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DECIPHERING THE ETHNICITY SYSTEM OF CAYO, BELIZE: AN EXPLORATION OF COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL DISCOURSE DATA

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By Lisa Suzanne Chiteji, B.A., M.A.

The Ohio State University 2000

Dissertation Committee : Approved by Professor Emeritus, Erika Bourguignon, Adviser Professor Amy Shuman Adviser Anthropology Depart ent Professor Amy Zaharlick UMI Number. 9971529

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Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT

This document reports on a 1992-3 investigation of ethnicity in the multi-ethnic community (eleven ethnic groups) of San Ignacio, Belize (Central America). It focuses on three of the ethnic populations of that community: the Creole, Mestizo and white populations. Its research questions probe the definitional content and classification criteria of the ethnicity categories for these populations, as well as their structural characteristics. Two types of data are reported on - community and school data. Observation, participant-observâtion, and naturalistic audio and video recordings were used for both. For the former, interviews were also used. The findings of the investigation reveal the existence, in San Ignacio, Belize, of conflicting claims as to ethnic categories, definitions and classification criteria. The major conclusion of the research is that multiple systems of ethnicity - similar to Foucauldian discourses - exist in the San Ignacio Community. The structure and content of two of these ethnicity systems are reported and discussed within the dissertation document: a system promulgated by the central government of Belize, and one manifested within the

ii nongovernmental, lay arenas of the society - itself consisting of an ethnic-group-centered subsystem (the composite of each ethnic group's self-definition, and definition of other ethnic groups) and a meta-ethnic-group (nongovernment) subsystem operating in such public realms as the economic sphere of societal life. The tentative, preliminary nature of both the findings and conclusions of the research are discussed and stressed

within the document. Indeed, the entire investigation is defined as preliminary due to its status as a substitution project, resulting from a dissertation topic change. The origins of the topic change, occurring as a result of an unforeseen need to address a theoretically-prior research question (the current topic) prior to undertaking the original dissertation topic, are also discussed.

I l l Dedicated to My Mother and to Ngina, Jotno and Yekuno-Aitilak Chiteji

In Memory of Robert Paul Olda Johnson Georgia Ann Pobi Mwalimu Julius Nyerere

IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Most of all, I acknowledge and thank my adviser. Dr. Erika Bourguignon, for intellectual guidance, patience and faith in me. I also wish to acknowledge the help of the other members of my dissertation committee: current members, Dr. Amy Zaharlick and Dr. Amy Shuman ; and past members, Ojo Arewa, John Messenger, John Stewart and Birch Moonwomon-Baird. I wish to explicitly mention one additional faculty member and one Ohio State University administrator who went out of their way to be helpful in the financial realm - Professor Chung-Min Chen and Dr. Sandra Stewart. My adviser also deserves recognition in this domain.

I also acknowledge and thank all other Ohio State personnel who had a part in helping me complete my program. This includes the technical staff of the Center for Teaching Excellence who gave advice regarding audio and video equipment, and other technical aspects of my data collection pl a n .

I acknowledge and express gratitude for the cooperation of governmental officials in Belize. At the Belizean Ministry of Education, I thank Educational Minister, Honorable Said Musa and members of his staff - at both the national and district levels. In Sêui Ignacio-Santa Elena, I thank Mayor Cano. I am also indebted to the officials at the school in which I collected data, and its affiliated church: Father Thomas, Father Ryan, and Mr. Parades. I cannot fail to mention the co-principals, teachers and students at Sacred Heart Primary School - especially those of the classes in which I carried out my observations. All the other people of Belize who contributed to my research, I also thank. This includes some who, sadly, have passed away (e.g., the first Belizean to befriend me, Ms. Agnes Lopez; and Ms. Bernice York) . It also includes, in Belize City, Dr. Joseph Palacio at the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies, Belize Campus; Dr. Colvin Young, then head of the University College of Belize ; and individuals at Belize's Society for the Promotion of Education and Research (SPEAR). It also includes, in Belize City, Ms. Shelly Brown and family, and others from whom I obtained data. I thank, in Cayo, the Pastors (especially Carla, Georgia and Gregory) , eind the Augustines, among others. I also thank and never will forget all the children on my block : Lini and

Mai ini who helped me lug my video equipment all over town, Natalie, Gene emd the others. I also acknowledge and thank the officials at Wichita State University who generously extended resources and services to me while I was a resident in Wichita, Kansas, during the post-fieldwork stage of my program. Those in the

vi anthropology department, library, and Jabara Hall Computer Laboratory deserve special mention. Going beyond the call of duty were computer consultants, Mr. Thomas O. Page and Ms. Brenda F. Johnson of Wichita State’s University Computing Office. I also thank the English Department for its role in identifying transcribers for me, and thank those identified - Mrs. G. Gunlack and her daughter, Melissa. I would be negligent if I did not acknowledge the fellowship and grant programs which assisted me at different points along the way. A Committee for Institutional Cooperation (CIC), (Bloomington, Indiana) Fellowship funded the first four years of my graduate school program. A pre­ dissertation grant from CIC’s International Studies Fellows Program, together with a Tinker Foundation Travel Grant for Pre-Dissertation Research (granted me by The Ohio State University's Committee on Latin American Studies and its International Studies Program) funded a pre-dissertation research trip in 1990. An Ohio State University Alumni Research Grant and a Sigma Xi Research Grant partially funded the fieldwork. This included funding for the audio and video equipment used in the research. Grants from The Paul Bourguignon Fund of the anthropology department of The Ohio State University helped defray expenses connected with the periodic, post-fieldwork trips, from my residence in Kansas to the Columbus, Ohio campus, to confer

VI1 with my committee. To the sponsors of these funds, the individuals leading me to them, and the individuals involved in disseminating them, I express gratitude.

In closing, I wish to acknowledge the emotional and spiritual support given me by a close friend (now deceased), Mrs. Virgina Burmam. Last but not least, I acknowledge the never ceasing support of my immediate family, and express a special kind of gratitude to my late Great-Aunt Essie, mother, sister (Akilimali), daughter (Ngina) , and other members of my family who preceded me in obtaining graduate degrees. They served as special sources of inspiration and encouragement along the way.

vxix VITA

1970 ...... B.A. Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley 1985 ...... M.A. Anthropology, The Ohio State University 1975-77 ...... Lecturer, Institute for Development Management, Tanzania, Africa 1985-87 ...... Graduate Teaching and Research Assistantships, The Ohio State University 1987-89 ...... Graduate Teaching and Research Associateships, The Ohio State University 1988 ...... Lecturer, Columbus State Community College 1990 ...... Lecturer, The Ohio State University 1995, 1998-99 ...... Lecturer, Wichita State University

PUBLICATIONS

1. Chiteji, Lisa S. 1989 New World African- Indian Admixture: A Methodological Examination of Anthropological Research. The Ohio State University Anthropology Department Occasional Papers, 4. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.

XX 2. Chiteji, Lisa S. 1988 Review of Career Guide for Women Scholars. Feminisms Summer 1988.

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Anthroplogy TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ease Abstract...... ii Dedication...... iv Acknowledgments...... v

Vita...... ix List of Figures...... xiii

Preface...... xiv Chapters : 1. Introduction...... 1

2. Selected Theory and Literature...... 24 3. Background to Country and People of Belize... 47 4. Research Setting...... 100 5. Research Methodology...... 123 6 . Findings - Creoles...... 151 7. Findings - Mestizos...... 181 8. Findings - Whites...... 213 9. Findings - Miscellaneous...... 250 10. Conclusions - Part 1 ...... 261

XI 11. Conclusions - Part II...... 286 12. Suggestions for Future Research...... 375

List of References...... 404

XI1 LIST OF FIGURES

Figyra Page 2.1 Posited Functions and Subfunctions of a School...40 3.1 Belize and Its Neighbors...... 48 3.2 Table of Towns and Cities of Belize...... 50 3.3 Map of Towns and Cities of Belize...... 51 3.4 Ethnic Groups of Belize - National and District Level Population Statistics...... 54 3.5 Religions of Belize with Membership Figures...... 59 11.1 My Model of Cayo State and Lay Ethnicity Systems...... 288 11.2 Posited Self-Ascription Rule for Cayo Mestizos, Creoles and Mixed Individuals...... 346

xixi PREFACE

This dissertation document is the outcome of a less than straightforward research project. It is the product of a dissertation effort which met with an unexpected problem - the unforeseen need to address a question theoretically prior to the one the original study sought to address. For the sake of background and in order to orient the reader, this preface briefly summarizes factual information regarding the above and other aspects of my research: the history of my interest in, and contacts with, Belize; the years of my fieldwork; the choice of research site; the methods of the research; and selected details regarding the change in topic (further discussed in the introduction chapter of this document). I became interested in Belize as a research site through a prior interest in the Garinagu (or Garifuna) people of the

Caribbean - an admixed African-Amerindian population deriving from St. Vincent and currently resident in numerous circum- Caribbean countries, including Belize. This particular interest resulted from a longstanding interest (dating from undergraduate-school years) in genetic admixture between North American Amerindians and New World Africans - a subject to

xiv which I devoted significant attention during my master's degree program (reflected in the published article on the topic, authored by me, listed in the vita section of this document) . A 1988 talk presented to the anthropology department of The Ohio State University by genetic anthropologist, Michael Crawford (see bibliographic entry on Schanfield, Brown and Crawford 1984) - largely on Garinagu data from the country of Belize - solidified my choice of Belize, Central America as a research site. Despite this initial, more narrow interest in the Belizean Garinagu, my eventual dissertation research proposal came to involve a broader, cross-ethnic-group focus - school transmissions, through educational discourses, of social knowledge concerning local ethnicity. The research of this topic was to involve a contextualized, discourse analysis schooling study, conducted in a ethnically heterogeneous Belizean setting.

My initial and official contacts with Belize were facilitated by several formal letters of introduction. The first was provided me by one of my graduate-program committee members, Caribbeanist John Stewart. This letter was addressed to Professor Stewart's colleague. Dr. Joseph Palacio - a Belizean anthropologist then acting as director of the Belize campus of the University of the West Indies' School of Continuing Studies. I presented the letter to Dr. Palacio during my first trip to Belize - a 1990, funded, pre-

XV dissertation research trip. During this trip. Dr. Palacio, in

turn, granted me affiliate status with the University of the West Indies, and provided me with a letter of introduction to the Belizecui Ministry of Education. The national ministry

then provided me with a general letter of introduction, usable for all my school-related interactions of that trip, and later, during my 1992-3 fieldwork stay, granted me official clearance auid a letter of introduction to the selected school of my chosen research site. As alluded to above, I made a three-and-one-half-month pre-fieldwork trip to Belize in 1990; the main goal of this visit was to identify a community and school as sites for my schooling research. During this pre-fieldwork trip, I visited numerous schools in a total of five communities in the Belize, Toledo, Stann Creek and Cayo districts of the country. The research site chosen on the basis of this trip was a Catholic primary school in the town of San Ignacio-Santa Elena, in the western region of Belize (10 miles from the Guatemalan border).

I collected data in this school, and in the surrounding

community for a period of 11 and 1/2 months (almost three school terms), between February 1992 and February 1993. The study's research design included naturalistic audio and video (camcorder) tapings, in addition to conventional anthropological techniques such as participant observation.

The camcorder and video recorder used for the data collection

xvi ( funded by a grant from The Ohio State University) were donated to the school (with funder permission) at the conclusion of the fieldwork. It was after my return from the field, during the analysis and write-up stage, that the theoretical problems mentioned in the first paragraph of this discussion surfaced, eventually causing me to refocus my research efforts. My new topic became the nature of the content of the school transmissions I initially sought to study - the nature of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize. Because my data - school and community - are in^erfect and incomplete for the current, unanticipated focus, my final effort is viewed (by me) as an exploration of these data, in what must be considered only a preliminary, partial effort at deciphering the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize.

XVI1 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

EXPLANATION OF CHAPTER CONTENTS

As Stated in the preface, this document reflects a change in dissertation topic (from a focus on cultural transmission to one on ethnicity) . This particular chapter begins by

chronicling the developments leading to the topic change, including explaining the original topic in some detail in order to communicate the problem causing the change. One

reason I share these behind-the-scenes events is to enable the reader to better understand the lacunae and limitations of the current study. Another is my conviction that there is both intellectual and practical value in admitting the unfulfilled expectations and other unforseen developments that sometimes occur as part of the research process (several discussions of the research methods chapter continue this exercise).

After relating the saga of developments surrounding the topic change, the current chapter introduces the reader to the new topic - presenting a summary of definitions, a summary statement of the study's research (questions, and statements of its parameters and limitations.

