My Oh Maya

     One of the major parts of my trip while I am in Belize will be going around to Mayan villages and interviewing locals about how their experiences and understandings of Christianity are influenced by their Mayan traditions (for hybridity, see Homi K. Bhabha). The Maya of Belize are not the traditional Manche-Chol Maya who lived there at the time of Spanish arrival and built such fantastic cities as Altun Ha, Lamanal, Labaantun, and Xunantunich. In fact, Xunantunich had been a ruin for about a five hundred years when the Spanish arrived. The Classic period had ended well before Spanish arrival, and many of the Maya in Belize were killed off by warfare or disease at the time of European settlement. There is still a sizable Maya population from Belize of Q'eqchi and Mopan Maya from Mexico and Guatemala. 

                     

Some fool at Xunantunich last year

     PG is actually in an area surrounded by many modern Maya villages. I've heard that they have been able to maintain their traditions and languages quite well, and I'm really excited to see this for myself and learn from the Maya in some way.

     One of the major issues effecting Belize right now, but is of particular concern to PG and the southern Maya of the Toledo district is the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala. This is an age old dispute dating back to Guatemalan independence before Belize/British Honduras had officially been declared a colony of England. Guatemala claimed Belize as a territory so they could have more access to the Atlantic and finally negotiated a treaty in 1859 granting the territory to Britain. Among the things agreed in the treaty was that the Brits would build a road for Guatemala from Guatemala City to the Atlantic. The Brits weren't really interested in the project (as with most projects in British Honduras) and the road never got built. Therefore, Guatemala still claims the southern 2/3 of Belize. 

Yikes!

     The reason that Britain took so long in getting the heck out of Belize in the first place was because of the constant threat of invasion from the west. Several times, Guatemala has tried invading, prompting an increased presence of the British army. One time, the Prime Minister of England hinted that he wasn't that interested in defending Belize if it were to be invaded and the Guatemalan army was on the border the next day. In fact, the British army still has a presence in sovereign Belize to keep the Guatemalans out, since Belize is so tiny it would have one heck of a time trying to defend itself. 

     So, Guatemala still claims Belize and recently both nations have decided to take their cases to the International Court of Justice to have the issue settled once and for all. This is on a lot of Belizean minds these days since Belize has a lot to loose (namely, 2/3 of itself). However, more Guatemalans are intruding into Belize, treating it like it is already theirs and even harming a lot of forest land. This issue is of particular interest to the Mayans, many of whom left Guatemala as refugees because of persecution. They also live in many of the effected areas which could possibly become Guatemalan. Needless to say, not a lot of Mayans are happy about the situation. To conclude, here is an article from a Belizean newspaper that is almost surprisingly comprehensive in its tackling of the complex Mayan history in Belize. Enjoy!