for a similar reason.
I
CHAPTER TWO THE BACKGaOUND OF BRITISH HONDURA?
ORIGINS AND EILYLY SETTLEMENT For a country which is only the size of Wales or the state of Massachusetts, British Honduras has a considerable range and diversity of landscapes, (Fig. 1).
The most
noticeable contrast can be seen to be between the lowlying swampy coast, and the better drained areas of the interior of the country.
The low-lying coastal stretches
vary in width from north to south.
To the south there is
a comparatively narrow band of mangrove swamps which adjoin
the flanks of the Maya Mountains, a range which rises to
3680 feet at Victoria Peak.
To the north of the Stann
Creek area, the coastal mangrove-swamp increases in width and much of the area of Belize and Corozal Districts are rendered inhospitable and useless by these conditions. Parts of the coastal areas are elevated Pleistocene terraces, C
often covered by fine savanna (notably between the Belize (old) River and the ~ibun)and more locally a vegetation type known as 'pine ridge'.
This latter phenomenon is
characterised by a prevalence of yellow pine (Pinus cubensis) and not by a ridge-type formation, as the name
is given both to undulating and comparatively level country.
The coastal areas are made more inhospitable by the dangerous waters offshore which contain many small islands (over US), known as cayssl not all of which are exposed
to view.
The coastline is protected by the second longest
barrier reef in the world, and the mangrove covered shoreline exhibits few distinguishing features.
In total the
first view presented by British Honduras to the western world was singularly &inspiring,
and the first European
observers did not stay to investigate further. Originally much of the country would have been cover-
ed with rain forest of one kind or another, but it is doubtful whether any truly pristine rain forest has existed for several centuries.
At the height of the Classic Period
of Mayan civilisation, much of the.countrywas relatively densely settled (Fig.'2),
and little of its area escaped
cultivation under the native (milpa) system of agriculture. There have probably been enough Amerindians remaining in the area of what is now the Colony to prevent much of the regeneration of the tropical rain forest to a near primary state, and the early British settiers continued this process with their woodcutting activities. These early European settlers found an interior with
a dual character.
The northern half of the country is an
extension of the Yucatan peninsula, with rolling limestone countryside.
To the south are the more mountainous areas
characterised by limestone,uplands, metamorphics, and extensive tracts of granite.
Upon their arrival in the mid-
part of the seventeenth century, they found an area rich
in pine, logwood and mahogany, as well as other less important trees, and they remained to exploit these resources at their leisure.
The country8s forests have until
recently always been the economic backbone of the settlement. Within this general picture there are a nmber of local landscapes, which have had a considerable influence upon the cultural groups who have come to live in them. This has been true since the days of the Mayan settlers,
a group which effectively demonstrated that even such an apparently inhospitable land can be greatly developed. 3 Originally it was felt that the Mayas had populated and developed only the inner borderlands of what is now the Colony, and indeed many early authors did not credit British Honduras with any significant Mayan settlenent at all. But around the beginning of the twentieth century more work was done on the area, often by amateur archaeologists,
1
or semi-professionals such as Thomas Gann, and it becane obvious that the Ancient Maya had had more than a passing interest in the area.
,'
Satterthwaite
Since this time, Anderson,4
~ h o m ~ s o and n ~ Lundell,7 among others
have investigated the ruins left in the Colony after the
fall of the Classic Mayan ,civilisation,and these workers
have demonstrated that much of the area was densely cultivated by the Mayan Indians, Most recently Pendergast has placed this part of the Mayan civilisation in a more maritime context, and has shown that it is likely that the coastal waters of the
Bay of Honduras were well-'mown long before the seventeenth century settlers began to re-discover their diverse nature.
Indeed with a few notable exceptions (such as the
areas around Stann Creek Town and Belize City) the settle-
ment patterns of the present time appear to mirror much of the layout of the Classical Mayan period, as the continual discovery of archaeological sites on presently settled lands shows.
(Some indication of this coincidence
of settlement patterns can be seen by comparing Figs. 2 and 3.)
These remarks must not be taken too literally, however,
as the apparent lack of Mayan settlement elsewhere might merely be a reflection of the shortage of research undertaken in these areas.
If this is the case, future archaeo-
logical work might turn up a very different pre-historical pattern of settlement.
The Europeans move in Waddell explains the lack of early settlement by the Spanish in this area of Honduras as being the result of "a series of historical accidentsu9 but the story is not
this simple, for it was the physical environment, often in an entirely passive way, that had the final word, and
there was also some degree of deliberate human intervention.
Both Montejo and Davila traversed the coast of
the countrylo and found it uninviting and unsuitable for settlement. Attempts by Spanish priests ID'convert' the native inhabitants failed also, partly due to the lack of encouragement given by the local populace and partly because the isolation of the settlements prevented the moxnting of a powerful campaign.
Later attempts to catholicize the
peoples of the area ran into an additional problem
-- the
English had intruded and took active steps to discourage the Spaniards.
One Dominican priest, Father Delgado, fell
into the hands of the ' ~ n ~ l i swhilst h crossing the south of what is now British Honduras in 1677, and was robbed of his clothes. Early British settlement in the western Caribbean area was usually designed to foster one of the more popular British pastimes of this era of Spanish shipping.
-- the looting and destruction
The Spaniards, understandably, were
keen to discourage this rather one-sided sport, and succeeded in dislodging the buccaneers, pirates or patriots (the definition varying over time depending upon whose side you +r
were on, and whether the countries were at war or not) from Old Providence (Providencia) in 1641 and from Ruatan ( ~ a y
Islands) in 1642 (see Fig., 1, inset), only to see them s e t up a base near what is now Belize City.
These 'adven-
turers' may or may not have been the first people to live in this area of the Bay of Honduras, for tradition has it that the earliest record of British settlers in the area is
attributed to 1638 when a small party of shipwrecked sailors found refuge on the coast and managed to establish
.
themselves l1
This aura of uncertainty is a strong one
in the early history of the settlement of Belize, for not only the origins of the settlement are disputed, but also the derivation of the name it has come to be known by. There are basically three theories to explain this name, and all are significant as they cast some light upon the cultural background of the Colony, as well as demonstrating political and emotional alleigences.
Evidence
exists for all three, but in each case the same evidence can be used to refute the arguments. The most popular theory, or at least the one to which the greatest number of words has been devoted, concerns the travels of one Captain Peter Wallace, a buccaneer for sure, and very likely the first mate and right-hand man of Sir Walter Raleigh "on the ill-starred expedition of 1617 in search of ~ldorado.~~l*The most conscientious historians trace the development of this seaman's name through a variety of versions such as Wallisu and "Balisll to the
present conclusion. 13, l4
These stages, as well as others,
can be seen on a number of,old maps, giving considerable support to this theory.
The problem .with this argument
is that these derivations are generally accorded to be Spanish corruptions of nWallaceltand no historian attempts to give an explanation of why a predominantly British settlement should readily adopt the names given to it by the very people they were seeking to avoid for such a long
period of time.
The theory does, however, introduce some
points which are worthy of note.
Firstly the early settlers
were predominantly British, and more than this, they were very often Scottish, "Wallaceftbeing just one of many who hailed from that part of Britain, and who found their niche in the western Caribbean. The second possibility, which is rarely given much credence, suggests that the derivation of the word is from the French 'balise' or the Spanish tbalisa',I5 words meaning a buoy or a beacon.
both
Although there was a
strong French element both in the Caribbean and in the occupation of buccaneering, and although the Spanish element within the are6 is undoubted, the theory seems unlikely,
as shown above, for the British influence in the country has been the strongest since the inception of the settlement.
Also, one of the chief advantages of the site was to
be found in the treacherous nature of the surrounding waters, as will be seen, and it seems doubtful that British settlers, and less so British buccaneer-settlers, would
not only advertise their presence on a hostile coastline, but also show a guiding light for the Spanish warships.
It is only in recent times, when comparative peace has come to the country, that a number of warning lights have been erected on the shores of the Colony. Initially the third theory, seems even more unlikely, and yet it has managed to gain the support of the present government.
has ~ This idea, put forward by ~ n d e r s o n ~
been given some historical backing by Bradley.
It
proposes that the 'name goes back even further to the ancient Maya civilisation.'
Thus Belize would be a corrup-
tion of the ancient Mayan name for the river on which the city now stands.
Although there is evidence of a highly
developed Mayan civilisation having existed in the prehistoric past, numerous authors have stated quite firmly that at the time of early British settlement, "there is no record of any indigenous Indian population ard no reason to believe that any such existed except for in the interior.
But one of the traditions of the country has
it that in order to bypass an early ban on cultivation in
the area, the woodcutters at least partially supplemented their diet by trading with the Indians. When the diet of the 'pork and dough boys1 is found to have been "seven pounds of flour and six or seven pounds of salted pork per weekn the desire for supplements is understandable.20, 21 There is still the recurring question, however, even if this '*" B % b
was the case, of why the British settlers should have adopted an alien name for their settlement.
The present
political support for this theory might stem from a desire to identify more with the ancient settlers of the Colony than with colonial lifelines, and can then be seen as just one more aspect of the present Independence movement. The place name evidence, particularly that found offshore, graphically illustrates this wild and uncertain period of the history of the settlement.
A large number of
the cays were named by the early visitors and settlers, Turneffe itself being a corruption of Tierra Nueva, and representing the major Spanish influence in this part of the Colony.
It is significant that few of the idlans'
names owe their derivation to the Spaniards, and 'Spanish Lookout Cay1 was probably one of the points from which a watch was kept on the Caribbean Sea for the Hispanic marauders. Why did the settlement of Belize persist, to'grow into the Colony of British Honduras? From many of the written accounts, one might gain the impression that it was because of the chance factor, coupled with the apathy and pre-occupation of the Spaniards viith 'better things1. Sir Eric Swayne feels that the British are in Belize because they have "always tenaciously held on to their ownn22
--
the British Bulldog character coming out in far off lands. Perhaps it is a combination of all these factors, or perhaps
Aldous Huxley again provides the answer when he dismisses other possibilities than the force of habit which he feels
is tha strongest.
ItBritishHonduras goes on being British
because it has been British. ,123
The British assert themselves The earliest settlers from Europe, in the Bay of Honduras, were prepared to take full advantage of the situation which they found, which consisted of a vast amount of marketable wood and no direct restrictions upon their freedom.
Consequently they varied their economic activities
from buccaneering to logwood cutting24 with the minimum of effort.
The latter occupation gained ascendancy after
1670 when Britain agreed, in a treaty with Spain, to suppress buccaneering.
As logwood cutting gradually increased, the
settlements (and particularly that of Belize) grew in size, population and imp-ortancedespite numerous military and diplomatic discouragements from the Spanish authorities who governed the surrounding areas.
The Spanish forces
made, however, no attempt to settle the area and, typically, following their raid on the Belize River settlements in
1754, the Spanish force withdrew with the comment that Belize was 'Ionly fit for the English.It25
'?'he British, if any-
thing, rather consolidated their position in the first half of the eighteenth century, by resuming the connection, established by the Providence colonists, with the friendly
Indians of the Mosquito shore, who were violently antiSpanish, and had never been subdued."
*'
This policy had
twofold advantages in that it gave an increased area for wood-cutting as well as another stretch of coast in which to take refuge from the Spanish forces. Mahogany gradually began to assume a more important position within the economy of the settlement during the eighteenth century as its uses27 began to be exploited, and tastes changed within the European market to make products of mahogany desirable.
It was, and is, only found
on a scattered basis throughout the country, and it may be that it will only grow in clearings (such as tree-fall sites) or in the regenerating agricultural plots (milpas) of the Amerindians.
If this is true, the distribution of
mahogany throughout the southern part of the country, where the trees grow slowly and often poorly, away from its ideal conditions, might be more easily explained. Other woods have been exploited such as cedar, sapodilla , Santa Maria, fiddle-wood, rosewood and ironwood,28 but none assumed the position of the logwood and mahogany trees until the coming of pine-cutting in the nineteenth century.
Pine has been extremely important to the Colony,
especially during the last hundred years, and will be examined more closely at a later stage. As pointed out above (p.3 ), place name evidence can
@
play a part in elucidatin6 and reinforcing the bibliographic material on the country.
This is the case with
the material concerning the place of woodcutting in the Colony.
Evidence gathered both from settlenent names
and from street names within the settlements, shows the dominant place that woodcutting has held in the economy. There are streams and streets throughout the country which commemorate the Baymen, Logwood, Mahogany, and the various aspects of the physical environment which were significant to these early settlers as woodcutting carnps or landmarks.
In addition a great many of the settlements were named after the woodcutters, and the memory of various individuals will remain forever, in the cultural environment of the country (see Figs. I and 4). The three major woodcutting activities have a number of things in common:
they have all provided the mainstay
of the economy, and of the most populous and important of the cultural groups, the Creoles, at one period of time. Together these woods made up the chief natural resource of the Colony, and the only one which can yet be said to havs been exploited.
Lastly they are all worked out.
There
is no record of logwood being cut in contemporary Belize. Mahogany is still an inportant timber, but brings in not nearly as much revenue (allowing for inflation and expansion of population) per capita as it used to.
It still
does, however, provide an important source of income to
some of the inhabitants of the Colony during one season of the y e a r .
The country did not learn its lesson from the above two cases, and pine has now been largely worked out. Pine is still cut but most is too young to be of great use.
It is now imported from the U.S. and the neighbouring Spanish-speaking nations.
This state of affairs has
caused some scandal within the country, and the government is trying to encourage the people to use substitutes such as Santa Maria. 29
This policy is meeting with only limited
success, however, and often the result is a curtailment of building or an increased use of artificial materials such as concrete.
The National Development Plan does not
assume that forestry will mcoanence to recovern until the mid 1980's. 30 Much of the history of the Colony is tied up with the configuration of the coast but at this juncture only one more point will be made to demonstrate its usefulness to the British settlers.
In 1798 came the last physical
challenge to the Baymen.
This was the much exaggerated
Battle of St. George's Cay, which is celebrated by the Colony as a justification for holding the settlement by right of conquest. legal title3'
-
In fact it made no difference to the
but it is not without some significance
as it demonstrated the unique32 relationship that existed between master and slave in this settlement, and also
showed the strategic significance of the area.
For three
days the Spaniards tried to force a passage over the
shoals to the mouth of the Belize River, but in these shallow waters they were at a disadvantage and were driven back by the fire of the sloops and the gun flats of the British. 33 Lastly, the-country gained significance to a number of world governments when it was proposed as one of the possible starting points for a trans-isthmian canal. 34 Upon the gaining of greater knowledge of the landscape of Central America, this'idea was soon dropped, however, and the international fortunes of the settlement again relapsed into obscurity.
The problems of makinb a Livinq Living on the coastlands of the ~a~~~
was not by any
means a simple matter and life was complicated as well as aided by the natural environment.
For instance, the wood
which the settlers searched for was not (excessively) easy to come by and had to be hauled and floated long distances before it could be shipped.
The ships, even the
comparatively small ones of the eighteenth century could not come too close to shore as the Spaniards had found to .-
.
their cost, and loading was a long and expensive business. But the price of logwood on the London market at one stage reached El00 per ton, and made life worthwhile for most
and v e r y prosperous f o r sope. 36
T h i s was t r u e d e s p i t e
the f a c t t h a t f o r a number of r e a s o n s n e a r l y a l l food had
t o be imported a t c o n s i d e r a b l e expense. 37 The e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y saw t h e beginnings of
a new c h a p t e r i n t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Colony, a c l o s e r a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h North America.
Some s m a l l change was pro-
duced by t h e w a r between B r i t a i n and t h e United S t a t e s i n 1812,- b u t t h e f i r s t major change was t h e pronouncement of t h e Monroe D o c t r i n e , l a t e r t o be r e i n f o r c e d by t h e ClaytonBulwer Treaty. 38
These a c t s of diplomacy f i n a l l y f i n i s h e d
t h e chances of i n c r e a s i n g B r i t i s h i n f l u e n c e i n C e n t r a l America ( a s t h e 'Colony of t h e Bay 1 s l a n d s 1 3 9 a f f a i r l a t e r showed) but gave some r e c o g n i t i o n t o t h e a l r e a d y e x i s t a n t s e t t l e m e n t around Belize. The American C i v i l War demonstrated t h a t t h e B r i t i s h Hondurans had s i m i l a r f e e l i n g s t o t h e B r i t i s h , f o r t h e Colony b a s i c a l l y supported t h e South, and made a l o t of money i n blockade running.
More i m p o r t a n t , t h e ~ i e u t e n a n t
Governor s p e n t a l o t of time t r y i n g t o persuade both l i b e r a t e d s l a v e s and Southern w h i t e s t h a t t h e Colony would make a good home. r e t u r n e d t o t h e U.S.
A number of t h e l a t t e r t r i e d i t , b u t most
Nevertheless, t h e experiment p u t t h e
Colony on t h e map f o r a good many Americans and t r a d e w i t h t h e United S t a t e s began t o i n c r e a s e more and more.
The
m a i l r o u t e had f l u c t u a t e d f o r some time between Jamaica and New Orleans, but c i r c a . 1878 i t was changed peenanenfly
t o t h e l a t t e r c i t y by Governor Gorlee, and t h i s a l s o r e s u l t e d i n increased t r a d e with t h e U.S.,
particularly with
regard t o f r u i t .
The wood t r a d e with t h e United S t a t e s a l s o stems from about t h e t i m e of the C i v i l War, and u n t i l r e c e n t l y , when t h e t r a d e has been reversed, t h i s had been a very important source of revenue t o t h e Colony. n i n e t e e n t h century t h e U.S. cluded t h a t " t h i s country
Around t h e middle of t h e
agent i n Belize, Leas, con-
... i s l i k e l y t o secure an
impetus through American energy and e n t e r p r i s e t h a t t h e people h e r e have never dreamed of o r regarded a s possible." The support f o r t h i s statement came l a t e r , and i s s t i l l coming, and numerous p r o j e c t s a t present underway i n B r i t i s h Honduras i n d i c a t e t h e t h e economic r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e U.S.A.
i s by no means stagnant.
The c u l t u r a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of North American i n f l u e n c e
i s becoming i n c r e a s i n g l y obvious within t h e country.
The
language i s being more and more Arnericanised, and'bank exchange r a t e s a r e advertised i n United S t a t e s and Canadian d o l l a r s , n o t i n English pounds:
indeed t h e Colony i t s e l f
i s on t h e decimal monetary system.
A g r e a t number of
B r i t i s h Hondurans a r e v i s i t i n g t h e North American c o u n t r i e s , and more and more ( p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y ) are a l s o gaining higher education i n t h e s e c o u n t r i e s .
The proportion of
Belizean automobiles made i n t h e United S t a t e s i s r i s i n g , and t h e i n h a b i t a n t s d r i v e on. t h e r i g h t r a t h e r than t h e
left.
Although t h e country i s u n l i k e l y t o become
the 51st s t a t e t o
& jure
& f a c t o t h i s might happen, as t h e p a t h
t o North A m e r i c a i s growing ever wider. Other p a t t e r n s of economic a c t i v i t y have been few, b u t some have played, o r a r e playing, t h e i r p a r t i n t h e development of t h e c u l t u r a l milieu.
The sugar p l a n t a t i o n s
of t h e northern d i s t r i c t s have l e d t o a new p a t t e r n of comtinications and marketing and t o a g r e a t e x t e n t t o a new way of l i f e , with t h e Indians changing over almost en masse from a milpa system of crop economy.
a g r i c u l t u r e t o a cash
There has been a s i m i l a r transformation i n
Stann Creek D i s t r i c t where c i t r u s f r u i t s have been t h e catalyst.
New settlement p a t t e r n s and new ways of l i f e
a r e being caused by t h e new economy, and s i n c e t h e 1961 census t h i s ' southern d i s t r i c t has become one of t h e most populous, w h i l s t s t i l l being one of t h e l e a s t developed. As Ashcraft p o i n t s o u t , "the present economic s t r u c -
ture bears t h e deep impression made by t h e events of t h e country's p a s t . n41
I n many p a r t s of t h e country t h i s i s
s t i l l t r u e , but i n o t h e r s it i s being f a l s i f i e d by modern p a t t e r n s of change.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE FHYSICAL BACKGROUND Much of t h e influence of t h e physical background has a l r e a d y been touched upon o r mentioned, but i n a d d i t i o n t o
the large number of passiye effects of the environment which were accepted and even looked for by the colonists, the country has exerted a number of more active influences upon the people.
The strength of this influence can be
roughly guaged by a study of the place names in the Colony (see Fig. 1).
Although many remember particular people,
. historical events, and
economic activities, a large nunber
are descriptive of the physical and biotic features of the area which were felt to be influential and important by the early settlers. One of the most irksome aspects of the physical environment manifested itself in a series of hurricanes which have plagued the Colony up to the present day. "Few instances in early times are recorded, though it is known that there were hurricanes in 1785, 1805, and 1813. The country appears to have escaped for most of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth,42
and
a belief grew up that British Honduras was outside the hurricane belt.43
This was rudely shattered by a rno'sr
serious s t o m in 1931, which caused a tidal wave that engulfed Belize and resulted in great damage and the loss of 150 lives."
This particular calamity was more than
usually significant to the capital, as the area which suffered most casualties was that called Queen Charlotte Town, locally known as Calcutta.
The reason for this is
not fully known; one story has it that the East Indian
(i)
A s t r e e t scene iq S e l i z e after Rurricane Hattie.
Tne wooden buildings are b a d l y damaged and the street is blocked but the b r i c k - b u i l t b u i l d i n g on the right is v i r t u a l l y undanaged.
inhabitants of this area were less prepared for the calamity and their houses were more susceptible to the invasion of water; another possibility is that by pure chance the calamity had its worst effect at the south-east corner
of town, Whatever the reason the result is without doubt
--
the East Indian community was destroyed, and did not recover, and today there is only one East Indian family living
in this area of the capital, No other sector grew up to replace Calcutta as a minority group area, and today even the old name is being forgotten. Since 1931 the country has experienced a series of hurricanes which have successively hit the whole country. The southern part of the country has been hit in 1941 and
1945.
The latter disaster more or less destroyed Funta
Gorda, 'capital' of the Toledo District, as well as many of the surrounding villages.
Corozal, the administrative
j
centre of the District of the same name was almost totally destroyed in 1955, along with some of the surrounding villages such as Sarteneja.
But as Huxley points out "even
a tidal wave may have something to be said for it.
does at least clear away the slums.
It
Our governments and
municipalities are less brutal; but they are also, alas, a good deal less effective. w45
Corozal, Sarteneja and some
parts of the surrounding villages were completely rebuilt and redesigned after 1955 and the new houses, water systems and road networks are much superior to the old.
(ii)
After Hattie many of the streets were blocked and 'under water, and p a s s a b l e , i f a t all, only to p e d e s t r i a n s . Xany of the houses v e r e rebuilt i n s i r n i l a r s t y l e s and often with the s a m materials.
Belize City was itself struck again in 1961 by Hurricane Hattie, perhaps one of the most significant recent contributions to the cultural geography of the country. .
"Hurricane 'Hattie1 struck Belize on 31st October,
1961, bringing death and devastation overnight.
In addi-
tion to terrific rain and hurricane force winds in gusts of up to 200 m.p:h., wave.
the coastal areas had a 15 feet tidal
The wind and rain swept across the middle of the
country in a swathe about 100 miles wide from Maskall 28 miles north of Belize City to 70 miles south near Monkey River Town.
The eye of the hurricane passed over Mullins
River Village, 28 miles south of Belize City in the general direction from North East to South West into Guatemala. Although the Orange Walk, Corozal and Toledo Districts were not affected, the devastated area comprised some threequarters of the country and affected over 75 per cent of the
-
.~-
population. I~~~
Hattie's instant destruction had a number
< :
of other significant effects, not least of which was the devastation of 3,000 square miles of forest area (one of the Colony's greatest money-makers) "by the wind and the b
concomitant evils of fire and disease.,147 *
Also it put the country back onto the 'mental maps1 of many people throughout the world, and led to a great influx of relief money and goods.
There followed an
enormous reconstruction and rebuilding bo'om which is still going on today.
Many people gained new houses made of new
(iif)
One of the oldest buildings in Selize City. X o t e the brick basement and the remains of the attic w k d o t ; in t h e 'roof'.
m a t e r i a l s and paid f o r by ,the v a r i o u s forms of o u t s i d e help.
Although t h e owners have t o repay much of t h i s
money over a period of t i m e , t h e event was almost a b l e s s i n g i n d i s g u i s e f o r many a s they would never otherwise
have got t h e c a p i t a l together,
The most notable example of
t h i s r e b u i l d i n g i s a new c a p i t a l site.
The h u r r i c a r e f i n -
a l l y convinced t h e a u t h o r i t i e s t h a t Belize was no longer a h
s a f e s i t e , p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r t h e s t o r i n g of records and f o r t h e processes of government.
The new s i t e i s now w e l l on
t h e way t o completion, and although i t s s t o r y i s n o t one of c o n t i n u a l success i t i s c e r t a i n t h a t t h e new c i t y w i l l have a g r e a t e f f e c t upon t h e country i n f u t u r e years.
If
nothing else i t would appear t o be s a f e from a l l but t h e most v i o l e n t hurricanes. L a s t l y , t h e aftermath of H a t t i e was c h a r a c t e r i s e d by a number of s i g n i f i c a n t r e d i s t r i b u t i o n s of population.
Some of t h e s e involved s p e c i f i c c u l t u r a l groups i n i m p o r t a n t ways, and may have l o n g l a s t i n g e f f e c t s upon t h e cult u r a l geography of t h e Colony. The hurricane must be considered a s a s i g n i f i c a n t f e a t u r e of t h e climate of t h e country.
They u s u a l l y s t r i k e
i n t h e months of August, September and October. 48 The c h a r a c t e r of t h e inland p a r t s of t h e country has had a number of s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t s upon the subsequent c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n s , - n o t t h e l e a s t of t h e s e concerning
conununications.
The swampy, low l y i n g n a t u r e of t h e c o a s t a l
areas and much of t h e northern s e c t i o n o f t h e Colony, coupled w i t h t h e shortage of b u i l d i n g s t o n e h a s meant t h a t
road b u i l d i n g and maintenance i n t h e s e a r e a s i s v e r y c o s t l y and d i f f i c u l t .
The v e g e t a t i o n i s t h i c k and f a s t grow-
fng and coupled w i t h t h e heavy r a i n f a l l t h i s means t h a t a
c o n t i n u a l patchwork p o l i c y of road maintenance i s necessary. 3
The n a t u r e of t h e country's r i v e r system, as Morris h a s p o i n t e d 0 u t , ~ 9 has always been i m p o r t a n t , a f f o r d i n g n a t u r a l highways t o t h e i n t e r i o r and d i r e c t l y l e a d i n g t o much o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s economic development.
Campeche, 50
on t h e n o r t h e r n shore of t h e Yucatan p e n i n s u l a , had s t a r t e d i t s l i f e i n a s i m i l a r way t o B e l i z e , b u t had f a i l e d p a r t l y f o r p o l i t i c a l r e a s o n s , and p a r t l y because "the labour of h a u l i n g t h e logs down t o t h e seashore had grown i n t o l e r a b l e . . . .
