The Belize Kriol language, developed initially by interaction among the Africans and Europeans, was historically spoken only by them. The Creoles constituted the majority of the population until the 1980s and became synonymous with the Belizean national identity. In the 21st century, Creoles are found predominantly in urban areas, such as Belize City, and in most coastal towns and villages.
Ethnicity
Until the early 1980s, Belizean Creoles constituted close to 60% of the population of Belize. But, the demographics of the country have changed markedly. Because of the combined effects of immigration to Belize of people from other Central American countries, and emigration of an estimated 85,000 Creoles, most to the United States, in the early 21st century the Creoles make up only about 25% of the population of Belize.[3] As a result of centuries of mixed-race ancestry, persons identifying as Creole express a wide range of physical features, ranging from dark skin and kinky hair, to fair skin and blonde hair, with many gradations in between. The term Creole denotes an ethnic culture rather than any narrow standard of physical appearance.[3]
In Belize, Creole is the standard term for any person of at least partial Black African descent who is not Garinagu, or any person who speaks Kriol as a first or sole language. Thus, immigrants from Africa and the West Indies who have settled in Belize and intermarried with locals may also identify as Creole. The concept of Creole as mixed race has embraced nearly any individual who has Afro-European ancestry combined with any other ethnicity, including Mestizo or Maya.[citation needed]
When the National Kriol Council began standardizing the orthography for Kriol, it decided to promote the spelling Kriol only for the language but to continue to use the spelling Creole to refer to the people in English.[4][5]
History
According to local research, the Belizean Creoles descended from unions between polyglot buccaneers and European settlers who developed the logwood trade in the 17th century, and the African slaves whom they kidnapped and used as enslaved laborers to cut and ship the logwood. The National Kriol Council of Belize says that black slaves had been used as workers on the Central American coast from the 16th century and earlier, and were also used by the Spanish further down the coast. By 1724, the British too were acquiring slaves from Jamaica and elsewhere to cut logwood and later mahogany.[3] The earliest reference to African slaves in the British settlement of Belize appeared in a 1724 Spanish missionary's account, which stated that the British recently had been importing them from Jamaica and Bermuda. The Europeans sexually abused the female slaves, resulting in numerous mixed-race children.
The Igbo (known as Eboe or Ibo) seem to have been particularly numerous; one section of Belize Town was still known as Eboe Town in the first half of the 19th century. At first, many slaves maintained African ethnic identifications and cultural practices. Gradually, however, they combined some of their cultures, as well as adapting to elements of Europeans ones; in this process of creolization, their descendants created a new, syncretic Creole culture.[9]
By most accounts, the slaves in Belize led a better life than most in the West Indies, but were still mistreated. Many escaped to neighboring Spanish colonies, or formed small maroon settlements in the forest. These slaves reputedly assisted in the defense of the fledgling settlement for much of the late 18th century, particularly in the 1798 Battle of St. George's Caye.[3] This history has been debated and generates controversy in Belize.
The Creoles settled where they had work: mainly in Belize Town (now Belize City) and along the banks of the Belize River in the original logwood settlements, including Burrell Boom, Bermudian Landing, Crooked Tree, Gracie Rock, Rancho Dolores, Flowers Bank, and Belmopan. There were also substantial numbers in and around the plantations south of Belize City and Placencia. Many Creoles were involved in the trade in live sea turtles, and other fisheries. During the 19th century, they spread out to all the districts, particularly Dangriga and Monkey River, as the colony grew. Their sense of pride led to occasional clashes with authority, such as the 1894 currency devaluation riots, which foreshadowed greater conflicts to come.
In the 20th century, the Creoles took the lead in organizing development of the settlement. Riots in 1919 and 1934, combined with terrible conditions resulting from a disastrous hurricane in 1931, led to development of Belize's first trade unions. From that organizing, they developed the first political party, the People's United Party (PUP). Creoles continue to lead the nation in politics. But conditions in Belize City worsened after another major hurricane in 1961. Shortly thereafter large scale emigration began (and continues) to the United States and England. From those countries, working individuals sent back money to assist families left behind.
As part of the September celebrations, the annual Creole Festival is held on the grounds of the House of Culture. The festival is notable as part of an effort by Belize's Creole population to assert itself as a distinct group, rich with its own traditions.
Maypole
Maypole is a celebration that includes a maypole, a tall wooden pole, decorated with several long colored ribbons suspended from the top. This is similar to Palo de Mayo or Maypole in RAAS region in Nicaragua. There is no definite answer as to how the custom reached Nicaragua. Many historians note that there are many differences in the celebration and that it came from the Nicaraguan Creoles who inhabited Nicaragua's Caribbean coast; other historians believe it came indirectly from Jamaica. Maypoles were historically also part of traditional British customs in England.[10]
The traditional fire sambai of Gales Point Manatee is an unusual Creole dance that survives from colonial times. In that period, slaves met in different parts of Belize City in "tribes," based on their African region of origin, to celebrate the Christmas holidays. Traditionally the group would form a big circle in the night around a full moon in the center of a square. One person at a time would go in the middle of the ring to dance. The male dance is different from that of the female because it is a fertility dance. The dance marks the time when girls and boys who are considered sexually mature may dance in public as part of their passage to adulthood.