EXPLANATION OF ORIGINAL TOPIC AND ITS PROBLEMS - SAGA OF A DISSERTATION TOPIC CHANGE

Caribbeanist Anthropologist on Fieldwork, and the Caribbean Area as a Heterogeneous "Frontier":

The assunç)tion that fieldwork will somehow reveal the nature of the entity under study, however persuasive it may be in cases of apparent homogeneity, breaks down completely on The Frontier. - M. Trouillot, 1992

Belizean Anthropologist #1 on Ethnicity in Belize : The resurgence of ethnic consciousness is leading Belize into an escalating ethnic war. - H. Topsey, 1987

Belizean Anthropologist #2 on Ethnicity in Belize : There has been a de-emphasis on ethnicity across the years since slavery...Ethnicity is no longer a paramount marker among Belizeans... - J. Palacio, 1988 Summary of Original Dissertation Topic

As stated, my original dissertation project was an investigation of cultural transmission. It was an

ethnographically-based, discourse analysis exploration of discursive mechanisms in school texts (written and oral, including interactive). Its goal was to uncover mechanisms

which transmit ideas concerning local ethnicity to a society's upcoming generation. The study was a search for such mechanisms in the discursive locations of: (1) text content (e.g., topic choices and emphases) , and (2) text form (lexico- grammatical practices such as word choice and transitivity, and interactive behaviors such as interruptions and topic switching) . The study was intended as a contribution to anthropology's understanding of the how of the cultural transmission process - an area about which Jcnowledge is limited [especially for the case of the structure (form) of texts produced in the transmission process]. [1]

My original dissertation project contained two components. The first was the above summarized investigation of school text transmission mechauaisms. The second was an investigation of the local ethnicity "system" of Cayo, Belize

(the content of the transmission) . One reason for the second component was, of course, the anthropological tenet regarding the superiority of a holistic approach to the study of topics involving humans. A second reason seems to me to be specific to methodology in the field of discourse analysis. Because of this, I present this second reason against a background statement explaining one characteristic of discourse analytic methodology - the challenge involved in attempting to identify transmission mechanisms sans prior knowledge of the content of the transmission.

ons Reason for My Ethnicity Substudy = The Challenge_ Identifying Transmission Mechanisms When Lacking Eciar Knowledge of Content Material

Identifying transmission mechanisms in discourse is less than a straightforward matter. One of the problems seems to be akin to the problem noted by Fowler (1987) regarding the difficulty of demonstrating significance in discourse cases. Fowler's comment is that,

Significance (for example, ideology) cannot simply be read off of the linguistic forms that description has identified in the text, because the same form ( nominal izat ion, for example) has different significances in different contexts (scientific writing versus regulations, for example) (page 489) .

Stated in other terms, Fowler's observation is that the significance of linguistic (i.e., discursive) features varies as a function of other characteristics related to the text (in this case, text genre). For the case of my focus (ethnicity and the transmission of it) , functions of particular discourse features (e.g., whether they were functioning as transmission mechanisms or not) were also variable and externally dependent. The factor which such discursive features were related to, and dependent on, (and which could cause the feature to "shift" its function in the text) was the factor of the content of the transmission - the nature of the external ethnicity situation of the society. The examples presented following my next point will make this clearer to the reader.

Because of the above challenge in identifying transmission mechanisms, a helpful step of the discourse analysis research process, when studying transmission, seems to be to familiarize one's self with the content material of the transmission. Having little stable information or predictive clues regarding the medium of the transmission (the transmission mechanism) - again because of its capacity to shift due to linkage to other text-related features - one can use one's knowledge of the content (of the medium) as a clue toward discovering the medium.

For example, in the case of the United States, we know that the American Indian ethnic group is devalued. Having this content information concerning the society's ethnic hierarchy allows us to use the procedures of (l) spotting places in a text where American Indians are mentioned (or should be mentioned); (2) confirming that the particular textual representation is one of devaluation (itself not necessarily a straightforward matter); and (3) inspecting the textual characteristics correlated with the representation in order to then make a determination as to whether these can be posited as transmission mechanisms. [2]

It is in this very same manner that Trew (1979) engages in a detailed analysis of passive voice, absent agent and other grammatical and syntactical features as representation and transmission mechéinisms in what he argues to be the differential, ideological-laden, media representation of power-holding, majority-group Britons versus power-lacking, minority-group ones in the British media. One of his major arguments is that unprovoked (unjustified) violent acts of white policemen against black youth are ideologically represented in the British media. The details of this argument are that the role of the power-possessing, majority- group policemen in such unjustified violent acts is obscured, if not denied in the media reports through use of passive voice or absent agent syntax, having the (ideological) effect of exonerating the power holders, thus preventing possible challenges to the society's power hierarchy. Trew's ability to posit any discursive feature as a representation and transmission mechanism carrying out the above alleged ideological representation and transmission depends, at base, on the validity of the assumption that the alleged ideological representation act is actually taking place, itself dependent on the validity of the assumption tbat the two groups in question hold the particular power versus nonpower slots in the society's power hierarchy. If the two groups (whites and blacks) were actually equal in power in British society, or if blacks held the more powerful position,

Trew's argument as to the given discursive features' roles as transmission mechanisms ideologically transmitting (i.e., protecting) the powerful societal group would be invalid.

I relate briefly yet one more example^ from the literature - this time, of a content-related mechanism (the above example pertains to a form-related mechcuiism) .

In their study of school discourses on Aboriginal identity (Australia) , Luke, Kale and Singh (1995) make the argument that the marginality position of the Australian Aborigine in the Australian ethnicity system is transmitted (by school discourses) through the mechanism of topical exclusion. Again, this argument is available to them only (it seems to me) because they have a prior understanding of what the aborigine's position, in the larger ethnicity system, is. Although the above examples pertain to prior knowledge of hierarchies in the particular ethnicity systems, the same points regarding the value of prior knowledge of content pertain to other aspects of content - in this case, other aspects of the ethnicity systems being transmitted.

Against this background explanation regarding discourse analysis methodology, the reader can now easily understand that the second reason for the ethnicity-system-determination component of my original study was my assumption that knowing the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize would help immensely in identifying transmission mechanisms in Cayo's school text discourses.

Original Data Collection Plan for the Ethnicity Research Component. The plan, of my original research study, for determining the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize consisted of three conventional ethnographic techniques and procedures: l) day-to-day observation and participant - observation of one-year duration; 2) interviews (but see methodology chapter for explanation of my plan for restricting use of this technique) ; and 3) secondary-source investigations, targeting extant analyses of Belizean ethnicity by other anthropologists. The collection of data on this topic (Cayo ethnicity) was to occur concurrently with the collection of data on transmission mechanisms.

8 The Problem Surfaces

The feasibility of my above dual-component research study depended upon my being able to devote the bulk of my energies - during both the fieldwork and post-fieldwork stages - to the transmission component of the study. Its feasibility thus depended on the ethnicity component of my study falling quickly and nonproblematically into place. Indeed, at least throughout the early part of the fieldwork period, it was my expectation that my Cayo ethnicity data would fit neatly within the contours of one of the already spelled-out ethnicity models which abound in the literature - either for ethnicity in general, or Belize in particular.

However, the above scenario did not occur. The ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize did not become instantly and nonproblematically apparent to me as a result of any of the above techniques of observât ion/part ic ipant-observât ion, interviews, or secondary-source investigations.

For the case of the first and second techniques above (observâtion/participant-observâtion, and interviews) , my fieldwork simply failed to "make all things plain". The Caribbean area has been acknowledged as a challenge in this regard, as the first of the three quotes at the beginning of this chapter section affirms. For the case of the third technique (investigation of secondary sources), my discovery was two-fold. First, extant analyses of Belizean ethnicity are contradictory. The second

and third quotes at the beginning of this chapter section - by anthropologists writing within one year of one another - exemplify this. One claims that ethnicity in Belize is salient enough to have created a situation of significant and

increasing intergroup tensions; the other, that the importance of ethnicity has declined across the past one and one-half centuries, ceasing to be an important variable in present-day social life. Second, virtually all of the extant research and discussions on ethnicity in Belize focus on or utilize data from other regions of Belize and simply do not fit the case of Cayo.

In summary, what surfaced across my experiences and readings about Cayo and Belizean ethnicity was that there exists, in Belize, several, separate bodies of evidence, each asserting or implying significantly different, conflicting claims concerning Cayo ethnicity. [3]

This lack of instant clarity as to the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize seriously hampered me during my post­ fieldwork, data analysis stage. The resulting prolonged struggle with two yet full-fledged inquiries ("What is the ethnicity system?" and "What are some school text transmission

10 mechanisms of it?”) became overwhelming. Instead of being able to assume features of Cayo ethnicity in order to use them to identify transmission features, I was constantly questioning the validity of these ethnicity-features data. One example pertains to my attempts at positing content- related transmission mechanisms. It was that my propositions as to content-related mechanisms ended up being little more than tautological restatements of my propositions as to the ethnicity system. One case of this was that I was never certain that the school texts ' high coverage of Creole hue was a mechanism transmitting high importance of Creole hue in the Cayo ethnicity system since I was never completely certain of the validity of the latter proposition that high sensitivity to Creole hue is a valid aspect of Cayo's ethnicity system. The same was true for form-related mechanisms. For both cases, the issue that I was concerned ëü30ut in working with my data (consistent with the problem described earlier for the case of the examples from the literature), was that, if A (a given assun^tion about, instance of, or case of assumed evidence for the ethnicity system of Cayo) was not valid, then while Al (a particular discursive feature posited as a mechanism transmitting A) may (or may not) be a transmission mechanism transmitting A, it is definitely not a mechanism transmitting ethnicity system information.

11 I Decide To Modify My Topic

Because of the above problem, I made the decision, during the post-fieldwork, stage of my dissertation effort (midway in my analysis), to focus exclusively on the first component of my original two-con^onent study - the issue of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize. Thus my study was re-defined as a focus on ethnicity versus cultural transmission.

In total, two major changes in my research plan occur as part of this shift of topic. First, I use my school text data in a different way from their originally intended purpose. They are joined with other data to address the new question at hand. Second, for feasibility purposes, I restrict myself to consideration of only three of the ethnic populations of Cayo, Belize - the Creole, Mestizo and white ethnic groups or populations. [4] These three are selected because of what is believed to be the importance of each, currently and/or historically, in the shaping of the ethnic structure of present-day Cayo, Belize (this despite the current small size of one of these groups - the whites - in present-day Belize).

In the meanwhile, my initial cultural transmission study has been put on hold. My current thinking is that effectiveness in dealing with this topic requires a research setting for which the content of the transmission is clear

12 versus the object of major dispute or uncertainty. Short of this, it seems to me, it can best be done using an entirely separate data-base from the one used to discern the content of the transmission for the community in question. Only under one or both of these conditions, in my judgement, will there be a reasonable chance of contributing something of worth to anthropology's understanding of the cultural transmission process. In the meanwhile, I devote my analytical efforts to the present, unanticipated, yet wholly constructive task of discerning the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize - knowing that this too can be a useful contribution to anthropological knowledge.

Explanation of Current Topic

Definitions of "Text" and "Discourse" . and fif Ethnicity Systems

Before proceeding further - even prior to summarizing my new topic - there is an immediate need for clarification regarding the definitions I am using for the terms "text" and "discourse", and also for defining my object of study - ethnicity systems. Additional points regarding my concept of ethnicity are saved until the next chapter (on theory).

13 "Text" and "Discourse". Consistent with discourse analysts such as Fairclough (1989 and 1992), I use and have been using the term "text" to refer to what might be called the product of language usage - a corpus of utterances resulting from language production. Texts examined in this study include (among others) utterances involved in (orally delivered) class lessons, statements written on classroom blackboards, and statements contained in written instructional materials.

By "discourse", I (usually) refer to the language process - the production of language in oral, written or hybrid form, whether monological or dialogical/interactive - including instances of such productions. In other words, the manner in which I use the term "discourse" focuses on behaviors involved in producing texts. This, too, is consistent with Fairclough and others.

The term "discourse", however, is a problematic term. Not only are there several additional definitions of this term within the field of discourse analysis, there is at least one usage of this term within the field of discourse theory currently popular in social science circles (Mills 1997). I am referring to the use of the term "discourse" as initiated by theorists such as Michel Foucault. This is a concept of "discourse" which involves, "practices that systematically

14 form the objects of which they speak" (Foucault 1972:49). In this sense, a "discourse" is more than a situation of language production. It is a set of "rules" or claims as to what a particular object of concern is (for example, ethnicity) : what can be "said" about it, who can say it, as well as when, where and how. The reader will see some influence of this concept of discourse in both my conceptualization of ethnicity systems and the research questions for this study which I present below. Despite this influence and despite other temptations to use the term (indeed, my use of the word "system" is as a substitute for the term "discourse" used in this discourse theory manner) , most of my usage of the word "discourse" in this document will be consistent with the usage in the field of discourse analysis [versus the discourse theory (Foucauldian) usage] . At any point that I do engage in the latter usage, I will explicitly indicate this departure in practice, by labelling the instance. I will do this by inserting a "F" (standing for Foucault) enclosed in parenthesis, immediately following the appearance of the term "discourse" [specifically: "discourse (F)"].

Ethnicity Systems. In asserting that I am studying Cayo's ethnicity "system", I attest that I am studying the following three things : 1) the one or more set of claims about ethnicity in the Cayo community - that is, what is allowed to be "said" about ethnicity, including the locally

15 defined inventories of Belizean ethnic categories, category definitions, criteria for category assignment, plus the total composite of other rules, contingencies and such, surrounding the phenomenon of ethnicity in the community; 2) if multiple claims sets in the community, the arrangement of these as either a system of separate clusters, or as an integrated system; and 3) the location of the rights of power to decide issues concerning ethnicity. As earlier stated, this definition is influenced by the ideas of social theorist Foucault, at least as interpreted by critical-theory discourse analyst Fairclough (1989 and 1992). This conceptualization of ethnicity systems (i.e., the above list of three factors) forms the basis for this study's six research questions (presented in the next section of this chapter) and served as an analytical framework during the data analysis stage of my revised project.

Summary of Current Dissertation Topic

In summary, my revised dissertation effort is a partial and tentative study of ethnicity in Cayo, Belize. It examines this sub]ect-matter through examination of school discourse data and community-centered data. The data examined pertain to the Creole, Mestizo and white populations of Cayo, Belize.