The c u t t e r s had heard g r e a t s t o r i e s
of t h e comparatively v i r g i n f o r e s t s f u r t h e r s o u t h beyond t h e Rio Hondo, i n t h e Belize River d i s t r i c t , where s w i f t
streams and c r e e k s l a y a t t h e edge of t h e c l e a r i n g s ready t o c a r r y t h e timber t o t h e sea. v51
Today the
importance
of t h i s h i s t o r i c a l p a t t e r n can s t i l l be seen i n t h e landscape, where many s e t t l e m e n t s c l i n g t o t h e r i v e r banks, t h e watercourse s t i l l providing t h e major means of communication w i t h t h e o u t s i d e world.
This p a t t e r n i s slowly
c h a n g h g , however, and a s t h e government i s pushing new r o a d s through, t h e s e t t l e m e n t s a r e moving up t h e r i v e r
bank t o t a k e advantage of t h e more modern t r a n s p o r t a t i o n 1
sys tern.
L i t t l e r o a d c o n s t r u c t i o n was attempted b e f o r e 1930, p a r t l y because o f t h e l a c k of money, p a r t l y because of t h e l a c k o f u r g e n t demand, and p a r t l y because of t h e e x i s t e n c e of t h e r i v e r s which a t l e a s t i n p a r t s a t i s f i e d t h e need. As Caiger p o i n t s o u t , 52
i n 1951 a l i t t l e o v e r 300 m i l e s
of road w a s i n e x i s t e n c e , but t h i s w a s about 295 m i l e s more than twenty y e a r s before.
The s i t u a t i o n i s v e r y
d i f f e r e n t now, although t h e r e a r e v i r t u a l l y no roads which can be c a l l e d 'all-weather'
i n t h e North American sense.
But t h e government seems t o have adopted a p o l i c y of p u t t i n g a s many roads as p o s s i b l e i n f i r s t , and worrying about t h e i r upkeep and s u r f a c e l a t e r .
Whether o r n o t
t h i s i s t h e b e s t p o l i c y i s debatable, but t h e o n l y o t h e r f e a s i b l e a l t e r n a t i v e within the present f i s c a l context
i s t o have a v e r y few w e l l surfaced roads.
The sugar
companies have a l s o been important i n t h e sphere of roadb u i l d i n g , as t h e y want t h e i r e s t a t e s t o be a c c e s s i b l e , and a few o t h e r companies and a handful of p r i v a t e i n d i v i d u a l s have a l s o played t h e i r p a r t .
I n t h e d r y season
it i s o n l y t h e extreme southern p a r t of t h e Colony t h a t
cannot be reached by motor v e h i c l e , and a p p a r e n t l y i n some y e a r s , even t h i s i s p o s s i b l e , along abandoned logging tracks.
Unfortunately during t h e g r e a t e r p a r t of t h e
y e a r t h e s i t u a t i o n does n o t approach q u i t e so c l o s e l y t o
the ideal.
The boundaries of t h e Colony The boundaries of t h e Colony, b o t h i n t e r n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l have f l u c t u a t e d widely over t h e y e a r s .
For
a long t i m e t h e boundary w a s d i s p u t e d and 1783 s a w t h e f i r s t d e l i n e a t i o n , which w a s followed i n 1786 by an agreement which f u r t h e r expanded t h e area of t h e s e t t l e m e n t . But both of t h e s e t r e a t i e s w i t h Fpain p e r t a i n e d t o woodc u t t i n g , and n o t t o permanent s e t t l e m e n t .
I n 1859 an
Anglo-Guatemalan T r e a t y a t l a s t f i x e d t h e southern and western boundaries i n t h e i r p r e s e n t p o s i t i o n s , but t h i s t r e a t y h a s never gained i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e c o g n i t i o n .
After
f u r t h e r d i s p u t e t h e Mexican government agreed t o an Anglo-Mexican boundary t r e a t y which f i x e d t h e n o r t h e r n boundary on t h e Hondo R i v e r , which had been i t s t r a d i t i o n a l l o c a t i o n f o r more than a century. Over t h e y e a r s , t h e country h a s been subdivided i n t o smaller administrative u n i t s i n order t o f a c i l i t a t e the day-to-day
running of t h e Colony.
B e l i z e C i t y has always
been r u n on a somewhat d i f f e r e n t b a s i s t o t h e rest of t h e Colony, because of i t s h i s t o r i c a l p o s i t i o n as a merchant c e n t r e r a t h e r than a s a n a r e a of woodcutting, and because
of i t s s i z e , population and urban n a t u r e .
In e a r l i e r
t i m e s t h e c o u n t r y was d i v i d e d i n t o Northern, C e n t r a l , and Southern D i s t r i c t s , b u t t h i s p a t t e r n was soon changed
and Belize District w a s d e l i n e a t e d ; s i n c e t h i s time i t s boundaries have n o t changed, Cayo D i s t r i c t , o r i g i n a l l y p a r t of t h e C e n t r a l D i s -
t r i c t , h a s v a r i e d i n s i z e s i n c e i t s i n c e p t i o n a s an autonomous area, gaining some land from Toledo District
i n 1954, when a more 'geographical* l i n e , t h e c r e s t of t h e Maya Mountains, was taken a s t h e boundary. Corozal and Orange Walk D i s t r i c t s , p r e v i o u s l y t h e Northern D i s t r i c t , have only been r e c e n t l y d i v i d e d , and
as t h e i r d i v i s i o n was l a r g e l y a r t i f i c i a l , n o t having c u l t u r a l , economic o r p h y s i c a l v a l i d i t y , they w i l l be considered t o g e t h e r i n t h i s work, S t a n n Creek D i s t r i c t , which once made up t h e Southern
District w i t h Toledo, has changed i t s boundaries o n l y minimally over t h e years.
The changes have been a r e s u l t
of t h e g a i n i n g of b e t t e r knowledge of t h e p h y s i c a l environment r a t h e r t h a n a realignment t o coincide w i t h economic o r c u l t u r a l divisions. Toledo D i s t r i c t
h a s always been made up of l e s s
u s e f u l l a n d s t o t h e south, and i t s boundaries r e f l e c t t h e conveniences of t h e o t h e r d i s t r i c t s r a t h e r than a I
1
v i a b l e a r e a l o c a t e d around an economic, physical o r c u l t u r a l centre. D e s p i t e t h e sonewhat c a r e l e s s and piece-meal d i v i s i o n
of the country, the resultant districts do have considerable contemporary validity, and to a great extent reflect
the cultural backgrounds of the groups that inhabit them.
I
NOTES ON CHAPTLX TWO
his word
is pronounced 'keys
(kees)
.
*1t is unlikely that there were many Mayan Indians left in the area of the Colony by 1000 A.D.
3 ~ e ethe distribution of settlement on Fig. 2. 4Anderson, A.H., Brief Sketch of British Honduras (Belize City: Printing Department, British tionduras, 1958). hthetthwaite , L. , m3econnaissance in British Honduras," University of Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin, 16 (No. 1, 1951, ~hiladelphia). 6~hompson,J. Eric, wArchaeological Investigations in the Southern Cayo District, British Honduras," AnthroField Museum of Natural History, XVZZ '-dell, C.L. , "The 1936 Michigan-Carnegie Botanial Expedition to -~ritishHonduras,"~ot& of the Maya Area: Miscellaneous Papers, XIV (Publication 522, 1940, Washington, D.C.). '~ltun Ha (Belize City: Government Information Service, 1968).
1•‹1bid., pp. 3-4. bid.
, pp.
7-8.
13gurdon, Sir John A. (ed.), Archives of British Honduras (London: Sifton Praed and Co. Ltd, , l935), Vol. I, cit • p. 31. d ÷ %orris, D., The Colony of British Honduras (London: l883), p. 13. cit
-9
Pa 31.
17hderson,
c i t . , 'p. 35.
OP.
1 8 ~ r a d l e y , L. H.,
Personal Communication ( J u l y , 1969).
t 9 ~ u r d o n , OP.
c i t . , p. 4.
2 0 ~ a i g e r OP. ,
c i t . , p. 38.
' l ~ s h c r a f t , N. , "The I n t e r n a l Marketing System of B r i t i s h Honduras, P a s t and P r e s e n t ,I1 A paper p r e s e n t e d a t t h e s e s s i o n on Economic Anthropology: L a t i n America, 6 7 t h Annual Meeting of t h e American A n t h r o p o l o ~ i c a lAssoc i a t i o n , S e a t t l e , November 22, 1968, p. 2. 2%wayne,
OP.
c i t . , p. 176.
24~ogwoody i e l d s t h e dye Haematoxylin , o r i g i n a l l y v e r y expensive b u t now completely d e c l i n e d i n importance w i t h t h e i n v e n t i o n of s y n t h e t i c a n i l i n e dyes. Most of t h e logwood i s found i n damp, moist d i s t r i c t s t o t h e n o r t h , b u t t h e r e are a l s o many t r a c t s t o t h e s o u t h , where logwood was p l e n t i f u l . Z5caiger, '%addell,
OP.
c i t . , p. 75.
op. c i t . , p. 10.
2 7 ~ u c has s h i p b u i l d i n g , f u r n i t u r e making and woodpanelling. 2%orris,
op. c i t . , p. 62.
" ~ a k e n from a cover s t o r y i n t h e R e o t t e r , Vol. 2,
No. 4 ( B e l i z e City: Friday, January 24, + 1969 T a
,
3OCarr, D. and Thorpe J. (eds. ) s (London: Putnam, 1961), p. 58.
, From
t h e Cam t o t h e
3 1 ~ tth e end of t h i s war B r i t a i n agreed t o a s t a t u s quo a n t e bellum and a l l captured t e r r i t o r i e s were r e t u r n e d t o Spain. 3 2 ~ a d d e l l ,op. c i t . , p. 14, pp. 98-99. 3 3 ~ u r d o n , OP. '
and Caiger,
OP.
cit.,
c i t . , p. 252 e t . seq.
3 4 ~ a i g e r OP. , cit.
, pp.
114-119.
3 5 ~ ne x p r e s s i o n used i n p l a c e of t h e 'Bay 'of Honduras by t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e a r e a .
36~lthoughthere were 'many poor people there was a class of wealthy people composed of merchants and landowners, such as Thomas Faslow and Captain Yarborough.
381n this Treaty both England and America, with their eyes on the future of a trans-isthmian canal, promised not to fortify any places in Nicaragua or 'any other part of Central America.' Bulwer put it in black and white at the time that 'His Majesty does not understand the engagements of the Convention to apply to His Majesty's Settlement at Honduras or to its dependencies.' Clayton explicitely concurred. (Caiger, p. 115). %aiger,
OP.
cit., pp. 116-119.
4 0 number ~ of Americans resident in the Colony believe that pro-American feeling is so strong that a referendum would produce a majority of people -wishing for the country to become a state of the U.S.A., or at least to attain the status of Puerto P.ico. 41~shcraft, op. cit., p. LO. 42~addell, op. cit., p. 60.
440ne East Indian family lost forty-five relatives (Donohue, p. 52).
46iieoort of the Reconstruction and Development Corporation. January 1963 to July 1966 (~elizeCity), p. 1. 47Crosbie, A.J. and E'urley, P.A., "The New Belize Prospects for British Honduras," Scottish Geographical Magazine, 83 (No. 1, April, 1967), p. 58.
4%orris,
op. cit., p. 10.
So~nownto the British as Campeachy. 5kaiger, op. cit., p. 58.
--
CHAPTELi THaZE
THE CAPITALS OF THE COUNTRY
Belize City is more than a "unique waterfront community
it is a hique experience.
It is a settlement con-
ceived because of its location, and it is now being strangled by this same factor.
As Morris suggests,
*IBelize was, no doubt, in the first instance, selected as the headquarters of the settlement, owing to its position at the mouth of the principal river.
It certainly could
not have possessed any other advantages.112 In the past, this was an important advantage, enabling the city to establish considerable economic and cultural influence in this part of the world.
It became the centre of entrepot
trade in eastern Central America and the western Caribbean,3 of both legal and illicit natures; and only gave up this position after the opening of the Panama railroad and later after the cutting of the Panama canal, when the country's careful consolidated trading expertise proved insufficient to preserve its importance.
From this time
the capital city began to assume its present-day position as a semi-parasite upon the economy. Location has always been the major advantage of
Belize
but ironically it is the situation
city which may now spell its end.
the
The city has twice in
the last half century been swamped by the seas whipped up by hurricanes, when its two-foot elevation proved to be pitifully inadequate as protection against the water. Many of the administrative functions of the capital are
. not
being prepared for removal to the new capital site ! ,
near Roaring Creek (see Fig. 5); Belize may soon only serve as the outport of the new city. The long-term government *lan4r5
calls for the con-
struction of a 'super-port', five miles south of the Sibun River mouth, which if constructed might sound the death knell for Belize City. The City can be reached by land, sea and air, but the traditional means portant.
I i
-- by water,is
still the most im-
The majority of the country's imports come in
by sea, although because of the gently shelving land offshore, the goods have to be lightered in from up to
, I
I
one mile away:
Belize will never be a "big-ship seaport."
The harbour of Belize is used only by pleasure boats, fishing boats, the occasional coastal trader and a few
I
miscellaneous craft.
The largest ships to use the port
are the sailing boats which ply between Sarteneja and the
!
capital city, via the northern section of the inside passage.
Small craft also reach Belize City down Kaulover
Creek, having travelled by river and canal from the
settlements along the Beljze and Sibun Rivers, and the lagoons to the south.
Since the improvement of the road
system, the inland waterways have become progressively
less important, except for bulk goods, but such people as the villagers of Gales Point still derive great benefits from the traditional mode of transport.
This village
is relatively isolated within Belize District, and the opening of the
don
canal6
in 1929 has enabled its
inhabitants to more easily and more safely connect with
the capital. .
.
There are two major roads out of the capital, one
leading north and the other west.
The latter is mainly
used for domestic trsffic, its only international connection being with the isolated area of the Peten which can only be crossed during the dry season, and then the passage is somewhat risky.
The road north is the coun-
try's only effective international land connection, joining British Honduras with Mexico and North America.
It
is a poor road and in places is almost unpassable, especially during the rainy season or a high tide.
The road
also connects the capital with the airport, and one stretch is often flooded during a high tide, thus effectively cutting the city off for a number of hours. The International airport, once Stanley Field, is about eight miles from Belize City, being located at the nearest point where physical conditions allow such a
f u n c t i o n t o be located.
The landing s t r i p has r e c e n t l y
been extended so t h a t i t could provide f o r small passenger
jets (eg.,
t h e BAC I l l ) , b u t t h e r e i s some debate a s t o
whether i t would be p o s s i b l e t o extend t h e runway f u r t h e r , because of t h e adverse physical conditions.
There i s
a l s o some debate a s t o whether t h i s w i l l be necessary,
at l e a s t i n t h e near f u t u r e , a s few of t h e planes now landing a r e f i l l e d t o capacity, and t h e r e i s l i t t l e prob l e n w i t h t h e volume of a i r t r a f f i c .
The a i r p o r t build-
i n g s and f a c i l i t i e s a r e a l s o c u r r e n t l y being extended t o cope with t h e predicted increase i n t r a f f i c volume i n f u t u r e years. The c i t y i s located on Haulover Creek, a d i s t r i b u t a r y
of t h e Belize River some four m i l e s away from t h e main stream.
I t i s based upon a d e l t a of a l l u v i a l d e t r i t u s ,
leaving t h e c i t y surrounded on t h r e e s i d e s by water and having no p o i n t more than a few f e e t above mean sea l e v e l . High t i d e s coupled w i t h strong onshore winds o f t e n leave p a r t s of t h e town underwater, drainage i s nowhere i d e a l , and i s f r e q u e n t l y non-existent.
The small a r e a above
s e a l e v e l has been b u i l t up p a r t l y by n a t u r a l processes b u t l a r g e l y by t h e laborious f i l l i n g - i n of mangrove swamps over t h e years by t h e Belizeans, w i t h some government a c t i o n consolidating t h i s l a r g e l y piecemeal reclamation.
The e f f o r t s of t h e c i t i z e n s have been g r e a t , b u t
have been f r u s t r a t e d by t h e n a t u r a l conditions of t h e
(vi)
The edge of a canal after the 1961 hurricane. 3ki-y of t h e less substantially b u i l t houses were totally denolished. Note the bed by the side of the water.
area, and more particularly by the drainage problem. "Ditches were dug in an initial effort to try and drain the land, but because of its minLmal elevation this proved quite unsuccessful.
A
pattern of reclamation began which
has changed little to date, This takes the form of cutting the mangrove, laying it over as a mat, then hauling in coconut husks, sawdust or other absorptive materials as L
filler.
The pipeshank coral is brought in from the lagoon
areas and placed as the second lift as base material for the final layers of sandon'
This complex engineering
practice has undoubtedly been important to the process
of reclamation, but Less obvious and deliberate measures may have helped to provide at least the initial base for the city.
In the past the area around Belize was used
by the loggers to prepare their wood for the English market, which most often took "squared, or so-called manufactured logs. u8 '#The logs were hauled out onto the mud, and the chips and cut-off ends formed'a deposit which gradually sank in and solidified the swamp, The workers were most expert but thirsty souls, and working in that hot, moist temperature found it necessary, in order to quench their thirst, to resort to the excellent but fiery Santa Rita rum, a product of the north of the colony known locally as twhiteeyef. The empty bottles sank amongst the chips and log ends, and it is possible now to put down a boring 60 feet,
and to find mahogany chips,mixed up with rum bottles with surprising regularityeu9
Other systems of land reclarna-
tion are also used, using many kinds of materials, even waste paper and tin cans,lO
but all are prevented from
being greatly successful by the problem of drainage. "Initially, on the north side a canal was dug to act as a main drainage course to reclaim the land.
In
the 19th Century the South-side Canal was dug and finally in the early part of the 20th Century the Collet Canal was Today these serve two functions, "as drainage courses and as sanitary sewage basins which discharge into the sea with normal tide range. 18 12
The system is
far from satisfactory as the tidal range is small and the tidal flow both meagre and slow, and on hot and rainy days especially, the delize is pervaded by the smell of sewage which is never completely dissipated and is one of the most noticeable characteristics of the city.
The
Belize of fairly recent times wzs described by Dr. Gann
as:
"...
a picturesque little place; its white walled red roofed, broad verandahed houses, standing in spacious grounds filled with palms, fruit trees, and flowering shrubs bathed in perpetual sunshine, and cooled by almost constant sea breezes render it one of the most delightful spots in' Central America. Wide canals, spanned by picturesque bridges and traversed by dugouts and other small craft which run the whole length of the t o m , have given it the title 'of the 'Venice of the Caribbean1 by which it is sometimes known."l3
Dr. Gann either saw little of the city, or it has changed slot, tor nowadays this description is inaccurate, and epithets used to describe the settlement are seldom so flattering.
The canals are now full of sewage and
require regular dredging
-- a facility which is unfor-
tunately not always available.
It is significant that the
catfish and carp which thrive upon such effluent, are protected by a municipal law, and cannot be fished for on pain of arrest.
There does not seem to be much effort
on the part of the inhabitants to break this law, for the Belizeans seem to be convinced that these fish could not provide good eating.
The existence of these particular
animals may be part of the reason that very little fish of any sort is sold within the City, although the waters around the Colony abound in marine life. Probably Dr. Gann's description
was
accurate fifty
years ago, for it is the last half century which has
seen some of the greatest growth in the'cityfshistory. Caiger gives the population of 1900 as being about 12,000. l4
It is now nearer 40,000 (and still growing), "
a figure which is approximately one third of the country's total.
The com~ositionof the city. By the very nature of the resources of the country, .-
which include a lot of timber products but few more re-
sistant building materials, it is not surprising that most of the buildings are made of wood. There are a few excep+tionsto this rule, as a nunber
of the more recently built dwellings have been made of concrete and some of the older buildings are partly or wholly constructed of brick.
The bricks in question came
from Britain, as ballast in the ships which arrived to trade.in logwood, and the basements of a number of the houses are made of this material, many still containing iron rings reputedly to which slaves were chained.
A
smaller number of buildings are wholly made of brick, the most notable being St. John's Cathedral, constructed at the south end of town, near the Governor's residence, consecrated in 1826 and the coronation site for three Mosquitian Kings. Most of the older buildings are larger than the new, reflecting a time of greater affluence and vigour in the Colony, and the majority of these were better built.
They
have withstood the tests of at least two hurricanes and have suffered relatively minor damage. The most noticeable characteristic of the buildings of Belize City is their tendency to be built with their floors above ground level, and a number of explanations have been put forward to account for this method of building upon 'stiltst or 'posts1. Inevitably the physi-
cal f a c t o r s have played a ,great p a r t , a s t h e swampy cond i t i o n s , tendency t o inundation by t h e s e a , and t h e numerous i n s e c t p e s t s t h a t a r e f o s t e r e d by t h e a r e a , a l l suggests t h a t a b u i l d i n g above ground l e v e l i s t h e most appropriate.
I t i s a l s o a method of b u i l d i n g suggested
by c l i m a t i c e x p e r t s , as i t allows a f r e e flow of a i r about the dwelling place. 15
I t i s a l s o probably an adaption
t o t h e use of wood f o r b u i l d i n g , a t l e a s t t o a p a r t i a l e x t e n t , a s i t has been pointed o u t above t h a t some of t h e o r i g i n a l b u i l d i n g s had b r i c k basements, which were f i r m l y f i x e d t o t h e ground.
Also some of t h e more modern build-
i n g s , made of ' c o n c r e t e f blocks a r e constructed on t h e ground with l i t t l e provision f o r f r e e a i r movement beneath them. Whatever t h e o r i g i n a l reasons f o r t h i s s t y l e of house c o n s t r u c t i o n , it seems c e r t a i n t h a t t h e method has now become p a r t of t h e c u l t u r e of t h e people, a s wherever Belizeans t r a v e l they tend t o b u i l d houses o f f t h e ground. One English f r u i t - p l a n t a t i o n owner h i r e d some labourers from t h e C i t y t o b u i l d him a good ( b u t inexpensive) house n e a r Kendal (Stann Creek ~ i s t r i c t ) . Upon r e t u r n i n g t o t h e s i t e a few weeks l a t e r he was astonished t o n o t i c e t h a t before beginning t o build t h e house t h e c a r p e n t e r s had b u i l t a number of ( q u i t e expensive) concrete p i l l a r s . Upon t r y i n g t o e s t a b l i s h why they had bothered t o do t h i s i n an a r e a of good drainage and d i s t a n c e from t h e water,
(x)
The rerziins of t h e market area a f t e r Burricane Hattie; a view fron the swing-bridge. Tfie b u i l d i n g on t h e l e f t w a s totally d e - r o o f e d and both were b a d l y damaged by winds of more than 200 m.p.h.
the owner found that the men were nonplussed by the ques-
tion.
They had not considered the possibility of con-
structing the house in any other manner.
There are
numerous other examples of this cultural adoption within the Colony.
The method of building does not preclude
the construction of large houses, and in the Old Town and Fort George areas there are three-storey buildings, often C
with the roof being used as a dwelling area also, on top of five or six foot stilts.
Usually, however, the
buildings are of two-storey construction in the older areas, and one-storey construction, with the provision for further growth, in the outlying areas such as Lake Independence Area and Cinderella T o ~ m(Fig. 4). Besides being characteristically built of wood and above ground level, the buildings of Belize City have a number of other striking features.
In contrast to much
of the rest of the country, their roofs are all of metal, usually galvanised iron, but occasiona&ly asbestos or aluminium.
If Morris' account is accurate this has been
the state of affairs for at least 100 years.
Much of the
rest of the Colony has a similar roofing type, but generally this is more recent, and often only postdates the 1961 hurricane.
A number of explanations have been put
forward, the most important being the consideration of fire, for in such close proximity the houses are in great danger from this element, and the smallest of fires
could be disastrous.
These are a number of towns, in
the Colony (eg., Belize City, Corozal, Orange Walk, Cayo and Stann Creek) which now prohibit the further construction of thatched roofs, due to the fire hazard.
There is
also the problem of getting a potable water supply.
It
was not until the 1940's that it was discovered that water from the Pine Ridge areas near Hattieville (seventeen C
miles off) could be used for domestic purposes.
Many
houses still have their more ancient system of watercollecting, a large vat which catches rainfall runoff from the metal roofs.
h hatched
to provide this service.)
roofs would not be able
In the past the roofs were
much more steeply pitched, thus making the houses cooler, but the experience of the recent hurricanes has led to a flattening of the roofs and there is now only a handful1 of the old type in existence. Verandahs are important to Belizean architecture, varying from those in the Fort George area where two or three stories are surrounded on three or four sides, to those of the poorer people which are usually found only on the front or back of the house.
There are both cli-
matic and economic reasons for this method of building; the house is kept cooler and it provides a cheaper form of living space which can be used in the Tropics for most
of the year.
But once again cultural factors appear to
be important, and several of the methods of building
described above have been qdopted as forms of architecture. The original house form, and the part first constructed would be a simple shack, on high posts.
When enough
money is gained this is added to in ways handed down through the centuries.
It is rare that the actual house
size is increased, but verandahs are added to the front
of the house, and verandahs or filled-in verandahs to the back.
The final step not always taken, and not always
necessary would involve the filling in of the area between floor and earth, thus making a two storey dwelling. The process of increasing the verandah space can then be continued.
A number of houses have filled their veran-
dahs to make additional closed-in space and then built a further verandah on 'this section of the house. What was probably originally a mode of building prompted by the physical background of the area has now been evolved into an efficient method of piecemeal architecture, with the house like some colossal jigsaw puzzle.
In this method of building lies the root of the Belizean's dissatisfaction with the newer building materials, which are less adaptable.
Often the builder will use inferior
quality young wood which has a (relatively) short and unsatisfactory life, rather than use the concrete blocks which are slightly more costly in the short run, but much cheaper and more efficient, as well as being more hurri-
cane proof, i n t h e long rqn. Another a r a h i t e c t u r a l phenomenon which i s found a l l over t h e country, but appears t o have stermed from Belize City, i s t h e s h u t t e r e d window.
These have t h e advantage
of being more adaptable than most o t h e r kinds, and y e t
fairly e a s y t o o p e r a t e and n o t too expensive t o make. They are found i n t h e B r i t i s h and French a r e a s of t h e Caribbean, and a l s o i n p a r t s of Spanish and Portuguese
America.
They are now beginning t o d i e o u t somewhat,
newer houses being b u i l t with wooden, g l a s s , o r p l a s t i c louvres, and t h e r e i s now a f a c t o r y i n Belize City producing t h i s l a t t e r commodity.
I n p a s t decades, t h e buildings of Belize C i t y were w e l l k e p t and apparently w e l l painted,16
but i n r e c e n t
y e a r s t h e d e c l i n e of t h e c i t y ' s f o r t u n e s has seen a d e c l i n e i n housing standards, and nowadays very few of t h e buildings g i v e any i n d i c a t i o n of having been r e g u l a r l y o r r e c e n t l y painted.
Even those financed by t h e government
and o r i g i n a l l y a b r i g h t blue and white ( t h e government p a r t y ' s c o l o u r s ) a r e now peeling and faded.
The b u i l d i n g s
along t h e commercial s t r e e t s a r e an exception t o t h i s g e n e r a l r u l e , but i t seems l i k e l y t h a t i t was t h e paintwork, and n o t t h e node of c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a t led Carr t o desc r i b e t h e buildings a s 'shackst17
and ' n a t i v e houses 1 18
both being derogatory t e r m s when taken i n context.
