belize, 1980 - Prolades.com

and Mopan Maya in the southern lowlands. There, numerous Kekchí churches have been
established, and some form part of the newly-organized Kekchí and Mayan Churches of Belize
(Pentecostal). The entire New Testament is available in Kekchí, along with a hymnal, several Old
Testament books, and a dozen Gospel tracts.
The Yucatan Maya, numbering about 540,000, live in the Mexican states of Yucatan,
Campeche and Quintana Roo, and in the districts of Orange Walk and Corozal in Belize. In 1847,
the Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula revolted against the Spanish settlers (known as the Caste War,
1847-1904), which resulted in thousands of Maya and Mestizos fleeing south over the border into
British Honduras. By 1861, the population of the Colony had grown to 25,635 (compared to 8,235 in
1841), with one-quarter of the people living in the northern district and most of these were Yucatan
refugees. Whereas today an estimated 45,000 Yucatan Maya speakers are associated with
evangelical churches in Mexico, there are only about 120 evangelical believers in Belize. Four small
congregations have been established since 1958 in Corozal District by the National Presbyterian
Church of Mexico, no doubt following up on some of their members who migrated into Belize.
Rapid acculturation has taken place among the Yucatan Maya, and many are now fluent in Spanish;
however, the older adults still prefer their native language. Parts of the New Testament were
translated into Yucatan Maya in 1844, but the entire New Testament was not available until 1961
(revised in 1977).
3.4 BLACK CARIB - GARIFUNA (7.6% according to the 1980 Census)
The British Colonial Administration used the term Black Carib to refer to the Garifuna or
Garinagu (Garifuna refers to both the people and language of the Garinagu), and to distinguish
them from Yellow or Red Carib, who are Amerindian groups. Racially, the Black Carib are
descendants of runaway African slaves who intermarried with the Red Carib Amerindians in the
West Indies during the 18th century. The British deported about 5,000 Black Carib from the islands
of Dominica and St. Vincent in 1797, and relocated them to the Bay Islands of the Bay of Honduras.
From there the Black Carib gradually dispersed and established settlements along the northern
coast of Honduras, south to Pearl Lagoon in Nicaragua, and north to the Livingston area of eastern
Guatemala and into British Honduras in 1823 (celebrated as Settlement Day). Most Black Carib in
Belize today make their living from fishing and subsistence farming near Punta Gorda and Stann
Creek on the south coast, although some Black Carib have become teachers and businessmen,
and a few are doctors and lawyers. An estimated 2,000 Black Carib live on Guatemala’s eastern
coast and about 10,600 in the southern coastal lowlands of Belize.
The Black Carib have maintained their separate identity despite the fact that physically they
differ little from the Creoles. While retaining their own languages (men and women historically
speaking separate languages), many Black Carib also speak English, and a growing number are
learning some Spanish due to trading contacts with the Kekchí and Mopan Maya who live nearby.
Generally, Black Carib do not marry outside their own ethnic group.
Most Black Carib are animists and few are practicing Christians, either Catholics or
Protestants, although many are considered to be at least nominally Christian. However, their
religious life is dominated by spirit worship, black magic and ceremonial dances of mixed African
and Indian origin. Few Black Carib actively attend Protestant churches, even though some
evangelical witness has existed among them since the 1830s, mainly by Methodists, Baptists and
Anglicans have had schools and mission stations in their settlements. Other Protestant groups have
worked among the Black Carib more recently, notably the Nazarenes since the 1960s. Portions of
the Bible were first translated into Garifuna and "Waike" (Arawak) by a Baptist missionary,
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