Christmas in Belize 

More than any other holiday Christmas is a truly multicultural celebration in Belize. It has to be, with over 10 ethnic groups in a population of around 300,000 people. Christmas traditions are freely shared and borrowed.

So while Belizeans share the European or North American rituals of decorating Christmas Trees , hanging lights outside their homes, exchanging greeting cards and baking fruitcakes, they also look forward to homegrown festivities. For what is a Belizean Christmas without a sip or two of country wines, picking up a fork and grater and singing traditional "Brukdown" songs like "Good Morning Miss Lady," and other favorites from the Ole Time Creole Christmas "Bram"? Belizeans still wait to greet the Garifuna Jonkuno dancers on Christmas day, are enthralled by a performance of the Maya "Deer Dance" or a re-enactment of Mary and Joseph looking for an inn as part of "Las Posadas."

Whatever ethnic group or combination thereof, a Belizean may consider himself or herself to be, one commonality is that Christmas is traditionally a time to visit family and friends. To prepare for all these people making the rounds, weeks go into making everything like "new." Everyone pitches in to clean the house from top to bottom, hang new curtains and lay fresh "marley" (linoleum).

There is a frenzy of baking, searching for fresh ingredients for holiday meals, stocking up of rum and flagging down the coca-cola trucks circling the neighborhoods to load up on cases of soft drinks.

The typical Creole "kriol" Sunday dinner of rice and beans and potato salad is spiced up at Christmas with the addition of turkey, stuffing AND ham in place of stewed chicken followed by rich black fruit cake laced with rum or brandy. The Mestizo specialty is white relleno, a delicious soup with pork stuffed chicken or mechado olives, raisins, saffron, or pebre roast pork with gravy all served with hot corn tortillas. Christmas dinner for the majority of Mayans might be tamales with chicken while families who raise pigs or turkey might use this as a substitute for chicken on this special occasion.

Spirits are an important part of the Christmas season, which in Belize lasts for two weeks, longer than in some countries, yet considerably shorter than the Belizean Christmases of the old mahogany cutting days. Back then, African slaves, free laborers and more recently, in our grandparents' time, the Waikas, an Amerindian group from Nicaragua, used to end their season in the forests with a month-long "spree" in Belize Town, now Belize City.

Although the settlement's men no longer find themselves separated from the womenfolk for months at a time, the festive atmosphere and the free flow of money and rum, remain.

So does the pilgrimage to Belize City, specifically to downtown Albert Street to buy their fancy curtain material, toys for the children or Christmas candies. The buses are packed, and the streets are elbow-to-elbow as shoppers squeeze their way past street vendors selling special imports of apples, grapes and pears.

Central American immigrants sell all manner of glassware and Christmas ornaments on the street-side while the more permanent merchants, the descendants of colonial families, or recent arrivals from India or Taiwan do a brisk trade in everything imaginable, from clothing and shoes to porcelain figurines, television sets and cd players.

Of course it is not just about food, or shopping. With over 70% of Belizeans considering themselves Christians, the celebration of the nacimiento (birth of Christ) is well established throughout the country and across the various cultures. Most celebrations from the Las Posadas to the Deer Dance include prayers, vigils and a midnight Mass or "Misa de Gallo" on Christmas Eve.

So as you can see, Belizeans still love their Christmas, and the various cultures all contribute something unique to the holiday mix. It is a great time of year to share in these traditions that have been handed down for generations. Join us in Belize this Christmas.

by Karla Heusner

Garifuna Settlement Day

Around 1635, some slave ships from the west coast of Africa were wrecked near the coast of St. Vincent island in the Caribbean. Many of the slaves made it safely to shore, where they mixed with the Carib Indians already living on the island. This created a rich new ethnicity and culture, now known as Garifuna or Garinagu.

In the 18th century French and British colonists battled for control of St. Vincent. The Garifuna sided with the French, but in 1795, the British won and expelled them all from the island to Honduras. Garifuna families set off across the Caribbean in small wooden canoes carrying important crops with them to plant wherever they would settle. Half died on the way, those that survived, settled along the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.

According to legend, the first Garifunas (about one hundred people) arrived in Belize and settled in Dangriga Town on November 19, 1802. with Now this day is a national holiday and is celebrated all over Belize with drumming, dancing and pageantry in Garifuna communities. Today, Garifuna language is a blend of Arawak, English, Spanish, French and West African languages. Music, singing, drumming and dancing are integral parts of their culture, and many of the songs and dances tell stories about Garifuna history and culture.

They came as the first group of free people to settle in Belize, decades before the Mestizos settled the North in the late 1840s and before the Mayas returned in the 1880s in flight from brutally oppressive labour conditions in Guatemala. Garifunas were not welcomed in Belize, as the settlement was still a slave society. There was fear amongst the English settlers in Belize Town that these free blacks might foment rebellion among the slaves. Consequently, a strict ban was imposed to prevent them from staying in the settlement for more than forty eight hours and a hefty fine was set for anyone who hired or employed any Garifuna within Belize Town. In compliance with the law, Garifunas formed their own settlements south of the Sibun River border where they have remained ever since. Seeds of discrimination and mistrust were also planted by the masters among the slaves to ensure that the two groups of Afro-descendants – one enslaved and the other free – remained separated.

In the colonial times Garifuna and Maya people were forbidden to own lands so Crown Lands were granted to them only for settlements. The Garifuna people used the land to engage in farming, which is an important aspect of their culture. Through farming, fishing and food production, the Garifuna people became independent and were able to maintain their towns and villages with little help from the governments.

They were the first group of Catholics to arrive in Belize. The first Catholic Church was established in 1832 amongst those residing near Mullins River. Over decades, the tough rigors of their work in forestry, their strong maritime culture, their harsh history of battle against European powers and subsequent deportation, their Catholic background, as well as their productivity, natural intelligence, facility for language and resilience, had all molded among the Garifuna the pioneering spirit and work ethic that made them and their descendants prime candidates for the Catholic Church to establish its schools throughout the remotest areas of Belize.

Today, relative to all Afro-descendant people throughout all the Americas and the Caribbean, the Garifunas remain one of the very few who have kept their unique African-indigenous hybrid ancestral language, their ancestral spirituality, food, music and other aspects of their traditional culture all intact. Garifuna is one of the most interesting, intriguing and colourful cultures on the planet! For that reason in 2001 UNESCO proclaimed the Garifuna language, music and dance a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. These alone are exceptional accomplishments to proudly celebrate. Nowadays Garifuna are primarily recognized for their unique drum playing and making drums. And the delicious Garifuna cooking is something every visitor to Belize should experience. Alongside with others Garifuna continue to play a major role in shaping modern day Belize. The Garifuna now comprise about 6% of the population of Belize, and there is a large Belize Garifuna diaspora in the US in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Garifuna Settlement Day is celebrated for a whole week including parades, live music, drumming, dancing, prayers, Garifuna mass and election of Miss Garifuna take place to mark the anniversary. In communities like Dangriga and Punta Gorda, a dory symbolizing the arrival of the first Garifuna, is floating to shore around early morning dawn while Garifuna women dressed in their colourful costumes, tourists and other interested await the arrival onshore. Many people might be surprised to learn that there will be celebrations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other North American urban centres.


More about Garifunas and their culture:
http://www.belize.com/garifuna-music-belize
http://www.warasadrumschool.com/
http://www.belizeanjourneys.com/features/drumming/newsletter.html
http://www.beinggarifuna.com/