Indeed
t h e Belizeans a r e g e n e r a l l y acclaimed a s being master
builders in their own way,,and building projects throughout the country from Punta Gorda to Cayo, to Corozal, usually have their share of carpenters from the capital city.
In the hurricane of 1961, "one third of the buildings were completely demolished, one third were heavily damaged and the remainder had suffered partial damage.I,19
The Reconstruction and Redevelopment Corporation was initiated and received 1,200 applications for financial assistance in rebuilding.
The damage was bad, but the
sturdy construction of a number of the buildings prevented
an even greater disaster. Many of the houses suffered because their stilts, rotten below ground level because of the saturation of the earth, snapped off in the high winds.
Soon after the hurricane a l a w was passed requir-
ing all new buildings to have their posts firmly entrench-
ed in concrete, so that such a disaster might be prevented in the future.
Nearly $354,000 B.H. was given
by the Corporation in the form of housing grants and in addition over $1,300,000 B.H. was handed out to the inhabitants of the City in the form of loans.
Without this
financial aid it is doubtful that the city could have returned to norrnal so quickly.
Pictures and accounts
written a year or so later show that the visual form of the capital was back to normal, to such an extent that most of the buildings were replaced in the same places
and in the same style.
Indped the visual form of the
city has been the same for considerably longer, and photographs of Belize a century ago might have been taken by
a contemporary photographer. 20
The Local Areas of the city. Belize City has a very recognisable pattern of growth, mainly because the physical environment is such that it lends itself to piecemeal exploitation.
Originally the
site was less extensive and more fragmented than it is The majority of what is now relatively solid land
now.
was once mangrove swamp, and some of it was open sea; the area has been reclaimed by a process of piecemeal reclamation (see p. 57).
Old maps and the present day
street and canal networks eriable the researcher to divide the city up into twelve districts,21
all of which have
some cultural validity, and historical background, and which are recognized by the citizens as being local areas. In addition to the documentary evidence, the contemporary field evidence, and the support given as verbal testimony by the inhabitants, the forms of street nornenclature are also useful in the indication and designation of the various local areas of Selize City.
The street
names vary in type from one sector of the city to another, although the chief difference can be seen along the boundary
between the pre 20th Century area, and that built up in
the last sixty years.
The former has its share of
'commemorative1 names, lfunctionallnames, Ienvironmentall names, and names which remember long-dead personages.
The latter areas are much more deliberately named, almost
as if a conscious effort was made to preserve some of the history of the country in the landscape, and indeed this might well have been the case (see Fig. 4). There are also a number of names which only thicken the question marks which abound in the country, for only historical surmising can account for them.
is Orange Street:
Thus there
there are two settlements in the
country called Orange klalk, but it seems unlikely that either was naned after the fruit, and one is left to speculate about the strength of early Dutch (or possible Irish) influence in the Colony.
There are records of
Dutch buccaneers (such as Nicholas van Horn) but no evidence of settlement by Netherlanders. The Old Town site:
in many ways the Old Town is a
geographical entity with a consecutive history, but culturally and economically it is segregated into a number of sections.
The sea-front areas on both sides of the
river have traditionally been the areas of upper-class settlement.
These are the areas that most closely
approximate those described by Cann, with clean white '
houses and freshening winds.
The advantages of such a
( x i i ) One of t h e o l d e r b u i l d i n g s of S e l i z e C i t y , now s e r v i n g as g o v e r m e n t o f f i c e s , and I n c z r e d a t t h e b r i d g e - f o o t next to t h e Paslow B ~ i l d b g , t h e only pos t - o f f i c e i n the c i t y ( l e f t back-ground) m e age of the boilding i s indicated by t h e s t e e p pitch of t h e roof and t h e u s e of the t o p - s t o r e y / r o o f area. Note also t h e s h u t t e r s , symbolic of t h e o l d B e l i z e .
.
l o c a t i o n have n o t been overlooked i n r e c e n t developments, and almost without exception t h e b e t t e r class housing of
the c i t y may be found along t h e sea-front. The n o r t h e r n p a r t of t h e Old Town i s t h e o l d e s t and most e x t e n s i v e , and contains many of t h e o r i g i n a l government establishments such as mental h o s p i t a l , h o s p i t a l , poor house, g a o l , p o l i c e s t a t i o n , p u b l i c works compound,
etc.
I t a l s o contains a number of l a r g e and important
r e s i d e n c e s , and much of t h e population of t h e c i t y ; t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e s e people live along t h e main s t r e e t s , but some of t h e houses a r e located w i t h i n t h e c e n t r e s of t h e blocks, and can only be reached by narrow winding a l l e y s running along property l i n e s .
L i t t l e b u i l d i n g space i s
wasted and t h e backyard of a house i n v a r i a b l y contains another house.
The buildings a r e o f t e n very o l d , having
withstood t h e ravages of t h e century's storms, and t h e road names c e l e b r a t e long f o r g o t t e n personages o r i n d i -
cate simple f a c t s of l i f e .
The road p a t t e r n i s i n p a r t s
confused and i n p a r t s almost g r i d - l i k e , but everywhere t h e p a t t e r n of alleyways ensures t h a t t h e v i s i t o r always h a s a new p a t h t o tread. South of Haulover Creek t h e road p a t t e r n i s much more g r i d - l i k e , r e f l e c t i n g i t s l a t e r i n c e p t i o n , and t h e
street names r e f l e c t t h e values and l b y a l t i e s of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e t i m e .
The most e a s t e r l y s e c t i o n was
reclaimed from t h e sea during t h e Victorian period and
zr
-
( x i i i ) Compare t h i s t o t h e previous p i c t u r e . O r i g i n a l l y it had a s i m i l a r r o o f , b u t this was d e s t r o y e d by Hurricane H a t t i e and t h i s cheaper version was added as a trmparary measure which has become pemznemt . -. . _.S.
.;p' 2? Y 7-s:
*.
a f t e r a sugar quota was obtained from t h e U.S.
The same
0
advantages and disadvantages of sugar production i n
.
British Honduras apply in,thisdistrict as they do in that
of Corozal.
The future of the area depends once again
upon the interplay of politics and economics, and it remains questionable as to whether full capacity (over 100,000 tons) will ever be reached (only 50,000 tons were produced in 1967). The sugar industry is now beginning to extend its influence into other economic spheres.
Belize Sugar
Industries are now experinenting with the possibility of breeding cattle, always a scarce commodity in the Colony, with the use of molasses as a dry season food-stuff. Previously much of this material was wasted, while at the same time the few cattle in the Colony were suffering through a shortage of fodder.
If the experiments prove
fo be successful, two problem may be solved with one action.
The settlement patterns of the country-side of Orange Walk reflect its history and its economic position. The land which is still devoted to the woodcutting and chicle production is virtually devoid of any settlement, and what little there is, is still dependent upon the water-ways.
Hill Bank and Gallon Jug are seasonal camps,
and only support a handful of people during the rest of the year when the logging railway is moth-balled. Other once-important settlements such as San Jose (which played an important role during the troubles of the nineteenth
c e n t u r y ) and Indian Church, Water Bank and Backlanding,
are a l l b u t d e s e r t e d , and from the Labouring Creek northward, t h e f i r s t s e t t l e m e n t of any s i z e t h a t i s encountered
i s San Felipe.
This settlement, and t h e more n o r t h e r l y
Guinea Grass, both 'southern o u t p o s t s
along r o u t e s
pushed o u t f r o n Orange Walk Town are now experiencing per-
iods of growth, and i f t h e sugar i n d u s t r y extends as f a r
as i s p o s s i b l e , t h e i r importance w i l l become even g r e a t e r . These v i l l a g e s have something else i n common, both a r e
l a s t s t o p s b e f o r e proceeding on t o m e e t groups of t h e most r e c e n t M i g r a n t s i n t o t h e Colony, t h e Hennonites. The s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i n t h a t a r e a of Orange Valk which i s p a r t of t h e 'Sugar Belt' i s s i m i l a r t o t h e corresponding a r e a i n Corozal D i s t r i c t .
It i s a pattern
t h a t i s dependent upod roads, although i n many cases t h e r o a d s are new i n both construction and influence.
Many
of t h e v i l l a g e s have had sone connection with Orange Walk Town overland, f o r a long time, but t h e p r e s e n t
most d i r e c t l i n e of communication i s a r e c e n t introduction.
Thus t h e quickest and b e s t r o u t e s t o San Xoman
and Chan Pine Ridge a r e no longer those shown on t h e most r e c e n t maps.
The sugar company has o f t e n found it b e t t e r
t o open up a new r o u t e r a t h e r than improve t h e old.
Once
a g a i n i n t h i s d i s t r i c t t h e r e a r e two major road r o u t e s , but i n t h i s c a s e only one i s of more than l o c a l importance, t h a t from Blue Creek v i a Yo Creek, t o t h e town of Orange
Walk being in the nature g i a feeder line k i c h opens up a new area, but terminates within this 'new1 area. As
was the case in Corozal District, better comunications
are a result of intervention by private industry as much
as by government agencies.
Housing Conditions.
In housing, the district is a reflection of both Belize District and Corozal District, having both native housing with thatched roofs and plastered walls, and board buildings, with zinc roofs, and often on stilts. The native housing can be said to vary inversely with the wooden housing.
In such villages as San Felipe
and August Pine Ridge,- the thatched huts predominate, as
they do in most of the others in the district with the exception of the Mennonite settlements.
It is once again
the district town of Orange Walk which shows a difference.
Here there has been no hurricane, however, and
three out of every seven houses are thatched.
Once again
there is a city ordinance in the interests of fire protection which prevents the building of nore thatched houses, and it cannot be ascertained how much effect this has had.
But the fact remains that in this district as in Corozal there is most 'native1 housing where the proportion of Amerindians is highest, and where the non-Indian population is strongest, board and zinc buildings predominate.
.
Cultural Groupin~s.
,
Ethnically Orange Walk District is an area of mixtures.
It contains some elements of all the cultural
groups of the country, and yet is the historical hone of none of them.
The majority of the inhabitants of the
district are Hayan Indians (belonging to the same tribes as those around ~orozal), and the I.Iestizos, although there
are a significant number of Creoles, especially around the administrative centre.
As was the case with Corozal
District, the proportion of Creoles appears to be increasing, and if the effects of the new capital include
an encouragement to move away from Belize City, this trend may become more important. The place names of the district reflect the ethnic mixture guite closely.
Everywhere there are some rimes
with their origins in the Spanish language, introduced by the Spaniards and now spread by the Indians. The distribution of these names indicates that the Indians wandered far and wide, and their settlements extend far to the south of the district.
The greatest concentration
of Indian villages is, however, predictably, in the northern part of the district, where Mexican influence is and was strongest, where there is the greatest density of Arnerindian settlement, and where the influence of the sugar crop is becoming stronger.
"There was a Maya Indian
village of San Jose which existed on Belize Estate Lands
f o r many years.
I n t h e 1930's t h i s land was needed by
t h e Company, and new land w a s a l l o c a t e d t o t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e o r i g i n a l v i l l a g e s e v e r a l miles away.
. . . The
settlers w e r e not too keen t o change ( t o ) t h e new land, and t o some r e s p e c t , t h e change had t o be made almost forcibly.
The new community i s about a mile from Orange
Walk Town and i s known a s San J o s e Kuevo o r San Jose P a b a r . 17 Once again t h e B r i t i s h influence shows up i n t h e more wild and u n s e t t l e d a r e a s of Orange FJaLk District, and again t h e r e i s l i t t l e of such evidence i n t h e Sugar B e l t r e g i o n , w i t h t h e exception of Douglas, Guinea Grass and Orange ??alk Town i t s e l f .
Mbst of t h e names occur along
t h e New R i v e r , i t s e l f an example of B r i t i s h nomenclature, and Big Pond, Backlanding, IJater Bank, and X i l l Bank mark t h e l i n e of t h e a n c i e n t mahogany r o u t e t o t h e sea.
There
are a l s o sone more s c a t t e r e d names, such a s Honey Bank, Booth's River and V i c t o r i a F a l l s , &ich show how f a r t h e 9
@ i t i s h p e n e t r a t e d t o c u t t h e i r logwood and mahogany.
. The Mennonites
r-
Origins and importance.
The l i f e l i n e s of Orange *
Walk District have t r a d i t i o n a l l y been t h e
ond do
and t h e
Newiaiver, which served a s t h e means of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f o r both goods, people and l m b e r i n t h e p a s t .
It i s
e
.*L
*
-?
perhaps f i t t i n g tHat on these rivers have s e t t l e d t h e C
%
.(-
(di)
Mennonite houses i n the colonies of B r i t i s h Honduras take a number of forms, and are iiiostly i n b e t t e r coadition than t h i s one. The f r o n t i s a f i l l e d - i n a d d i t i o n t o the house-proper which can be seen behind.
groups of people, the Menqonites, who may prove to be in the future (and to a large extent have already proved to be today) the best hope for successful agriculture in the Colony, It is perhaps significant, and perhaps again coincidental, that the only other large group of Mennonites
in British Honduras are to be found by the other major river of importance in the northern part of the Colony, the Belize River itself.
The Mennonites have proved to
be important in showing, practically, that the Colony has great agricultural potential, and they have also effectively demonstrated that with sufficient safeguards and preparations there is no reason why white people cannot develope this potential.
They have not been the first
group to do this, as the Confederates in the Toledo District showed similar prowess a century ago, but they will probably prove to be the most important, at least within the foreseeable future, "The Mennonites
-- a religious sect which had its
origins in the Anabaptist wing of the Protestant Refonnation in the Low Countries in the first half of the 16th Century
-- and particularly certain of their more conserva-
tive branches, have had a history of repeated migration to remote frontiers in an attempt to maintain their traditional agrarian way of life.
In response to unaccept-
able legislation and cultural incursions from the secular world, but always prompted also by land hunger, the
14emonite groups now in British Honduras have within the past century engaged in three such migrations
-- from
South Russia to Canada in the 1870ts, from Canada to Mexico in the wake of the two Vorld Wars, and latterly to British ~onduras.~'~ "A partial exception to this general stateEent is a small group
-- some ten families --
of Amish and Old Mennonites from the United States, who since 1965 have also located in British Honduras."19 "The immediate background of the liennonite colonies
in British Eonduras, then, is predominantly found in their Mexican experience, with further background in Canada. "20 This is important to keep in mind, because the different responses of these groups to their environments, both physical and social, stem directly from their recent patterns of experience. YChe forebears of the colonists in British Honduras represented two of the three distinct branches of the Mennonite persuasion
-- Altkolonier and Kleine ~eieinde--
which emigrated from South Russia to Nanitoba in the 1870I s. "*I
The Kleine Gemeinde were a later group to emigrate to Eexico from Canada (they emigrated in the late '401s and early '501s) and this shows in a nmber of overt ways.
They speak better English than the other Mennonite
colonists, have more liberal, worldly views, and have a
(xLiii)
Blue Creek once again, this building is made of concrete blocks, but retains its characteristic shape. The motorcycle belongs to an American student-volunteer from a Mennonite college.
in their favour was their previous wooded (Xanitoban) I
environment which enabled them to find their feet in British Eonduras much more quickly than their Orange Walk District neighbours.
The exact numbers who emi-
grated to the Colony in the period of time 1958-61 have been variously given, and as some of the early settlers later returned, it night be impossible to be totally accurate.
Minksl, however, gives the figwe as being
1000, and in the light of the evidence this sews reasonably accurate.
In 1966 there were between 2800 (Hindel)
and 3600 (sawatsky), which increase demonstrates the success It also shows the importance of the
of the migration.
migration to the Colony, which had some 90,000 people in 1960 and at the most 120,000 in 1966, the proportions of one-in-ninety and one-in-forty speaking for themselves.
The Kleine Gemeinde group have settled at-p\
-
yard in Cgyo District, ten miles from where the Amish
-
live, near Santa Elena, and the ~ltkolonierhave two major settlements at Blue Creek and Shipyard and a srnall group at Richmond Rill, all in Orange Xalk District. "At the time the Nennonites acquired them, all these lands were inhabited by only a few ){aya Indians subsisting on small milpa (slash-and-Surn) farms and on the gathering of chicle, wild pepper and other natural products, and a few Negro squatters.1122 The Mennonites arrive. .-
f l ~ hjourney e was made in
trucks overland through 1Iexico.
The initial trip took
ten days but one year was required to get completely moved and settled.
Poor roads, no roads at all, and jungle
were the main obstacles. Once arrived in British Honduras there were the general problems of clearing the land, building houses, and starting agricultural production. ,123
The Blue Creek settlers were better prepared than their neighbours, having had some acconodation prepared for their arrival.
Their Shipyard companions had to
shelter in the settlenents of Orange Valk and Maskall for some time after their arrival, until the conditions were suitable for the colonisation of their new lands.
In that this provided an introduction of the Mennonites to the British Hondurans at an early point, it may not have been an altogether unfortunate affair. ~urricaneHattie, a disaster for so much of British Honduras, proved to be somewhat of a godsend for the colonies.
The effect of this phenomenon was felt'nost
at Spanish Lookout but was not without importance to the settlenents in Orange Walk District.
It enabled the
settlers to make considerable financial gain out of both timber and manufactured goods, as well as sone agricultural produce.
It also provided a source of cheap tractors to
the Mennonites.
These vehicles were commandeered by the
British Army from the dealers to help in the crisis and were sold at a reiatively cheap price at a later date.
"That the Altkolonier did not generally respond in the
sane degree or along comparable lines may be attributed in large part to their narrower horizons (a product of their more insular history and the language gap) and their greater individualism in economic matters. " 2 4 The impact of the Mennonites.
The Mennonites have
had a number of important effects upon the cultural geography of the country.
They add another individual cul-
tural group to an already plural society.
Their settle-
ment patterns and place names are very distinctive, as are their house types, and their settlements appear as distinct cultural enclaves within the largely untamed countryside of the Colony.
They have also had consider-
able economic and cultural influence upon the country, and probably more so upon their closest neighbours.
mej
have boosted the internal agricultural production of the country and have increased international trade.
r
Their -
influence upon the country even at this early stage of
-
their existence appears to have been as great as any of the other minority groups,25 and may prove to be as important as that of the larger cultural groups of the Colony
.
The Altkolonier, although superficially one group, have at a number of times broken their veneer of togetherness, and such a break occurred soon after the *
decision to migrate to the country, because of a differ-
ence of opinion over the aptractions of Blue Creek, one faction entering into an agreement for the purchase of Shipyard, another timber property, fifteen-odd miles to the south-east.
As pointed out above, this group is a
conservative Mennonite element, and the isolation of the land chosen demonstrates this factor. ,
Both settlenents
were unconnected by road w i t h the 'outside world' at the inception of the colonies, and have had to build roads
in order to be able to market their goods and obtain needed imports.
...,
"At the three colonies in Oran~eWalk District
the individual farrrilies generally market their own produce.
In 3ichmond ~ i 1 being 1 ~ ~ only five miles from
Orange Walk Town, all farmers market on a wholesale basis in the town.
Shipyard farmers sell 50 per cent in the
town and the remainder within their own colony.
At Blue
Creek truckers27 fron Orange Walk arrive twice weekly to purchase produce which they, in turn, sell in Orange Walk or ~ o r o z a l . ~ ~ *There ~ is also some direct marketing
by the members of this colony in Orange Walk Town.
"The
Blue Creek farmers also sell to Mexican traders at the Hondo River. 1~29 Ideological differences amongst the Altkolonier have at times threatened to disrupt the whole area of settlement, but some solutions have been found to the problems, and some conpromises, and the problem no longer seems to
be so great.
It has resulted in considerable movement ,
of people away froa Blue Creek, to Shipyard, which settlement is now becoming overcrowded, and also apparently has led to a number of 14emonites returning to Mexico rather than run the risk of excomunication.
This latter
method of segregation is by no way perfect.
As it involves
total lack of involvement between the offender and his peers, it precludes the former from moving away to a more amenable atmosphere, as he has no way of communicating with his ex-Church in order to transfer lands, etc.
A
number of attempts have been made to transfer lands from one settlement to the other, and although the Belize Estate Company, the owner, has agreed, the problem of inter-group comunication has led to a breakdown. Other differences between the two groups have since become noticeable, and have some importance as they effect the amount of influence exerted by the Mennonites upon the other cultural groups of the country.
For in-
stance, Shipyard allows no tractors with rubber wheels, and some of the component settlements of Blue Creek have a similar ban.
Stemming from 1916, when in Canada a
decision to arrest technology and ban the automobile was made, this has significant results in agriculture.
Hot
so much land can be developed, and more difficult land cannot be ploughed, using the iron wheeled tractors preferred by these conservative elements.
Marketing is
also made more difficult, as only horses and carts are used for this purpose.
l%orses, however, are severely
limited in their capacity to work in the heat and hmiditp which prevail throughout most of the year, particularly since they can rarely if ever be given any high-energy ration such as grain," a commodity of which there is
. little
surplus in the Colony.
"As a result, then, much
of the Altkolonierts arable land is in a very indifferent state of cultivation." 30 Some farmers at Blue Creek have managed to avoid the ban on rubber wheels (one group even broke away and fonned their own brand of the Mennonite church in order to gain a freer life) but at times these are discriminated against by the more conservative elements.
At Blue Creek
there is a Papaya factory (established by Butland & Co., the Canadian Piennonite firm) which receives produce from the farmers and processes it.
On
one occasion papaya
were refused as the owner brought it in on a cart drawn
by a tractor with rubber wheels.
The factory officials
refused to accept it in this form and rather than give in the owner of the fruit dumped it by the side of the road.
An enterprising Mennonite had filled his horse
drawn cart up with the sane fruit and sold it to the factory, the owners of which being fully aware of what he had done, but being more concerned about the form sit
of transport than about the original ownership.
Despite this, the progucts marketed by the Mennonites have had great jpfluence upon the country, particularly the production of eggs and chickens.
The Colony no longer
imports these products and even exports some to Hexico. There is also some export to Canada by way of a Canadian Mennonite company.
In most spheres it is not certain
how much effect these colonies have had upon the people,
but the figures for consumption of poultry products indicate a definite change of tastes within the country, and
a survey of the number of British Hondurans now keeping chickens indicates that this method of supplementing diet and increasing income has been recognized in more ways than one.
The towns of Orange Walk and Eelize have
Mennonite FTarketing Centres which facilitate the sale of the surplus produce, and also the manufactured goods produced by the Mennonites.
The Altkolonier have.not
responded in this latter sphere to the same extent as have the Kleine Gemeinde. Settle~entpatterns.
The conservative nature of
the Mennonites of Orange ?Jalk District is also shown in the fonn of settlement pattern employed by the colonists. T h e Altkolonier laid out their colonies in Strassendorfer
and Gewannfluren along the lines of the medieval open field village, wherein resfdence is in the village and each farmer's land, normally consisting of several plots or koerls, is so situated on the Gewannflur as to achieve
a fair distribution of soiJ quality and journey to work. One feature of this system, the comunal pasture, still
is lacking apparently for the reason that to date the number of cattle kept by the Altkolonier is very small. n31 Smith has shown that the Altkolonier have not always adapted this pattern of settlement, but that where some other pattern, such as nucleated villages, was the typical example, there was always an outside variable involved. For instance in Russia there was the danger of attack and persecution by the other inhabitants of the area and the traditional plans were felt to be unsafe.
The resultant patterns in British Honduras make the designations "Blue Creek Villagen and "Shipyard Villagen misnomers, the former being well s?read over 112,000 acres (only a snall part of which is cultivated) and the latter consisting of twenty-two villages, each with its own name.
It is more correct to refer to the settlements
as colonies. The Place names and house types of-the Mennonites
of Orange Walk District, as well as their settlement patterns reflect their cultural history as well as being good examples of cultural retention.
A study of historical
records, and the photographs and sketches they contain indicates that the houses built by the Mennonites in this part of British Honduras are very similar to those built
by them i n o t h e r p a r t s of t h e world.
I n Canada t h e s i m i -
l a r i t y i s even more s t r i k i n g , as t h e r e t h e houses were a l s o made of wood, and t h e s i m i l a r i t y i s a l s o e v i d e n t w i t h those found i n Mexico, d e s p i t e the f a c t t h a t h e r e t h e Mennonites w e r e forced t o b u i l d t h e i r dwellings of adobe. These b u i l d i n g s are one o r two s t o r e y s , with t h e l a t t e r
. preferred,
of balloon-frame c o n s t r u c t i o n , and u s u a l l y
w i t h a f u l l verandah which extends around more than one s i d e of t h e house i f t h e owner i s wealthy enough.
The
slow r a t e of change which t h e Mennonites sometimes e x h i b i t
is shown h e r e , f o r they have f a i l e d t o guard a g a i n s t t e r m i t e i n f e s t a t i o n and a number of t h e houses have rapidly detiorated a s a result.
Many of t h e Nennonite
houses a r e b u i l t on low s t i l t s , but i n t h e i r case i t
seems t o be an economic measure, f o r they would r a t h e r have a s o l i d coocrete base, but make do with wooden p i l e s a s i t i s a much cheaper method of building and most of t h e Mennonites were q u i t e poor upon a r r i v a l i n t h e Colony. Although t h e ' v i l l a g e s t r e t a i n t h e names of t h e timber e s t a t e s t h a t they are founded upon, t h e camp narnes
are those which have a strong t r a d i t i o n f o r t h e Flennonites, and can be seen t o be of Dutch o r German o r i g i n .
Thus
t h e r e a r e camps c a l l e d Gruenfeld, Hochtaedt and Rosenfeld , a t Shipyard, and Reinland, Schoenf e l d and Bachfeld a t Blue Creek.
A number of names a r e shared by both c o l o n i e s
,
such as Reinland, Blmenfeld and Neustaedt.
The retention
of such names is not so surprising as it might at first seem, for the Mennonites of Orange Walk also speak a form of German between themselves, only those from Canada speaking some English and not a great number of them speaking Spanish despite their sojourn in Mexico. General adninistration of the colonies.
"Since the
colonies are self administering, they render levies upon their members to meet real-estate taxes (which are delivered in a lump sum) and pay for necessary internal functions such as the maintainance of schools and public works.
In
addition they exact statute labour for the maintenance of roads.
Because of their strong tradition of engagement
in comercial agriculture, market roads have always in Canada, Mexico and now in British Honduras
--
-- been
a prime concern of even the most conservative Hennonites, even though they tend to diminish the cultural isolation which they otherwise seek. rr 32 "Property deeds to all colony lands are held in the name of the respective church groups, plus, usually, two named individuals who act as custodians. ownership rests on colony registry only.
Individual
Colony authorities
can therefore specify who may own land (members only) and to whom it nay be sold (menbers only, in good standing with the church).
The system of land ownership is thus
not only a poverful instrunent for the maintenance of an
exclusive society, but also for the exaction of indivi33 dual compliance with established rules of ~onformity.~
More will be said about igennonite practices in the chapter on Cayo, but enough has been said to show that in Orange Walk their influence has been impressive.
They
settled in areas ~Jhichtraditionally had little or no agriculture and where few people lived.
After an early
period of trkals when they were adjusting to a new environment, the Mennonites have succeeded in influencing all aspects of the country's life, both social and economic, and all indications are that these effects will continue to grow.