Music
From colonial days, music and dance have been an essential part of the Creole culture, as they were in contributing cultures. Drum-led dancing was a major part of Christmas and other celebrations in Creole communities. A style of music called Brukdown originated from the all-night "brams" or parties thrown by Creole families; these focused on both social commentary and hijinks. Brukdown is a genre of Belizean music.[citation needed]
Wilfred Peters, Brukdown's most well-known contemporary performer and innovator, is regarded as a Belizean national icon. The music is a mixture of European harmonies, African syncopatedrhythms and call-and-response format, and lyrical elements from the native peoples of the area. In its modern form, brukdown is a rural folk music, associated especially with the logging towns of the Belizean interior. Traditional instruments include the banjo, guitar, drums, dingaling bell, accordion and a donkey's jawbone, played by running a stick up and down the teeth. Brukdown remains a rural, rarely recorded genre. This music and the social gatherings associated with it are on the decline as youths adopt the cultures of the outside world.[citation needed]
Food and drink
Belizeanboil up. A combination of various boiled starches, vegetables and "bile cake", accompanied with either fish or pig tail
Among the main staples of a Creole dinner are rice and beans with some type of meat, for example stewed chicken, baked chicken, stewed pork, stewed beef etc.; salad, whether potato, vegetable, or coleslaw; seafoods, including fish, conch, lobster; some game meats, including iguana, deer, peccary and gibnut; and ground foods such as cassava, potatoes, cocoa and plantains. Fresh juice or water are typically served, occasionally replaced by soft drinks and alcoholic beverages (homemade wines made from sorrel, berries, cashew, sorosi, grapefruit and rice are especially common). Breakfasts usually include Creole bread and Kriol bun, johnny-cakes and frycakes (also called fry jacks).
Since the late 20th century, Creoles have adopted foods from other groups, particularly "Spanish" dishes made with tortillas. A more general national Belizean cuisine has developed and adopted traditional foods brought by the many Central American immigrants.[11]
Creoles in general eat a relatively balanced diet. The bile up (or boil up) is described above. Other important Creole foods are cowfoot soup, a thick stew with cocoyam and tripe, and a wide variety of dishes made with fish. Coconut milk and oil are common ingredients, though they have become increasingly rare and expensive. A plague of "lethal yellowing" killed most of the coconut trees in the 1990s.
In Belize, cassava was traditionally made into "bammy," a small fried cassava cake related to Garifuna cassava bread. The cassava root is grated, rinsed well, dried, salted, and pressed to form flat cakes about 4inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. The cakes are lightly fried, then dipped in coconut milk and fried again. Bammies were usually served as a starchy side dish with breakfast, with fish dishes, or alone as a snack. Cassava Pone (Plastic Cake) is a traditional Belizean Creole and pan-West Indian cassava flour cake, sometimes made with coconuts and raisins. Other common desserts include Sweet Potato Pone, Bread Pudding, stretch-mi-guts (a kind of taffy), tableta (coconut crisp), wangla (sesame) and powderbun, as well as a variety of pies.
Creole Gyal Prodokshans (local production company)
Related Research Articles
Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and is considered part of the Caribbean region and the historical British West Indies.
Gales Point Manatee is a village in Belize District in the nation of Belize, Central America. The village is bordered by five other communities, namely Mullins River, St. Margaret, La Democracia, Gracie Rock, and Freetown Sibun. The village is bordered east by the Caribbean Sea. In 2000, Gales Point had a population of about 500 people, most of whom subsist on fishing and farming.
The music of Belize has a mix of Creole, Mestizo, Garìfuna, Mayan and European influences.
Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse with varying cuisines. Some items typical of Latin American cuisine include maize-based dishes arepas, empanadas, pupusas, tacos, tamales, tortillas and various salsas and other condiments. Sofrito, a culinary term that originally referred to a specific combination of sautéed or braised aromatics, exists in Latin American cuisine. It refers to a sauce of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, garlic, onions and herbs. Rice, corn, pasta, bread, plantain, potato, yucca, and beans are also staples in Latin American cuisine.
Jamaican cuisine includes a mixture of cooking techniques, flavours and spices influenced by Amerindian, West African, Irish, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern people who have inhabited the island. It is also influenced by the crops introduced into the island from tropical Southeast Asia, many of which are now grown locally. A wide variety of seafood, tropical fruits and meats are available.
