THE ANCIENT MAYA
The earliest known inhabitants of southern Belize were the ancient Maya. Great Maya cities and ceremonial centers grew and flourished throughout the region until about 900 A.D. Eventually, these great cities disappeared beneath the dense jungle canopy. The reason for the collapse of the Maya Civilization is hidden in the mists of time. Some sites still remain relatively unexcavated and others have only recently been discovered, such as Nim Li Punit (“Big Hat”) in the 1970’s.
Throughout the 16th and 17 centuries a group of people called the Manche Chol Maya remained unconquered in southern Belize, resisting attempts by the Spanish to rule them. Disease and small pox eventually all but eliminated the Chols and in the 18th and 19th century the entire population of Chols was transported to the highlands of Guatemala by the British.
After this forced exodus out of southern Belize, the Toledo District was mostly unpopulated until the mid 1800’s. In the late 19th and early 20th century two distinct groups of Maya Indians, Mopan and Kekchi, began migrating into southern Belize from Guatemala, fleeing oppression and heavy taxation. The Mopan Maya settled the uplands of Toledo. The Kekchi Maya spread out into the isolated lowlands and along the many rivers.
Today the Mopan and Kekchi Maya comprise the largest percentage of the population in the Toledo District of Belize and have remained the most traditional and culturally distinct. The Mopan and Kekchi Maya have together formed over thirty communities throughout Toledo. The foundation of Mayan society is still based mostly on subsistence agriculture, family units, communal assistance, and self-government. They subsist on staple crops of beans, corn, rice, tubers, cacao and sugar cane. Increasingly they are becoming involved in cash crops of citrus and rice.
The earliest known inhabitants of southern Belize were the ancient Maya. Great Maya cities and ceremonial centers grew and flourished throughout the region until about 900 A.D. Eventually, these great cities disappeared beneath the dense jungle canopy. The reason for the collapse of the Maya Civilization is hidden in the mists of time. Some sites still remain relatively unexcavated and others have only recently been discovered, such as Nim Li Punit (“Big Hat”) in the 1970’s.
Throughout the 16th and 17 centuries a group of people called the Manche Chol Maya remained unconquered in southern Belize, resisting attempts by the Spanish to rule them. Disease and small pox eventually all but eliminated the Chols and in the 18th and 19th century the entire population of Chols was transported to the highlands of Guatemala by the British.
After this forced exodus out of southern Belize, the Toledo District was mostly unpopulated until the mid 1800’s. In the late 19th and early 20th century two distinct groups of Maya Indians, Mopan and Kekchi, began migrating into southern Belize from Guatemala, fleeing oppression and heavy taxation. The Mopan Maya settled the uplands of Toledo. The Kekchi Maya spread out into the isolated lowlands and along the many rivers.
Today the Mopan and Kekchi Maya comprise the largest percentage of the population in the Toledo District of Belize and have remained the most traditional and culturally distinct. The Mopan and Kekchi Maya have together formed over thirty communities throughout Toledo. The foundation of Mayan society is still based mostly on subsistence agriculture, family units, communal assistance, and self-government. They subsist on staple crops of beans, corn, rice, tubers, cacao and sugar cane. Increasingly they are becoming involved in cash crops of citrus and rice.
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