NOTES ON CHAPTZX FIVE
I~ones,N.S. C., The Pattern of a Dependent Economy (Cambridge: Caiibridge University Fress, 1951), g. 80. Z~umPhreys,B.A., Diplonatic History of British Bonduras 1638-1901 (Oxford University Fress, 1961), p. 135.
-
3~aiger,OP. =it., pp. 132-135, and Clegern, pp. 10-16.
OD.
cit.,
4 ~ e eHistorical section in Xomney, D.H. (ed. ) , Land in British Honduras (British Honduras Land Use Survey 1958). See also Fig. 2. Team, London, H.M.S,O.,
%aiger, OP. cit., p. 133.
%arr
,
and Thorpe OP. cit
., p.
142.
7 ~ h epresent Government Rest House stands on the ruins of the British fort, and some of its remains, containing gun slits, etc., can still be seen. %atin
American Review, OP. cit., p. 28.
'~ann, T., Mava Cities (Charles ScribnerlsSons, 1928), p. 64. 1•‹~radley,OD. cit. ''cam
and Thorpe, OP. cit., p. 138.
12~ann,OD. cit., p. 44. 13Caiger, OP. cit,, p. 143. 14carr and Thorpe, OD. cit., p. 138. 15waddell, op. cit., p. 61. %arr
and Thorpe, OP. cit., p. 130. op. cit.
lasawatsky, H.L. , Wennonite Settlement in British Honduras," Departlnent of Geography, University of i-ianito5a, Winnipeg. Report on Field Glork carried out G d e r OT\Z con-tract Nonr 3656 ( 0 3 ) . Project PTA 388067, Department of
Geography, University of California, Berkeley, Jones J, Parsons, Principal ~nvestikator,1969, p, 1,
,
-
*&inkel, T.A. Wennonite Colonization in British Honduras ,I1 Pennsylvania Geo~rapher,Vol. V (No. 3, April, 1967), p. 4.
2%inority groups here means the members of groups other than the three major groups (in numbers) of the Creoles, Maya and Mestizos, 26~hecolony has now more or less been absorbed by that at Shipyard, 27~heseare non-Mennonites who have taken advantage of the values and customs of this religious group.
CHAPTER SIX CAY0 DISTRICT
-- THE WESTERN DISTRICT
SITUATION WITYIN THE COLONY Cayo District is in some ways comparable to the northern districts, for it can be easily divided into two sections
on a topographical basis.
The resulting divisions are,
however, very different from those in the north, and the historical development of these areas has also been differeat. It is the largest district in the country, and has been so since 1954 when 330 square miles were transferred from Toledo District in order to make both areas better 'geographical unitst,with the crestline of the Maya Mountains now forming the boundary between the two regions. Toledo had previously been the largest district, but now comes third after Cayo and Orange Walk (see Appendix 111). Its boundaries are partly tnatural', but also partly artificial, for the greatest stretch of boundary in this district runs in almost a straight line from the Mexican border (in Orange Walk) south to the point where the Toledo District joins Guatemala.
This boundary to a large
extent cuts off the district from its natural hinterland in the Peten.
The latter region is largely cut off from
the rest of Guatemala both economically and physically.
It is an area of extensive and potentially profitable woodland, but its chances of exploitation seem to lie in exporting its forest products through the Colony,
At
present the political situation precludes such a trade. This is the most disputed boundary in the Colony and it is also the wildest and least explored, running for about seventy miles through virtually uninhabited country.
WESTERN DISTRICT LANDSCAPES Roadside Observations. Cayo District abuts onto all the other districts but Corozal, but can only be reached by road from Stann Creek Town and Belize City,
These two routes join up
near the village of Roaring Creek, near the new capital site, The two routeways have markedly different characters, which reflect their different histories.
That from Stann
Creek Town runs through areas which are relatively undeveloped, having only been opened up by this road since World War 11.
It is a well surfeced road for most of its
length, the narrow black top band being a sign of its modernity, but also of its relative lack of use.
Within
Stann Creek District, the road is well travelled, but before it reaches the Cayo boundary most of the traffic
has terminated or turned qround, and only people travelling to Cayo or Belize City use the stretch of road in Cayo District.
About seven miles before Roaring Creek, what
conveyed the impression of being a quiet country lane, suddenly changes character and becomes a pot-holed strip of continually-used tannac, which gives every indication of being a centre of a modern traffic plan.
The reason
for the change is in a way topographic, for at this point
a limestone hill was found to be suitable for quarrying, and at present it is being ripped to pieces to supply building materials for the Colony's new capital.
There
are a number of estates along this stretch of the Hunmingbird Highway, from Roaring Creek to Over-the-Top-Camp, but none of them is large.
They produce citrus fruit and cacao
but still only on a small scale, employing few labourers. At Caves Branch, a cacao plantation, the chief attractions are not the drying beans, but the caves which give the camp its name, one of which has been rigged up with electric lights, and also Blue Hole, a sunken feature in the limestone, through which a tributary of the Caves Branch River can be seen to flow.
It too is spasmodically exploited
as a tourist attraction. The road from Belize City is wide and dusty and is reminiscent of the roads in the north of the Colony. Except for the small village of cotton Tree, the roadsides are virtually deserted between Xoaring Creek and the
Belize District boundary, but west of Roaring Creek, there is almost continual linear settlement to the Guatemalan border.
The reason for this anomalous situation
lies in the historic settlement pattern, geared to tbe Belize River.
When the road was put through to Cayo, the
villagers on the river moved up the banks to meet it, but at Roaring Creek the river and road part company and the
old river villages have remained or died out, The maps show a number of villages between Orange Walk plantation and St. Pauls in Belize District, but only Mever Delay is now of any remarkable size, and even this settlement declining
population.
West of Boaring Creek it becomes difficult to discern the boundaries between villages, and even the name itself
is somewhat anomalous; That known as Carnalote has a community centre, one of the signs of village life within the Colony, and yet there is no form of clustering around
this building.
The settlement stretches for the best
part of five miles between Roaring Creek and Teakettle
with houses and farms occurring at periodic intervals,
A number of these villages are new nanes on the map, such as Ontario which used to be Warrie Head, and Unitedville , and Georgevilk (naned after the premier, George price) which was until recently known as San Diego.
Others
have a more lengthy history, and more interesting names, such as Slackman Eddy, Mount Hope and Teakettle, and can
be t r a c e d back i n t h e h i s t o r i c a l documents and accounts
of a hundred y e a r s ago.
Central Farm, j u s t w e s t of GeorgeviLle,is t h e c e n t r a l farm r u n by t h e government i n t h e country.
Designed a s
a m d e l teaching u n i t t o promote a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h e Colony, i t appears t o c u r r e n t l y function a s an employment centre
f o r p a r t of t h e a r e a ' s surplus population, and a market
for t h e sales of a g r i c u l t u r a l produce.
I t i s located
on t h e s i t e of t h e o l d Baking Pot e s t a t e , made famous by Willey who has investigated t h e p l e n t i f u l Mayan renains
i n t h e region. P a s t Esperanza l i e s t h e settlement known a s Cayo.
ore
properly t h i s i s two v i l l a g e s , o r towns, known a s
Santa Elena and San Ignacio, the c o l l e c t i v e name being
a r e s u l t of t h e ancient b e l i e f t h a t the Eastern and Western Branches of t h e Belize River, which separate near Cayo, r e j o i n e d f a r t h e r upstream, leaving the land i n between a s an i s l a n d .
E l Cayo de San ~ ~ n a c yi oSanta Elena
was f o r many y e a r s considered a s one settlement, although s p l i t by t h e Eastern Branch, but r e c e n t l y each town has been t r y i n g t o e x e r t i t s autonomy and r e - e s t a b l i s h i t s separate identity. The road continues p a s t E l Cayo t o Benque Viejo,
last B r i t i s h settlement before Guatemala, and where the road t o t h e w e s t l o s e s i t s e l f i n the lanes of t h e border
town.
The border crossing,,once discovered, is found
to be near the Mapan River, the name locally given to the Western Branch of the Belize River, and the British border post is then found to be a hole in the ground, and the tourist has to return to Benque Viejo to report to the police post.
It seems remarkable that after a century
- or more this much-disputed border has not been better
marked and policed, and that even the border post itself
is still 'under construction1. It is not surprising that Guatemalan guerilla bands (the last just in 1966) have been able to cross into the Colony and cause international embarrassment, of temporary significance. The Guatemalans are not nearly as lax.
Their fron-
tier post is a superb stone structure, well guarded by heavily armed soldiers, and backed up, across a magnificent bridge, by a garrison of additional military personnel.
The
reasons for this elaboration, and for the location of a modern hospital in Fallabon, the Guatemalan border village, are not difficult to find.
The Guatemalan authorities
wish to convince the Belizeans that the good life lies on their side of the Mopan River, and even give medical attention in their hospital to the people from the Colony in order to enforce this point.
In the event of a refer-
endum in the Colony such tactics might well pay off, for in Benque Viejo at least, there appear to be greater contacts and affiliations with the Republic than with the
232 This g r e a t e r contact i s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e ease
Colony.
with which v i l l a g e r s from Benque Viejo c r o s s t h e border, compared with the d i f f i c u l t i e s o f t e n encountered by o t h e r Belizeans.
Indeed these v i l l a g e r s o f t e n by-pass the
border post and take a short c u t across t h e Mo~anRiver t o M e lchor de Mencos
.
The Belize River Vallev. This p a r t of the d i s t r i c t i s geared t o t h e Belize River, although h i s t o r i c a l l y it has a l s o had some connect i o n w i t h t h e southern a r e a s of the Orange Walk D i s t r i c t which have t h e i r focus a t Orange Walk Town.
A s e r i e s of s n a l l
t r i b u t a r y r i v e r s such a s Callar Creek, Garbutt Creek, and Roaring Creek have some h i s t o r i c a l importance, but today only t h e Eastern and Western Branches have any g r e a t signi-
f icance
.
Of these two the Eastern Branch i s the l e a s t impor-
t a n t , d e s p i t e being t h e s i t e f o r p a r t of i t s length, of t h e d i s t r i c t capital.
Other v i l l a g e s of importance on t h i s
water-way a r e Cristo Rey and Macaw Bank, and on one of i t s t r i b u t a r i e s l i e s the i s o l a t e d v i l l a g e of San Antonio, which i s located a t t h e edge of t h i s region.
In a s i m i l a r
p o s i t i o n a r e Santa F a n i l l a , and Duck Run on t h e main river.
They a r e a l l small farming settlements, mostly
producing t r u c k crops f o r the Cayo and Belize Markets, but some such a s San Antonio and Santa Familla a r e mpanero Mayan v i l l a g e s , and the i n h a b i t a n t s a r e c h i e f l y milpa-subsistence farmers.
On the Western Branch t h e r e
i s a similar s e l e c t i o n of v i l l a g e s , w i t h g r e a t e r emphasis on t h e Mayan element, and t h e s e t t l e m e n t s of San Jose Soccoths, B u l l e t Tree F a l l s , Arena1 and Benque Viejo d e l
Carmen are a l l dominated by subsistence a g r i c u l t u r e , E a s t of C e n t r a l Farm, t h e v i l l a g e s on both r i v e r and road become i n c r e a s i n g l y Creole i n c h a r a c t e r and content.
These people produce some crops f o r s a l e , but a r e
more o f t e n l i v i n g on a subsistence b a s i s , picking up money f o r s e a s o n a l work wherever p o s s i b l e , I n t e r s p e r s e d with t h e s e s m a l l farming c o r n u n i t i e s
are one o r two l a r g e r s p e c i a l i s t concerns, which a r e t r y i n g t o produce beef c a t t l e f o r t h e home market which c u r r e n t l y l i v e s on pork, p o u l t r y and odd wild animals.
I n many ways Cayo D i s t r i c t i s t h e most hopeful a r e a f o r t h e production of c a t t l e , f o r i t i s i n t h i s a r e a t h a t t h e a t t e m p t s t o produce herds of good condition have been t r i e d t h e longest.
Toledo D i s t r i c t i s being advocated
as a c a t t l e r a i s i n g a r e a , and Belize D i s t r i c t has some h e r d s , but Cayo D i s t r i c t , and p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e western p a r t s of t h e D i s t r i c t , appear t o have t h e b e s t chances of success i n t h e near f u t u r e .
The c a t t l e spreads a r e
u s u a l l y r u n by ranchers from t h e United S t a t e s . The o r i g i n of t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n of t h i s a r e a
i s e a s i l y seen, and i t s contemporary s t a t u s i s a l s o understandable.
The anomalies, such as Roaring Creek which
i s so l a r g e and San J o s e Soccoths which i s l a r g e r , a r e explained by t h e i r functions and t h e i r h i s t o r y .
Roaring
Creek i s more than a t y p i c a l roadside community.
It is
a road-junction town, and more r e c e n t l y has taken on an added importance as t h e new c a p i t a l s i t e i s being cons t r u c t e d nearby.
San Jose Soccoths i s one of t h e o l d e s t
v i l l a g e s i n t h e area.
I t has g r e a t t r a d i t i o n s and a
long h i s t o r y , and may have been t h e s i t e of permanent s e t t l e m e n t f o r over a thousand years.
A mile o r so away
a c r o s s t h e Mopan River lies t h e a n c i e n t ceremonial c e n t r e of Xunantunich, Waiden of t h e Rocks," which was a c e n t r e of Mayan C i v i l i s a t i o n i n C l a s s i c t i m e s .
I n e a r l i e r times t h i s was an a r e a of logwood c u t t i n g , and l a t e r i t gained even more importance a s a mahogany c u t t i n g c e n t r e (most of t h e settlements on t h e Belize River such as Mount Hope and Beaver Dam w e r e o r i g i n a l l y woodcutting camps) and an a r e a of c h i c l e bleeding.
Now
t h e r e i s l i t t l e o r none of t h i s i n t h e r i v e r v a l l e y , and t h e wood i n d u s t r i e s are t o be found spasmodically opera t i n g i n t h e more mountainous s e c t i o n of t h e d i s t r i c t .
The
economic base of most of Cayo District i s a g r i c u l t u r e , made up of both subsistence farming and commercial a g r i c u l t u r e , which i s p r a c t i s e d on a s c a t t e r e d b a s i s .
Central
Farm, t h e ranches which produce c a t t l e , and t h e few f r u i t e s t a t e s a r e t h e only large-scale economic concerns, o t h e r than rum-making.
Many of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s commute d a i l y ,
(xLv)
San Ignacio, Eayo District, one of the most picturesque s e t t f m e n t s in the C o l m y .
o r weekly, by t r u c k t o Stann Creek D i s t r i c t t o work on t h e estates as f r u i t p i c k e r s , and t o a lesser e x t e n t i n
the processing f a c t o r i e s and canning works.
How t h e people
of Cayo District survive, and more p a r t i c u l a r l y those i n
E l Cayo Town, i s somewhat of a mystery.
The p l a c e naaes i n d i c a t e t h e mixed e t h n i c p a t t e r n of former times which i s s t i l l p r e s e n t i n a s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t form today.
Along t h e Western Highway a s f a r a s Mount
Hope t h e appearance i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t of B e l i z e D i s t r i c t , and t h e p l a c e names a r e d i s t i n c t l y B r i t i s h .
IJest and n o r t h
of t h i s p o i n t t h e Spanish names p r e f e r r e d by t h e Mopanero Mayans and t h e few Mestizos preponderate ( t h e r e i s no evidence of Indian nomenclature), although t h e r e i s s t i l l
a s c a t t e r i n g of names of B r i t i s h o r i g i n , such as Macaw Bank, Duffy Bank and Big Eddy.
The names of Spanish o r i g i n
are less i n s p i r i n g , but a few such a s E l Cayo and Benque V i e j o t r y t o capture an image of t h e area.
Those of B r i t i s h
o r i g i n once a g a i n show t h e a s p e c t s of t h e p h y s i c a l and c u l t u r a l and economic environments, and t h e echoes of t h e prayers of t h e e a r l y s e t t l e r s , a s w e l l a s t h e i r f e a r s . Thus t h e r e i s a Roaring Creek, a Black Man Eddy, and a Banana Bank; a l s o found are Mount Hope, Happy Home, and t h e more ominous Spanish Lookout.
Beaver Dam was .so
c a l l e d because a c e r t a i n point of t h e r i v e r resembled beaverst dams; t h e r e a r e no beavers i n t h e country. 1 The town known a s E l Cayo i s one of t h e more p l e a s i n g
(Idvi)
Elost of the buildings in San Ignacio a r e made of boards and have galvanised roofs. This one i s c u r r e n t l y being b u i l t about the old, more t r a d i t i o n a l d w e l l i n g ; a nave? way of solving the probl- of the t r a n s i t i o n a l p e r i o d of house-nmving.
"r
3
t o t h e eye w i t h i n t h e boundg of t h e Colony.
a series of h i l l s above t h e r i v e r , and t h e view i s everywhere p l e a s a n t , being of a series of d i v e r s e environments.
I t i s divided i n t o two p a r t s , Santa Elena and San Ignacio by t h e Eastern Branch of t h e Belize River.
The r i v e r
i s spanned by t h e Hawkesworth Bridge, t h e o n l y suspension ,
bridge i n t h e country, named a f t e r Governor Edward Gerald Hawkesworth "who, it i s s a i d , speeded up and personally supervised t h e completion of t h e Cayo road, and t h e b u i l d i n g of t h i s bridge.
"*
E l Cayo i s a predominantly Spanish
town, indexes of t h i s being t h e mediocre s e l e c t i o n of English reading m a t e r i a l o u t s i d e t h e l o c a l l i b r a r y , and t h e predominant use of Spanish by t h e i n h a b i t a n t s .
El
Cayo i s a c e n t r e of t h e Syrian population of t h e country. They are c h i e f l y merchants, b u t a l s o own two l a r g e saw-
m i l l s , and t h e d i s t r i c t ' s rum d i s t i l l e r y , a s w e l l as a number of a g r i c u l t u r a l e s t a t e s .
Other than t h e i r names
and t h e i r looks, they blend i n t o t h e population of t h e town, and do n o t form a geographically s e p a r a t e group. The housing of E l Cayo i s more a k i n t o t h a t of t h e Creole
areas of t h e country, and t h e r e i s only a s c a t t e r i n g of thatched h u t s i n t h e town.
I t seems t o be a f e a t u r e of
t h e country t h a t board houses and z i n c r o o f s a r e found i n t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c e n t r e s , whatever t h e i r c u l t u r a l o r i g i n s , and d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t i n t h e surrounding country-side t h e n a t i v e houses a r e t h e norm.
5' !
I t i s set on
Whether
*
i t i s an economic question, and t h e mote rural housing
(Avii)
Once a g a i n , not all the houses i n Saa Ignacio a r e i n good c o n d i t i o n . 'Cabbage-wood i s a g a i n t h e b u i l d i n g
material.
will eventually follow the lead of that in the towns, or whether the townsmen are more acquainted with the Belizean way of life, it is difficult to say, and indeed,it might
be a combination of these and other reasons.
A
large
percentage of the single-storey dwellings are also to be found on stilts and although in some cases these may be simply a form of compensation for the slope of the land on which they are situated, this is not always the case. The settlements along the Vestern Highway to Belize, largely populated by Creoles, have similar styles of housing, also raised above ground level.
The Mayan
villages are characterised by thatched huts, once again often with plastered walls, and firmly placed upon the earth. Benque Viejo is a small town, which is something of an exception within the Colony.
Both politically and
culturally it looks more towards Guatemala, and this outlook is reflected in its housing.
Although only about
one third of the houses are of traditional type, most of the rest being similar to those of the Creole areas, the difference is seen in the location of most of the dwellings on the ground.
Over the river in Tallabon and Melchor de
Mencos there is barely a house with stilts, and in Benque Viejo less than one eighth of the houses are built on the posts so cornonly found elsewhere.
-
Even discounting the
Mayan-type houses, under one-fifth of the total are built
above ground level.
In San Ignacio, over half of the
buildings are on posts, and discounting the Mayan houses, the proportion is nearer three fifths.
In Santa Elena
over three fifths of the houses are on posts and without the thatched-roof housing the proportion is nearly three quarters.
If such factors are a true indication of cul-
tural unity, then this most western town in the country
may be said to be the least integrated within the Colonyts predominantly British structure.
[In Corozal, the nost
'Mexicant of the countryts settlements, nearly three fifths of the buildings are on posts, and in Orange Walk, itself built on very well drained land, and possessing a predominantly Spanish-speaking population, over one third of the houses (made of boards) are to be found on posts.
It would appear that Mexican influence is different,
in this respect at least, from that of ~uatemala.] Other than the Indians, Creoles, and Syrians, there are a few individuals from other cultural groups,. such as the Caribs, and Chinese, but the only other segment
of the tlowlandl population which is important both culturally, economically and numerically consists of two settlements of Mennonites, at Spanish Lookout, and in a small valley between Santa Elena and Cristo Rey, as yet unnamed.
The large* settlement numerically, and by
far the most important, is that at Spanish Lookout.
The
latter is relativ-elyrecent, and quite small, and its
inhabitants have a very different history. The Mennonites.
The Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites at
Spanish Lookout have settled on about 19,000 acres of land, just across another of the traditional lifelines of the Colony (the Belize ~iver)from Baking Pot.
nAt
the time the Mennonites acquired them, all these lands were inhabited by only a few Maya Indians subsisting on small milpa (slash-and-burn) farms and on the gathering of chicle, wild pepper and other natural products, and a few Negro squatters.n3 This group had moved to Mexico at a later date than those settling in Orange Walk District, most of them coming from south-eastern Manitoba (see p. 209 ). "They brought with them, on the average, more capital, and their institutions of mutual assistance were better organized and articulated.~~ In addition they arrived with a better knowledge of the English language than their counterparts, which proved useful, and their location near Central
Farm gave them accessibility to a ready store of environmental information.
"One man was appointed to maintain
continuous contact with the Central Fann, so that a flow of communication and ideas might be maintained.ts5 As with the Altkolonier Mennonites, a number of initial mistakes were made in agriculture and marketing, but these errors were fairly rapidly overcome.
The.Mennonite
C e n t r a l Cormnittee, t h e reLief arm of t h e Mennonite churches of North America, e s t a b l i s h e d a s a l e s and information c e n t r e i n Belize C i t y i n 1960.
The Kleine Gemeinde im-
mediately took advantage of t h i s s e r v i c e which markets
a l a r g e proportion of t h e i r produce. Hurricane Hattie was a turning p o i n t i n t h i s colony a l s o , more s o i n f a c t than f o r those i n t h e northern d i s t r i c t , and s a l e s increased considerably.
Another
f a c t o r which helped them w a s t h a t they had no aversion t o t h e use of machinery and today own numerous t r u c k s , jeeps, and farm machines, and even r e p a i r v e h i c l e s f o r o u t s i d e r s , most s i g n i f i c a n t l y f o r t h e government motorpool a t C e n t r a l Farm.
The success of t h e colony a t Spanish
Lookout i s t o b e explained i n large p a r t by t h e i r "permissiveness
-- and,
indeed, encouragement
-- i n regard
to ongoing adjustments, p a r t i c u l a r l y as r e g a r d s technology. "6 The s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n of Spanish Lookout i s conside r a b l y . d i f f e r e n t t o t h a t of t h e Nennonites of Orange Walk.
They have "preferred t o perpetuate t h e occupance
system employed by them i n Mexico, w i t h compact farms spaced along a network of main roads." 7
Once again
roads are of prime concern t o t h e c o l o n i s t s , a s marketing
i s a l l important, and t h e colony spends a t l e a s t $30,000
a y e a r f n road c o n s t r u c t i o n and maintenance.
An index
of t h e i r d e s i r e t o succeed, and a measure of t h e i r con-
fidence i s t h e f a c t t h a t they are w i l l i n g t o pay up t o
$100 per a c r e f o r improved land.
*
The method of house construction in Spanish Lookout
i s less r i g i d than t h a t i n Shipyard o r Blue Creek, but t h e same b a s i c s t y l e s can be recognised, although t h e porches a r e not seen t o be as important o r e s s e n t i a l
as i n t h e Altkolonier settlements,
Because of the d i f f e r -
ence in settlement type, no comparison can be made on t h e b a s i s of place names, but other evidence suggests t h a t t h e ancient names would not be so strongly adhered to. Although t h e Kleine Geneinde a r e 'progressive'
and
*E 'modernr i n many ways, they do n o t mix with t h e populace of t h e country-side, outside of t h e i r own settlement.
Any influence they have had, has been l a r g e l y coincidental,
4
and c e r t a i n l y not deliberate.
They may have begun t h e
t r a d i t i o n of milk and poultry i n the country, the former
on a small b a s i s and t h e l a t t e r more successfully; and --
a l s o they have a Hennonite Store a t Spanish Lookout which
is patronized by other inhabitants of Cayo D i s t r i c t t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , but i n general t h e i r influence has been
less than t h a t of Central Farm.
The c o l o n i s t s who s e t t l e d near Santa Elena number
.
around one hundred, made up of t h i r t e e n f a m i l i e s , a l l from t h e U.S .A.
o r canada9
who decided t h a t the ways of
the industrial world were +not for them.
It is'a mixed
group of Amish and Old Order Mennonites, with a variety
of backgrounds, but united by their English language and their common faith.
They own some 4,000 acres, and culti-
vate some 300 of these on farmsteads which are scattered throughout the area on a disjointed linear pattern. They would appear to be determined to survive on their own, and do not plan to be absorbed by the Spanish Lookout colony, which because of its worldly ways is regarded as something less than true Mennonite.
Horses
and carts are the mode of transport, as this group is as or more culturally inflexible than the members of the Shipyard colony. As the colony is so small, 'nativef helpers were hired to clear the land.
These colonists have also
adopted one or two children from the surrounding area, apparently more as a humanitarian measure than as a method of gaining increased followers.
They sell their surplus
produce in San Ignacio, and this factor, coupled with the others mentioned. suggests that they will get along better with their neighbours, whilst retaining their cultural identity, than has been the case with the other Mennonite groups.
This may indeed be the deciding factor as to
whether this small group survives in such an unusual and *
hostile environnent.
T h i s 'lowland' area of Cayo District is a region
of many different characters, and many different histories, being originally united by the Belize River, and contemporarily connected together by the Western Highway.
To the south, up a road which meets the Highway at Georgeville is the second part of the district, of different
. character
and history, and consisting of the areas known
as the Vaca Plateau and Mountain Pine Xidge.
The upland areas of Cavo District. This region is bounded by the Maya Mountains on the east and south, and by the Belize River lowlands to the north, but slopes gently into Guatemala with no 'natural' boundary to the west.
The area is physically a mosaic,
albeit one consisting of large pieces, the main constituents of which are limestone and granite, but much of it has had a common history.
Its drainage is of the radial type,
the waters flowing chiefly to the Eastern Branch of the Belize River. The Vaca Plateau area, consisting largely of limestone, is the region which has had the greatest contact with the 'outside world, pertain to it.
and most of the following remarks
Mountain Pine Ridge has often had envious
eyes cast upon it, but its difficult terrain, and lack of accessibility have told against it in the past.
Much
of this area rises above 3000 feet, and it contains few
coute ways, either natural
dr man-made.
The map shows
only one trail across it, passing eastward from Augustine through the Baldy Beacon area and emerging on the Hummingbird Highway near Sibun Camp (see Fig. 1).
