Diversity of People and Culture in Belize

The diversity found in the people of Belize today act as a link to the country’s history. During the last three thousand years Belize has endured many face lifts that makes Belize what it is today. Rich in several different cultures, languages, and history, Belize is truly a melting pot of culture on the Caribbean.

The Mayans was an ancient Native American civilization in the region that is now eastern and southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras. During the peak of their civilization between 250 B.C. and 900 A.D., the Maya built massive stone pyramids, temples, and sculptures, as well as achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and a complex system of symbols similar to that of Egyptian hieroglyphs. They developed a calendar system similar, but yet more precise than the one we use today. It’s actually based on two calendars going simultaneously. One was the astronomical calendar that was comprised of eight-teen months in a year with each month having twenty days, all adding up to 360 days and an additional five days that were thought of being bad luck. The other was a sacred calendar based on twenty named days whose year was only 260 days. Every fifty-two years the two calendars meet at the sa

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Today, the difference between these elite and their neighbors can be seen throughout the countryside (PBS, 2004). A number of factors could contribute for the fall of the Maya, among some factors that have been suggested are natural disasters, disease, soil exhaustion due to slash and burn farming, or other agricultural problems. However, it still incorporates all that it used to be as an intricate part of what it is now. Once again their efforts fell short as the Mayan villages of Lamanai and Tipu failed. Once again though the Spanish never really settled into the area and the English eventually returned to the area. Those who had more African genes, or more so looked as if they had more African genes were the ones sent to Belize where they again mixed with local populations. However, in Belize the government allows the Mennonites to pretty much live as they choose, meaning they have their own schools, churches, and banks (Rath, 2004)

The Belize of today is much different from the Mayan city-states, and the British colony of British Honduras that it once was. They are culturally fairly similar to those groups in the United States, overalls, beards, top hats and even carriages. The Spanish never really had a stronghold over the Mayan villages in Belize but there impact was well felt after their departure. They later reappeared in the north on the Yucatan Peninsula and continued to dominate the area until the Spanish conquest.

The Garifuna of Belize is arguably one of the most interesting and complex cultures of Belize. This participation in the political process would show to be a spring board of the social changes that were to come with the depression, with the better off surviving while the poor struggled miserably. Today, their way of life is being threatened by continuous migration, discrimination and lack of proper government funding. Social factors such as peasant revolts, internal warfare, and foreign invasions have been just a few that have been discussed as some of the possibilities (Blease, 2004).

Approximate Word count = 1543
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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