16 The research questions of the study are : i) What are the appropriate ethnic categories for Cayo, Belize?

ii) What are the appropriate attributes and behaviors related to each category? iii) Who are the appropriate actors in each case? iv) Do there exist any additional statements or claims concerning ethnicity in Cayo, Belize (such as statements regarding relations across the groups or hierarchical rankings of the groups)? What are they? v) Who has the authority to decide and/or declare the matters referred to in #i through #iv, above? vi) If more than a single system of claims exists, what are some details of their co-existence?

The reader will note that the first five elements of this same list are later used in this document as the operational definition for each of the ethnicity systems of Cayo which I uncover and report on (conclusions chapters).

Elaboration of The "Partial-ness" of The Revised Study. Due to feasibility reasons, my study confines itself to consideration of only two of Belize's eleven ethnic groups (Creoles and Mestizos), in addition to Belize's population of whites (see explanation in theory chapter). Because of this

17 limited focus, my investigation of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize must be considered a partial study of that system.

Elaboration of The Study's Tentative Nature. It needs to be remembered that my treatment of my new topic is constrained by the conditions of its genesis. Thus, in its pursuit of its focus, this study possesses certain weaknesses.

One of the weaknesses of this study is the fact that its utilization of discourse data is limited to the texts of only one type of discourse - school discourses. The two important points here are that these constitute only one type of

societal discourse, and also that the discourses of schools possess certain unique, inherent weaknesses for a study of societal realities such as a society's ethnicity system (discussed in full in the theory chapter) . Thus, a full, total investigation attempting to discern the ethnicity system of a community would include texts from a wider range of discourse types (for example, media ones) . This, then, is one sense in which my revised study must be considered tentative.

Another weakness of this study pertains, again, to its goal of discerning social reality and pertains, again, to its use of text data. It is, however, a weakness that tends to be true of all studies involving close, detailed analyses of

18 texts. This weakness concerns the issue of small samples (in terms of the number of texts examined) with the resultant question-marks as to representative-ness and generalizability. This, then, is a second sense in which my revised study must be considered tentative - at least to the extent that it relies on text data.

Yet an additional weakness of the study is its lacunae in terms of quantity and comprehensiveness of information reported when it comes to nonschool (community) data on ethnicity. Because of the reasons given earlier in this chapter concerning my prioritization of the schooling component of my original study, I was less systematic in my community and ethnicity-component data collection than I would otherwise have been. One area in which the consequences of this are noticeable is in the slimness of information reported in the findings chapters, for certain topics, regarding each ethnic group or population. This, then, is a third sense in which this study must be considered tentative.

FINAL COMMENT

Cayo's system of ethnicity will not become definitively known nor known in total from anything that this revised project - as laid out above - is able to produce. Despite this fact, a start, hopefully, will have been made, and

19 hopefully, important, useful, and interesting content - if only questions - will have been presented as a result of the effort.

20 NOTES

1. In many extant discourse studies, text content - to the exclusion of text form - is the focus. In this regard, Michael Apple's admonishment is appropriate, "We miss what is just as important if we neglect the form that the content takes - its organization of our meanings and actions, its temporal sequences and interpersonal implications, its integration with the processes of accumulation and legitimizing ideologies (1985 as quoted in Jules 1991:285) . Norman Fairclough communicates yet another reason for equal attention to text form in his statement, "..One cannot properly analyse content without simultaneously analysing form, because contents are always necessarily realized in forms and different contents entail different forms and vice versa" (1979:188).

2. In a sense, to the extent that this set of procedures is used to "discover" transmission mechanisms, my study may seem like a senseless report of the obvious or the already apparent - an unworthy dissertation project (if all I do is claim almost any discourse feature co-occurring with almost any ethnic content to be a transmission mechanism) . While such an interpretation is definitely a distortion, it is also true that the traditions of critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis would defend this type of, in some sense,

21 exercise to expose the obvious. This is true because of the "consciousness-raising" and emancipatory functions of such an exercise. As critical discourse analyst N. Fairclough (1992) has explained, although these features in our daily discourses stare us straight in the face, and although many of these features operate to exploit us (for example, in constituting us in various undesireUole ways) , we often do not "see" them

and thus do not utilize the knowledge to liberate ourselves accordingly. (This "critical" agenda of raising public

awareness concerning discourses, so as to empower individuals to regulate the effects that discourses have on them, was not, however, a goal of my original study.)

3 . One explanation for the contradictory nature of these data

is that the country of Belize is in a state of flux. The Suggestions for Future Research chapter will recommend consideration of this theory in future studies.

4. I have chosen to capitalize all Belizean e t hni c - group names throughout this document. Thus, for the case of discussions of the Caucasian population of Belize, the lower case form of the word "white" is used to refer to Caucasians in general, while the upper-case form (Whites") refers to the Belizean Census-defined, local White ethnic group. In this document, the term "white" (or "White") is also sometimes enclosed in quotation marks ; this represents no more than an allusion to

22 the fact that at least one other Belizean ethnic population - the Mennonite one - also meets commonly accepted criteria for the appellation, "white".

23 CHAPTER 2 SELECTED THEORY AND LITERATURE CONCERNING ETHNICITY AND DISCOURSES

INTRODUCTION - EXPLANATION OF CHAPTER CONTENTS

This chapter constitutes a partial treatment of theory and literature relevant to my revised study of ethnicity in Cayo, Belize. In the first section of the chapter, I address matters pertaining to ethnicity. Presented are : (i) a brief statement of my position, within the field of anthropology, regarding different conceptualizations of ethnicity, (ii) a brief explanation of the theory and work of three ethnicity and nationalism theorists - theory and work which I draw on in terms of either deriving or developing constructs to bring order to my data, and (iii) a short discussion concerning this document's treatment of the white population of Belize.

In the second and final section of this chapter, I address matters pertaining to discourses and discourse analysis. Here, I present : (i) a discussion of theoretical issues involved in utilizing school text data as clues to a society's ethnicity system (issues in addition to the already made point that a wider range of text types should be included in such a study) , and (ii) an explanation of theory from

24 discourse analysis (specifically, Critical Linguistics Theory) undergirding procedures used by me to analyze certain of my school text data.

Additional theory and literature is introduced in subsequent chapters, in locations where the particular points are of immediate relevance. This dispersement of theory amd literature discussions throughout the text, although less than conventional for a dissertation document, results from the less than conventional, ex post facto origin and unfolding of this revised project - the point of each particular discussion's appearance hinting at the point in time when the sources were actually consulted and/or the theoretical ideas grappled with.

All in all, the treatment, in this document, of theory and literature relevant to the topic of ethnicity in Cayo, Belize may not be as comprehensive as it should be - another consequence of the project's genesis. To the extent that this is true, this may be considered yet another limitation of the current effort (in addition to those mentioned in the previous chapter), suggesting yet another goal for future research on this topic (in addition to those listed in the final. Future

Research chapter of this document).

25 MATTERS PERTAINING TO ETHNICITY

My Conceptualization of Ethnicity

Numerous conceptualizations of ethnicity exist in the anthropology literature. Major examples include the essentialist, constructionist, primordial, instrumental and situational conceptualizations. The essentialist conceptualization of ethnicity involves a notion of "essences" - of pre-existent, inherent qualities for each ethnic group, while the constructionist conceptualization is one which argues in favor of ethnicity's status as a constructed reality, created as a result of historical and social processes (Ramos 1995). The primordial conceptualization views ethnicity as a consciousness or sense of sameness on the part of a group of individuals - this "sense", itself, possessing an almost essentialist status, as a "gut feeling of an identity" (Banks 1996:47) . These are the three that are most relevant to my study.

The particular conceptualization of ethnicity adopted in this study may be said to be - first and foremost - a constructionist one. In other words, it is one which stresses two things: 1) that notions of ethnicity and ethnic groups - either those of a group itself or others outside the group - are the outcomes of social, economic and political processes ;

26 and 2) because of this, there may exist co-existing, conflicting notions of ethnicity, and of any single group or groups. It is this constructionist character of my conceptualization of ethnicity which allows for the definition and model of an ethnicity system which I have already put forth ( Chapter One ) and which I used as a framework for my analysis - that is, a conceptualization of an ethnicity system as a list of three questions - a set of ençjty, yet-to-be- filled boxes as to what might be true about ethnicity (versus a specific stipulation as to some pre-defined or pre­ determined content of the boxes, or answers to the questions).

What the above constructionist conceptualization recognizes is that different sectors of, or agents in, Cayo society might construct different answers for the three questions of the list. Moreover, these differing constructions may or may not be of the same type - one construction might be primordial or essentialist in nature, one instrumental, and others, other types of constructions. The particular construction in each case can be expected to be at least related to the agenda of its agent authors (the case of government agendas and resultant government ethnicity constructions will be discussed, at some length, later in this chapter).

27 Ethnicity and Nationalism Theory

The Theory and Work of Harrell. Verderv and Weaver

One subarea within the ethnicity tradition which has proved very helpful to me is the sub-field of ethnicity and nationalism. The works and ideas of three theorists of this tradition have been particularly useful - those of S . Harrell (e.g., 1990) K. Verdery (e.g., 1994), and S. Weaver (1984) . Drawing on certain of their constructs, I later in this document produce my own set of constructs to make sense of my ethnicity data. In this chapter, I present and briefly explain the relevant constructs of these theorists (mine are presented in the Conclusions - Part I and Conclusions - Part II chapters) . These constructs of Harrell, Verdery and

Weaver fall into three categories (these categories being used to order the subsequent discussions of the constructs): (a) constructs related to nation-state governments' behaviors in ethnicity construction, (b) constructs related to variations in individual ethnic group constructions of self and of other ethnic groups, and (c) constructs related to possible additional societal sectors involved in ethnicity construction, reconstruction and relations.

28 C<2.nÆtruçtg Related ta state Behaviors in Ethnicity Construction

In making sense of empirical phenomena the world over, ethnicity-and-national ism theorists seem to have early recognized the phenomenon of a nation's central governing unit as a distinct, independent (although non-solitary) actor in the drama as to what ethnicity comes to mean in a polity. In other words, these theorists have recognized that such central governments operate as independent agents providing their own answers to each of the questions presented earlier in this document as my conceptualization of an ethnicity system and as my study's research questions. In addition to Verdery, Harrell, and Weaver, Wiliams (1989) and Eriksen (1994), are two such theorists.

In these scholars' writings, the polity's governing unit is viewed as being in need of promulgating certain behaviors and cognitions, regarding ethnicity, in order to effect specific outcomes critical either or both to state formation and state maintenance (routine, day-to-day administration). One example is that, for purposes of effecting national unity and stability (a state-formation need), governments of young, multi-ethnic nation-states often adopt ideological or visionary ethnicity discourses (F) and programs. Another example is that any state (young or old) may wish to regulate

29 diversity phenomena within its borders in order to maocimize its success in effective routine governing (the state- maintenance function of the state) , and in doing this, may espouse and promulgate certain types of discourses (F) and programs.

Williams, Harrell and Verdery clearly label this societal actor and thus define a construct called "the state". Weaver, however, does not use the label "state". Instead she speaücs of a public (versus private) realm or sector of society - one which, definitely, at least includes "the state" within it. One important point for all these theorists is that a state's construction of ethnicity and of the polity's ethnic groups is potentially different from those of the ethnic groups themselves.

This construct had immediate applicability to my study and data.

Constructs Related to Variations in Individual Ethnic Group's

Self- and Outgroup Perceptions.and Constructions

Harrell is one of the theorists who clearly agrees with the above notion that a state's construction of ethnicity may differ from those of its individual ethnic groups. Drawing on his China data, Harrell goes even further in sensitizing us to

30 the potential of ethnic group A's construction of self differing from that or those of other ethnic groups [i.e., the letters' perception(s) or definition(s) of ethnic group A]. Harrell thus makes a distinction between a particular group's perception of self versus other groups' perceptions of that ethnic group.

This distinction of Harrell's was helpful to me in suggesting a distinction useful for my data - to be explained later in the Conclusions - Part II chapter).

Constructs Related to the Possibility of An Additional Societal Realm Involved in Ethnicity Construction

While many theorists advance and employ constructs of one or both of the above types : constructs relative to the state, and ethnic-group centered constructs of ethnicity, not as many seem to explicitly acknowledge or devote attention to any other societal domain or sector as making claims concerning local ethnicity. Weaver's public-private ethnicity distinction, however, does hint at such an additional societal sector. While her "private" ethnicity construct is isomorphic with the above category of constructs referencing particular ethnic groups' concepts of self, her "public" construct seems to be broader than the above discussed one of "the state".

31 This broader definition has usefulness in terms of my data in that it at least recognizes that a society can contain yet additional sectors or agents which contribute to the overall contours of ethnicity in that society. The sector that some of my data loudly proclaim is that of a societal realm which is neither governmental nor ethnic-group centered. Thus, later in this document (Conclusions - Part II chapter) , I expand on Weaver's model, in developing my own construct for such a sector - that of a "lay subsystem #2".

Points Regarding This Document's Treatment of Belize's White Population

In this document, coverage of Belize's Caucasian population will differ from that of the other two ethnic populations covered. Whites in Cayo and Belize are less than a monolithic entity. They include not only the group definable as Belize's present-day "White ethnic group", but several other categories - both historical and current - extending beyond this ethnic grouping. The following is a list of all the categories of whites that exist for Cayo and the rest of Belize - based on my readings and observations: 1) the (census-defined) White ethnic group of Belize; 2) historical whites of Belize;

32 3) transient/visitor whites [this includes at least three separate subcategories: tourists, the British military, and "other transients" (e.g., individuals on limited employment and similar contracts; I might include white anthropological researchers here)]; and 4) absentee whites (such as foreign investors).