It is not a
well frequented pathway and most people who have seen Mountain Pine Ridge have done so from afar, or from the air.
It is interesting to note that this trail closely
approximates to one of the routes which Romney feels might have been an east-west trade route of the Ancient Hayas (see Fig. 2). The Vaca Plateau region has a history of Maya occupation of considerable density and importance, as Lundell and Thompson have shown, but as far as the contemporary Colony is concerned, its story began with the coning of the British, although its remoteness meant that this story began later than those in other parts of the Colony. "No agricultural settlements now exist south of Vaca and Arenal; hence disturbance of the forest by man is limited primarily to the exploiters of chicle and mahogany. It10 "Apart from Augusthe, the only other permanent population is at San Luis, a sawmill and camp to which go both the pine logs and the mahogany from the Chequbul Forest. II 11 But the settlement was not always so sparse, as a glance at the map shows, although the majority of the past settlements were simply temporary camps.
Isolation, the
sparsity of water in some parts, and the quality of the
s o i l i n o t h e r s a l l combin*
t o prevent l a r g e scale
c o l o n i z a t i o n of t h e area on an a g r i c u l t u r a l b a s i s a f t e r t h e Mayans p u l l e d out.
Y e t d e s p i t e t h i s , much of t h e upland r e g i o n has been explored and e x p l o i t e d on a l a r g e scale.
Mahogany and
Chicle w e r e t h e f i r s t 'crops' b u t l a t e r pine becane i m p o r t a n t , and now more of t h i s commodity than of t h e o t h e r two i s removed from t h e area.
A t l e a s t one of t h e saw
m i l l s which e x p l o i t s t h e uplands only removes mahogany when it i s i n t h e way of t h e pine c u t t e r s , and then it has t o r e c e i v e permission from t h e landowners, t h e Belize E s t a t e Company, and have a f o r e s t worker from Augustine
check the v a l i d i t y of t h e job. The Vaca P l a t e a u a r e a , and t h e w e s t e r l y p a r t of
Mountain Pine Ridge are laced w i t h a network of logging r o a d s , now l a r g e l y defunct, and mostly impassable during t h e wet season.
The s y s t e n was once so good t h a t p a r t s
of Guatemala w e r e connected t o t h e economy of t h e region and it was p o s s i b l e t o reach Toledo D i s t r i c t , over t h e
crest of t h e Maya Plountains , w i t h r e l a t i v e ease. "The c h i c l e of t h e (limestone) p l a t e a u i s regarded
as i n f e r i o r t o t h a t of t h e s e c t i o n s of t h e peninsula t o . t h e north, although t h e unadulterated gum comes from t h e same species. ,,12
Consequently, with t h e s l u m p i n t h e
c h i c l e market, t h i s a r e a has s u f f e r e d t h e most,.and as
a r e s u l t , E l Cayo has lost1 a considerabLe amount of seas o n a l t r a f f i c , as it used t o be t h e base f o r a l l operations i n t o t h e area. Mahogany has a l s o had a very i n t e r m i t t e n t l i f e , i n t h e economic sense, although t h e q u a l i t y of t h e wood h e r e i s
as good as elsewhere.
There i s hope t h a t i n t h e f u t u r e
the t r a d e may be revived, as mahogany appears t o be re-
generating b e t t e r than o t h e r woods i n t h e wake of H u r r i cane H a t t i e
-- i t p r e f e r s open conditions and t h e h u r r i -
cane wrecked a l a r g e swath of f o r e s t i n t h e Pine Ridge area. Pine i s t h e o t h e r econo~nicc o n s t i t u e n t of t h e a r e a , although a s i n t h e rest of t h e country it has l a r g e l y been logged out.
The m i l l .at San Luis produces a l l forms of
lumber but p i n e i s s t i l l dominant.
The f o r e s t s t a t i o n a t
Augustine i s now helping g r e a t l y i n t h e r e g e n e r a t i o n of the forests.
Although it does n o t engage i n p l a n t i n g ,
i t i s a c t i v e i n f i r e prevention, a f a c t o r which i n t h e
p a s t has succeeded i n destroying much of t h e f o r e s t cover. An account by Lundell, w r i t t e n i n 1940, has been made
o u t of d a t e , t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , by such p r o t e c t i v e p o l i c i e s , b u t i s worth while recounting a s it shows a number of problems t h a t had t o be contended with. "Forest d e s t r u c t i o n by f i r e u s u a l l y follows t h e avenues of logging operations. I n t h e a r e a e x p l o i t e d longest, from Vaca t o Cohune Ridge, complete denudation has I n 1928 high advanced resulted.
...
f o r e s t covered t h e h i l l s ; i n 1936 only a few s c a t t e r e d tree skeletons remained t o tower above t h e rank second growth. Some h i l l t o p s and s t e e p unterraced s l o p e s were even washed clean of s o i l and completely b a r r e n , a r e s u l t of f i r e d e v a s t a t i o n and subsequent erosion. F i r i n g of t h e a r e a s has been blamed on t h e railway (which once ran from Vaca t o Cohune ~ i d g e ) ,hunters, loggers, and chicleros. Doubtless a l l have been responsible. Chicleros, a s w e l l as h u n t e r s , make a p r a c t i c e of burni n g a l l camps no longer i n h a b i t a b l e , and h u n t e r s do n o t h e s i t a t e t o burn o u t a r e a s t o f a c i l i t a t e hunting. Such f i r e s , s t a r t e d during a d r y season, sweep f e l l e d f o r e s t around camps o r along r o a d s i d e s , and e a t along t h e ground through a d j a c e n t stands. Rank second growth, t h e o l d e r s t a g e s u s u a l l y g r a s s y , burn during subsequent seasons: each f i r e sweeps f a r t h e r , -and d e v a s t a t i o n results. Regardless of t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r s e t t i n g t h e f i r e s , whether d e l i b e r a t e , a r e s u l t of c a r e l e s s n e s s , o r a c c i d e n t a l , l a r g e a r e a s have been r e p e a t e d l y swept by f i r e during t h e p a s t decade t o leave nothing b u t d e s o l a t i o n i n t h e wake.1~13 The upland a r e a of Cayo may never have been w e l l developed, b u t it has c e r t a i n l y been w e l l exploited. The c l i m a t e and p h y s i c a l appearance of t h i s a r e a , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e FIountain Pine Ridge s e c t i o n , have been c a l l e d e x c e l l e n t by a number of a u t h o r s , and i n t h e p a s t c e n t u r i e s i t was suggested as a s i t e f o r a r e c u p e r a t i o n c e n t r e , along t h e l i n e s of t h e (East) Indian H i l l S t a t i o n s , f o r white men who could no longer stand 8 e l i z e .
A t present
it has been r e l a t i v e l y unexploited f o r such t o u r i s t
p o s s i b i l i t i e s , although t h e B r i t i s h
Army has a rest and
t r a i n i n g camp i n t h e a r e a , but some t o u r i s t f a c i l i t i e s
are now being constructed, under government sup&ision,
to the north of the Augusfine Forest Station.
In addition
to the pleasant scenery and climate, which are reminiscent
of parts of upland Britain, there are a number of caves, eroded in the limestone, which could prove to be tourist attractions. There are no real inhabitants of this upland region,
as it has not proved too hospitable to agriculture, and the place names simply reflect the pattern which is comon
in other areas of the Colony where woodcutting has been dominant, although the number of Spanish-origin nanes reveal that here the temporary settlers were largely taken from different cultural groups than were those found in the rest of the Colony.
The rivers in particular show
this influence although there are a number with an Anglicized origin.
The Chiquibul is one such river with a British
background, and the road from Georgeville also takes this name, as do the forestlands of part of the upland area. "The name of this river is spelled Chequbul on Owen's map (1927) and Checuhiul
by Thompson (1931).
the name is pronounced and spelled Chiquibul.
Locally It probably
is a corruption of 'chicle bull,' the local name for the inferior chicle obtained on the plateaueuL4 The camp and settlement nanes are of a more evenly mixed origin, representing both British and Spanish backgrounds.
They are scattered throughout the region in
a somewhat haphazard manner, and the only coment that may
be made on t h e i r p a t t e r n i s t h a t i n g e n e r a l they are found on the limestone p l a t e a u a r e a and n o t i n t h e Mountain Pine
Ridge r e g i o n , which has been exploited t o a lesser e x t e n t than t h e neighbouring area.
This i s p a r t l y due t o t h e
more d i f f i c u l t t e r r a i n and p a r t l y due t o t h e f a c t t h a t
u n t i l r e c e n t l y t h e Vaca p l a t e a u has always been s u f f i c i e n t to supply t h e needs of i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . The normal s o r t of names occur, d e s c r i b i n g t h e t e r r a i n , t h e w a t e r supply, and t h e economy, and very few deserve more than a passing reference.
One more i n t e r e s t i n g
r e f e r e n c e might be made t o t h e canp of Mountain Cow, which
i s t h e Creole name f o r t a p i r , but t h e s t o r y a s r e l a t e d by Thompson does not end with so simple a statement, and
h e l p s t o r e v e a l some of t h e c u l t u r a l confusion t h a t has gone on i n t h e Colony.
Vhe o r i g i n of t h e word i s probably t o be sought i n Maya. The Maya word f o r t h e t a p i r was tzimin. O n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e horse t o t h e Hew ??orld, t h e Mayas extended t h i s word t o cover t h e horse, s i n c e t h e t a p i r among t h e animals they knew most resembled t h e horse. L a t e r , t o avoid confusion, t h e termination & o r & was added t o t h e t a p i r . By t h i s time t h e horse w a s commoner than t h e t a p i r , and t h e word tzimin conveyed t h e p i c t u r e of a horse more than t h a t of a The words che o r kax meant 'wood1 o r tapir. I f o r e s t ' , so t h a t t h e word meant 'horse of the forest.' Translated i n t o Spanish t h a t became e l c a b a l l o de l a montana. The word was next t r a n s l a t e d i n t o Znglish, t h e word montana, however, being wrongly t r a n s l a t e d 'mountain1. The horse became Icowl e i t h e r i n Spanish o r i n English, probably because t h e t a p i r resembles a cow more than i t does a horse. The Spanish word, however, f o r t h e
- -
tapir is danta, and the modern Creole word was probably borrowed originally from Spanishspeaking Mayas. " 15 Thus by a complex process of culture and language mix Mountain Cow was conceived.
If such a complicated process
lies behind many place names, it is doubtful that the origins of many would be discovered.
- are more
Fortunately most
simple, such as Fio Frio, or Cold River, and
anyone who has experienced this water-way would be able to justify the nomenclature. The highland area of Cayo District is one of the most sparsely settled regions of the Colony.
Indeed,
the prospects for future settlement are also of a dubious and intermittent nature.
It cannot be denied, however,
that the history of the region, as reflected in the present landscape, is as colourful as much of that of the rest of British Honduras.
NOTES ON CHAPTER SIX
g ~ h e yhave come from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas and Ontario. 1•‹~undell,op. cit., p. 12. llcarr and Thorpe , OP
. cit ., p.
12~undell,OP. cit., p. 12. 131bid. 14 Ibid., p. 3. 15~hompson,ope cit., p. 226.
74.
CHAPTER SEVEN THE SOUTH
Location of Stann Creek. Stann Creek is reached from the north by the Humningbird Highway, a post World War I1 black-top road,'
or
by sea along the traditional path ways which have been in use for aX least two centuries.
From the south it is
occasionally accessible by land, along a wide dusty stretch of track which has been termed the Southern Xighway.
This route way forms the inland backbone of the
district, running north to meet the Hummingbird Highway about seven miles out of Stann Creek Town.
Water is a
traditional means of access to the southern part of the district also, and once provided the main means of travel within the area, before the completion of the Highway. The district consists of two sections, the mainland and the cays, but the latter have only some historical significance, although a few of the islands near Stann Creek Town are the sites of weekend and holiday houses for the more affluent people of the district.
The mainland
area is bounded on the west by the main divide of the Maya Mountains, and slopes down eastward to meet the
sea twenty-five miles away.
About one third of this area
is of low elevation, interlaced with a vast network of streams, and having a coastline consisting of swamps, lagoons and mangroves.
In the rainy season the Southern
Highway which crosses this lowland area is often made impassable by streams of water despite the efforts of the Public Works Department to combat the menace.
Patterns of economic activity. Historically the story of the district has been one
of underdevelopment, and sparsity of population.
Although
it has been periodically exploited for its timber resources, chiefly mahogany and pine, and the higher lands of the district are dotted with abandoned wood-cutting camps, most of the permanent settlement, until recently, has been on the coast. The coastlands were the location of the once very successful banana plantations.
Monkey Biver in the Toledo
District was important in this context, and in Stann Creek District, the Mullins River valley and the Stann Creek valley were the najor centres although the fruit was also grown at a number of smaller spots along the coast such as Sittee River and South Stann Creek.
"As
early as 1880, 9,000 stems of bananas were exported.
In 1891, half a million stems were exported, mainly on the Anerican market through the kited Fruit Company
(Li)
The Humingbird Highway. This i s one of the o r i g i n a l (railway) bridges and the l k e s of the tracks are still evident.
who provided the chief channel of transportation linking Belize with the American consumers.
Production was at
first mainly derived from small holdings but larger estates soon became interested in banana culture, more especially because the labour force involved was small and, since employment spread through the year, fairly permanent, With seasonal crops, the more useful active labourers generally took alternative employment in the forest and often failed to return in time for the next harvest season.
"* Production began to decline in the twentieth century,
however, with the arrival of Panama disease, marketing difficulties, diminishing returns on poor soils, and a poor production system contributing to the downfall. With this decline the settlenents which had depended upon such production began to enter a period of slu.np.3 It was somewhat ironic that the major decline in production came just after the completion of a twenty-five mile stretch of railway, built from Stann Creek up the valley to Middlesex at great cost and under great difficulty, to open up what was felt to be a tract of land with great potential for the growing of bananas.
In conjunc-
tion with this project a new pier of reinforced concrete was completed at Commerce Bight (an area a mile south of Stann Creek Town, not the village of the same name), Banana production is today once again on the increase,
i n both l a r g e e s t a t e s such as Alabama, and s m a l l ones ,
such as Cowpen.
But t h e road t o success i s by no means
an easy one, e s p e c i a l l y i n B r i t i s h Honduras, and a number of estates such as t h a t a t South Stann Creek, have experienced problems i n management and marketing,
By f a r t h e
greatest success has been t h e e s t a t e a t Waha Leaf, b e t t e r
known as Alabama,
I n t h e e a r l y 1960's t h e Greene and
Atkins Company, based i n Alabama (whence comes t h e settlement's popular name), began production of t h e f r u i t . (The company w a s l a t e r taken over by B r e w e r and Dough of New York, b u t t h e change i n ownership brought no s i g n i f i -
c a n t changes t o t h e production area.)
Wince t h e entrance
of Greene and Atkins, two o t h e r banana growing f i r n s
.,.
have gone i n t o o p e r a t i o n , a l s o using t h e Panama diseaser e s i s t a n t variety. being increased.
Acreage under bananas i s c o n t i n u a l l y
Over 200,000 stems of bananas were
-- mostly f r o n Belize
--
City's port and 5 i n 1967 t h e f i g u r e w i l l go even higher." Production
exported i n 1966
i s , however, s t i l l a long way from i t s previous l e v e l of f i f t y y e a r s ago. Stann Creek Town w a s saved from d i s a s t e r a f t e r t h e c o l l a p s e of t h e banana i n d u s t r y , by t h e discovery t h a t c i t r u s f r u i t s , and a t f i r s t p a r t i c u l a r l y g r a p e f r u i t , could be a commercial success i n t h e area.
The Stann Creek
Valley i s now t h e c e n t r e of t h i s i n d u s t r y , although t h e r e a r e small estates on t h e Southern Highway, such a s Kendal,,
-(Liii) In a number of cases t h e 'IIercules' houses have been adapted. Here a shop has been m d e by j o i n i n g two of them together.
and i n Cayo District.
n m e c h i e f export was f i r s t f r e s h
f r u i t but t h e development of canned c i t r u s products followed
the discovery t h a t n e a r l y 40% of t h e f r u i t grown w e r e too l a r g e t o be a c c e p t a b l e f o r t h e export marketOn6 Today t h e d i s t r i c t i s very much supported by c i t r u s crops.
The r a i l w a y , s i n c e removed t o run between Gallon
Jug and H i l l Bank, has been replaced by a motor road which
forms one s t r e t c h of t h e Hummingbird Highway.
There a r e
now two l a r g e canneries, a t Pomona and A l t a V i s t a , and i n a d d i t i o n t h e r e are labour camps a t t h e s e places and a l s o
a t Middlesex.
But t h e chief e f f e c t has been on a much
different scale.
From Middlesex t o Stann Creek Town,
the r o a d s i d e s a r e l i n e d with over 250 small farms, which
produce both s u b s i s t e n c e crops and c i t r u s f r u i t which i s s o l d t o t h e canneries 'as a cash crop.
During t h e picking
season t h e v a l l e y i s a hive of industry; t h e roads a r e f u l l of t r a c t o r s with t r a i l e r s and t r u c k s f u l l of f r u i t making t h e i r way t o t h e processing f a c t o r i e s .
I n 1960
t h e population of Stann Creek District was under 6,000 but today i t i s much nearer 8,000 ( e s t i m a t e ) .
This does
not seem such a g r e a t i n c r e a s e u n t i l i t i s noted t h a t i n
1960 t h e r e was a l s o a c e n t r e of population i n t h e south of t h e d i s t r i c t (near Mango Creek); today it i s n e a r l y
a l l i n t h e north.
C i t r u s has been an invaluable a d d i t i o n
t o t h e economy of t h i s p a r t of a d i s t r i c t which previously c o n t r i b u t e d l i t t l e t o t h e finance of t h e Colony.
'I.
.
:,
.
.
Cultural G r o u ~ s .
The f r u i t i s grown and picked c h i e f l y by Creoles and Jamaicans, t h e l a t t e r who have been e n t e r i n g t h e country
i n q u i t e l a r g e numbers and most of whom are found i n t h e Stann Creek v a l l e y , excluding t h e town of Stann Creek.
T h e Jamaicans came p r i m a r i l y t o work on t h e banana p l a n t a t i o n s and on railway c o n s t r u c t i o n a t t h e beginning
of t h e p r e s e n t century,
117
and t h e Stann Creek Valley
h a s continued t o be t h e i r hearthland, although t h e descendents o f t h e e a r l y m i g r a n t s can now be f o m d througho u t t h e country.
The Jamaicans were from t h e beginning
none too popular, a s they took w e l l paying jobs, and cane from a country which has never had
very amicable r e -
l a t i o n s with t h e Colony; Iton a d i f f e r e n t l e v e l , Jamaicans (have) a t t i m e s been appointed t o s e n i o r p o s t s i n government service
. . . on account of t h e l a c k of p r o f e s s i o n a l l y
q u a l i f i e d B r i t i s h Hondurans, and t h e i r t a k i n g of t h e b e s t jobs ( h a s ) been much resented. n8 Creoles are a l s o found i n t h e Valley, i n t h e town of Stann Creek, and a t a number of o t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e d i s t r i c t , such a s Ffullins R i v e r , S i l k Grass, S i t t e e River, P l a c e n t i a , and t h e a r e a around Mango Creek.
They
are t h e second most populous group i n t h e d i s t r i c t , but
are n o t so u n i t e d a s i n o t h e r Creole a r e a s i n t h e Colony. I n a d d i t i o n t h e r e are some Amerindians who a r e c h i e f l y
to be found in the southern part of the district, and nost I
particularly at Alabana, where they are preferred by the management as steady dependable workers, being lured up from the southern part of the Toledo District.
But the
most important cultural group in the district is that consisting of the Carib Indians.
They are to be %und
dotted along the coast in fishing villages such as Seine Bight and Hopkins, but their 'capitalt is the administrative centre
the district, the second largest town
in the Colony, Stann Creek.
.
T h e Carib is perhaps the race which has made least attempt to merge with the rest of the country. Many Caribs stick firmly to their customs and have retained their own language; one which cannot readily be learned by outsiders. They seldom marry outside their own race. The Caribs caqe to British Honduras at the beginning of the 19th Century, the endpoint of the exploring and foraging voyages of a hybrid race which had long been established further south on the western shores of the Caribbean Sea. The ancestors of this race were probably Carib Indians from the Orinoco delta and the Guiana coastlands. Prior to the Spanish Conquest, they had spread to the islands of the Antilles and to other parts of the Vest Indies. They resisted the Spanish invaders bitterly but were killed off on all but the island of St. Vincent, in the Winward group. On this island in 1675 was wrecked a vessel with some hundred of West African slaves who joined with the Carib Indians in fighting the French and Sritish who were themselves disputir-gthe ownership of the island. More than a century later, in 1796, some 5,000 'black' caribs were rounded up and deported to the islands of Roatan and Bonacca and the Central America mainland for taking part in a rebellion against the British. In due course they travelled up the coast to the Bay of Honduras, settling first near Punta Gorda and subsequently at Stann creekOu9
Most of the Caribs of the district follow their traditional pursuits of fishing and farning on a subsistence basis, although some farm produce and handicrafts are sold on the open market, such as that at Stann Creek Town.
The men chiefly engage in fishing, although
they do some work in the fields, but this latter pursuit is chiefly the realm of the women wfio grow most of the vegetable produce and also do the housework.
A long
broken line of Carib women, returning from the fields outside of town, with bundles and baskets of vegetables precariously perched on their heads, is a familiar early morning sight in Stam Creek Town.
Most of the members
of the Carib communities of the district appear to be quite content with their way of life, although it is called lazy or at least lethargic by outsiders, and the Caribs have gained a reputation for indolence.
A number of CarFbs have broken away from this traditional pattern and have become successful school-teachers, lawyers, doctors, and business men, as well as supplying a relatively large number of recruits to the police force of the Colony.
Settlement patterns of northern Stann Creek. Although the Caribs are usually found in coastal villages, with their houses often built on sandy beaches, L
i
there are two co&unities
found in the interior of the
(Liv)
Georgetown, the only inland C a r i b Colony. I t s houses were built on basis and are t h e cheapest design a l l o w f o r expansion, however, and ground exhibits such endeavour i n section.
village in the an aided s e l f - h e l p p o s s i b l e . They t h a t i n the forean a d d i t i o n a l back
district, one of which is ,totally of Carib composition
and the other which has a fairly large proportion made up of this cultural group.
Both of these are a direct
result of Hurricane Hattie, being resettlement areas promoted by the government to help the suffering villagers. Georgetown is located between the Southern Highway and Alabama (tiaha Leaf) village.
It has the distinction
of being the only permanent inland agricultural Carib village in the country.
Begun after Hurricane Hattie,
it was built on an aided self-help plan, the government supplying the material and the people the labour.
Most
of the villagers originated from Seine Bight village. The government stipulated the house style, but it is one which can be added to over time on a piecemeal basis
as the householders get more funds. The village has forty-six buildings, all but two of which are dwellings, with one shop and the ubiquitous community centre/cum/school. All but seven of the houses are built of wood, but there has been some experimentation with concrete blocks.
The
villagers seem happy with their lot in life, as agriculturalists, and profess to have no desire to return to their traditional patterns. Silk Grass Village, on the Southern Highway, fifteen miles fron the Hurmingbird junction, was set up as a sort of 'southern Rattievillel. It was paid for as a relief project largely by the Jamaican Government, and originally
housed 125 families whose homes had been wrecked in ,
Mullins River Town, Stann Creek Town, Hopkins, and Sittee River.
Today fifty-eight of the houses are empty, and much
of the barracks-like village is deserted, the temporary inhabitants having returned to their former homes.
The
village was a success as a relief measure, but the surrounding area offered little to many of its former Carib inhabitants and there was no strong policy of the government
to prevent them from leaving. Hopkins and the Sittee River settlement recovered from the hurricane fairly quickly, and no longer show
.
the scars, but i4ullins 3iver T o ~ m ,nuch nearer the eye of the storm, has never fully recovered from the almost total destruction it suffered.
In 1960 it was a thriving t o m
of 300 people, although much smaller than it had been in its hey-day when the banana trade was more important. Today there are two Ptullins Xivers, One is a desolate overgrown area on the coast, where the old town used to be.
It consists of twenty-four broken shacks, the old
church, since restored, and the house of one of the biggest lando-mers of the area, now standing alone in its own grounds, some distance from the other buildings.
Less
than half of these houses are now occupied, and the impression is that before long the village will be completely devoid of life. New Mullins River village is about a mile inland.
(Lvi)
Mullins River (Old) Town a f t e r Hurricane H a t t i e . The eye of t h e storm passed through t h i s once thriving s e t t l e m e n t which has since a l l but died.
There is a large area of cleared land, containing a modern ,
school, seventeen concrete houses and seven well built wooden houses on high posts.
Once again built on a self-
help housing basis, it gives the impression of being a sterile place.
Within the area of the village few trees
grow, and there are not many people to give it life. Mullins River, more than any other settlement in the country, died with the 1961 hurricane. Although it must be considered as the hardest hit because it was the larger, Mullins Xiver was not the only settlement to have much of its vigour rudely terminated by Hurricane Hattie.
Commerce Bight, once an important
coconut growing settlement, was also wrecked by the storm,
and what was a thriving village now consists of seven houses, existing in a largely overgrown environment on the landward route to Hopkins. Stann Creek Town has also suffered in hurricanes, both
in 1941 and 1961.
In 1941 parts of the town and the deep
water pier, built in the first decade of the century to help the banana trade, were destroyed, and the latter was not rebuilt; much of the produce of the district is now exported via the pier at Commerce Bight.
Great damage
was also done to the administrative centre by the 1961 'hurricane, but the town has recovered well.
Two thirds of
the houses were damaged or demolished in 1961, and 835 applications for aid were made by the inhabitants.
$290,776 w e r e given a s g r a n t s , and n e a r l y '$400,000 a s loans a f t e r t h e tragedy, and today t h e population has r i s e n from around t h e 5,000 mark i n 1960 t o n e a r e r 8,000.
The town i t s e l f i s an unusual shape, being about a m i l e
long, but o n l y a few hundred yards wide.
I t i s dominated
by i t s main street which i s t h e commercial c e n t r e and main
axis of t h e settlement.
The town i s divided i n t o t h r e e
p a r t s by t h e Havana Creek and t h e North Stann Creek and
i s bounded by mangrove swanps t o t h e w e s t and t h e s e a t o the east.
Expansion i s taking place by a process of swamp
reclamation t o t h e n o r t h , t h e south, and a l s o t h e west. Unusually, t h e a r e a between t h e main s t r e e t and t h e s e a , which v a r i e s from about f i f t y t o a hundred a n d ' f i f t y yards wide, i s p r a c t i c a l l y u n s e t t l e d .
A l l of t h e o t h e r
w a t e r f r o n t s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e country come much c l o s e r t o t h e sea-shore.
These unused lands a r e now being l a i d
o u t l a r g e l y f o r housing and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f a c i l i t i e s . There a r e a l s o a soccer f i e l d and an a i r f i e l d i n t h i s s t r i p of ground, although t h e l a t t e r i s d e s t i n e d t o be moved f a r t h e r n o r t h a t a f u t u r e date.
The housing of t h e
town i s once again reminiscent of t h a t of Belize.
