While many Belizeans are excited about the September celebrations, especially because of the 10th of September and Independence, some Belizeans in northern Belize belonging to the Yucatec Maya ethnicity are remembering the struggle of their ancestors. While the British had always portrayed Marcos Canul and the Maya as invaders, the reality is that the British were the true invaders on Maya land. The British and people of colonial mentality have always promoted in Belize their version of history. A history which many times brainwashes us, enslaves us and blinds us of who we are as Belizeans. The Belizean history is very rich, even though many tend to forget that we are a multiethnic nation. We, Yucatec Maya, are also Belizeans, and our history needs to be better represented in schools. Many times it had been ignored, maybe because of our resistance against the British.
The reason that the Maya attacked the British during the Caste War (Maya Social War) was that they were expanding logwood operations into areas where the Maya villages were located. The Maya also asked the British to pay rent for the use of Maya land. In August 20, 1856, various Maya Yucatec leaders sent a letter to the British, which they ignored. So Marcos Canul collected tax through the raids. What people didn’t know, is that Marcos Canul wanted to negotiate and try to maintain economic links with the British. Something which was accomplished in 1870, especially when the Maya took Corozal Town in a very peaceful way. The British and the Maya made agreements, which brought peace for a while. So, why did the Maya attack Orange Walk in 1872? We all know the British version of the battle of Orange Walk.
According to what I have gathered through investigation, the British authorities made agreements with the Maya Yucatec group, known as the Icaiche Maya, in 1870 about the interchange of prisoners and other issues. So, if a British or Maya person committed a crime or did something wrong, they would be taken to the judge or leader so they could issue punishment. Jose Maria Manzanero, a Maya captain of Marcos Canul, was detained and was captive along with his wife in Orange Walk Town. According to Marcos Canul, it was against the agreement, because Manzanero was imprisoned without a formal trial. Canul presented his claims, but the British ignored him. The Maya general Marcos Canul along with his Maya warriors continued in Orange Walk demanding for an explanation. Instead of giving an explanation about why they were detained, the British officials acted in an aggressive manner and shot a rain of bullets. The Maya immediately attacked Orange Walk, which resulted in Canul being wounded. Marcos Canul subsequently died because of his wounds.
If we all investigate deeply into the British version, many things don’t match. In my opinion, the British had all this planned to provoke the Maya so that they could justify their actions. The British and Spanish elites of the town were already organized and armed, waiting for the right moment to kill Marcos Canul. It was not a surprise attack as the British had said. Marcos Canul had already made peace, but the reality was that the British didn’t want to respect the Maya land. The British didn’t want to pay taxes simply because of their white supremacy ideology of those times. Even so, the struggle of the Maya in northern Belize had stayed alive in the memories of many old Mayeros. One good example is Mayero Elder, Domingo Perez, who for years kept visiting the monument of the Battle of Orange Walk every September. By the way, Mayero is another term of identification used by us of Yucatec Maya descent. Mr. Perez even took a wreath once on which was written “Marcos Canul Vive”. For us northern Maya, we do not celebrate Marcos Canul’s death, but his life. Marcos Canul is not dead. He lives in each and every one of us. I am a Belizean and also a Maya of the Yucatec Maya ethnic group. This is part of Belizean history. Que Viva Marcos Canul!!! Que Viva El Pueblo Maya de Belize!!! Kux’ano’on!!! Weyano’one!!!
– By Andy Chuc
(Source of information EL BOSQUE SITIADO by Martha Herminia Villalobos González)
[email protected]
August 23, 2019
Finca Solana
Corozal Town
CLINTON CANUL LUNA’S NOTE: Thank you, Andy Chuc, for participating in the educational process with the intention to educate our people on what is our true history. As a reminder, let me share with our dear readers of this column the following which was published in the Amandala in 2016:
1936 is a year that should not be forgotten. On that disgraceful year, the Manager of BEC went with a bulldozer and destroyed the village of San Jose Yalbac and the milpas of the descendants of the Icaiches. Thereafter, they were taken to Orange Walk at a place which was called Potrero, where they had no food or shelter. Today, that place is known as San Jose Palmar. A document was given to them specifying that it was a communal land and they could live there until eternity. After the passing of time certain greedy monger(s) with the power that is given to dictators, took an amount of land and sold it to private company(s). It’s amazing what certain individual(s) with an anti-Social-Christian mentality, can do to their own people when they have the support of the system.
Yes, our dear readers, these individuals become liars and thieves, even though they were taught what the Holy Bible teaches that a liar is a thief and a thief is a murderer. It is the general belief that Belize is a democratic country because every five years the people have the freedom to elect their representatives who make up the government. The constitution gives the Ministers and more so the Prime Minister the absolute power, in such a way that none of them are obliged to consult the people for nothing, much less, to inform on how the monies are spent; these people are above the law. Isn’t that a constitutional dictatorship?
It is also said that the people have the liberty of movement within the territory, however, not all the people have the economical means to pay for transportation. Therefore, it’s just the same, they cannot move. So, what difference is there when those who criticize in a negative way the communist system say that the people have no freedom of movement, when, in Belize they have that constitutional freedom but not a penny in their pockets to pay to go somewhere, not even to buy their medication, and many don’t even have anything to eat, much less, a piece of land to build themselves a shelter and to find a way how to work it, at least for the basic things for their subsistence.
Nevertheless, in these communist countries transportation is free, they won’t pick you up at the door of your house and leave you at the exact spot that you want to go, but they’ll pick you up at a certain location and leave you close to your destination. So, one finds himself or herself having to do some exercising everyday by walking from one place to the other of a certain distance. That is healthy, and the country that does not have a healthy people and does not have the means to cure their sickness, becomes a living dead, leaving a space for foreigners who receive their little pensions from their countries’ system to occupy the space that you and I are obligated to leave because of circumstances created by the same group of White Supremacists.
Going back to what is our culture, let me say that there are many activities that we have forgotten to do, such as the, dance of the pig, dance of the deer, dance of the snake, dance of the shakers, dance of crops, dance of the bull, dance of the hat, dance of the old men, or the annual cultural carnival that was done in the northern district. At least, we still have the annual Holy Primicia which is practiced, at the moment, in Patchakan and many others. The Holy Primicia is a very interesting one, since the area that is designated to do such cultural practices is considered a Holy Ground and only males are accepted to walk on such ground; women are considered as impure, even though they have a function to practice in the holy activity as a whole. After the holy sacrifice of the fouls, which has its own religious significance, it is afterwards taken to the kitchen, where the women are to prepare a part of the different varieties of food. I think that is why this special cultural religious activity is not made public, because there are those who may take it as uncivilized, not realizing that the Maya civilization was more advanced and greater than that of others. Let me end this essay by saying that I only hope that one of these days our great hero General Marcus Canul may be given his recognition, since we are part of the Belizean society. Belize was not made up only by the Baymen’s Clan.
QUE VIVA MARCUS CANUL!