Brukdown is a genre of Belizean music. Its best-known performer and innovator, Wilfred Peters is regarded as a Belizean national icon. The word brukdown may come from broken down calypso, referring to the similarities between brukdown and Trinidadian calypso music; the presence of large numbers of Jamaicans in Belize also led to an influence from mento music.
Mískito Coast Creole or Nicaraguan Creole English is an English-based creole language spoken in coastal Nicaraguan region of Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean Sea; its approximately 40,000 speakers are spread over the RACCN and RACCS regions of Nicaragua. The region, known before 1986 as the Zelaya department, is today administratively separated into two autonomous regions: North Caribbean Coast (RACCN) and South Caribbean Coast (RACCS). Mosquito is the nickname that is given to the region and earlier residents by early Europeans who visited and settled in the area. The term "Miskito" is now more commonly used to refer to both the people and the language.
Wilfred Peters (Sr.) MBE, better known as Mista Peetaz, was a musical artist in the Brukdown style in Belize. He was a pioneer of the music of Belize's Creole (Kriol) people called Brukdown or Brukdong. His favourite instrument was the accordion. He was also a band leader and toured Europe and North America with his band, the Boom & Chime Band, which is also known as Mista Peetaz Boom and Chime Band. Mr. Peters was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in 1997 for his cultural contributions to the development of music.
Belizean Creole is an English-based creole language spoken by the Belizean Creole people. It is closely related to Miskito Coastal Creole, San Andrés-Providencia Creole, and Vincentian Creole.
The culture of Belize is a mix of influences and people from Kriol, Maya, East Indian, Garinagu, Mestizo, Mennonites who are of German descent, with many other cultures from Chinese to Lebanese. It is a unique blend that emerged through the country's long and occasionally violent history.
Palo de Mayo is a type of Afro-Caribbean dance with sensual movements that forms part of the culture of several communities in the RAAS region in Nicaragua, as well as Belize, the Bay Islands of Honduras and Bocas del Toro in Panama. It is also the name given to the month-long May Day festival celebrated on the Caribbean coast. Both the festival and dance are an Afro-Nicaraguan tradition which originated in Bluefields, Nicaragua in the 17th century.
Bammy is a traditional Jamaican cassava flatbread descended from the simple flatbread eaten by the Arawaks, Jamaica's original inhabitants. It is produced in many rural communities and sold in stores and by street vendors in Jamaica and abroad.
Belize, on the east coast of Central America, southeast of Mexico, was inhabited by the indigenous peoples who fought off the Spaniards in an attempt to preserve their heritage and to avoid the fate of their neighbors who were conquered and under Spanish rule. While this was going on, British pirates would rob Spanish merchant ships and navigate through the shallow waters and small islands even going up river later to hide their bounty. The indigenous people of Belize did not resist the British like they did the Spanish. In the 17th century, however, the British settlement became a formal British crown colony from 1862 through 1964, where they first achieved self government and later in 1981 became an independent country recognized globally with all its territory intact. The British brought along with them slaves taken from Congo and Angola during the eighteenth century.
The history of Belize dates back thousands of years. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC to 1200 BC and flourished until about 1000 AD. Several Maya ruin sites, including Cahal Pech, Caracol, Lamanai, Lubaantun, Altun Ha, and Xunantunich reflect the advanced civilization and much denser population of that period. The first recorded European incursions in the region were made by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in the 16th century. One attraction of the area was the availability of logwood, which also brought British settlers.
Belizeans are people associated with the country of Belize through citizenship or descent. Belize is a multiethnic country with residents of Ethnic groups of Amerindian, African, European, Asian and Middle-eastern descent or mixed race with any combination of those groups.
Belizean cuisine is an amalgamation of all ethnicities in the nation of Belize and their respectively wide variety of foods. Breakfast often consists of sides of bread, flour tortillas, or fry jacks that are often homemade and eaten with various cheeses. All are often accompanied with refried beans, cheeses, and various forms of eggs, etc. Inclusive is also cereal along with milk, coffee, or tea.
A great variety of cassava-based dishes are consumed in the regions where cassava is cultivated. Manihot esculenta is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes.
Cassava cake is a cassava-based dessert from the Philippines.
Leela VernonMBE was a Belizean cultural icon noted for her contributions to preserving Creole culture in the country. She was awarded the title "Queen of Brukdown", received the Order of the British Empire for promoting Creole culture and music, and was named the Brukdown Artist of the Year in 2004. She was honored as National Hero in 2016 by the National Institute of Culture and History.
Slavery in Belize includes practices of enslavement by British colonists during the period of European colonization. Products for which slavery was used include logwood, mahogany and sugar.
References
↑ "Diaspora of Belize" Council on Diplomacy, Washington, DC and Consulate General of Belize.
↑ "La expresión musical popular.... LA PRENSA Nicaragua". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-02-28. La expresión musical popular centroamericana y la herencia africana (in Spanish: Central American popular musical expression and African heritage). Posted by Manuel Monestel
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