The
Caribs do n o t appear t o p r a c t i s e any indigenous form of b u i l d i n g , b u t seem t o copy t h a t of t h e i r n e a r e s t neighbours.
Thus i n Toledo D i s t r i c t , t h e i r houses resemble
those of t h e Kekchi, a s w e l l a s those of t h e Creoles, and i n t h e o t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s such a mixture i s a l s o n o t i c e able.
( L v i i i ) XuLlins River (Ke.r-r) Town w a s c o n s t r u c t e d on a n a i d e d s e l f - h e l p basis aEter H a t t i e , but the life and v i g o u r of t h e s e t t l e m e n t , once the eighth largest in the Colony, was s n u f f e d out by the h u r r i c a n e and the present village is a shadow of i t s former s e l f .
279 The place names of t h e northern p a r t of Stann Creek I
D i s t r i c t , and of Stann Creek Town, follow many of t h e t r e n d s a l r e a d y noted i n t h e country, and t h e Caribs do
pi-
k -
not seem t o have applied t h e i r own nomenclature i n any
.I
T"
,-
*' g .
way.
Thus Stann Creek i t s e l f g o t i t s name from being an
e a r l y t r a d i n g p o s t o r "Standt1, and Hopkins a p p a r e n t l y r e f e r s t o one of t h e o r i g i n a l B r i t i s h settlers r a t h e r than commemorating a Carib p e r s o n a l i t y .
S i l k Grass, S i t t e e
River and Commerce Bight a r e a l l r e l a t i v e l y simple desc r i p t i o n s of t h e physical environment.
The cays o f f shore,
as i n t h e case of t h e i s l a n d s of Belize D i s t r i c t , show a s p e c t s of t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Colony, a s w e l l a s d e s c r i b i n g t h e i r morphology.
"Tobacco Cay gained i t s nane from t h e
f a c t t h a t tobacco was s o r t e d here before being shipped t o England when t h e f i r s t e n g l i s h s e t t l e m e n t was e s t a b l i s h e d a t Stann Creek i n t h e seventeenth centure." 10 Round Cay,Channel Cay and Twin Cays would f a l l i n t o t h e latter class. The street names of Stann Creek town compare w i t h some of those of Belize City.
The o l d e r names a r e more
genuine, w i t h regard t o h i s t o r y , being c a l l e d S t . Vincent St.,
Church S t . , e t c .
The names given t o t h e newer a r e a s
a r e chosen from a s p e c t s of t h e h i s t o r y and t h e physical environment which have a s s o c i a t i o n with t h i s p a r t of t h e Colony.
Thus t h e r e a r e a Coconut road, a G r a p e f r u i t
road, a R i c e St., and a Melinda Road.
They have a r i n g
(Lix)
S t a m Creek Town, Carib c a p i t a l of the colon:^, h c e again the buildings are similar t o t h o s e of Belize C i t y .
of a u t h e n t i c i t y , but not of ,age, mostly cornemorating comparatively r e c e n t events.
Southern Stann Creek District. Between t h e Hummingbird Highway and t h e Toledo border, t h e d i s t r i c t i s l a r g e l y d e s e r t e d , although t h e r e a r e a
f e w v i l l a g e r s a t South Stann Creek and Kendal, a s w e l l a s a t S i l k Grass.
I n a d d i t i o n t h e r e are t h e Caribs a t George-
town and t h e banana pickers a t Alabama.
A s f a r a s the
s e t t l e d p a r t of Toledo D i s t r i c t , t h i s somewhat d e s o l a t e landscape i s t h e norm, and it comes a s something of a s u r p r i s e t o see a c o l l e c t i o n of s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e c e n t r e of such an unpicturesque and unpopulated region.
The
c e n t r e of t h i s population nucleus has t r a d i t i o n a l l y been Mango Creek, but Independence, Big Creek, and P l a c e n t i a have some importance, a s w e l l as t h e nearby Carib v i l l a g e of Seine Bight. P l a c e n t i a i s a Creole f i s h i n g v i l l a g e , but it i s very d i f f e r e n t from most Creole v i l l a g e s .
The i n h a b i t a n t s
have a much l i g h t e r complexion, which r e f l e c t s t h e i r i s o l a t i o n from much of t h e negro element i n t h e country, and o t h e r present-day c e n t r e s of Creole population.
These
people a r e n e c e s s a r i l y more independent than many o t h e r groups i n t h e Colony, f o r u n t i l r e c e n t l y t h e comrnunicat i o n s of t h e a r e a were bad, and even now they a r e not good.
Regular boat services- only reach t h e v i l l a g e twice
(Lx):
UnusualZy, the s e a - f r o n t area o • ’ S t a m Crtsk Tm.nn is presently little- developed, although housing i s now being l o c a t e d i n t h i s d i s t r i c t .
a week, t h e r e i s no road r o u t e t o t h e s e t t l e m e n t and no
airst r i p . The v i l l a g e i s located on a beach, i n much t h e same way as t h e Carib v i l l a g e s and those on t h e northern I t i s beginning t o promote i t s e l f a s a t o u r i s t
cays.
r e s o r t , and i f communications improve, i t w i l l have a good chance of being successful.
An American i s b u i l d i n g a
number of t o u r i s t houses nearby, and t h e v i l l a g e r s a r e very i n t e r e s t e d i n promoting t h e charms of t h e i r s e t t l e ment.
It i s perhaps appropriate t o mention h e r e a new s e t t l e m e n t which has had l i t t l e e f f e c t a t p r e s e n t upon the area.
A t Maya Beach, A Vancouver, B.C.
company i s
t r y i n g t o promote and s e l l an a r e a of t h e s p i t t o Canadians a s a r e t i r e m e n t home.
Within t h e context of t h e environ-
ment, t h e y are doing a f a i r job, and about a dozen houses have been completed, a h o t e l i s being b u i l t and P l a c e n t i a Lagoon
i s being promoted a s a marina.
The development s t i l l
has a l o t t o do before it i s completed, however, a s i t can only be reached by road during t h e d r y season, and then with some d i f f i c u l t y and t h e use of a s p e c i a l l y b u i l t ferry.
The u s u a l means of access i s by a i r o r s e a , and
n e i t h e r i s frequented very much a t present.
Although t h e
a r e a s t i l l looks l i k e a building s i t e r a t h e r than a t r o p i -
cal p a r a d i s e , i f i t i s improved along t h e l i n e s of t h e company's s a l e s t a l k it could have a very important e f f e c t
upon the economy of the region and perhaps of the Colony as a whole. Mango Creek has always owed its existence to its sawmill, which has been run by the Belize Estate Company.
The wood for the mill came from the wide hinterland of
8%: . ..,. .
A*
r
. the settlement, and most of the roads in existence in
this part of the country had their initial raison dletre
as logging tracks.
Indeed, parts of what is now the
Southern Highway run along these alignments.
Although
it still retains ownership of the land, in the early
1960's the Company decided to close down the townls mill, iii;
which was no longer an economic proposition, and in doing
$L
"2.
-
6%
'F. C
.
P ,*
1
*.
+.
so, closed off the life from the area.
Savannah Forest
Station is the only other employer of labour in the area at present, and it cannot possibly absorb the unemployed
a
-
population.
A small private sawmill is all that exists,
?-
$. ' .:L.
other than the rotting skeleton of the B.E.C.
property,
*'
-g, ?$:
to show the past economy and way of life of the settlement. Mango Creek was built by the Company, and the architecture reflects this fact.
The buildings are quite large,
but predominantly uniform in design, and built in the cheapest possible way, with unfinished lumber which is fixed in vertical strips to the sides of the houses, the gaps being covered with thinner pieces of rough wood. There are still nearly a hundred of these buildings in
( ~ x i i ) Commerce Bight village was once a thriving cocunut plantation about ten miles south-west of S t a m Creek Town. Today t h e v i l l a g e Is deserted and overgrown, and only a handful of people l i v e in the area.
e x i s t e n c e , although n o t alL are now l i v e d i n , and t h e d e s o l a t e appearance of t h e a r e a i s heightened by t h e s e empty houses and the overgrown b i o t i c environment.
The
people no longer c a r e about t h e appearance of t h e i r town.
But i f Mango Creek i s d e s o l a t e , Independence and B i g Creek are worse,
Huxley f e e l s t h a t B r i t i s h Honduras i s
t h e end of t h e e a r t h , and he may be r i g h t , b u t Independence
i s an end w i t h i n an end, and Big Creek i s i t s o u t p o r t . O r i g i n a l l y , i n t h e e a r l y '601s, t h e Hercules Company b u i l t Independence a s a town t o house i t s workers &o would work i n t h e Big Creek processing p l a n t and i n t h e o u t l y i n g r u r a l areas.
The plans were t o e x t r a c t r e s i n from t h e
pine stumps, b u t a f t e r one year of o p e r a t i o n , t h e company cLosed down.
The town had consisted of over 200 s p e c i a l l y
constructed houses and more than f i f t y custom-made houses, b u i l t by people who staked everything on t h e success of
the p r o j e c t .
Big Creek contained t h e p l a n t , t h e s t o r a g e
v a t s , t h e e x p o r t wharf, and t h e housing and o f f i c e s f o r t h e company o f f i c i a l s . Now most of t h e 200 workers' houses have been sold and removed.
The m a j o r i t y went t o Alabama, and some more
went t o Stann Creek Town, where H.T.A.
Bowen i s r e b u i l d -
i n g twenty-five of them i n t o Bowman Square, a personal monument and a housing a r e a f o r poor people.
A few of
t h e o t h e r houses can be seen around t h e country-side, given away by t h e i r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c shape.
Indeed they
make a good buy, for their second-hand price is only
$200 and their original cost was greater than this.
The
rest lie near the Mango ~reek/~ndependence border, and at the wharf at Big Creek, slowly rotting away in a country that is crying out for more housing.
With such a great capital ewenditure, it seems unlikely that the Hercules Company made any profit out of their venture, although they are reported to have extracted twenty-eight million pounds of resin during their stay. 11 At night the scene of desolation is complete in this part of the district.
Mango Creek has some electric
lighting, albeit rather poor, but Independence and Big Creek never reached this advanced stage of life, and in the dark the area gives the impression of being an urban graveyard, which is slowly being reclaimed by the secondary vegetation.
The only hope for the area seems new industry,
and some of this may be supplied in the near future.
An American entrepreneur is developing land near Mango Creek in the hope of producing an exportable quantity of tomatoes.
If he is successful, the area may yet survive
until the pine regenerates and the mill starts working once again. The nomenclature of the southern section of Stann Creek District adds little to the story begun in the north. +
(Lxiv) A bridge i s o u t on t h e Southern Highway. When t h i s occurs all t r a f f i c h a s t o b e r e - r o u t e d along o l d logging roads through t h e B e l i z e E s t a t e l a n d s ts t h e Approaching d r i v e r s have l i t t l e warning, a p a r t from t h e h a l f o i l drums s t r a t e g i c a l l y p l a c e d one h ~ n d r e d y a r d s from the bridge. They have t o b a c k - t r a c k two m i l e s t o the d e t o u r . east.
The l o ~ g i n gcamps were naqed i n such a way a s t o be t y p i c a l of t h o s e throughout t h e country.
The o r i g i n of Alabama
has a l r e a d y been pointed o u t , and t h e Vaha Leaf t h a t i t i s r e p l a c i n g was a corruption of 'Water Leaf', a name given t o a l o c a l r i v e r s i d e plant.
Maya Beach i s a m i s -
nomer dreamed up by t h e development company a s an a d v e r t i s i n g g i m i c k t o h e l p s e l l i t s houses.
A s Romey has shown, ,
t h e r e i s no evidence of Maya a c t i v i t y i n t h i s p a r t of
the Colony.
Independence w a s o r i g i n a l l y c a l l e d Hercules,
a f t e r t h e company t h a t conceived t h e s e t t l e n e n t , but was renamed i n a b u r s t of n a t i o n a l i s t i c f e w o u r . Stann Creek i s much more of a physical u n i t than most of t h e o t h e r d i s t r i c t s , b u t t h i s has n o t led t o any uniformity i n p a t t e r n s of development and t h e majority of t h e d i s t r i c t remains under o r t o t a l l y unpopulated.
Only
i n t h e n o r t h i s t h e r e s u c c e s s f u l permanent s e t t l e n e n t , t h e c e n t r e being p r a c t i c a l l y devoid of l i f e , and t h e south having v i t a l i t y only i n s c a t t e r e d patches.
If this latter
a r e a does n o t r e v i v e , most of t h e a r e a between t h e Stann Creek v a l l e y and t h e Rio Grande nay' r e v e r t t o i t s p o s i t i o n
of s e v e r a l hundred years ago, although i t s r e s o u r c e s of t h a t time w i l l have been exploited and worked out.
If
t h i s w e r e t o happen, Toledo would be even more c u t off than i s now t h e case.
(Lxv)
Independence, truly the end of the end of t h e earth. In the foreground there were once numerous houses built by the Rercules Company, inany of :d~ick are now located a t hf abaaa(Waha Leaf)
.
293
TOLEDO DISTRICT
-- THE DEEP SOUTH
The situation of the area. South from Mango Creek area leads a dirt-track-cumroad which boasts the name 'Southern Highway' as does its more northerly counterpart.
The fact that this route
is only passable at some stages during the Dry Season
makes the nomenclature all the more puzzling, but a survey of the district which it has 'opened up1 makes the situation more clear.
The Toledo District is not
called the Deep South for nothing.
As recently as 1961, Carr wrote, "The only comunication with the rest of British Honduras is by a small, three seater aeroplane, or by the
(s.s.)
Heron which
visits the town twice a week, bringing its weekly supply of provisions and some passengers and collecting beans, pigs, mail and passengers for transport to Belize. rt 12 The situation has changed little, of late.
Nowadays two
boats ply the route from Belize, one continuing on to Puerto Barries in Guatemala, but these two ancient craft only make the (occasionally) perilous voyage once a week each, and the National holidays cut further into the service.
For the towns in the Stann Creek District this
contact is no longer essentiai, but for the settlers at Monkey River and Punta Kegra it is the only visible sign of the outside world.
-
For the inhabitants of Punta Gorda,
the Administrative capital,, the a r r i v a l of the boats
i s a l s o a major event, and t h i s i s not s u r p r i s i n g f o r it i s a moment of excitement i n an otherwise tedious existence.
In comparison with most of Toledo, B r i t i s h Honduras i s a w e l l developed, t h r i v i n g land. T h i s might seem an unusual s t a t e of a f f a i r s , p a r t i c u l a r l y so as t h e Latin American Report p r e d i c t s t h a t
"the g r e a t e s t a g r i c u l t u r a l development (of B r i t i s h Honduras) i s expected through u t i l i z a t i o n of lands i n the southern Toledo Districtt' and bases t h i s upon the Land Use Survey team r e p o r t t h a t more than h a l f t h e 325,000 a c r e s of land, "readily adaptable t o farmingvvwas located i n the Toledo D i s t r i c t .
Once again t h e pages of t h e
h i s t o r y books must be looked a t t o f i n d some semblance of an answer t o t h i s problem. From t h e e a r l y days of the Colony, most of t h e woodc u t t i n g had gone on i n t h e northern d i s t r i c t s and Eelize D i s t r i c t , because it was here t h a t the logwood, which grows i n marshy a r e a s , was found.
k e n t h e r e came t h e
change-over t o mahogany, these areas were the f i r s t used once again, but the woodcutters were ambitious and increasing i n numbers, and t h e p r a c t i c e s of r e p l a n t i n g a r e a s were not used.
Indeed they would not have been seen a s
u s e f u l , a s a mahogany t r e e takes a t l e a s t 80 years t o reach maturity, and no Bayman would look t h i s f a r i n t o the f u t u r e .
"The a c c e s s i b l e mahogany i n t h e area between t h e Hondo and t h e Sibun, assigned t o t h e settlers by t h e t r e a t y of 1786, was soon cut o u t , f o r it w a s not p r a c t i c a b l e t o go more t h a n a s h o r t d i s t a n c e from a r i v e r down which t h e logs could be f l o a t e d t o t h e sea for export. Almost m e d i a t e l y t h e settlers s t a r t e d t o go beyond t h e l i m i t s l a i d down by t h e t r e a t y , and i n t h e f i r s t y e a r s of t h e n i n e t e e n t h century were expanding both f u r t h e r i n l a n d than before, and t o new c o a s t a l areas south of t h e Sibun. By 1806 they were c u t t i n g on t h e Rio Grande, by 1814 they had reached t h e Hobo, and a few y e a r s l a t e r t h e Sarstoon. The p r e c i s e d a t e a t which the settlers began operations on t h e Sarstoon h a s never been a s c e r t a i n e d , but i t i s clear t h a t by 1826 t h i s r i v e r w a s regarded as t h e southern boundary of t h e s e t t l e n e n t . B y t h i s time t h e settlement was some t h r e e o r f o u r times t h e a r e a of t h e 1786 concession, and it had reached i t s p r a c t i c a b l e l i m i t s of extension. Further expansion would have brought t h e s e t t l e r s i n t o occupied land, whereas t h e a r e a s i n t o which they had been moving had been, i f inhabited a t a l l , i n h a b i t e d only by Amerindians c o n p l e t e l y o u t of touch with any Spanish c o l o n i a l authori t y . 811 3 I n 1856 t h e Dallas-Clarendon Treaty recognised B r i t i s h occupa t i o n t o t h e Sarstoon, and i n t h e Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty of 1859 t h i s boundary was confirmed ( a t least i n t h e minds of some) and t h e western boundary a l s o f i x e d , from t h e Gracias a Dios f a l l s towards Garbutts F a l l s on t h e Belize River. These l i n e s i n d i c a t e two f a c t s ; t h a t t h e primary reason f o r annexation was e x p l o i t a t i o n of f o r e s t resources,
a f a c t much i n keeping w i t h those of t h e r e s t of t h e Colony; and secondly t h a t the a r e a was v i r t u a l l y uninhabited. Once again t h i s m u s t be kept i n c o n t e x t , and i t must be
pointed out that an area described as uninhabited within
the Colony is truly sparsely settled.
All the facts indi-
cate that to a l l intents and purposes, nobody lived in this area. This had not, once again, always been the case, for during an earlier period, the Maya Indians had had some areas at least of dense settlement within the Colony, and the ruins of Lubaantun near San Pedro Colombia attest to this fact.
But, as before, these agriculturalists had
been long gone, and probably a thousand years had elapsed between the two periods of exploitation. Toledo District lies on the south-eastern.slopes of the Maya Mountains, with the crestline of this range dividing the district-fromthat of Cayo.
The slopes of
these mountains give rise to a number of waterways which have proved both a blessing and an unwelcome factor to the fortunes of the district.
To the woodcutters, and to
the agriculturalists, they are useful for transportation,
comunication, and a water supply, but for the administrator trying to 'open up1 the area, they have proved a problern, as the cost of road building rises sharply when flooding has to be so consistently taken into account. The 166 inches of rainfall around Punta Gorda, which decreases to 92 inches at Stann Creek Town, gives the majority of the rivers relatively regular regimes, although less water flows during the ndryn season.
298
Contact can be made through t h e Mountain Pine Ridge area, b u t t h i s i s no easy matter, and it i s n o t a l t o -
g e t h e r s u r p r i s i n g t h a t the means of a c c e s s t o this p a r t of t h e Colony have been r a t h e r l i m i t e d i n t h e p a s t , and probably w i l l continue t o be i n t o a t least t h e near future.
Settlement P a t t e r n s .
The r e s u l t of t h i s h a s been t h a t i n t h e p a s t only two a r e a s of s e t t l e m e n t have grown up, one i n t h e n o r t h of t h e d i s t r i c t and one i n t h e south, with a s p a r s e l y s e t t l e d area i n between.
The former a r e a h a s now more
o r less c l o s e d down, s i n c e t h e d e c l i n e of pine and mahogany, a s t h e s e t t l e m e n t was mainly i n t h e form of woodc u t t e r s ' camps.
This w a s p a r t of t h e h i n t e r l a n d of t h e
Mango Creek sawmill.
There b7as never any l a r g e s c a l e
a g r i c u l t u r a l s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e n o r t h (once again using t h e tern i n i t s l o c a l c o n t e x t ) except i n t h e v i c i n i t y
of Monkey River, about which more w i l l be s a i d l a t e r .
This
a c t i v i t y i s a l s o now a l l but f i n i s h e d , a t l e a s t f o r t h e p r e s e n t time, although t h e r e a r e signs t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e may someday r e v i v e i n t h i s region.
In t h e southern p a r t of Toledo D i s t r i c t , t h e r e a r e two types of settlement.
The f i r s t i s of l i t t l e s i g n i f i -
cance i n t h e area, and a s t h e p o l i c i e s of t h e present government are pursued, i t s importance w i l l continue t o
decline.
It consists of geographically isolated villages
of Kekchi Indians who have entered the Colony from the neighbouring republic of Guatemala.
Since their arrival
these people have been almost continually on the move; using their system of shifting agriculture, but many of them are beginning to form permanent settlements, a policy encouraged by the govgrnment, the majority of these villages being in the less isolated areas near San Antonio and Punta Gorda.
Once again, the urban industrial type of
civilization is changing the ways of a less sophisticated native population. Punta Gorda and San Antonio, respectively the administrative capital and the largest village in the Colony,
form the ends of a belt of settlement that stretches, with a few exceptions, along the road which connects the two, and most of these settlers are East Indian in origin. At the seaward end, there is a predominance of Carib Indians and at the landward end, a predominance of Amerindians.
San Antonio is itself a Mopanero Maya settlement,
but it forms the focus for a number of partly Maya but chiefly Kekchi villages such as San Pedro, San Miguel, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Santa Elena, Pueblo Viejo and Blue Creek village.
In addition, nearer to Punta Gorda, along
this axis, lies the village of Laguna, a newly settled community, which for reasons that will be explained later does not fit in with this pattern.
Another settlement
which does not completelylfit the pattern is the village
of Barranco.
This is a Carib village, de facto with only
maritime connections, although de .iure with a trail leading inland.
It fits with the almost ubiquitous pattern
of Carib villages in that it has such a marithe outlook, and can be regarded as similar to Punta Gorda in some ways.
It must be pointed out that this settlement pattern may, in itself, be very recent, for although there has
been contact between San Antonio and Punta Gorda for many years, the "new roadn that connects the two has only been in existence since 1938.
It is not certain whether or not
the.pattern of East Indian settlement has been in existence for more than this period of time,
Cultural Groups. Despite the countless natural barriers to settlement and successful exploitation, a wide variety of cultural groups have tried their luck in Toledo, and most of them have found it worthwhile to stay.
In addition to the
sprinkling of people of British and Spanish background, there are also important groups of Kekchi Indians, East Indians, Carib Indians, and a small but significant group of settlers who fled the U.S. War Years.
during the Civil
There are also some EIopanero Mayas, Chinese
and Syrian merchants.
In fact, practically the whole
spectrum of t h e population of B r i t i s h Bonduras can be
found i n t h i s remote and i s o l a t e d d i s t r i c t , and it i s necessary, as w e l l a s i n t e r e s t i n g , t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e d i v e r s e r e a s o n s which l i e behind t h e i r a r r i v a l , and t h e reasons f o r t h e i r l o c a t i o n , wherever t h i s might be possible.
The Caribs.
The s t o r y of t h e Carib Indians has
a l r e a d y been t o l d i n some d e t a i l , and t h e i r usual p a t t e r n of s e t t l e m e n t has been described.
I n t h e Toledo D i s t r i c t ,
they follow t h e i r normal maritime way of l i f e , with v i l l a g e s a t Sarranco and Punta Gorda and o t h e r s e t t l e ments a t Punta Ycacos, Punta Negra, and t o a small e x t e n t ,
a t Monkey River. Monkey River has been described as a Carib s e t t l e ment''
and indeed i t s l o c a t i o n would appear t o support
t h i s supposition.
Very l i k e l y t h e o r i g i n a l s e t t l e r s were
Caribs, b u t today they no longer predominate.
Since t h e
l a t t e r p a r t of t h e n i n e t e e n t h Century, t h e a r e a has been producing bananas f o r export, f i r s t f o r t h e Valize F r u i t Company and l a t e r f o r t h e United F r u i t Company, and l i o r r i s ' account i n d i c a t e s t h e p o t e n t i a l of t h i s a r e a f o r t h e production of bananas.
But t h e boom did not l a s t long, and
a s a t Stann Creek, t h e p l a n t a t i o n s f e l l t o t h e ravages of Panarna d i s e a s e , towards t h e end of t h e F i r s t World
War.
Unlike t h e Stann Creek a r e a , t h e Toledo D i s t r i c t
h a s n o t recovered i n t h i s economic sphere.
I t i s one of
t h e many mysteries of B r i t i s h Honduras t h a t Monkey River
h a s survived a t a l l .
Its i n h a b i t a n t s r e p r e s e n t a h o s t
every c u l t u r a l group, although t h e r e a r e only a few of t h e Carib I n d i a n s remaining, and t h e s e 500 o r so people
exist without a major source of income.
Jndeed t h e most
important economic a c t i v i t y i n t h e v i l l a g e i s t h e rep a i r i n g of outboard motors.
These machines a r e brought
from as f a r away as Guatemala t o be p u t t o r i g h t s .
The
v i l l a g e h a s no landward c o n t a c t , although Morris advocated such a l i n k back i n 1883, and t h e sea passage i s reckoned
to be one of t h e most dangerous i n t h e Colony:
t h e only
s a f e landing s p o t i s within t h e r i v e r ' s s h e l t e r and t h i s
i s made hazardous by a s h i f t i n g sand bar.
**en
an e a s t
wind blows o n l y t h e most knowledgeable and s k i l l f u l w i l l t r y t h e i r luck.
But t h e settlement s u r v i v e s , although i t
i s dwindling i n size,.and such i s t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Colony t h a t i t may even make a come-back. Punta Ycacos was a coconut p l a n t a t i o n i n t h e times when Morris passed by, but t h i s f u n c t i o n i s secondary now t o t h a t of subsistence; Punta Kegra i s i n a s i m i l a r posit i o n w i t h a p p a r e n t l y as l i m i t e d a f u t u r e .
Only a few
people s t i l l l i v e i n t h e s e i s o l a t e d a r e a s . Barranco i s one of t h e most
Carib s e t t l e -
ments i n t h e Colony, and j u s t i f i e s t h i s p o s i t i o n by being almost t o t a l l y Carib i n composition, and i n being t h e n e a r e s t v i l l a g e t o Guatemala, which f a c t l e a d s t o a c e r t a i n freedom of movement a c r o s s t h e border t h a t i s
r a r e l y experienced elsewbere.
The Caribs again follow
t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l way of l i f e , with t h e men looking mainly towards t h e sea and t h e wonen looking c h i e f l y inland.
This v i l l a g e i s as l a r g e a s Monkey River, and it appears t o be s t i l l growing i n s i z e , a t least t h i s i s t h e i n d i c a t i o n given by t h e populatioa f i g u r e s . however, t h e impression given t o t h e v i s i t o r .
I t i s not, Where Monkey
River w a s dying, but i n a r e s p e c t a b l e way, w i t h t i d i n e s s and p r i d e , Barraoco seems t o be growing i n an almost sneaky fashion.
