Kriol festival celebrates culture
Whether you call it a melting pot, mixture or mosaic, there’s no denying that the Belizean nation is made up of a multitude of ethnic groups. And while the relative numbers of those groups have been changing, the unifying culture of Belize has remained that of the Kriol. Today in Belize City the Kriol Council hosted a festival to remind us that the culture familiar to us all still needs some nurturing.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The spirit of the Kriol culture was alive and kicking today on the grounds of the Belize City House of Culture. From jumping the Sambai, to viewing artefacts used in the Kriol culture, the festival sought to let it all hang out for visitors to see that there is more to the Belizean Kriol than just a name. Myrna Manzanares is president of the Belize Kriol Council.
Myrna Manzanares, President, Belize Kriol Council
?Lot of time people like say Kriol noh got no culture. well come out and see because we do have culture. We have some of the games, the arts and craft, items that people have had for a long time that they use in the culture.?
These include the kiss-kiss, the wooden wash bowl, kerosene lamp and of course the coal iron. Also foods such as Kriol bread and bun, and boil up. Even the traditional dress worn by the Kriol woman was on prominent display. Manzanares says it showed that even in times of tribulation, the Kriol woman made herself elegant.
Myrna Manzanares
?In the old days, you know that when they had the slaves, you divide up the slaves according to where they work. You had people in the bushes with the mahogany, you had people in the house, and you had outside. This was a person who took care of the white children. Like I said earlier no matter what thy put us to wear, we always make a way of creating it so that we look elegant. So even though we were in slavery we could still look elegant. Our souls were not in bondage.?
Governor General Sir Colville Young entertained and at the same time informed the students and other invited guests at the opening of the festival, when he gave a brief history of some strange but very real surnames.
Sir Colville Young, Governor General
?Now in England there is a set of names, such as–don?t laugh at this, don?t laugh–you have the surname ?Horse-bottom?. I told you not to laugh; and ?Green bottom?, and ?Long-bottom? and ?Sheep-bottom?. And the people who have these names are generally a bit ashamed of them. The origin is really simple. At this time in England a valley was called a bottom. So a Sheep-bottom was a valley where sheep grazed. A Horse-bottom was a valley or a bottom where horses grazed. And Long-bottom was a long valley.?
Humour aside, Manzanares says everything on display today is used in one form or the other somewhere in the country.
Myrna Manzanares
?Huh, go dah Manatee, go dah Manatee yoh wah see. Go dah some ah the villages along the river valley and you will see that yes, people still use the fire heart. I know dah Gales Point them bake bread, them bake Johnny cake, pan the fire heart. Practically everybody got wah fire heart because when no gas no deh, them have to go back to the fire heart. Dah Belize when no gas noh deh yoh ina trouble.?
?We hope that people will be a little bit more aware that there are things within the Kriol culture that people should be proud of. And that the Belize Kriols themselves should be proud of whom they are no matter whether they are in prison, no matter where they are. There is a basic thing about the Belize Kriol where we survived. We survived the slavery, we came over here, we survived everything?
Patrick Jones, for News Five.