For purposes of the discussions of this document, I have chosen to not limit myself exclusively to the White ethnic group, but to consider Belize's white population more broadly - meaning whites from all of the above categories. My defense for this course of action is that my data, as well as arguments from the literature, suggest that such will lead to more powerful clues as to Cayo's current ethnicity system than would more narrow consideration of the White ethnic group, alone. For example, my Creole data suggest that the earliest historical whites of Belize (the original settlers) may have left a strong legacy, in terms of a physical-beauty value system, that is impacting Belize's present-day ethnicity system (a phenomenon predictable from the Caribbeanist literature). However, unlike the historical Creoles and the historical Mestizos of Belize who bear a proto- relationship to Belize's present-day Creole and Mestizo ethnic group populations (such that they can be logically included in any treatment of either of the latter), most of the historical

33 whites of Belize do not possess such a proto- relationship to most present-day Belizean whites. This is true because most of the former whites deserted Belize in the late I9th century (a fact to be explained in the background chapter of this document) . Because of this lack of a close historical connection to the present-day white populations, the historical white population of Belize cannot be legitimately treated as part of the entity called the "White ethnic group of Belize", and thus, their influences on present-day Belize would go unscrutinized if I were to limit myself to the ethnic group, exclusively.

As another piece of evidence, absentee whites of Belize are argued, in the literature, as exerting numerous and significant types of economic and political influences on present-day Belize; the possibility of some of these impacting the local ethnicity system is at least a viable possibility. Palacio (1988a) alleges such dual-arena influences on Belize in discussing the effects of some of Belize's external, economic interests - many, if not most of which, involve

Caucasians as primary agents.

They wield overwhelming influence through such measures as development projects, trade agreements, and offering balance of payment support. Besides, while in the country, they are conduits through which their associates can come to work and settle adding to the growing number of resident expatriates who remain separate from the local

34 population but considerably influence the nature of class relations within the country of Belize (page 52) .

Indeed, as the reader can see, the above exairple involves not only absentee white effects, but also transient white effects. The same types of effects as these (on the local ethnicity system) seem plausible, in my mind, for the case of other

white tremsients to Belize - such as the white tourists which Belize attracts in increasing numbers.

Reiterated, this issue of the superiority of approach of including similar (but non proto- ) populations (in addition to the particular ethnic groups themselves) in a study of Belizean ethnicity, does not exist for the cases of the Belizean Creole and Mestizo ethnic groups. For the first of these cases, there seems to exist no such similar group for which there is evidence of strong influences; this is true, also, for the latter case - except to the extent that one

chooses to consider one current-day Mestizo population of Belize (its recent Central American immigrants) as a population outside and apart from the Belizean Mestizo ethnic group (an issue considered later in this dissertation).

35 MATTERS PERTAINING TO DISCOURSES

Some Problems Involved In Using School Text Data as Evidence Of Societal Realities Such as Ethnicity Systems

Schools and school Discourses, and The Relationship of Each to Larger Society. An earlier section of this chapter mentioned tendencies of nation-states when it comes to ethnicity construction. Because schools are governmental apparatus, they can be expected to "utter" discourses and promulgate discourses (F) which bear a one-to-one relationship to the types of governmental needs discussed in that section (state formation and maintenance needs). This characteristic causes school texts to be problematic sources of information regarding wider social realities such as ethnicity systems. In this section, I explain how and why this is so. Because I draw so heavily on this type of data in this revised study, I need to make clear my understanding of this characteristic of schools and the resultant nature of school texts, including the implications of both for the current task of using school text data as a major source in discerning Cayo, Belize's ethnicity system.

First, I discuss schools and larger society (especially stability and social order needs of the polity). Next, I discuss school texts and the same larger society. Finally, I

36 discuss the inç)lications of both, and my remedies for the problems involved in my usage of such data for deciphering the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize.

Schools and Wider Society. With Emphasis on Relations with The State

Schools possess several functions with regard to the governments under which they exist. Depending upon the literature consulted, various of these are emphasized or de­ emphasized. My list contains three which I select because they are highly relevant to Belize's situation. These functions overlap; indeed some theorists would argue that the first two are encompassed by the third function. The three I choose to mention in this discussion are the functions of: 1) imparting scholastic types of information; 2) socialization/enculturation; and 3) serving political needs of the state. Within this last function, I distinguish three sub-functions, two of them pertaining to state stability and order. These three subfunctions are as follows. First, as part of the function of serving political needs of the state, schools often ensure state stability and order by disseminating ideology in order to maintain existent power relations. The sociology of education literature (as well as discourse theory) enç>hasizes this sub-function. Althusser (1971) , for example, has labelled the school an "ideological

37 apparatus of the state". The hidden curriculum literature, including that of educational anthropologists, also recognizes this function - sometimes emphasizing the school's role in reproducing the society's hierarchal work-force structure (for example, Wilcox 1982) .

The remaining two sub-functions of a state's political- needs function are perhaps unique to new nation-states. The first of these is another subfunction essential to state stability. It is the sub-function of socialization or indoctrination to a national level identity, essential for national integration and the unity of the nation-state. This national unity subfunction is especially important in the case of a highly heterogeneous society such as Belize. The fact that states possess this subfunction has been briefly touched on earlier in the summary of state behaviors regarding ethnicity construction.

The third and final subfunction pertaining to how schools serve needs of their governments is a social-change-related

one - indoctrination or (re) socialization to envisioned, future social orders. This includes, but is not limited to, goals involving the alteration of existing social structures,

such as those contained in economic and social development

38 programs which newly independent countries often promote. This, too, has been hinted at in the earlier discussion of behaviors of the state regarding ethnicity construction.

Figure 2.1 represents a diagram of the relationship of all of the above-discussed functions and subfunctions of schools in terms of their relationship to the state.

For the purposes of the point being developed in this discussion, it is these final three subfunctions of the political function (i.e., disseminating ideology to reproduce social structure, socializing the population to a national- level identity, and re-socializing it to accept new programs and envisioned future realities) which are insertant to take note of. This is because it is from these three subfunctions that certain major weaknesses regarding using school texts as data for deciphering a society's ethnicity system derive. The next section summarizes possible ramifications of these three state-related political subfunctions of a school, in terms of school texts. It lists some of the characteristics of school texts - relevant to my revised research project - which might come to be as a result of these.

39 Imparting Socialization/ Political Scholastic Enculturation Knowledge

Sub­ Sub­ Sub­ function function function #1 #2 #3

Dissemination Socialization Re-socialization Of Ideology to National- to Acceptance of (to Reproduce Level Identity Envisioned Future Existent Social Orders Social Structure)

Figure 2.1: Posited Functions and Subfunctions of a School

40 Ramifications of the Above Facts Regarding Schools. In Terms of Characteristics of School Texts and Their Suitability as Evidence of a Society's Ethnicity System. The consequences

of the above three political subfunctions, in terms of school texts as evidence for a society's ethnicity system, include (but probably are not limited to) the following three non- mutually exclusive possibilities - any of which could mislead one in a quest for an understanding of how ethnicity is actually lived in a society. All three fall under the rubric of vocalizing only what the government or dominant societal

forces want the new generation to leam or understand to be true of the society - whether true or not. First, in the course of carrying out the subfunction of reproducing the society's social structure, school texts might choose to obscure - in their discourses - the less palatable aspects of this reality. Second, in the course of re-socialization to future social goals, the school texts may distort the current reality. For example, in the attempt to socialize students to a future goal of greater ethnic equality and harmony, a school may attempt to shape or alter current attitudes by

communicating the impression that such a situation currently

exists ("We are all equal, so let's treat each other right!" as an attempt to get individuals to drop existing biases ; also note the example below regarding female student recitations). Third, school texts may give utterance to multiple voices. These multiple voices may even be contradictory. An example

41 is the extent to which school texts might give utterance to visionary (social change) goals of the state - for example, some sort of new ethnic-relations - while also giving voice to notions which reproduce elements of the current reality of the society. All of these scenarios, and even others are possibilities that must be watched for. To the extent that a school text does any of these, it is not a perfect indicator of that society's lived realities.

It might be that the above misleading tendencies of school texts will most easily occur in the domain of text content. because such is both relatively easy to monitor and to manipulate by the text author (as examples : teachers can easily "watch" what they say, or make sure their syllabi include high coverage and laudatory statements regarding blacks and black history). They can, however, also occur in the domain of form - such as when teachers monitor and regulate their treatments of students or each other during discourses ("let me make sure I don't interrupt the female students' recitations since I've been told that girls are in need of encouragement in this area") . It is important, however, to note that, on the other hand, some form aspects, such as many of those of written texts (e.g., passive voice usage) tend to go un-not iced by text authors - in terms of the social meanings they might convey, thus tending to escape

42 purposeful manipulation by such authors, and thus possessing the potential of being - at least with regard to this issue - more accurate indicators of social realities.

In summary, the above is one cluster of reasons why school texts must be used with caution in a study such as mine. I now close my discussion by listing the resultant methodological steps and precautions I take in my study to mitigate for this theoretical problem - this misleading tendency of school texts in terms of the pursuit of information ëüDout a society's ethnicity system. In total, three important procedures are used by me: 1) I use my school texts only as initial or partial clues as to "facts" regarding the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize; 2) I next, "double doubt" the school text data - consider alternative explanations, functions or significances for the data in question - reasons why they may not represent evidence as to Cayo ' s ethnicity system (the reader of this document will see this occur, in the Conclusions Part II chapter, in the form of separate chapter sections entitled

Limitations and Alternative Readings and Interpretations of the Data); and 3) I then seek corroborating evidence from the other data corpus of my study (my community data) .

43 In all but one case (to be pointed out) , only if the school data cannot be explained "away" (#2 above), and can be corroborated with other data (#3 cd3ove) do I consider my school text data as serious evidence of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize.

Problems of Determining Allegiances of Particular Texts and Text Authors. Separate from the above three problems resulting from the nature of school texts, is yet another problem pertaining to use of school texts as clues of a societal system - one perhaps more methodological than theoretical. This is the problem of discerning the discourse (F) allegiance of any given text or text author. This problem is mentioned here, but discussed later in this document - at several different points.

Selected Theory from the Critical Linguistics Tradition, of Relevance to How I Analyze Some of My School Text Data

In my analysis of Cayo school data. I, at one point, utilize theory and procedures from one school of discourse analysis - the school of Critical Linguistics. The membership of this school consists of theorists once and otherwise known as "systemic" or "functional" linguists - so labelled because they stress the view that discourse constructions can serve actual social functions (in some sense, being similar to

44 pragmatists) . Initially merely following the lead of their teacher - seminal functionalist Michael Halliday (e.g., 1985), scholars such as R. Fowler, R. Hodge, G. Kress, and T. Trew, soon advanced beyond this tutelage, accomplishing a body of research and establishing an approach and body of theory which posits the capacity of discourse (form) constructions, such as grammatical features, to embody and transmit societal realities such as hierarchal structures and inequalities (and the ideologies created in the face of these). Their research includes substantial attention to media coverage of societal events and personages, including the research study of British media coverage of police violence against local minority-group youth by T. Trew - reported in the last chapter (as an example of discourse analysis methodology problems in discerning transmission mechanisms). Indeed, the specific procedures used in Trew ' s study (analysis of the use of passive voice and absent agent constructions in texts), and the interpretation given to the fact of their usage (the interpretation of the purposeful obscurément of the negative acts of a favored social group) are used by me in my analyses of school text treatments of the historical whites of Belize.

In closing, one important point which needs to be made is that this school of thought is asserting that grammatical and syntactical elements of texts are capable of successfully effecting actual cognitive outcomes on the part of text

45 "readers". For exanple, for the case of text omissions of sentence agents (i.e., absent agent constructions in which the doers of the sentence action are absent) , this argument regarding text intake or processing effects is spelled out as follows, "..In the resulting surface form, the only thing that meets us is the verbal version of the action which was performed, and in this way our attention is directed to what is present and directed away from what is no longer there" (Kress 1979:21) . It may be that this claim on the part of this group of Critical Linguists has not been sufficiently substantiated.

46 CHAPTER 3 BACKGROUND TO COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF BELIZE

THE COUNTRY OF BELIZE [1] [2]

Location and Size

As a circum-Caribbean nation, Belize is located on the Central American mainland. At its borders on the north and northwest is Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula; on the remaining west, and on the south, Guatemala; and to the east. The Caribbean Sea. Its closest Caribbean neighbors are the Cayman Islands (approximately 450 miles northeast) and Cuba (200 miles further northeast). Jamaica is 850 miles almost due east. Figure 3.1 provides a map of Belize and its neighbors.

Physically, Belize is a small country. It is 174 miles north to south, and 70 miles east to west (the approximate size of New Hampshire). Its 8,600 square miles of mainland are augmented by 266 square miles of small islands, extending the length of the country. These islands are referred to as the "cayes" (alternately spelled, "cays"; pronounced "kees" as in "Florida Keys" - this being the anglicized version of the plural for the Spanish word, "cayo", for "island").

47 Figure 3.1: Belize and its Neighbors Adapted from Setzehorn, W. 1981

48 Pistrigts and Municipalities

Belize is divided into six districts - The Belize District, and five others, often referred to as "the districts", sometimes with the same pejorative connotation as the terms "backwoods" and "the sticks " are used in our society. These five are the Cayo, Corozol, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, and Toledo districts. Each district contains at least one municipality - its administrative center. Belize District contains one additional urban center, and Cayo, two additional ones. Figure 3.2 lists these nine towns and cities of Belize, their district locations, and populations. Figure 3.3 shows them in map form.