Many of t h e houses and 'gardens1 a r e
almost t o t a l l y hidden by t h e dense undergrowth, and a guide i s a n e c e s s i t y i f one wishes t o avoid g e t t i n g l o s t . The high r a i n f a l l , f e r t i l i t y of t h e s o i l and l a c k of a cash crop might be p a r t of t h e answer, b u t t o a l a r g e e x t e n t , t h e l a c k of vigour of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s , coupled w i t h t h e p r o p e n s i t y t o consume l o c a l rum l i k e it was
going o u t of s t y l e may a l s o be c o n t r i b u t o r y f a c t o r s . Romney has pointed o u t t h a t t h e "Caribs seem t o f a l l n e a t l y i n t o one of t w o categories: ambitious.
t h e indolent o r the
This i s nowhere more t k e than i n t h e v i l l a g e
of Barranco; unfortunately here t h e l a t t e r category i s n o t apparent. The o t h e r 'Carib v i l l a g e 1 of t h e d i s t r i c t i s t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c e n t r e of Punta Gorda, which i s i n c o n t r a s t t o t h e r e s t of t h e settlements of t h e d i s t r i c t a s it conveys an almost Belizean sense of b u s t l e which i s i n sharp
contrast to the other Cdib settlements and to the Indian villages of the area.
I1Punta Gorda, chief town of the
Toledo district, was first settled by Carib immigrants from the Bepublic of Honduras in 1832, and, in 1845, a mission station was established there by Jesuit fathers which, according to the Handbook of British Honduras for
1927, gave a boost to the place and made it into a thriving settlement.
Indeed, the first inter-town telephone
was laid from Belize to Punta Gorda in 190317
indicating
that the settleaent held considerably more than its 300 inhabitants of 1861 or 400 of 1883 which were18 no mean amounts for the Colony in those times.
But for some time
the settlement has been dormant and it has not really been until the recent Government and International interest
in the area that another important period of growth has been experienced.
The town had 1789 people in 1961 and
now has something over 2500 inhabitants. There are probably more Caribs remaining in the town than many authors (Carr, waddeli) allow for, but the racial mixture of the country and of the district cones to a head in this settlement, which probably is the most picturesque and clean looking in the Colony, although as well as cleanliness the 170 inches of rain also contriroofs. bute the usual British Honduras rusty I1zinc1'
The
Caribs are maintaining a steady eight per cent of the population, but tke number of settlements which are of
One of t h e houses b u i l t by the Young f m i l y , a C o n f e d e r a t e group from the Southern United State's. This b u i l d i n g i s occupied by a descendent of the original settler. I t wzs b u i l t around t h e turn of the century.
306 near pure Carib content is declining as the cosmopolitan nature of towns and villages becomes greater. As
in Belize City, Stann Creek and the northern
provincial centres,there are a number of Chinese businessmen, who own ttprosperouslooking shopstt
and take care
of a large part of the trade of the town.
There are also
a few Syrians who once again perform a similar function as merchant-men. The Creoles of the area appear to have two major means of life support.
They either work for the govern-
ment, or they work in agriculture.
The former group
provide administrators, policemen, public works officials
and workers, forestry employees, et. , and the latter are mainly small fanners.
Immigrants from the Confederacy.
During the mid-
part of the nineteenth Century, there was great concern over the underdeveloped nature of the Colony, and the various British officials.tried to bring greater benefits to this section of colonial America.
Numerous attempts
were made to promote trade, and some attempts were made to recruit immigrants into the country.
But not all people
were encouraged to immigrate, and the most popular choices varied from time to time as the government hoped it could pick people who would be of most use to the fledgling
a
uring the time of the American Civil War the
Governor t r i e d t o encourage t h e movement of f r e e d American Slaves t o the Colony, but t h i s move was prevented by t h e p a t e r n a l i s t i c Union government of the time.
More success-
f u l , although by no neans e n t i r e l y so, w a s a move t o encourage white Confederates i n t o s e t t l i n g i n t h e Colony.
Due t o t h e land p o l i c i e s of t h e time, however, which p u t t h e p r i c e of land much too high, many of t h e p o t e n t i a l immigrants w e r e discouraged, but t h e r e w e r e a number of Confederates who chose t o make t h e i r new homes i n B r i t i s h Honduras, and although a l o t went back when l i f e i n t h e i r As Eoldridge
homeland had s e t t l e d down, some remained.*O
p o i n t s o u t , "the h i s t o r y of t h e settlement i s of g r e a t i n t e r e s t because, although i t f l o u r i s h e d f o r a time, i t s u l t i m a t e f a i l u r e seems t o have been due t o economic and s o c i a l f a c t o r s r a t h e r than c l i m a t i c ones."
The Confederate
s e t t l e m e n t also has some i n t e r e s t because of i t s secondary e f f e c t s upon t h e region.
It was based on t h e land of
Toledo and Company (from which t h e d i s t r i c t g e t s i t s name) and t h e f i r s t settlement w a s t o be found a t C a t t l e Landing.
I n t i m e i t spread f o r two and a h a l f m i l e s north
westward through t h e a r e a s now knom a s F o r e s t Home, Fairview and Rancho, following an abandoned mahogany c u t t e r s ' t r a i l , which led back from t h e shore.
The
o r i g i n a l houses on t h e e s t a t e s had been crude thatched buildings n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y d i f f e r e n t from those used by t h e Caribs and Megroes, but t h e s e t t l e r s i n time b u i l t l a r g e ho
es, of t h e type they knew from t h e i r homeland,
\
and some of these remain today.
They also tried to culti-
vate the crops they knew, such as cotton, but here they were unsuccessful.
They turned to bananas, amongst other
crops, before finding their most profitable line production.
-- sugar
Indeed sugar was as important here as in the
north for some time, until the area around Corozal became a larger-scale more efficient producer, and production
in Toledo declined to domestic (rum-producing) proportions. The growth of sugar was made possible by the use of East Indian labourers.
"The settlers were almost all Metho-
dists and were all from the former Confederacy.
. . . The
settlers had an aversion to the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol that amounted almost to fanaticism; and their determination that no colour mixture should come about among them approaches the sane category. ,122 They were successful in both aims.
With regard to the
former aim, when the European beet-sugar production policies came into force in the latter part of the nineteenth Century, these settlers had nothing to fall back upon.
It
may be a reflection upon the morals-of the settlers of Corozal District, or a reflection upon their canniness, for when the same trouble hit them, they at least had a well established local distilling industry to fall back upon, and this cushioned, at least in part, the economic blow, and enabled the sugar industry to continue at a much greater scale, a fact which may have had some effect .-
at a later date when the north was chosen over the south
as t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e factory.
Such p r o h i b i t i o n i s t
values were e v i d e n t l y changed, a t least by some, a t a
later d a t e , f o r a t t h e present time, t h e r e a r e two rum d i s t i l l e r i e s i n t h e Toledo D i s t r i c t .
One i s run by a
Portuguese family on t h e o l d Eldridge estate i n t h e Rancho
area, and t h e o t h e r i s on t h e Young's estate a t Fairview. The r a c i a l p o l i c i e s of t h e i r forebears was s t i l l strong, and although they had t o use coloured l a b o u r e r s , they d i d n o t m i x w i t h t h e rest of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s . "Because of t h e settlers1 f e a r of absorption i t be-
came t h e custom t o send t h e c h i l d r e n t o t h e United S t a t e s f o r education, n o t , however, a t school age, but a t adolescence.
Thus t h e supply of white labour was c u t o f f a t i t s
source and, a t t h e same time, increased coloured employment made necessary.
The growth of t h e coloured settle-
ment a t Punta Gorda was ensured, and t h e s t a g n a t i o n of t h e white s e t t l e m e n t a t Toledo became i n e v i t a b l e , n23
ln
f a c t i f Clegern i s r i g h t , t h e hey-day had not l a s t e d f o r long:
"By June 1869
. . . t h e United S t a t e s commercial
agent r e p o r t e d t h a t Southern immigration t o B r i t i s h Honduras, which had averaged f i f t y immigrants per month for t h e years 1867-69, had ceased.
A t t h i s p o i n t more were
r e t u r n i n g t o t h e United S t a t e s than w e r e a r r i v i n g , 11 24 This condition of stagnation has now reached t h e s t a g e of t h e r e only being one family i n permanent residence
-
( t h e ~ o u n g s )and one i n temporary residence ( t h e Pearces)
(Lxvii). The E a s t I n d l a n s live along the roadside, ofken in poor q u a l i t y housiog, but with a Lot of p e r s o n a l space f o r each f a m i l y . The l i v i n g q u a r t e r s a r e in the middleground. The other b u i l d i n g s are cooking and storage spaces.
and little evidence remaips of this period of settlement which might have done so much more good for the country, had it been given the right amount of encouragement and support in its earlier stages.
But despite their short
stay, and despite their anonymity amongst the present Toledo community, this group had some important effects, the most important of which concerned the East Indians. Although represented in other districts, notably the north, the East Indian group is most distinct in the Toledo area. East Indian settlers.
They arrived in the country
during the middle of the nineteenth Century, their date
of arrival being variously given as 1858, the 1860's and 1872.
The reasons ~ i v e nfor their settling so far from
their homeland are just as varied, and the overall impression is that there has been more than one stage of settlement.
Caiger takes his story from some entries in
the Archives which indicate that "after the suppression of the Indian Ffutiny (in India), Parliament transported 1000 Sepoy mutineers with their wives and families to the Colony (1858), where many hundreds of their descendents still remain. tt25 Waddell's version night fit well with this, as althouzh he does not speculate as to their origins he states that tlmostof the East Indians are descended from those settled in the Toledo District by Anerican susar-planters in the 1860's.
liZ6
The H.M.S.O. .pubii-
c a t i o n which documents t h e i r e n t r y as 1872 does n o t s e e m s o well founded. 27 Whatever and whenever t h e i r o r i g i n s , i t i s most c e r t a i n t h a t t h e Confederate refugees were t h e r a i s o n d t e t r e f o r t h e East I n d i a n s , a t least i n t h e Toledo District.
Today,
however, t h e s i t u a t i o n i s d i f f e r e n t , as only a l i t t l e sugar i s grown, mostly t o be used i n t h e r u n d i s t i l l e r i e s
of t h e d i s t r i c t .
Xany of t h e East Indians work on t h e i r
own land, some work f o r t h e government, and o t h e r s work a t t h e Governqent % i c e S t a t i o n .
The main a x i s of t h e i r
s e t t l e m e n t r u n s from C a t t l e Landing t o Rancho, but t h e r e
are a l s o many t o be found on t h e road t o Toledo, a t t h e s e t t l e m e n t s of Mafredi, Crique Trosa, Crique Arena, The
Dump, Crique Cacao, and Hacinto, a s w e l l as I n more s c a t t e r e d farmsteads along the highway t o San Antonio.
They form a very d i s t i n c t c u l t u r a l group i n t h e a r e a , although i n t e r m a r r i a g e i s by no means unlmown.
Many of
t h e s e people s t i l l f e e l a g r e a t sense of i d e n t i t y w i t h t h e i r homeland, although they do n o t speak any of t h e l a n g u a ~ e sof t h e Indian sub-continent, appear t o hold no
s i m i l a r r e l i g i o u s b e l i e f s t o t h e people f r o n t h e i r homeland, and apparently have no form of c a s t e system i n t h e i r community.
Many have a d e s i r e t o a t l e a s t v i s i t t h e i r
homeland, although it i s beyond t h e means of t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y of t h e group.
(Lxxi:ii)San Antonio, Toledo D i s t r i c t , t h e 1s;rgest v i l l a g e in the country. Thgs p i c t u r e is a t y p h c a l , as most of the 220 buildin~sa r e thatched huts.
The .Amerindian Group's. There are two groups of Mayan Indians in this part of the Colony. are
Most of these
Kekchi Maya, but there are some Mopanero Maya.
This
latter group are mostly to be found in the village of
San Antonio (reputedly the largest village in the country), and in closely neighbouring settlenents.
San Antonio was
founded by Indians who moved southwards from Cayo ~istrict,*a and its date of first settlement is given a s 1883 (~ai~er)'~ and 1891 ($laddell). 30
This confusion may have arisen as
the original settlers lived at the villa,-e now called Pueblo Viejo, but identified as San Antonio Viejo on older maps, and still containing a high proportion of liopanero Mayas.
They came from the t o m of Dolores and moved through
San Luis (in the 14ountain Pine Xidge area of the Colony)
reputedly bringing religious artifacts from their hometown church.
After a skirmish over possession of these
artifacts with their erstwhile neighbouts they were happy to call upon the British for protection and at this stage
of its existence the colonial government was quite content to help these settlers.
Whatever the true account of
their origins, it is significant that San Antonio (Nuevo?) is almost totally 14opanero in its composition; the villages of Pueblo Viejo and San Pedro Colombia have mixed populations, but the rest of .the Indian villages are almost totally Kekchi.
Although the way of life of San
Antonio, San Pedro Colombia, and one or two other villages .-
is generally more cosmopolitan than that of their neigh-
(Lxix)
Kekchi I n d i a n s a t Laguna v i l l a g e , b u i l d i n g a hut, u s i n g t r a d i t i o n a l nethods and c o l l e c t i v e labour. T h i s b u i l d ing was t o be a Cabildo; the ALcalde's- (headimn' s) courtroom and a p u b l i c meeting p l a c e . They u s e bushwood o f t e n brought s e v e r a l m i l e s and thatch the roof with cohune p a l m
bours, i n essence t h e r e i s not too much divergence, and what may be s a i d f o r one group, g e n e r a l l y a p p l i e s t o t h e o t h e r , This i s even true f o r t h e Kekchi who are c u t o f f i n t h e south w e s t c o r n e r of t h e Colony, although some r e s e r v a t i o n s must be made here, The Kekchi Maya come " o r i g i n a l l y from a v i l l a g e near Coban, i n , t h e southern f o o t h i l l s of Guatemala, (and) they began t o s e t t l e i n t h e south-west corner of a r i t i s h Hond u r a s some 60-70 y e a r s ago.
They spread o u t t h i n l y , es-
t a b l i s h i n g v i l l a g e s more t o t h e e a s t and n o r t h u n t i l they
m e t t h e f r i n g e of t h e Carib s e t t l e m e n t s on t h e c o a s t and t h e Mopan Naya i n t h e north. n31
I t i s n o t c e r t a i n why
they came from Guatemala, and although t h e i r n a t u r a l prop e n s i t y t o wander may have Seen a c o n t r i b u t o r y f a c t o r , it i s l i k e l y t h a t r e s t r i c t i v e Guatemalan p r a c t i c e s a l s o
had t h e i r e f f e c t upon t h e s e rural d e c i s i o n makers.
Wuch
of t h e Kekchi migration has been very r e c e n t , and it i s probable t h a t s e v e r a l hundreds have cone a c r o s s t h e border"
32
i n r e c e n t years.
The Colony has made g r e a t e f f o r t s i n t h e p a s t few y e a r s t o a s s i m i l a t e t h e s e Indians, both a s a s o c i a l and
a p o l i t i c a l measure, f o r they might be p o s s i b l e f u t u r e providers of a g r i c u l t u r a l produce t o t h e r e s t of t h e country
as w e l l a s providing a b e t t e r claim f o r t h e Colony t o t h i s a r e a of land, i n i t s d i s p u t e with Guatemala.
The p o s s i b l e
consequences of such an a s s i m i l a t i o n process, a s w e l l as
(Lxx)
l s - n o t airA Kekchi h u t in Toledo D i s t r i c t . The ~ ~ a Z are The overhangin3 t i g h t but are apparently water-prcof. roof g r e a t l y adds t o t h e weatherproofing a t the hut.
318 t h e p r e s e n t way of l i f e have been shown by C a m , 33
and
it remains t o b r i n g o u t a few f u r t h e r d e t a i l s of t h e
district. The a s s i m i l a t i o n process has t o a l a r g e e x t e n t been s u c c e s s f u l i n t h e northern p a r t of t h e "Kekchi Couritry,"
which i s t h a t area a s f a r south as t h e v i l l a g e s of Pueblo Viejo and Blue Creek,
The numerous i n h a b i t a n t s
of t h i s b e l t of v i l l a g e s now have f a i r l y good road a c c e s s t o San Antonio and Punta Gorda, f o r a t least p a r t of t h e year.
This h a s been a very r e c e n t phenomenon, however,
and t h e pre-contact h a b i t s of t h e n a t i v e s are s t i l l i n evidence, p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e i r shyness,
I n t h e milpa c l e a r -
i n g and burning season i t i s possible t o d r i v e through a n a p p a r e n t l y deserted set of v i l l a g e s :
t h e men a r e o u t
a t work, and t h e women h i d e i n t h e h u t s when they h e a r t h e engine of t h e approaching vehicle.
This s i t u a t i o n i s
even more t r u e f o r t h e more i s o l a t e d v i l l a g e s such a s San Jose and Pueblo Viejo than i t i s f o r San Antonio and
San Pedro Colombia.
A mixed response i s found a t such
v i l l a g e s , and a l s o a t t h e v i l l a g e of Laguna,
This s e t t l e -
ment, about f o u r t e e n miles from Punta Gorda but only about
three from t h e main road, was promoted by t h e government t o h e l p s e t t l e t h e wandering Kekchi.
Some of i t s inhabi-
t a n t s come from t h e nearby Indian v i l l a g e s such a s San Miguel, but many a l s o come f r o n those f u r t h e r south, such
as Crique Sarco, and a few d i r e c t l y f r o n Guatemala.
Passing through the village of Blue Creek, there is a new road which the government is building to open up those areas of the country which are at present inaccessible to all but those on foot or in a canoe, except in very exceptional years.
Crique Sarco used to be the 'capital1
of this region, and to a great extent it has retained this function today, but on a greatly reduced scale.
It is the
rapid de-population of this already underpopulated region that has led to the renewed vigour on the part of the government.
At the height of the woodcutting era, it was
possible to travel throughout this region by track, and even into parts of Guatemala, but this has been impossible for some time now, although the governnent hopes to rectify this situation in the future.
Thus, in one sense at
~
least, they are turning the clock back.
The effects of civilisation upon the Indians of Toledo have not been so great as elsewhere in the country, despite the appointment of a Kekchi Liason Officer to live among then.
The Land Use Survey indicates, however,
that the Kekchi !lare progressive farmers, quick to see and adopt useful ideas,"34 true.
and to a large extent this is
The new accessibility to market has led to the
marketing by the villages of surpluses which were before either non-existent or would have gone to waste.
Their
adaptability is also shown in the proud boast of the Agricultural Ministry that many of the Indians are using
weedkillers i n t h e i r fields.
To a c e r t a i n e x t e n t t h i s i s
I
t r u e , although u s u a l l y only t h e r i c e f i e l d s a r e f e l t t o be worthy of such treatment.
The opening up of t h e area h a s had o t h e r n o t a b l e e f f e c t s , such as a change i n h e a l t h standards.
As late
as 1960, t h e nurse v i s i t e d most v i l l a g e s only once a y e a r , and some undoubtedly on a less frequent b a s i s .
This s i t u -
a t i o n has now been changed, p a r t l y by t h e b e t t e r roads, and p a r t l y by t h e b e t t e r medical s e r v i c e s , and a l s o p a r t l y by t h e northward movement of many of t h e once more i s o l a t e d
Indians.
I n any c a s e , most of t h e Indians of t h e d i s t r i c t
can now s e e a medical o f f i c e r a t l e a s t once a month.
The
new h o s p i t a l a t Punta Gorda h a s a l s o been of g r e a t h e l p t o the d i s t r i c t i n t h i s respect. Toledo D i s t r i c t i s a t l a s t sharing i n t h e changes t h a t a r e coming t o t h e country, indeed i f t h e propaganda
i s t o be b e l i e v e d , i t w i l l g e t more than i t s s h a r e i n t h e y e a r s t o come.
I t i s t o be hoped t h a t t h i s increased
i n f l u e n c e of urban i n d u s t r i a l c i v i l i s a t i o n continues t o be of h e l p t o t h e Kekchi, one of t h e l e a s t worldly Indian groups t o be found i n Central America today.
Southern H o u s i n ~ . The housing s t y l e s t o be found i n t h e Deep South do n o t show a l l t h e s i g n s of t h e i s o l a t i o n which has been
'l.plOU aqa $0 3Fq2 03 3Uala33Tp f i a ~s? Xu0103 aq2 3 0 q n o s a q f UT a ~ & s 3002 a u * s p o q~3 2 ~ q 2 ahzq puc p o r n o ~ u a q d30 a p m ale mqmnx a81el B 3aq (?ST) 6 a ~ X a u~ s 1C1.e~sp20-3 aJun6 u? sqTza3 ay3 JO sasnoq a-
t h e s t o r y of Toledo D i s t r i c t , but do r e f l e c t some a s p e c t s
of t h i s f a c t o r . There are t h r e e types of housing i n t h e d i s t r i c t , which can be c l a s s i f i e d on an almost areal b a s i s as c o a s t a l , middle, and i n t e r i o r s t y l e s , although t h e r e i s some overlap.
The ' i n t e r i o r '
s t y l e i s t h a t of t h e b e r -
i n d i a n s , and t h i s i s very d i f f e r e n t from t h e n a t i v e s t y l e s of t h e c e n t r e and n o r t h of t h e Colony.
The r o o f s are of
t h a t c h , but i n Toledo t h e overhangs a r e g r e a t e r , and t h e roof comes n e a r e r t o t h e ground.
The w a l l s of t h e houses
a r e made of s p l i t wood, roughly joined t o g e t h e r , b u t n o t p l a s t e r e d a s i n the north.
A s t h e s i d i n g used i s made of
rough, unfinished wood, these dwellings a r e by no means airtight.
The roof might be taken a s an a d a p t i o n t o t h e
w e t t e r c l i m a t e , e s p e c i a l l y a s t h e Hopanero Mayans a l s o u s e t h i s method of construction.
The walls would appear t o
i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e i n h a b i t a n t s p r e f e r t o keep c o o l a t a l l times, even i f t h i s means t h a t a t times t h e houses are much more draughty than those of t h e north.
I t might be
a shortage of white m a r l t h a t prevents t h e I n d i a n s from obtaining a s i m i l a r f i n i s h t o t h e i r northern r e l a t i v e s , but it seems u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e r e i s no m a t e r i a l p r e s e n t i n t h e d i s t r i c t t h a t would adequately f i l l t h e gaps i n t h e walls. The c o a s t a l s t y l e s a r e those which a r e s i m i l a r t o Belize
, with
z i n c *roofs and we 11-made board w a l l s .
Some
(Lxxii)
A Carib house in Punta Gorda, this shows considerable expertise i n construction, and features of both I n d i a n and 'Belizean' character. The stilts are popular even on houses of 'native' style, and the roof is t y p i c a l l y southern.
of these houses a r e found elsewhere i n t h e d i s t r i c t , but , they are found mostly i n Punta Gorda, Barranco, and Monkey River.
I n a d d i t i o n t o t h i s type of house, t h e r e a r e a
number of thatched h u t s , with s i m i l a r r o o f s t o t h o s e of t h e Amerindians' houses, but w i t h w a l l s which a r e made of w i l d cane o r palmetos wood.
I n Punta Gorda, three q u a r t e r s
of t h e houses are made i n Belize-type a r c h i t e c t u r a l s t y l e s , and n e a r l y s i x t y per c e n t of t h e s e board b u i l d i n g s
are on s t i l t s .
I n Barranco, where only t h i r t y p e r c e n t
of t h e houses are b u i l t i n ~ e l i z e a ns t y l e , two t h i r d s of t h e s e a r e on s t i l t s .
I n Monkey River, connected t o B e l i z e
C i t y f o r many y e a r s by t h e banana t r a d e , a l l but e i p h t b u i l d i n g s o u t of 1 1 2 a r e t o be found on p o s t s , and t h e r e
i s no thatched housing i n t h e town.
Once again t h e
s t r e n g t h of t h e connection between Belize C i t y and t h e o u t l y i n g a r e a s seems t o be c r i t i c a l i n t h e s t y l e of housing. The housing of t h e East Indians i s a compromise between t h e two types a l r e a d y described.
Most of t h e houses
between t h e Toledo Xice S t a t i o n and Punta Gorda, t h a t i s t h e houses which a r e c l o s e s t geographically t o t h e c o a s t ,
are a l s o c l o s e s t a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y , u s u a l l y having z i n c r o o f s , and board w a l l s .
These walls a r e d i f f e r e n t from those of
Punta Gorda, however, and a r e more reminiscent of those t o be found a t Mango Creek.
The planks a r e v e r t i c a l , and
have smaller s t r i p s of wood tacked over t h e gaps.
This
i s p a r t l y a r e f l e c t i o n of t h e f a c t t h a t t h e l o c a l sawmills do n o t produce f i n i s h e d wood, and p a r t l y a r e f l e c t i o n of t h e economic s t a t u s of t h e e a r l y East I n d i a n s , but many
of t h e s e people a r e now q u i t e wealthy, and s t i l l b u i l d t h e i r houses i n t h i s s t y l e , and t h u s t h e r e seems t o have
been a t l e a s t some c u l t u r a l adaption involved.
In the
v i l l a g e s which a r e on t h e s t r e t c h of road from t h e Toledo
R i c e S t a t i o n t o San Antonio, t h e houses are mostly made
of t h a t c h and rough boards, i n a s i m i l a r way t o those of t h e Amerindians, b u t t h e board houses which are i n e x i s t e n c e a r e i n v a r i a b l y made i n t h e sane s t y l e a s t h o s e of t h e o t h e r
E a s t Indian d w e l l i n g s , n e a r e r t o Punta Gorda.
P l a c e Names i n t h e Deep South. The p l a c e names of t h e a r e a c o n t r i b u t e l i t t l e t o t h e s t o r y a l r e a d y t o l d f o r o t h e r p a r t s of t h e Colony.
In
t h e n o r t h t h e r e a r e t h e woodcutters1 camps' nanes, such Logans Bank and T e a k e t t l e , and i n t h e south t h e Indian v i l l a g e s r e f l e c t t h e i r Catholic heritage.
The s e t t l e -
ments i n t h e extreme south o c c a s i o n a l l y have nanes of Kekchi d e r i v a t i o n , such a s Otoxha and X p i c i l h a , but a l s o r e f l e c t t h e B r i t i s h i n f l u e n c e i n Graham Creek.
The s e t t l e -
ments begun by t h e Americans near Punta Gorda r e f l e c t t h e i r background, but without secondary knowledge would be i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from those naqed by t h e B r i t i s h .
Monkey
River i s named because " a l l s p e c i e s of t h e t r i b e haunt
itsbanks.
. . . 35 n
r h e howls of t h e a n i m a l s being
ndemoniacalu and s u f f i c i e n t t o s c a r e anyone " h e a r i n g them
for t h e f i r s t t i n e , i n t h e middle of t h e n i g h t . " i s a S p a n i s h word meaning ' g u l l y ' .
Barranco
The v i l l a g e of Barranco
n e s t l e s on a c l i f f - e d g e and some of t h e o r i g i n a l s e t t l e r s
w e r e Spanish- speaking. Toledo D i s t r i c t i s t h e l e a s t developed of a l l t h e
areas i n t h e Colony, and t h e i s o l a t i o n which caused t h i s l a c k o f devslopment i s r e f l e c t e d i n i t s c u l t u r a l and physical landscapes.
