Hello everyone! On today’s blog we are going to talk about a country which is located in Central America, bellow Mexico, which is considered an English speaking country, and as our favorite holiday of the year is about to come, we are going to focus specially on what is done for Christmas!
First of all we are going to start with a small introduction to the country. Probably most of you are shocked by the fact that in Central America there is a country in which Spanish is not the official language, and so am I, but let me tell you that even though English is the official language, only around the 62.9% of the population speaks this language! 1
Now you might be wondering why English is the official language then. Well, even when the majority of the population can speak English, the reason behind everything is that this country was conquered by Great Britain, and finally got its independence recently in 1981. Can you imagine? Some of us, or at least our parents, were alive when that happened! But before its independence, everything was done in English: education, important documents, political issues and every important thing done in the country. Nowadays everything remains almost the same as in the past, but with the small difference that in present there are some schools which can offer you education in Spanish.
After clearing that up, let’s continue with our main topic. Belize is a multicultural country which has influence from Africa, Europe and America, so the traditions in this country are a mixture of everything. Something interesting is that in Belize, all the magic starts at the beginning of December with the Christmas Tree Lighting!
For the Christmassy season, in Belize there are some traditions that were more popular in past years than in present, since nowadays everything is more Americanized and if you travel to the country is like travelling to any other boring country in which traditions are similar to what we are used to. But we don’t want to hear repetitive boring traditions; we are going to talk about the small ones that are still alive thanks to the beautiful people who do not want to kill the fun in Belize during Christmas!
Christmas Bram
The following traditions are still practiced, mostly by some villages, such as the Christmas Bram that is practiced since the 1700’s, which basically consists in singing and dancing to Brukdong music! It is similar to what is done in other parts of the world, but here instead of only going house by house (caroling), it is done in the streets with everyone celebrating together, sharing joy and cheering to the music. What is interesting is that the music during this event is played with traditional instruments, and even with buckets or bottles when needed, the idea is to share happiness with everyone, even visitors, to prepare for Christmas! Lovely event since it combines Christmas traditions with African music and dance, where fire plays an important role representing fertility.2
What do you think? I personally prefer the version of Belize; it is more joyful and fun! Belize City should get it back as in the old days, just as the village of Gales Point :’)
Maya Deer Dance
Another tradition is the Maya Deer Dance, which is performed by 24 dancers which are dressed up as several animals and people, that tell a story about the importance about caring properly the environment, and makes a good reflection about the Spanish colonization of America during the 1500’s.
It criticizes how Spanish people came to destroy the culture and traditions of natives, and also destroyed nature by polluting the flora and fauna of the place, hunting animals, starting with deers and going on with jaguars and other species, which were highly important for Mayas.
The preparation takes several days, and in a way we can say it takes years since everything starts since children are educated with the importance of Maya culture and traditions, which is duty of every parent in the specific community. This event especially takes place in Santa Cruz, which is a small community located in Belize.
Before the dance takes place, women of the community prepare copal to bless the costumes that are going to be used in future. It is a ritual in which people pray for the community. Also, to prepare for the event, people prepare tortillas, tamales and “arroz con leche”, to make a complete celebration!
This celebration is very important, since everything is handmade, every single thing is made by hand and with everyone helping each other, creating stronger relationships between the people of the village, and sometimes mixing cultures, such as when this dance combines with some musical instruments that are used for, the previously seen, Christmas Bram, creating a multicultural atmosphere.3
This is an important celebration, since it reinforces not only unity, but also rescues traditions that were practiced before the 1500’s, helping with the creation of a strong identity, as part of our existence.
Midnight Mass
The last tradition that we are going to see, is Midnight Mass, which is a celebration related with the Christian faith, practiced by most of the population in Belize. It is about dressing as fancy as possible, and going to church to sing the joy of the birth of Jesus Christ, which is basically the main purpose of Christmas.4 Midnight Mass, is very common in the West, but as religion is important in Belize, I thought it was important to include it.
So that’s all for today’s blog! Hopefully you enjoyed learning about these three traditions practiced in this English speaking country, called Belize, a very multicultural country. I tried to add the most representative and interesting ones so you can have a general idea of what is done for Christmas in Belize! ❤ Hopefully you enjoyed learning about dances such as Christmas Bram and Maya Deer Dance, and also about Christian practices like Midnight Mass!
After all, all these practices join together to create what we call, our own identity. Stay curious and see you in the next post!
My best wishes to you all!!!
References
Images
Deer Mask Image: https://www.ambergristoday.com/content/stories/2012/march/05/prince-harry-one-belize
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