The largest municipality of the nation is Belize City, in the Belize District. From the point in time that the early Belize settlement became a Crown Colony in 1871 until eleven years before the colony gained full independence in 1981, this coastal town constituted the capital city. However, because of population pressures, the perceived advantages of an inland capital city, and the coastal town's geographical vulnerability to hurricanes (Hurricane Hattie virtually destroyed it in 1961, as had two previous hurricanes), a decision was made in 1962 to construct a replacement capital city in Belize's geographical center. Thus, ground was broken in 1965 at a site 50 miles inland, and in 1970, the new

49 TOWN OR CITY DISTRICT POPULATION

Belize City Belize 44,087 San Pedro Town Belize 1,849 San Ignacio/Santa Elena Cayo 8,962 Belmopan Cayo 3,558 Benque Viejo del Carmen Cayo 3,580 Corozol Town Corozol 7,062 Orange Walk Town Orange Walk 11,014 Dangriga Stann Creek 6,435 Punta Gorda Toledo 3,458

Figure 3.2: Table of Towns and Cities of Belize Source: Central Statistical Office 1991

50 PEDRO

Orange WWk O iiM rt

SAN IGNACIO A \ BEUNOPAN

•—BENQUE VCJO

Cnyo OM riet

/ ' Toledo Oielrtct

N > u n t a g o r o a

Figure 3.3: Map of Towns and Cities of Belize Adapted from Merrill, T. 1993

51 capital city of Belmopan, in the Cayo District, was bo m . The word "Belmopan" constitutes an amalgam of the words "Belize" and "Mopan" - the latter for the Mopan Indians who were the indigenous population of portions of the area that is now Belize. I was told that this was the winning entry in a national contest for suggestions for names for the new city.

Population Characteristics

The population of Belize is 190,792 (Central Statistical Office 1991). When considered in relation to physical size, this gives Belize the lowest population density in Central America and across the Caribbean Islands - 21.5 persons per square mile compared to, for example, Guatemala's 58 persons per square mile, and Jamaica's 63, per square mile (Paxton 1999) . For the past three decades this population has been slightly more urban than rural (54% urban in 1970, and 51%, in 1980); at present, it is slightly more rural (52%) (Central Statistical Office 1991).

Belize's population is significantly heterogeneous, especially in terms of ethnicity and culture. It shares this feature, and one of the historical reasons for it, with its West-Indian-Island sister nations - the 18th-and-19th-century importations of disparate labor from the non-western world, for purposes of serving the economic programs of several

52 European governments. Two other reasons for Belize's population heterogeneity are the early survival and integration into the polity of the indigenous, Amerindian population (Mopan Mayas) , and the twentieth century phenomenon of several waves of migrations of disparate populations into Belize. Examples include the in-migration of Mid-eastern "Lebanese" (which actually began in the late 19th century), and the 1950 ' s migration of European Mennonites into the country.

Using the country's census Icibels for its ethnic groups, the current population of Belize is: 43.6% Mestizo; 29.8% Creole [descendants of African slaves, considerably admixed with their white slave masters] ; 6.5% Garifuna (never-enslaved

Africans admixed, primarily, with Carib Indians; referred to, in this document, as "Garinagu") ; 4.3% Kekchi or Ketchi Mayan [3]; 3.7% Mopan Mayan; 3.5% East Indian; 3.1% "Other Mayan" [referring largely to Santa Cruz, Chinchanha and Icaiche

Indians - usually subsumed under the term "Yucatec Mayan" (Palacio 1988b :139)]; 3.1% German/Dutch Mennonite; 0.8%

"White" (non-Mennonite, non-Syrian/Lebanese Caucasians); 0.4% Chinese; and 0.1% "Syrian"/"Lebanese" (Central Statistical Office 1991). Figure 3.4 lists these ethnic populations for

53 National Belize Cayo Corozol Orange Stann Toledo Level District District District Walk Creek District District District

Mestizo 80,477 10,170 21,170 21,056 21,859 4,142 2,080

Creole 55,051 36,875 8,390 2,151 2,243 4,389 1,003

Garinagu 12,274 2,852 619 361 368 6,323 1,751 (Garifuna) Ketchi Mayan 7,954 171 280 53 129 199 7,122

Mopan Mayan 6,770 260 1,268 134 93 1,190 3,825

East Indian 6,455 1,783 606 1,719 301 665 1,381

German/Dutch 5,763 37 1,671 1,407 2,622 11 15 Mennonite •Other" 5,686 240 1,613 1,214 2,555 23 41 Mayan •Other" 1,867 810 354 44 161 381 117

•White" 1,494 545 434 174 74 124 143

Chinese 747 469 51 97 95 27 8

•Syrian- 167 99 51 9 5 3 0 Lebanese" •Don't Know/ 17 1 16 0 0 0 0 Not Stated"

Figure 3.4; Ethnie Groups of Belize - National and District Level Population Statistics Source: Central Statistical Office 1991

54 the nation and for each district of Belize. The second section of this chapter focuses on these ethnic groups in greater detail.

Two points concerning the above census figures on Belizean ethnic groups are worth making.

First, the 43.6% / 29.8% / 6.6% distribution of Belize's Mestizo, Creole, and Garinagu populations, including its 43.6% Mestizo / 36.7% combined Creole-Garinagu distribution, is a new phenomenon for Belize, documented, for the first time, in the 1991 national census. In the previous, 1980 census report, the relevant figures had been 33.4% for Mestizos and 40% for the combined Creole-Garinagu groups (separate statistics not reported). The point is that, until after 1980, the black [4] population of Belize (its Creoles and Garinagu counted together) had outnumbered the Mestizo population. Two reasons for the numerical overtaking of the two Belizean black populations by the Belizean Mestizo population are : (i) the steady, high-level emigration of Creoles and Garinagus to the United States since 1945, and (ii) the large influx of Mestizo immigrants into Belize from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras since 1980.

Second, apparently using the criteria of genetic composition, culture, and perhaps historical origin, the

55 Belizean census office chooses to lump the new Mestizo population together with the older Belizean Mestizo population in terms of ethnic group classification. This yields the figure of 80,477 Mestizos in 1991. However, since evidence is that older Belizeans (Mestizos and others) define these new Mestizos as a separate quasi-ethnic entity (referred to as "the aliens") - as will be discussed in the findings and conclusions chapters, it is appropriate to know the statistic for this new group, separate and apart from the statistic for the earlier-arrival Belizean Mestizos. Estimates attempting to combine the number of these immigrants who are legal refugees [itself recorded as 4,863 (Palacio 1990:6)], with those who are illegal, and those migrating for economic reasons, offer total figures of anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 individuals (e.g., Shoman 1990:2 and Central Statistical

Office 1991:12-13; although, note the caveat contained in the latter).

Languages

The most widely spoken languages of Belize are West Indian Standard English (the nation's official language), Belizean Creole (an English-based patois which functions as the lingua franca of the country), and Spanish. The other currently spoken languages tend to be limited to single and/or

56 smaller ethnic populations: Garifuna, Ketchi, Mopan, Low German, Hindi and Chinese. There is, however, much hi- and multi-lingualism in Belize.

The mother tongues of some Belizean groups seem to have been virtually lost. For example, I heard nothing about any language other than the adopted language of Spanish being spoken by Belize's I9th century-arrival Yucatec Maya [in fact the Yucatec Maya are considered deculturalized, more generally (Palacio 1988b: 128)] . In the case of the 19th-and-early-20th-

century-arrival East Indians and Lebanese, I was told that only "a few old people still remember the old language" . This is in contrast, of course, to recent arrivals from these same world areas, who tend to retain knowledge of their mother

tongues.

Religion

Originally, the Anglican religion was the most populous of Belize's religious groups. From the mid-19th century however, Catholicism replaced it as Belize's major religion - concomitant with the first large migration of Mestizos into Belize of this period. However, as is currently true of much of Latin America, evangelizing Protestant denominations from North America are estcdalishing a base in Belize - winning

57 converts from the Catholic, and (at least in the case of Belize - see discussions in the findings chapters), earlier Protestant camps.

In summary, as of 1991, Belize is 57.7% Catholic, 25.9% Protestant, and 16.4% other. The Protestant and "other" religious groups include (in order of membership): Anglicans, Pentacostalists, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Mennonites, Nazarenes, Hindus, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Salvation Army adherents. Baptists, Ba'hai Faith adherents, and Muslims. Interestingly enough, the "Muslim" statistic includes a group of followers of one of the two successor movements of the North-American-based, Elijah Mohammed-founded "Nation of Islam". Figure 3.5 lists these religions and their membership numbers.

Quality of Material Life and Household Composition Characteristics

The modal annual income of Belizeans lies between 4,200 and 5,759 Belizean dollars (Central Statistic Office 1991); two Belizean dollars equal one United States dollar.

According to 1991 census statistics, the typical Belizean individual lives in a dwelling that is either owned or being

58 Catholic 106,596 Anglican 12,836 Pentacostalists 11,660 Methodist 7,805 Seventh Day Adventist 7,594 Mennonite 7,430 Nazarene 4,631 Hindu 4,560 Jehovah's Witness 2,608 Mormon 612 Salvation Army 350 Baptist 272 Ba'hai 268 Muslim 159 Other 6,316 None/Not Stated 11,025

Figure 3.5: Religions of Belize with Membership Figures Source: Central Statistical Office 1991

59 purchased on an "on hire purchase" basis (66%). This dwelling is made of wood (60.8%) (although concrete-use is increasing), is on stilts liJce the typical dwellings of the West Indiam islands and other coastal societies in the region (called "upstairs houses"), and is roofed with zinc sheet metal. There exists a range of types of water supply associated with Belizean homes. In order of prevalence, they are : water obtained from "other outside faucets" (water supplied by the municipality, obtained from a faucet at a site in the community other than one's yard) (56%); "vats into yards" (rain water captured in catchments in one's yard, but not piped into one's dwelling) (20.1%); "inside faucets" (water supplied by the municipality, pumped into the dwelling) (19.5%); "yard faucets" (public-supplied water obtained from a faucet in one's yard) (18%); "vats into dwellings" (catchment rain water piped into one's dwelling) (11.8%); "well water" (water from wells) (9.8%); and water obtained from rivers or streams - most common in rural areas (7.5%) (Central Statistical Office 1991) [5] [6] [7] .

Most Belizean dwellings (67.2%) use electricity as the main source of lighting; most (62.0%) use gas for cooking. Other sources of lighting power include kerosene, gas, and "other" ; of cooking power, wood, oil, electricity and "other".

60 The types of toilet facilities for Belizean homes include pit latrines; water closets (either linked to sewer systems, septic tanks or cesspits); and "other" (including a bucket system [8] ) . The percentages of usage nationally for each are 51.3%; 34.7%; and 5.7%, respectively (Central Statistical^ Office 1991).

78.7% of Belizean households possess at least one radio; 62.3%, a television set (television, by the way, has existed in Belize only since the 1980's); 27.2%, a telephone; and 14.1%, a video recorder.

In the case of all the above amenities, availability and usage tend to be lower in rural areas.

Living within the typical dwelling in Belize is a household group headed by a male (78%) . In this, Belize differs from the typical Caribbean household of the anthropological literature (Bolles 1985, Blake 1961 and Henriques 1953) . Belize seems, however, to be the same as the typical Caribbeem household in terms of the existence of three other Caribbean-household-composition phenomena: (1) consensual union adults, (2) "patchwork" children (nonsibling offspring) ; and (3) what I call the "granny phenomenon" (individuals - usually relatives - other than parents rearing children) [9].

61 Census data inform us that over 50% of Belizean households consist of five or more individuals (and only edaout 22%, of fewer than two individuals) . These five individuals typically share two or fewer bedrooms (over 63% of all dwellings) [10] .

Economics

Belize's economy was originally based on forestry - initially logwood, then mahogany, and, in the latter 19th century. Chicle (a forestry product from the sapillora tree).

This final wood product is especially important to the history of the district of my research.

Overlapping with the rise of the chicle industry in Belize was a sugar industry. Still later, a range of agricultural products became established as the base of Belize's economy.

Currently, the main exports of Belize are sugar, citrus, bananas, fish products and timber. Agriculture has remained one of the largest sectors of the economy. It accounted for 15 percent of the gross domestic product in 1990 (Merrill 1993:152).

62 Newly developing industries in Belize include an oveirwhelmingly Mennonite-operated dairy industry and a livestock industry. Both of these are centered in the Cayo District where my research took place.

The currency unit of Belize is the Belizean dollar which - unlike the currencies of Belize's neighbors - has remained stable vis-à-vis the United States dollar for the past twenty years. As earlier mentioned, the current exchange rate is two Belize dollars to one United States dollar.

Education - With Emphasis on Primary Schools

One of the most significant facts regarding Belize's educational system is that virtually all of its primary and secondary schools are joint, church-state operated.

In the case of grades k-8 (the primary-school level) , this means that, for the case of a given school, the national government pays 100% of the teachers' salaries, and the church assumes responsibility for all other expenses, as well as for all administrative tasks such as teacher hiring and firing. At the 9-12 (secondary) level, the government pays 70% of teacher salaries with the given church assuming responsibility for the remaining salary expenses, and all operation expenses and tasks. This system of government-subsidized

63 denominational schools dates back to the 1950's and replaces an almost exclusively church-run system. Under the earlier system, the Church of England had been the main provider of schools. During the 1950 period, forces within Belize's then nationalist independence movement demanded that the British colonial government accept primary responsibility for providing the education system of the colony. However, instead of establishing a full-fledged system of exclusively state-operated schools, the colonial government chose to merely subsidize the already existing church-operated system.

