|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Under Sail: The Shipwrights and Boatmen of Belize
| Article
# : |
20332 |
|
|
Section : |
CULTURE
|
| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1992 |
5,152 Words |
| Author
: |
Tom Zydler
Tom Zydler is a freelance photographer and writer based in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida. |
The Central American country of Belize lies on the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula, bounded by Mexico to the west, Guatemala to the south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Having two hundred miles of shoreline and only sixty miles of interior, Belize is definitely a coastal country. The rugged Maya Mountains in the west quickly descend into wooded lowlands crisscrossed by rivers and saltwater lagoons that meet the sea in a tangled wilderness of mangrove trees.
Ten miles off the coast, a string of tiny, impenetrable, emerald green mangrove islets parallel the mainland. Further out, a 175-mile-long barrier reef rises from the sea bottom. Its diminutive coral islands are adorned with coconut palms and have their own ecosystems. A wide blue littoral shelf edges into the Caribbean, interrupted only by three atoll-like zones named Glover Reef, Turneffe Islands, and Lighthouse Reef.
With only 180,000 inhabitants, Belize is sparsely populated. Its demographic diversity matches the complex character of its geography. The indigenous Maya people (of Mopan and Kekchi linguistic sub-groups) are outnumbered by Creoles, descendants of African slaves who speak an English-based creole dialect as well as the English and Spanish taught in schools. Belize, which gained its independence in 1981, also has a number of descendants of Spanish- and English-speaking Europeans who settled during colonial times. Most conspicuous among the whites are the Mennonites, who retreated to Belize in 1958 to escape North America's growing modernization.
Economically speaking, the most important group came from Mexico. Mostly of Mayan origin, these people escaped the genocidal wars that swept through the Yucatan in the 1850s. They settled on the western shores of Chetumal Bay and took up agriculture.
Among these Yucatecos were many fishermen who chose to seek peace in the remote village of Sarteneja. Their miniature sea--Chetumal Bay--lacked the abundance of resources needed to support organized fisheries. Since the only seafood buyers, processors, and transport facilities are in Belize City, Sartenejan fishermen work along the extensive barrier reef, where their quarry, spiny lobster, abounds. This area is close to port, where they can unload the catch and replenish their ice.
Nowadays, as in the past, the only signs of human presence on the placid waters the reefs protect are the white sails of the finishing fleet. Here, in sharp contrast to the rest of the
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