The schemes a t p r e s e n t i n hand w i l l
b r i n g many changes t o t h e d i s t r i c t i n t h e f u t u r e , i f t h e y come t o f r u i t i o n , b u t a t p r e s e n t t h e a r e a i s s t i l l t h e Deep South o f t h e Colony.
I
NOTES ON CHAPT%R SEVEN - b u s road was opened in 1954.
Z~omney,OP. cit., p. 118.
%he railway was opened in 1908. For a full account of the problems involved in its construction, see Swayne, OP. c i t . , pp. 171-172.
5~atinAmerican Report,
Ope
cit. , p. 29.
%tomey, OP. cit., p. 119. T~addell,OP. cit., p. 19. %bid.,
.
%am
p. 118.
.
and Thorpe, op. cit., p. 54
lkatin American ileport , op. cite, p. 31. I2carr and ~ h o r ~ iOP. , =it. , p. 119.
' ''~arr and Thorpe, OP. cit. , p. 52. Monkey River today contains only one or two Carib families. The majority of the population consists of Creoles and East Indians. An East Indian is current head of the village council.
%orris,
op.
cit., p. 39.
I9carr and Thorpe, op. cit., p. 120.
20~legern, ope cit., p. 38 et seq. 21~oldeidge,D .T. , "A Tropical Refuge Settlement in British Honduras," Geo~raphicalReview, 30 (No. 3, July,
1940), p. 379. Other e a r l y e s t a t e s i n t h i s Toledo s e t t l e e , Hope, Mount Royal, ment area w e r e c a l l e d ~ e f u ~ Mount F o r e s t House and F o r e s t Cottage. Most of t h e s e names have now dropped o u t of usage, although e i t h e r of t h e l a t t e r two may r e f e r t o t h e p r e s e n t name of F o r e s t Home. See a l s o Morris, OP. c i t . , p. 38.
2 4 ~ l e g e r n , OP.
c i t . , p. 44.
2 6 ~ a d d e l 1 , OP.
c i t . , p. 74.
2&omney,
op. c i t . , p. 38.
*%aiger,
OP.
c i t . , p. 172.
3 1 ~ o m n e ~op. , c i t . , p. 38. % ? a d d e l l , op. c i t . , p. 73. 33Carr and Thorpe ,
cit
., Chapter
12.
EPILOGUE
British Honduras is a Colony which was born by accident, for it was only one of numerous settlements of the British along this stretch of the Central American coast,
In time, however, all the others were whittled away by the military action of the Spanish, or the diplomatic action
of the British, and as Imperial influence elsewhere in the western Caribbean waned, in the Belize area it grew,
The
motto on the Arms of the Colony is "sub umbra floreo," "when things are at their blackest, I am at my beststt1 and the Belizeans have most certainly lived up to this saying. They have seen the collapse of most of their industries, and the destruction of most of their settlements, only to
witness the repair of the buildings and the growth of new economic development. ' Today the Colony is an anachronism within its geo-
graphical area.
It is the only English-speaking nation
on the Central American mainland, and even its native Spanish and Mayan speakers know a few words of the creolized language.
And yet the Spanish influences, and the Amer-
indian influences within the Colony are so great that it cannot be called part of the Caribbean.
There are other
settlements in the Western Caribbean which show some aspects of a similar developmental pattern as is typified in
British Honduras.
But only on the Mosquito Coast was the
cultural mixture as great as in the Colony, and here the length of British influence, and its importance, was condiderably less.
Even in such comparable areas, the British
influence is anachronistic, more so in fact than within British Honduras.
It is by no means easy to analyze the character and personality of such a country.
A number of authors have
attempted to do this with the neighbours of British Honduras, but by the very nature of the Colony their results cannot be transposed except in partial form, ,2 looked at the personality of ~ e x i c o
Sauer has
but his work reveals
the isolation of the Caribbean coastlands, and particularly the area of the Yucatan,
The personality of British Hon-
duras has been built In part by Mexican influence, but it is as true to say that the personality of the south-eastern Yucatan has been built by Belizean influence,
The process
has been a reciprocal one, Sauer feels that the personality of "The Southn of Mexico Itstill shows its aboriginal, fundament of patient, steady toil done by apt craftsmen, who can create things
of remarkable beauty if they have the chance.1t3
Although
to a great extent this conclusion could also be reached of the people of British Honduras, it is the ltsociocultural diversityw4 of the country which is its most striking feature.
Lowenthalls numerous works on the islands of the
caribbean5 have contributed more to the analysis of the Colony, because the social structure of the latter area is
much more akin to that of the islands than it is to that
of the neighbouring mainland areas. 6 The people of British Honduras mostly regard themselves
as British Hondurans, and not as West Indians, or Central Americans.
An association with the Colony is very likely
the broadest alleigence they know,7
and yet within its
boursdaries there is a considerable amount of pluralistic circumstance. The country possesses a greater quantity of diverse cultural elements than most, and the impact of this is more striking when an allowance is made for the very small total population.
These groups are all living in the Colony
because they find it the most convenient place to follow their way of life, and for most of these people it is a home to which they owe fervent Loyalty.
Despite numerous
entreaties and minor expeditionary forces from Guatemala, the people show no inclination to join this country, and even less desire to unite with Mexico.
The government and
many of the people want independence from Britain, and are pursuing this end by both overt and hidden means, and yet it is likely that a large number of the inhabitants of the country, particularly the older generations who remember closer imperial ties, are not fully convinced by the prospects of an independent existence. 8
Despite, however, the geographicsl setting of the Colony within the mainland of Central America, it cannot be simply considered as a Caribbean society.
Parsons has
demonstrated the cultural particularism of the many English speaking settlements of the Western Caribbean,lo -
and if
is within this context of isolation that British Honduras must ultimately fall.
There has been sporadic but continued
contact between Belize and its mainland and Caribbean neighbours, but this has never engendered such cultural unity as exists between the British footholds in Central America. -
Parsons plays down the part played by Belize
in the development of cultural persistence amongst these far-flung, long forgotten outposts of British Imperialism,
.
but in reality the Colony has in many ways been the spiritual leader of them all.
When danger threatened, these settle-
ments best showed their unity, and one always welcomed the refugees from another.
Since the battle of St. George's
Cay Belize has always been the stabilizing influence, the last refuge in times of trouble, and the British settlers in other parts of the Western Caribbean have not been slow to take advantage of this state of afiairs.l1
British
Honduras in some ways has a character of its own; in some ways its personality is that of a Caribbean island; but in most ways it is an anachronism like its English-speaking neighbours, created largely by accident, "and preserved through isolation and the persistence of the human spirit. tr12
THE CULTURAL GROUPS The cultural groups have taken advantage of their environments in very different ways, effectively demonstrating the possibilities of pluralism within a society. As was pointed out above (p.
17), within the Colony there
is a considerable range and diversity of landscapes.
The
inhabitants of the country have taken advantage of these landscapes to demonstrate and maintain their cultural identities.
The result has been that to a great extent
the cultural groups in the Colony can be compartmentalized on a geographical as well as a cultural basis.
It is only
in recent years that there has been a significant breakup of this regional pattern.
The Mayans in the north have retained their language and customs despite a radical change in their basic way of life.
Their villages, houses, and family spaces (such as
the cooking area and its immediate neighbourhood) have changed little as of yet, and even the villages most integrated into the industrial economy have retained their cultural integrity. The Mestizos, by their very origins, are a much more integrated group, within the more urban context of the Colony than are the Mayan Indians.
This greater degree of
integration is reflected in the higher proportions of Mestizos in the towns and larger villages, and in the admin-
istrative and service jobs.
Their different heritage is I
thus reflected in both social and geographical Patterns.
The Creoles have in many ways maintained their identity, but in many other ways, by the very nature of their culture, have changed the most.
The Creole culture is
that which has had its origins in British Honduras, and has grown from a number of very different cultures into one distinct way of life.
It is still, however, not very
certain what the determinants of this are, for the chief distinguishing feature of the Creole appears to be that he is different from his neighbours.
The Creole culture is
undergoing a process of formation rather than one of change, The Mennonites have maintained their identity, by a series of long-range moves and protective covenants, and by their very different customs and individual language.
They have, as much as any of the cultural groups, stamped their identity onto the landscape, in distinctive forms of field pattern, settlement morphology and house type, as well as partially distinctive crop and livestock holdings. It seems likely that if their identity were threatened, as it was in Russia, Canada, and Mexico before, many of them would move on to pastures anew, if anywhere more isolated could be found.
Such an event would undoubtedly
be a great loss to the new Belize. The Kekchi Indians have also protected their heritage
1
to a great extent, but much of this protection has been due to isolation, and those members of this group which have come into persistent contact with the more urbanized world have shown no great desire to remain apart.
Although
the Kekchi villages, and agricultural mode of life, still demonstrate a degree of difference which is found nowhere in the Colony, their farming practices (emgo,the use of fertilizers) marketing systems, and cultural patterns are increasingly showing the influence of the 'outside worldv. This is also true of the Carib
Indians, only in their
case the process of change has gone much farther, and they have been much more integrated, albeit with a lack of willingness on their part, with Belizean society as a whole, with a consequent loss of some of their Carib identity. The East Indians have'also experienced cultural change. To the north of the Colony they are virtually indistinguishable in house types, settlement patterns, and even cultural practices from their neighbours, and in the South the identity of the group has only been preserved by isolation. Even here the identity is barely recognisable as East Indian, for the dominant features and cultural norms of East Indian society have been forgotten, The minority groups such as the Chinese and the Syrians, have left no mark upon the Landscape, and the Jamaicans have left little more than a propensity to farm,13
is by no means an obvious cultural feature.
and this
A number of authors have spoken of the beginnings of an e t h n k group of British Hondu-as, and whilst on some levels this might be desirable, and good for the country, there are some negative aspects to the proposition.
For in
a number of ways it is the cultural pluralism of today, as much as the history of the Colony, which contributes to the unique character of the country.
The place names reflect
this diversity to some extent, but there are important exceptions, for often historical events named a location before the coming of the present inhabitants, who: did not bother to change the nomenclature. House types are perhaps a better index,
Although
there are a number of styles which are unique to one cultural group, there are certain features which recur throughout the country and which might truly be termed Belizean. Thus a number of photographs might be taken in Punta Gorda which would be nearly identical to other pictures from the other administrative towns and many of the villages. Even in Benque Viejo del Carmen, the houses made of boards are styled in a similar way to those found in many other parts of the country.
The most distinctive styles
of Indian housing are still persisting, but even in the villages with most tradition and the greatest isolation, the Belizean houses are beginning to appear.
Stores and
Post Offices and Police Stations usually start the trend,
w i t h the private dwellings following soon after.
If house
types are any indication of cultural trends, then a race
of British Hondurans might indeed be emerging.
There is
still much diversity within the architecture of the Colony,
and some of this is on a cultural basis, but the house styles that are becoming most popular are very different
from those which can be found in the neighbouring Republics. It is to be hoped that any British Honduran feeling which arises will transcend the cultural and regional divisions which are presently so important within the Colony, whilst at the same time retaining the identities of the constituent cultural groups. -
What happens to the Colony in future years will have
a great bearing upon its culture.
If historical precedents
are followed it will become an independent nation, but its economy is such that for a number of years it will be dependent upon hand-outs from richer nations.
In the past
the chief benefactor has been Great ~ritain. In the future it seems likely that it will be the U.S.A.
It is to be
hoped that the Colony's phoenix-like qualities, imortalised in its motto, will enable it to be soon rid of such economic problems.
It is appropriate to repeat the Creole
saying, "Time longer dan rope,
the Belizeans are quite
content to wait for things to get better. Huxley felt that British Honduras was the end of the
338 e a r t h i n 1936, and i n 1969 h i s statement s t i l l has a r i n g
of v a l i d i t y , f o r i n much of t h e Colony, t h e landscape 5 s indeed d e s o l a t e and ill used and forbidding.
But i t i s
easy t o be s c a t h i n g about underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s , without seeing t h e i r v i r t u e s .
H e saw t h e country as a small and
i n s i g n i f i c a n t n a t i o n , and he w a s r i g h t about i t s s i z e ; but it i s i n s i g n i f i c a n t only t o o u t s i d e r s who do not g e t t o
know it.
To i t s i n h a b i t a n t s and people who know i t longer,
it i s something more than i n s i g n i f i c a n t .
To paraphrase
Leas* comments of one hundred years ago, people who v i s i t t h e country may leave i t sadder and poorer than when they a r r i v e d , b u t "many of them profess t o being q u i t e reconstructed.
Some a r e but w i l l not admit it.
I think a r e -
sidence of a year o r two on t h i s c o a s t w e l l c a l c u l a t e d t o produce t h a t e f f e c t . tt15
Even an end of t h e e a r t h has
some use i n l i f e , and few people pass through B r i t i s h Honduras without i t having had an e f f e c t upon them. would n o t be a bad e p i t a p h f o r any place.
This
NOTES ON THE EPILOGUE
l ~ a i g a t ,op. c i t . , pp. 161, 210.
, ,
"The P e r s o n a l i t y of Mexico ,I1 i n ' ~ a u e r , C.O. Leighly, J. (ed. ) Land and L i f e (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, l967), pp. 104-117. fauer,
OP.
c i t . , p. 117.
b e n t h a l , D. S o c i e t i e s , p. 187.
, The
Range and V a r i a t i o n of Caribbean
-
Lowenthal, D., ItCaribbean V i e w s of Caribbean %bid. Land," Canadian Geographer, V (No. 2 . , l 9 6 l ) , pp. 1-9. Lowenthal, D., T h e West Lndies Chooses a Capital," Geop r a p h i c a l R e v i e w , XLVIII ( l 9 5 8 ) , pp. 336-364.
%ee the Introduction t o t h i s work. ' I ~ o w e n t h a l ,D S o c i e t i e s , p. 188.
., The Range and V a r i a t i o n of Caribbean
a ~ a i n ,E r n e s t E., Cyclone "Hattie" (Ilfracornbe, Devon: Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd., 1963), c l o s i n g chapters.
,
' ~ o w e n t h a l , D. he Range and Variation of Caribbean S o c i e t i e s , p. 188 (paraphrase o f ) . toparsons,
OP.
c i t . , p. 14.
14see f o o t n o t e 48, Chapter T h r e e . 1 5 ~ e a sC.A. (U.S. Commercial Agent) t o Seward, F.W. ( A s s i s t a n t S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e ) , A p r i l 10, 1863. Quoted i n Clegern, OP. c i t . , p. 44.
Allsop, S.R.R., " B r i t i s h Honduras: the L i n g u i s t i c D i lema,tl Caribbean Q u a r t e r l e v , Vol. 2 (nos. 3-4, September-December , 1965), pp. 54-61. Altun Ba, Belize City: Government Information S e r v i c e ,
1968. Anderson, A.H., B r i e f Sketch of B r i t i s h Bonduras, B e l i z e City: Government P r i n t i n g Department, 1958. A s h c r a f t , N o , "The I n t e r n a l Marketing System of B r i t i s h Honduras, P a s t and Present," A paper p r e s e n t e d a t t h e S e s s i o n on Zconogic & I t h r o ~ o l o a y : L a t i n America, 6 7 t h Annual Meetins of t h e Anerican - S ? t h r o ~ o l o ~ i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , S e a t t l e : t?ovember 22, 1968. B e l i z e a n P o e t s , B e l i z e City: Governqent Information Serv i c e , undated. Burdon, S i r John A. (ed.), Archives of B r i t i s h Aonduras, t h r e e volumes, London: S i f t o n Praed and Co. Ltd., 1935. Burns, S i r Alan, H i s t o r y o f t h e B r i t i s h Yest I n d i e s , London: George A l l e n and Unwin, Ltd. , 1954, r e v i s e d Second E d i t i o n , 1965. Caiger, Stephen L., B r i t i s h Honduras. P a s t and P r e s e n t , London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1951. Cain, E r n e s t E., Cyclone " H a t t i e u , Ilfracombe, Devon: Arthur H. S t a c k w e l l , Ltd., 1963. C a r r , D. and Thorpe, J. ( e d s ) , From t h e Cam t o t h e Cays, London: Putnam, 1961.
Clegern, W.M. , S r i t i s h ~ o n d u r a s : Colonial Dead End. 18591900, Baton Rouge: Louisiana S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s ,
1967.
--
Crosbie, A.J. and F u r l e y , P.A., "The Eew B e l i z e Prosp e c t s f o r B r i t i s h Hondmas," S c o t t i s h G e o z r a ~ h i c a l Magazine, Vol. 8 3 , NO. 1, A p r i l , 1967, pp. 53-63. Donohoe, Williarn A r l i n g t o n , A H i s t o r y of B r i t i s h Flonduras, Montreal: P r o v i n c i a l P u b l i s h i n g Co. Ltd. , 1946. Gann, Thomas, Plystery C i t i e s : S x p l o r a t i o n and Adventure i n Lubaantun , London: Duckworth, 1 9 2 5 .
Gann , Thomas, Playa Cities ) London: Charles Scribner s Sons, 1928. Gibbs, Archibald Robertson, British Honduras. An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Colony from its Settlement in 1670, London: Sarnpson Low, Marston, Searle and Xivington , 1883.
-
H.M.S.O., Report of the British Guiana and British Honduras Settlement Comnission, London: Colonial Office, September, 1948, GiD 7533.
. Holdridge, D.T., "A Tropical Refuge Settlement in 3ritish Honduras," Geo~ravhicalReview, Vol. 30, No. 3, July, 1940, pp. 376-93. Humphreys, R.A., Di~lomaticHistorv of British Honduras, 1638-1901, London: Oxford University Press, 1961. C ~ u x l e ~Aldous, , Beyond the Mexique Bay, London: Chatto and Windus, 1934. Jones, K.S. Carey, The Fattern of a Dependent Economy -the National Incoae of British Eonduras, Cambridge University Press, 1953. Kniffen, Fred E., "Folk Housing: Key to Diffusion,I1 Annals of the Association of Anerican Geo ra~hers,Vol. 55, No. 4, December, 1965, pp. 549-5If--Lea, D.B.K., "Thoughts on Housing for the H m i d Tropics," Geographical Review, Vol. 41, 1951, pp. 124-147. Leighley , J. (ed. ) , Land and Life. A Selection fron the Writings of Carl Ortwin Sauer, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967. Lowenthal , David, I1TheVest Indies Chooses a Capital ," Geographical Xeview, Vol. 48, 1958, pp. 336-364. Lowenthal, David, "Caribbean Views of Caribbean Land," Canadian Geozrapher , Vol. 5 , No. 2 , 1961, pp. 1-9. Lowenthal, David, "The Range and Variation of Caribbezn Societies," in Vagner, P.L. and I%Jcesell,M.V. (eds.), Zeadines in Cultural Ceozraphy, University of Chicago Press, 1962, pp. 187-134.
,
,
Lundell C.L. "The 1936 Piichigan-Carnegie Expedition t o B r i t i s h M~nduras,'~ 3otany of t h e lIava Area: ?;isc e l l a n e o u s Payers, Vol. 14, P u b l i c a t i o n 522, 1940, Washington, D. C. Minkel, T.A. , "Mennonite Colonization i n B r i t i s h Ronduras ," Pennsylvania Geoxrapher, Vol. 5, No. 3 , A p r i l , 1907. Morris, D . , The Colony of B r i t i s h Eonduras; i t s Resources and P r o s p e c t s , London: S t a n f o r d , 1883. T h e New C a ~ i t a lf o r B e l i z e , B e l i z e City: Government Informa t i o n S e r v i c e , undated.
," L a t i n Anerican R e p o r t , I n t e r n a t i o n a l Trade Ifart, New Orleans, L.A.
"A New Look a t B e l i z e ( ~ r i t i s hHonduras)
Odaffer, D.G., "The Three C a p i t a l s of B r i t i s h Honduras ," O u t l i n e of M.A. T h e s i s a t San F r a n c i s c o S t a t e C o l l e a e , Unpublished, 1969. P a r r y , J . H . and Sherlock, P.M., A S h o r t H i s t o r y of t h e West I n d i e s , London: MacNillan, 1956. Parsons, J. J. , "English Speaking S e t t l e n e n t s of t h e Western Caribbean," Yearbook of the A s s o c i a t i o n of P a c i f i c Coast G e o ~ r a ~ h e r sVol. , 16, 1954, Cheney, Washing t o n , pp. 3- 16.
,
This Human IJorld, New York: John Wiley P h i l b r i c k , A.K. and Sons, 1963. Report of the R e c o n s t r u c t i o n and Developnent Corporation, January 1963 t o J u l y 1966, B e l i z e C i t y . The R e p o r t e r , B e l i z e City.
,
ltHouse f a c a d e s of t h e Northern E a s t e r n R i c k e r t , John E. United S t a t e s ; a t o o l of Geographic Ana1ysisytt Annals o f t h e A s s o c i a t i o n of American Geoyraphers, Vol. 57, No. 2 , June 1967, pp. 211-238. Romney, D.H. ( e d . ) , Land i n B r i t i s h Honduras. Report of t h e B r i t i s h Honduras Land Use Survey Teaa, London: C o l o n i a l Off i c e , 1959. R u s s e l l , P,.J., K n i f f e n , F.B., and P r u i t t , E.L., Worlds, New York: M a m i l l a n , 1961.
Culture
Satterthwaite, L., nReconngissance in British Honduras," University of Pennsylvania Elusem Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 1, Philadelphia, 1951. Sawatsky, H. L. , Wennonite Settlement in British fionduras,It Report on Field Work carried out under OK?. contract Nonr 3656 (03). Project K?. 388067. Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, James J. Parsons, Principal Investigator, 1969. .
-
Smith, M.G., "Social Structure in the British Caribbean about 1820," Social and Zconomic Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1953, pp. 55-79. Smith, M.G., "Social and Cultural Plurali~rn,~ in "Social and Cultural Pluralisa in the Caribbean," Annals of the New York Academv of Sciences, Vol. 83, Article 5, 1960, pp. 763-777. Swayne , Sir Eric, ItBritishHonduras ,I1 Geo~raphicalJournal, Vol. 50, No. 3, 1917. Taylor, Douglas Kaclae, IfTheBlack Caribs of British Honduras," Vikine Fund Publications in Anthropolowy, No. 17, 1951, Wenner-ken Toundation for Anthropological . Research, New York. Thompson, 3 . Eric, llArchaeologicalInvestigations irt the Southern Cayo District, British Konduras,lt Antkopoloeical Series, ?ield Efusem of Eatural Ristory , Vol. 17, No. 3, 1931, Chicago. Waddell, D.A.G., British Honduras: A Historical and Contemporary Survey, London: Oxford University Press, 1961. West, Robert C. and Augelli, John P., Middle America. Its Lands and Peoples, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Eall, Inc. , 1966. Willey, G.R., Bullard, W.R., Jnr., Glass, J.B., and Gifford, J.C., Prehistoric Naya Settlenents in the Belize Valley, Papers of the Feabody Elusem of Archaeology and Ethnology, Rarvard University, Vol. 54, Canbridge, Mass., U.S.A., 1965. Winzerling, E.O., The Beainninr of British Honduras, 1506-1765, Hew York: North River Press, 1946.
APPENDICES
Appendix I I
Census Populations
Year
1810
-
1969
*
Population
* author's
estimate
1969 (author * s estimate) 40,000
Belize City South Side North Side Belize Rural Corozal Town Corozal Rural Orange Walk Town Orange Walk h r a l
Stann Creek Town Stann Creek Rural
Punta Gorda Town Toledo Rural Totals
*
Taken f r o n Census f i g u r e s
x*
n.a.
- not
available
c o n s i s t s of San Ignacio and Santa Elena towns.
*%*
1
Density of population^^
Population 1960
-
Area ( s q . m . )
District
Belize
Number
Per c e n t
40,210
44.5
Density (per sq.m.)
1,623
24.8
718
13.5
9,791
10.85
Orange Walk
10,332
11.4
1,830
5.6
Stann Creek
10,635
11.8
840
12.7
7,686
8.5
1,795
4.3
11,689
12.95
2,061
5.7
90,343
100.00
8,867
10.2
Corozal
Toledo Cayo
Total
*
Taken from D . A . G .
Waddell, B r i t i s h Honduras, London, 1961, p.64.
Appendix IV
Number and Proportion of Persons of Each Race* (1946 Census) +&
Number of Persons
Proportion of Total (7:)
. American Indian
16.98
White
3.94
Black
38.42
Asiatic: East Indian Syrian Chinese Carib MixedJ-Ib-iC
Zace not stated
*
To these groups must now be added the Mennonites, who constitute the greatest single influx of a racia group into the population since 1946.
*- These figures were not available in the *-3c
1960 census.
This classification is most unsatisfactory as it includes both Creoles and Hestizos; two very distinct cultural groups.
Appendix V
Urban and Xural Proportions of Each Race (1946 Census)*
Race
Total
Belize
Other Towns
Rural
American Indian
100.00
1.9
11.0
87.1
White
100.00
55.0
28.7
16.3
Black
100.00
55.0
10.4
34.6
East Indian
100.00
12.5
10.5
77.0
Syrian
100.00
24.2
70.3
5.5
Chinese
100.00
50.0
30.0
20.0
Carib
100.00
3.0
62.3
34.7"
Mixedk-k
100.00
40.7
23.1
36.2
100.00
36.9
18.9
44.2
Asiatic:
Total
*
*
These f i g u r e s were not a v a i l a b l e i n t h e 1960 census.
fi-
See n o t e under Appendix I V .
I
5283 2000 3283 1319 733 1693 7 33 1342 845 431 1161 1402 1657 486 1081
Sample a s % of t o t a l no. of b u i l j ings ( e s t . )
% of b u i l d ings with zinc roofs ( e s t . )2
% of b u i l d ings with thatch roofs (est.)2
'~stimates are based upon f i e l d work conducted by t h e a u t h o r .
I % of zinc-roof-and-board s i d i n g buildings w i t h s t i l f s on ground % of of 12 o r (inc. stilts buildin of l e s s t h a w i t h more ( e s t . )i?* 12 i n . (esr.;t s h u t t e 5 (est.) 51.50 48.50 39.00 48.00 45.00 52.00 51.00 49.00 34.00 75.00 25.00 2.75
l ~ i ~ w aer es given on a C i t y , Town, and District b a s i s o n l y , and c o n c e a l i n t e r n a l d i f f e r e n c e s w i t h i n t h e s e areas.
North Side South Side Belize Rural Coroeal Town Corozal Rural Orange Walk Town Orange Walk R u r a l Cayo Town Benque Viejo Town Cayo Rural Stann Creek Town Stann Creek R u r a l Punta Gorda Town Toledo R u r a l
No. of buildings sampled
D i s t r i b u t i o n 6f House-type i n d i c a t o r s 1
Appendix V I
Appendix VII Deaths due t o Hurricane Hattie*
Belize City
Stann Creek Town
Belize Rural
Stann Creek R u r a l
(53)
S o l d i e r Cay
Sittee River
3
Calabash Cay
Hopkins
2
Bull Cay
Mullins River
T u r n e f f e and Berry Cay
B l a i r Athol
2
Other
1
60
46
Cay Corker
2 Nthrn Cays
Cayo D i s t r i c t
Mauger Cay Rendezvous Cay
3
Gales P t .
1
Manatee
1
S a l t Greek Lagoon 1 Cay Bokel
* From
6
pp. 52-55 of Cyclone "Hattie", E r n e s t E. Cain.
1