The post-independence government of Belize has, for the most part, continued this system, although recently establishing a few schools operated solely by the government. At the opposite end of the scale, a few "private" (no government support involved) schools exist in Belize - all but one of these yet affiliated with a religious group.

In total, between 1991 and 1992, Belize is reported as possessing, according to Pastor (1995): 259 primary schools (p. 74) ; 31 secondary schools (p. 128) , and eight tertiary level ones. In addition, 81 preschools were in operation during that period (Pastor 1995:64).

Of the primary schools, 16 are private and fewer than 10 solely government operated - the latter largely in remote

64 areas of the country in which no church had taken the initiative. Of the secondary and tertiary schools, six are private (Rutheiser 1991), and eight, government operated.

47,210 students are enrolled at the primary school level (Pastor 1995:74); 8,901 at the secondary level (Pastor 1995:128); and 1,191 at the tertiary level (Rutheiser 1991).

Females represent 48% of primary schoolers and 52% of secondary enrollment.

Theoretically, schooling is free in Belize through the primary level (eighth year of schooling) . However, in bearing the weight of covering operating amd construction expenses, churches often charge fees at the primary school level, even though payment is not always enforced. Parents are responsible for providing school uniforms and purchasing textbooks and supplies.

Theoretically, schooling is compulsory up to 14 years of age. However, approximately 20% of children of eligible age are not enrolled in a school program - usually residents of rural areas where süDsenteeism of those enrolled is also high. Approximately 40% of primary school graduates attend secondary school. Attrition during secondary years is high.

65 The Belizean schools follow the British grade-level naming and sequencing system. The first two years of primary schooling are called Infant I emd Infant II, followed by Standards I through VI. Secondary school involves Forms I through IV. Tertiary level involves Forms V and VI (which used to prepare students for the British A-Level exams but are now more equivalent to the United-States-junior-college level); two-year junior colleges, and a four-year tertiary institution.

All schools also follow the British exam system whereby students are required to pass standardized exams before proceeding to each successive year and each new level of education. Exams for transition from the primary to secondary level are especially critical although I came to l e a m that a student with poor exam scores might still gain entrance to the secondary level based on teacher and principal recommendations.

Historically, literacy in Belize has been high conçared to its neighbors (Merrill 1993:151). Merrill (1993) reports the figure of 92 percent at the turn of the 1980/90 decade, however, the 1991 Belizean Census declares "..the upper 70%'s to the lower 80's.." to be a better estimate (Central Statistical Office 1991:16) .

66 The reader is invited to consult Pastor (1995) or Rutheiser (1991) for additional discussion and facts concerning Belizean schools.

Government and Politics

Belize has been fully independent since September 21, 1981. For the seventeen years prior (1964 to 1981), it was an internally self-governing colony. I was told that Belize voluntarily delayed its full independence for eight years due to local fears regarding longstanding invasion and takeover threats from the nation of Guatemala. This delay and fear have their origin in the letter's longstanding claim to ownership of the entire Belizean territory (see history section of this chapter for explanation) . Thus Belize may be said to have had one of the longest "periods of labor" for the birth of any nation known.

Belize is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system. It is governed by two houses and a prime minister. Throughout most of its history, Belize has had two parties. However split-offs to form third parties have not been uncommon. This was the situation during my fieldwork stay - a split-off from one of the two major parties occurring in 1992. Thus, the three parties existing in Belize by the

67 end of my fieldwork stay were the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Peoples's United Party (PUP), and the split-off (from the UDP) Belizean Rights Party (BRP).

All municipalities, with the exception of Belize City, are administered by locally elected, seven-member town boards ; Belize City has a nine-member city council.

In virtually all of Belize's villages, governance is carried out with the assistance of elected village councils (although these have no independent powers). However, in certain Ketchi Indian villages of Belize's Toledo District, a traditional Mayan governing system, officially incorporated into the nation's government system in the 1800's, is in usage - the Alcalde Mayoral System.

National general elections are provided for at intervals of at least every five years; an incumbent party can call for earlier elections at any time.

Since self-government in 1964, the pendulum has swung back and forth, at each successive election, when it comes to Belize's ruling political party and prime minister. This continual shifting may have significance in terms of Belize's ethnicity policy - a possibility considered in the Suggestions

68 for Further Research chapter of this document. Spelled out, the following parties have ruled during the following years in Belize, in the following order: 1) People's United Party (PUP) - all the years of self-governing colony status plus three years of independence (i.e., until 1984). 2) United Democratic Party (UDP) - 1984 - September 1989 . 3) PUP - Sept 1989 - June 1993. 4) UDP - June 1993 (four months after the end of my fieldwork period) , to the time of the writing of

this chapter in 1994. This last election was called by the incumbent PUP party one and one- quarter years early, and with only one-and-one- half -month's notice (Garbouret, personal communication) - to the incumbent party's detriment.

History of Belize - General

Recent research has firmly established the fact that the Mopan Maya Indians not only were the first inhabitants of the region that is now the country of Belize, but were inhabiting it at the time the Europeans arrived - albeit in limited areas of the present-day nation. [Until recently, research had

69 suggested that the lands constituting present-day Belize had been entirely uninhabited at the time of British settlement.]

Spaniards entered the Belize region at least as early as the beginning of the 16th century. They claimed the land for Spain, although they never settled it - one reason being its difficult (jungle atnd swamp) vegetation and topography (see Buhler 1978 for additional reasons). Although refraining from

establishing local settlements, the Spaniards engaged in continual harassment of the region's local Mayan communities, causing many of these populations to decide to relocate outside of the current area of Belize.

Throughout the duration of these activities (occurring in the northern and western regions of present-day Belize, adjacent to present-day Mexico and Guatemala) , pirates and buccaneers from Britain and other European countries used the eastern, coastal area of what is now Belize - sheltered as it is by a parallel, 190 mile barrier (coral) reef - as a base for pirate attacks on Spanish ships carrying wood and a range of other products to Europe.

Beginning in the 17 th century, some of the British pirates and other adventurers began establishing permanent camps along the coastal area, switching roles (at least in the case of timber operations) from thievery to procurement.

70 Throughout the subsequent decades, the Spanish intermittently asserted their official claim over these lands by attacking the British settlements. However, they were never able to drive the settlers away, nor to colonize them.

Concurrent with these military actions, diplomatic negotiations commenced between Britain and Spain, regarding rights to the land. One of the first treaties resulting from these talks (1786) constituted a compromise allowing the British to maintain settlements in special areas in order to conduct logging operations, but prohibiting the establishment of any form of government, the erecting of fortifications, or the conducting of farming (Merrill 1992:165) . Further treaties followed this one. However, military confrontations continued - due to the unwillingness of the New World Spaniards to accept their European government's decisions on this matter.

What is probably the most famous military confrontation with Spain in Belizean history is the final one, known as,

"The Battle of Saint George's Caye". This battle allegedly occurred on September 10, 1798. It is worth mentioning because it is somewhat of an issue of dispute in the present- day ethnic and political dynamics of the country, and is a national holiday, as well [11].

71 Partly because of the continuing dispute with Spain regarding ownership of the land on which Belize is located, the Bay Settlement did not become an official colony of British until 1871; and until 1884 it was administered out of Britain's West Indian colony, Jamaica.

Also stemming from the historical dispute between Britain and Spain is the current Guatemalan claim over Belizeaui land. At the time of Guatemalan independence from Spain, Guatemala declared all historical British-Spanish treaties regarding Belize null and void, defining Belize as part of present-day Guatemala. Its constitution names Belize as a Guatemalan district, and thus, on the wall in the immigration office at the westem-border point nearest my research site, there is a map of Guatemala which includes the entire landmass of Belize sketched within Guatemalan boundaries. Mexico has also made such claims to Belize in the past, but has never pursued them.

As mentioned, this Guatemalan claim, associated threats,

and a few near-scrimmages, resulted in a delay in Belize's independence, which occurred only after Britain's promise to retain troops on both of Belize's Guatemalan borders indefinitely after independence (due to the small size of Belize's own defense forces). Thus there still existed - when I was in Belize - bases of British soldiers on Belize's western and southern borders with Guatemala. The Guatemalan

72 claim also precluded Guatemala's recognition of Belizean independence, and also figured in Belize's failure to gain membership (until recently) in the Organization of American States. Both of these acts of recognition required a succession of diplomatic efforts on the part of Belize.

A few months before my departure from the field in

early 1993, Guatemala finally declared its recognition of Belize sovereignty.

Brief History. q£ . -Slavery and Indentured Servitude in Belize

Because the slavery and indentured laibor systems were such important variables in the histories of all of the British Caribbean colonies including Belize (affecting present-day ethnic structures), a brief sketch of their histories is in order.

As is true of the West Indian islands, slavery was the first of the two systems to be introduced. Some of the first Belizean slaves were Indians from the Mosquito Coast, and others were "no doubt captured from among the Maya who remained hidden in the forest surrounding the [original

73 Belize] settlement..." (Palacio 1988b: 132, citing Dobson 1973) . Most, however, were individuals transported from Africa, often purchased in Jamaica.

The introduction of slavery into Belize in the 18th century was correlated with a shift from logwood procurement (when the supply of this wood dried up) to mahogany procurement. While individual lumbermen could be effective in harvesting logwood (since it grows in dense patches near the coast), mahogany procurement required greater efforts in the country's interior, and therefore greater "man"-power. Thus the perceived need for additional workers, and thus the acquiring of slave laüDor.

Most male slaves under Belizean slavery were thus involved in the seasonal work of logging. During the off-seasons, they often farmed for their masters and themselves. The slave women served as domestics and/or concubines.

For the first 100 years after the introduction of African slavery, the Bay Settlement population consisted almost exclusively of Anglo-Europeans (primarily British) and Africans.

Across these years, many African slaves became free due to the common practice of manumission in Belize. Rates of

74 manumission for Belize exceeded those of Britain's islamd possessions. Explanations for this difference in practice include the theory that it was used in Belize to counter slave tendencies toward desertion, high because of proximity to the Spanish settlements (e.g., to what is now Guatemala) (Buhler 1978). These mcuiumission practices involved heavily the colony's "coloreds" (highly admixed, europeamized Creoles) resulting from miscegenation practices - another practice common under Belizean slavery.

Numerous respectable, nonBelizean historical analysts have argued that Belize's slavery system was a mild one in comparison to the systems of the British West Indian islsuids [see discussions by Dobson (1973:149) and Palacio 1988b:132)].

Evidence advanced for this argument include : the high rate of manumission as well as the practice of slaves purchasing their own freedom; slaves earning their own income during off-hours; and slave masters bequeathing property to slaves upon emancipation. The author of one lay publication interprets the relationship between the Africans and the primarily

British Europeans in early Belize as follows : "..these Negro immigrants, while technically slaves until emancipation in 1838, found a place beside the European woodcutters as companions and willing allies" (Setzekom 1981:18).

75 Local Belizean scholars express mild (Bennett 1988) to strong disagreement (Palacio 1988a and b) with the above mild- slavery theory.

Setting aside the question of relative mildness or harshness, the slavery system of Belize certainly involved important differences from slavery in the nearby British island possessions. In addition to (actually, because of) the difference in the principal industry amd product (lumber versus sugar), there were no large plantations in Belize and thus no huge, dense concentrations of slaves. The nature of timber procurement involved male slaves working in small groups (gangs of 10-12, consisting of a driver/supervisor, huntsman, axeman, cattleman, and cook) travelling deep into the bush to seek out and cut the wood. Another difference involved the possession and handling of weapons by slaves, in Belize, in order to be prepared for confrontations with Indians, Spaniards and rival logging crews (Dobson 1973:150) .

Slave importation for all the British possessions was disallowed in 1807; slavery itself was dissolved, at least in Belize, in 1834 - although followed by a four-year period of mandatory apprenticeship.

After the abolishment of slavery, Belizean settlers desiring outside supplemental labor were forced to turn to

76 indentured labor. The only Belizean settlers requesting such were settlers involved in Belize's, then, newly developing sugar industry. Thus Chinese and East Indian workers came to be imported into Belize. The numbers requested and therefore the number of these indentured laborers brought to Belize was small compared to the British island possessions - due to the difference in magnitude of the sugar industry in the different locations.

Additional details concerning the slaves of Belize, and the Chinese and East Indian indentured laborers, are contained in the following discussion of the backgrounds of Belize's ethnic groups.

THE PEOPLE OF BELIZE: BACKGROUND REGARDING BELIZE'S PRESENT-DAY ETHNIC POPULATIONS

The following sections focus mostly on defining each population and on the historical origins (with respect to Belize) of each.

Belize's Creole Population [12]

As mentioned, in Belize, "Creole" is the term used to refer to present-day Belizeans who derive from Africans

77 brought to Belize for slavery purposes. The Belizean Creole gene pool also includes genes of the former (white) slavemasters, as well as genes of other African-derived individuals. Exanples of the latter include genes of slave- day immigrants from the Mosquito Coast in 1787 (Palacio 1988b : 132 ; see also Bolland 1973:22-23), of soldiers disbauided from the West Indian Regiment in 1817 who worked in Belize as free woodcutters (Palacio 1988b), and of never-enslaved black immigrants to Belize of the post-slavery period (e.g., 1880 and 1890) . As might be guessed, the present-day Creole gene pool also includes genes from some of the other ethnic groups

of Belize - especially Mestizo genes, and especially in the region of my research (as will be discussed further in a later chapter) . All in all, genetic research has indicated that the Belizean Creole is 72% African, 20% white and 8% Amerindian (Schanfield, Brown, and Crawford 1984:358).

It is important to state that the Belizean Creole ethnic group is not an entity which instantly emerged upon genetic admixture. Because of this fact, I often employ the terms, "African" or "proto-Creole" in referring to Belize's New World African individuals and communities at points in time prior to the Belizean Creole group's ethnogenesis [which, according to Judd (1992), occurred around the turn of the 19th century].

78 The African slave population which contributed to today's Belizean Creole came from locations and language groups along the western African coastline from Senegambia and the Gold Coast to Nigeria and Angola - representing over 20 tribes (Bennett 1988:25 and Bolland 1977:50). [13]

In the Belizean setting, some of these Africans and proto- Creoles became wealthy and powerful, even during the period of slavery. That highly admixed subgroup of proto-Creoles called "coloreds", as well as those who were "free blacks" often became employees at the mahogany camps or in the commercial firms in Belize City. A few became farmers and tradesmen (Bennett 1988:25) . Some owned slaves. After slavery, at the point when British settlers started abandoning the colony, local businesses were often left in the hands of such proto- Creoles (Palacio 1988b:135).

At one point in the history of Belize - at the end of the United States Civil War, there occurred a formal, but aborted effort to recruit North American blacks to Belize - a plan which might have produced an additional contribution to the Belizean Creole gene pool and ethnic-group roster (Dobson 1973:246).

79 Belize's Meatizo Populatio-P

In the Yucatan region of Mexico, as elsewhere in Latin America, a three-tier, hierarchal agricultural (and social) system came to be established during the colonial period. This system involved Spaniards as landowners. Mestizos (Spaniards admixed with Amerindians) as supervisors, and "full-blooded" Mayans as laiborers - often indebted for life to the Spaniard landowner and/or Mestizo supervisor through a related peonage debt system (Palacio 1988b:139).

In 1847, the "full-blooded" Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula rebelled against their Spanish landlords, as well as against individuals of mixed Mayan-European ancestry. This confrontation was called "The War of the Castes" or "The War of the Races". As a result of the conflict, thousands of non­ mixed Spaniards as well as "mixed-bloods" fled the Yucatan region, entering Belize. Some "pure-blooded" Indians were also involved (Palacio 1988b:138). Reiterated, this new immigrant group to Belize was composed of three distinct genetic groups : (1) genetically nonmixed Caucasian individuals (Spaniards or "blancos"); (2) admixed individuals (Spaniard with Mayan); and (3) "full-blooded" Mayans (Palacio 1988b:138). After arrival in Belize, these three groups increasingly mixed with each other, creating the largest group of what are currently defined as Belizeaui Mestizos (Palacio

80 1988b). Thus a similarity exists between the post-Belize- arrival ethnogenesis of the Belizean Mestizo and that, as explained, of the Belizean Creole. Thus the appropriateness of my use of the terms "proto-Belizean-Mestizo" and "proto- Mestizo" for reference to these individuals at certain points in Belizean history.

At the end of the Caste War in 1874, some of the proto- Belizean Mestizos returned to the Yucatan area of Mexico, although over 8,000 remained in Belize.

It was the proto-Mestizo blancos who introduced sugar cane and its processing into rum and sugar into Belize. On their ranchos, they also produced corn, beans and tobacco. They enéüDled Belize to achieve, by 1851 its (then) much desired goal of a new export crop to replace the earlier, by then, declining mahogany export product. The Colony's Superintendent had argued since 1839 that Belize should find a way to estadDlish plantation agriculture as a cure for the falling mahogany revenues (Bolland 1977 as referred to in

Palacio 1988b:139). By the beginning of the twentieth century, these, by then, Belizean Mestizos (originally confined to the two northern districts of Corozol and Orange Walk), began moving into the Belize District and into Belize City. Mestizos now live in all areas of Belize.

81 Despite their greater numbers, the Yucatan-origin migrants to Belize are not the only contributors to the present-day Belizeeui Mestizo group. This document will emphasize the existence in Belize of Guatemalan Mestizos - important to the area of my research - including the fact of the tendency of this group to be omitted in Belizean discourses about its Mestizo population. This document will also (elsewhere) give attention to the question of whether the recent Central-American immigrant population of Belize is to be considered part of the Mestizo ethnic entity.

In addition to my earlier point regarding the terms

"proto-Belizean-Mestizo" and "proto-Mestizo", two further points regarding terminology are in order. First, in referring to Belizean Mestizos, I do not ever use the female variant ("Mestiza") of the word "Mestizo". My reason is simply the fact that I never heard Belizeans use this form of the term. Second, consistent with local Belizean usage, I often use the term, "Spanish" - in adjective, adverb and noun form - to refer to the Mestizo population (see Chapter 7).

The Maya of Belize

The term "Maya" is one of many examples of conflating terms used by outsiders to refer to multiple, distinct cultural- other populations. In the case of Belize, the term refers to

82 at least five separate Amerindian populations: the Mopan, Ketchi, Santa Cruz, Chinchanha, and Icaiche Indians. The latter three are usually subsumed under the label "Yucatec Mayans” (but referred to, in the national census, as "Other Mayan"), resulting in the official designation of three Mayan groups for the country of Belize. The following discussions treat these groups as three distinct populations (Yucatec, Mopan, and Ketchi Maya).

Belize's Yucatec Maya Population

As previously explained, the so-called Yucatec were amongst the mixed Mayan and "full-blooded" populations arriving in Belize, from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, as a result of the "War of the Castes" . Some came with the original group in 1847. Others -including many of those genetically identical to the "full-blooded" Mayans who started the war - came later "seeking escape from the revenge of the Yucatecan authorities" (Dobson 1973:249). As just mentioned, some are actually Santa Cruz, Iquache and Chinchanha Indians - three groups perpetually at war with each other, producing constantly shifting alliances. Today the majority of Belize's Yucatec Mayas live in Belize's two northern districts, although some reside in villages as far south as the Cayo District of my research. As mentioned earlier, I was told that the Yucatec Maya represent a basically deculturalized

83 Indian population - speaking Spanish auid otherwise culturally indistinguishêüDle from Belizean Mestizos (Palacio 1988b). As stated, this group is labelled, in the national census, as "Other Mayan”.

Belize's Mopan Maya Population

Mopan Indians inhabited the Belize region before the arrival of the Europeans. As previously mentioned, the European's arrival resulted in an exodus of Mopem Mayan populations into Guatemala's Peten region. The reverse situation occurred circa 1886 when Mopan Indiauis from this region of Guatemala expatriated themselves to Belize. The motive behind the latter migration was the escape of mandatory military conscription and heavy taxes within Guatemala.

Belize's Ketchi Population

The Belize Ketchi (Kekchi) Maya settled in Belize's Toledo District. They immigrated into Belize in the 1870's and 1880's from the Vera Paz region of Guatemala, adjacent to the Toldeo District (Wilk and Chapin 1990:18).

The Ketchi Mayans are said to be the most "traditional" Mayas of Belize; indicators suggest they are also the poorest and most neglected (Wilk and Chapin 1990:18).

84 Belize's "Syrian-Lebanese" Population

Referred to by lay Belizeans variously as "Turks", "Syrians" or "Lebanese" (the latter two terms used by the government census office, in hyphenated form) , these Middle-East origin individuals have lived in Belize for only three to four generations. Many came via Spain to the Mexican port at Vera Cruz - afterwards working their way to Merida, Mexico, and eventually to the Belizean border - either the western border of Belize's Cayo District or Belize's northern border (Mazzarelli 1975:199). In Cayo, most were initially vendors selling wares from "off their backs". Within a short time they inherited the chicle business of that area from its former, white owner/managers (Mazzarelli 1975:199). Indeed, the story of the "Lebanese" of Belize is largely the story of the "Lebanese" of the Cayo District. Many intermixed with local Mestizos (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985:64).

Belize's Mennonite Population

Most of the Mennonites of present-day Belize arrived as a single migration in 1958. Belize was their fifth attempt at a home since their exodus from Europe (The Swiss Alps), in their quest for religious freedom. Germany (and for some, Russia); Canada; the United States and Mexico constituted the first four attempts at this goal (Dobson 1973:254). [14] I

85 was told that Belize extended an invitation to them due to its interest in increasing its population density, developing its hinterlands, and enlarging its agricultural sector. Belize's promise to these then dis-satisfied Mexicam residents (due to Mexico ' s threats to rescind promises of exemption of Mennonite children from state-regulated schooling) included not only the guarantee of self-education, but exemptions from military service and certain types of tax obligations.

Consistent with a desire to segregate themselves, these new settlers purchased lands in several areas of the hinterlands of Belize auid created six settlements : Spanish

Lookout in the Cayo District, Blue Creek, Shipyard, Little Belize, Progresse, and Barton Creek.

As mentioned, Belizean Mennonites engage in dairy farming. They also sell lumber and furniture. Traditionally, one group (the conservative wing) refrains from the use of mechanized vehicles and tools, and other mechanized apparatuses. They all speak Low German but are also fluent in English.

Traditionally they tend to terminate formal education at the end of the eighth year, and all schooling, of course, takes place in Mennonite-operated schools (see below for recent departure trends).

86 On the whole, the Mennonites seem to have fulfilled Belizean expectations of building up the country’s agricultural sector. For a while the evidence was that they had also been successful in fulfilling their own desire to remain separate from wider Belizean society. In fact some early discussions of the Belize Mennonites - including government ones - include comments such as " they are not really Belizeans" or "they don't mix" [one source also alleges that, " it is generally agreed that the Mennonites do not like black people" (Lundgren 1987:98)].

Despite the early Mennonite preference for, and success at, self-segregation, cultural contact and change among the Belizean Mennonites have become evident across the years. For example, in Cayo, I was aware of one Mennonite family which had left the settlement to take up residence in Cayo town. Some, still resident in the settlements, have chosen to extend the education of their children by sending them to secondary schools outside of the settlement, run, of course, by non- Mennonites (the case I knew of involved the local Catholic secondary school of Cayo Town) . I knew of at least one case of Mennonite intermarriage with a Belizean Mestizo.

87 Belize's East Indian Population

The first group of East Indians to come to Belize arrived as indentured servants. As mentioned previously, Belize never received the large number of East Indians that West Indian British islands received (e.g., Trinidad).

Those East Indians who came to Belize as indentured laborers came as a result of two specific projects: (1) a British project to relocate 100 East Indian subjects involved in a 1857 revolt against British rule in India (fieldnotes taken during a class lesson at the school of my research, January 1993; see also Setzekom 1981:23); and (2) an immigration project of a group of Caucasian residents of the United States' confederate states, near and after the end of the United States Civil War. These southern whites were relocating to Belize because of disillusionment with the Civil War situation, wishing to continue their pre-war lifestyle. The East Indian indentured laborers were acquired by them (in Jamaica) for Icdjor in sugar plamtations which they established in Belize's Toledo District. The descendants of these East Indians still live in this district. Although there remain, in the Toledo District, villages known as East Indian villages (e.g.. Forest Home) , most of the district East Indians are now intermixed with other Belizeans (Merrill 1993:198). The earlier mentioned East Indian rebels of East Indian

88 colonialism were sent to Belize's Corozol District to work in that district's sugar industry; descendants still live in that area.

Yet other East Indians arrived in Belize's Cayo District, from Guatemala, during the 20th century. Like the Lebsmese, they arrived as door-to-door vendors selling wares "on their backs". Still others are part of a post-1950 migration to Belize (e.g., see Merrill 1993:199). These seem to be the only East Indians in retention of their original culture, religion and language.

Finally, the East Indian presence is also felt in Belize in the form of East Indian members of the British Protection

Forces resident in Belize.

Belize's "White" Population

As mentioned previously, this category, as defined by the Belize census office, refers to non-Mennonite, non-Lebanese Caucasians in Belize. Historically, the largest group of Belizean "whites" were historical British Caucasians who may be said to have founded the settlement. As alluded to previously, this group consisted virtually entirely of males previously engaged in illegal pursuits such as pirating.

89 Most of the historical Caucasians of Belize died or repatriated themselves to Europe by the latter 19th century. As mentioned, they left much of their Belize City commerce operations in the hands of trusted proto-Creoles, and the chicle industry of western Belize, in the hands of "Lebanese".

In addition to the British Caucasian migrant group responsible for the birth of the settlement, there occurred at least one other substantial migration of Caucasians to Belize - a very interesting one which has already been mentioned but will not be extensively discussed in this document since it departed Belize after 45 years (by 1910), evidently leaving no descendcuits. This is the migration into Belize of the Caucasians from the United States' southern states arriving in Belize near, and after, the end of the United States Civil War, bringing with them one of the two groups of Belizean East-Indian indenturees. This group of Belizean Caucasians has been mentioned and are briefly explained in note form (Chapter 8 of this document). For a fuller discussion, the reader is referred to Dobson (1973: 247-48), and for an even fuller one, to Rosenberger (1958).

Present-day Belize seems to attract quite a few United- S tat es-origin whites. I was told that many of them are retirees from the southern states who settle in the Belizean cayes. Some Belizeans lament the fact that they appear to be

90 introducing United States-origin racist attitudes and behaviors. For example, during my stay, a newspaper of a town in one of Belize's cayes (San Pedro) reported an incident regarding a United-States-origin Caucasian declaring that he didn't want any Belizean "that black" driving his boat.

The Caucasian presence in Belize is also felt in the form of the British forces already mentioned. Marriages and matings between Belizeans (usually Mestizos) and these men have occurred with some of the couples eventually relocating to England.

Belize's Chinese Population

As mentioned, the first group of Belizean Chinese came as indentured laborers. This occurred during the 1860's as a result of requests by Belizean agriculturalists (Dobson 1973:250) . As previously mentioned, like one of the two East Indian indentured groups, the Chinese were brought to the northern areas of Belize. This venture evidently was not very successful - "Some died from disease while others deserted to the Indians in Yucatan; few had any practical experience of farming and by 1871 only 133 of the colony's residents had been born in China" (Dobson 1973: 250). One source (Setzekom

91 1981) also mentions that they met with prejudice on the part of the proto-Mestizos of the northern area. Descendants of this migration, however, do exist.

Currently, Belize is experiencing a new migration of Chinese individuals (from both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China). Belizean attitudes toward this new group seem to be less than approving - one hears continuous complaints cibout "those 'chini' who sell greasy fried chicken and boledo (the name for the Belizean lottery) on the streets of Belize City." In 1989, government policy was established requiring special approval for Chinese immigrant applicants (in an attempt to curb the numbers of these immigrants, most of whom are perceived as being in transit to other countries) (Society for the Promotion of Education and Research 1989:3) .

Belize's Garinaou Population [15]

The Garinagu population of Belize was initially referred to as the "Black Caribs" . They are now referred to as "Garifuna" or "Garinagu". The census office and many other sources use the former term; I was told by members of their national self- interest group that the latter term (Garinagu) is the proper one for the people, and the former (Garifuna) , for the language (Ramos, personal communication 1993, Garinagu Youth Conference, Sein Beight, Belize). [16]

92 The first group of Garinagu to arrive in Belize was a group of 150 who arrived in 1802. These first migrants were reluctantly received and were required to hold permits. The majority arrived later, in the second or third decade of the 19th century. Respectable sources (beginning with British historian Dobson's often-cited 1973 work on Belizean history) quote the year as 1832 but other experts (including the leaders of the Garinagu national, self-interest organization) claim this figure to be in error, inscribed in the literature due to an mere typographical error (transposition of digits) in Dobson's work. These sources allege the correct year to be 1823 .

Whatever the year of this group's arrival in Belize, the month and day are not in dispute. November 19 is celebrated annually in Belize as a national holiday to commemorate the Garinagu's arrival in Belize.

Initially, the Garinagu concentrated themselves mostly in the two southern districts of Belize (Toledo and Stann Creek). These two districts still claim, by far, the greatest number of the Belizean Garinagu population. The Garinagu, however, are now scattered throughout the country of Belize, and their influence and profile are far greater and higher than their numbers suggest.

93 NOTES

1. From soon after the settling of the British around 1638 until 1871, the original settlement which has grown to become the nation of Belize was called The Bay Settlement or The Settlement In The Bay of Honduras. From 1871 when it became an official colony of Britain until 1973, it was called British Honduras. From 1973 to the present, it has been called Belize. This document will usually use the label "Belize", despite the name changes across the years.

2. There are at least three theories as to the origin of the name "Belize" . One is that it comes from a Mayan word: either the word "belix" meaning "muddy water", or the word "belikin" meaning "land that looks to the east" (Dobson 1973:52). Another is that it is an anglicized version of a Spanish language bastardization of the word "Wallace" (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985:63). "Wallace" is the surname of the Scottish pirate who was allegedly the first to have exploited the Belizean off-coast area as a base for pirating (Barry 1992). Another theory as to the origin of the name "Belize" is that the word is of African origin.

94 3. Most Belizean and other sources seem to use the spelling "Kekchi". I choose the spelling "Ketchi" only because this is the spelling used in the Belizean census report of 1991 (i.e.. Central Statistical Office 1991).

4. I use the term "black", in this document, to refer to the two populations of Belize which are (historically-speaking) largely African: the Creoles and the Garinagu.

5. I saw more of the rain-water, yard catchments in Belize City than in, for example, the Cayo District. My observation was that many households used them in combination with, or to supplement city supplied water, the latter being quite expensive, with the rate per unit increasing after the first 250 gallons used monthly. In the case of some households, the water vat consists of a huge, specially constructed tank (I was told that Mennonite individuals are often contracted to make these) . At the other extreme, in the case of one household, it was no more than three large plastic garbage bins brought back from "States Side" (The United States).

6. For the case of water sources lacking the piping of the water into the dwelling (for example, "vats into yards", "other outside faucets" and well water), the individual collecting the water is said to "back" the water - meaning "carry it " - into the dwelling.

95 7. In the area of my research, site (as in highly rural districts such as Toledo) , use of streams and rivers for bathing, if not drinking, water, is not uncommon. Repercussions and hints of this were evident both when cholera broke out in my research area, and during one hot season of recurrent, daily municipal-water-supply stoppages, just at the time of day when families bathed after a hot day of high activity. In the first case, we were all warned to not purchase food from street vendors, as many of these were villagers using the then contaminated stream water. In the case of the daily water-supply stoppages, neighbors all around me effected the seemingly easy adjustment of merely using the local river for their evening baths.

8. The bucket system involves use of a communal bucket which must, at some point, be emptied somewhere. It seems to be most common in Belize City and/or coastal places in Belize. I wondered if one reason for use of this system in these particular places had anything to do with the close to, or even below, sea level, swampy land true of so much of, at least, Belize City (Everitt 1986) . My reasoning is that maybe this type of land will not sustain latrine holes. Evidently, some homes in the Caribbean islcuids also rely on this system.

9 . I derive this label, "Granny phenomenon", from a recorded tune, called "Granny", by a Jamaican group popular during the

96 period of my fieldwork. The song relates the complaints of one young man regarding the grandmother who is rearing him - that she is too "old auid mean", and that he is going to leave to go

live with his mother. Often the nonparent individual involved in the "granny phenomenon" is am older sibling or godparent.

10. Needless to say, my fieldwork plan to live with a local family, yet have my own bedroom, was affected by this statistic - see Research Methods chapter.

11. There is a controversy as to whether this battle ever occurred. The two major political parties seem to take (unofficial) positions on this issue. The People's United Party (PUP) of Belize says it is a faüiricated story invented to ensure slave loyalty. This political party, which led the country to independence, deliberately eschewed the September 10 anniversary of this battle as a possible date for the polity's independence, selecting, instead, the nearby date of September 21. Belize's United Democratic Party takes the position that the battle did occur. In some sense, this holiday is considered a Creole holiday.

12. In Belize, the label "Creole" does not involve any statement as to the amount of Caucasian genes possessed by an individual. This differs from the use of the term in some other Caribbean locations, and by many individuals in the

97 United States. One Belizean Creole woman shared with me experiences, in the United States, when local blacks would express anger at her use of the term " Creole" in self-

reference, accusing her of "wanting to brag about her white blood."

13. According to Setzekom (1981:27), over 20 African tribes

are represented among the antecedents of the Creole: "..Bibi, Fulani Mandingo, Tambi, Sokko, Kalibari, Mangree, Watje Fida, Arrada, Ibo, Akim, Mondongo, Kanga, Papaa, Eliminas as well as

peoples of the Congo and Loango areas."

14. For at least one group of Mennonites, the Belize stop evidently turned out to be other than permanent; one group left for Bolivia in the 1990's due to crop failure, no doubt contributed to by their religious prohibition on using mechanized farming tools (Setzekom 1981).

15. The Garinagu (Garifuna) are a transnational population, heavily resident, historically and/or currently, in numerous countries. Examples include (in addition to Belize) Saint Vincent, Honduras, Guatemala, and the United States. See Gonzalez (1988) for a complete chronicle of their migrations; for dissertation or book-length discussions of Garinagu

98 settlements (especially in specific countries), see works by Bianchi (1988), K e m s (1983), Gullick (1976), Gonzalez (1969) , Coelho (1955), and Taylor (1951), among others.

16. Although virtually all published sources I have seen use the term "Garifuna", Barry (1992:73) also acknowledges the validity of the label "Garinagu", auid this term was sometimes used in school texts (e.g.. The Children's Newspaper - see Aguallo, October 1992).

99 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH SETTING

SELECTION OF RESEARCH SITE - COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL

As explained in the preface, I made a pre-fieldwork trip to Belize in 1990 to prepare for my data collection. One goal of this three-and-one-half-month visit was to identify a community and school as sites for my research. Toward this end, I spent time conferring with officials and experts, and visiting potential research sites - numerous villages, towns and schools throughout Belize (many suggested to me during my consultations) . My main criterion in terms of selection of a research site (given my topic) was a community and school possessing high heterogeneity as to as wide a range of potential forms of differentness as possible - for example, language, ethnicity, and class.

During this 1990 pre-fieldwork trip, I visited a total of five communities in the Belize, Toledo, Stann Creek and Cayo districts of Belize.

My selection of Cayo Town as my research site took place, upon significant reflection, after my return to the United

100 States. It replaced an earlier bias toward Punta Gorda Town in the Toledo District. This town amd both of its primary schools had appeared sufficiently heterogeneous in terms of Belize's traditionally-defined ethnic groups and most other forms of potential differentness (although ratios differed in comparison to Cayo). However, Cayo, at that time, seemed to be experiencing a much greater impact from Belize's newest "alien" population, a phenomenon which I did not want to exclude from my research investigation of ways that a particular societal institution may influence the individual's cognitive processing and meaning construction when it comes to potential differentness elements within the individual's midst.

In the following three sections, I offer a description of my research site - Cayo Town and its surrounding district, and Sacred Heart Primary School - the school selected for the school discourse data collection.

Cavo District and Cayo Town (San Ignacio)

This section is primarily about the town in which I conducted my research - the town of San Ignacio in Belize's Cayo District. This town is often called "Cayo" or "Cayo Town", as will be explained - thus my common use of these

101 latter two léübels in referring to the town. Despite the fact that the discussion focuses primarily on the town itself, I begin by presenting a description of the surrounding district.

Cayo District

Cayo District is the physically largest of the six administrative districts of Belize. This district, constituting 2,006 of the 8,866 square miles of the overall country, is situated on the nation's western side where it shares a border with the country of Guatemala.

Population-wise, the Cayo District is the second largest, yet fastest growing district of Belize (over the past three decades). It contained 22,837 inhabitants in 1980, increasing to 37,693 in 1991 (Central Statistical Office, 1991).

While other districts in Belize contain only one or two urban centers, Cayo District possesses three. The community in which I conducted my research constitutes one-half of one of these - the twin-town unit of San Ignacio-Santa Elena. These two communities actually constitute two distinct entities separated by the Macal River and the bridge that spans it. Yet, officially, they are considered a single municipality in that both are governed by the a single town board.

102 The second municipality in the Cayo district is the nation's capital, Belmopan (population 5,340); the third is Benque Viejo del Carmen (population 3,569).

Neither Cayo District's larger physical size, nor its higher growth rate are adequate explanations for Cayo's greater number of urban centers. Instead this situation derives from two facts of the district's peculiar history: the development, in the district, of the chicle industry, and the subsequent growth of the community of Benque (as it is called for short) as a center for procurement of that product; and the 1962 action of Belize's national government in selecting Cayo District as the site for its new capital city (recall earlier discussion of Belize's municipalities).

If the greater population growth of Cayo District is unrelated to the existence of Cayo's multiple urban centers, neither does the existence of its multiple urban centers (or even any one of them singly) tell the entire story regarding the district's recent rapid increase in population. This unequalled population increase seems to be due largely to Belize's recent influx of Central American immigrants - "the aliens" - the immigrant population mentioned earlier in this chapter, and in the previous chapter on peoples of Belize. The principal settlement locations for these individuals (who

103 are largely agriculturalists) during the period before and during my fieldwork turns out to be the rural areas of the Cayo District.

Admittedly, an additional reason for Cayo's recent jump in population is the 1973 estcUolishment of Belize's new capital in Cayo, in so much as, across the years that this city has been in existence, it has caused the relocation, to the Cayo District, of at least some of the previously Belize- City-based government officials and other workers.

Ethnicity-wise, Cayo District can make the claim of being an original Belizean habitat for the antecedents of all three of the country's oldest "ethnic" populations [Mayans; "whites" (non-Mennonite/nonSyrian-Lebanese Caucasians), and Creoles], as well as for two of the country's youngest "ethnic" or emergent ethnic entities [the European-origin Mennonites and the recent Central American immigrants]. A necessary qualification that must be stated is that another district, the Belize District, is also an "original" Belizean home for the antecedents of the "whites" (i.e., for the British woodcutter settlers) and of the Creoles (i.e., for the African-derived slaves); Belize City was the location of the "permanent" habitats of both these groups, although it was always true that their time was split between stays in this

104 coastal settlement and collecting logwood and later mahogany in the bush (much of this being in what is now the Cayo District).

Perhaps of relevance to the cüaove facts, the Cayo District might currently be the most ethnically varied district of Belize - that is, containing the widest range of Belizean ethnic groups, in the most significant numbers. The following currently defined Belizean ethnic groups are represented in the Cayo District, in the following percentages and cd)solute numbers (see Figure 3.4 for a comparison to the other Belize Districts and to the country as a whole): Mestizos 58% (21,170 individuals); Creoles 23% (8,390); Mayan Indians (Mopan, Ketchi, and Yucatec), 9% (3,162); European origin Mennonite, 4.8% (1,871); Garinagus 1.7% (819); East Indians, 1.7% (606);

"Whites" (non-Mennonites, non-Syrian-Lebanese), 1.2% (434); Syrian-Lebanese,.1% (51); and Chinese, .1% (51).

In addition to being perhaps the most ethnically varied, Cayo District appears to be the most phenotypically varied

district of Belize. However, it seemed to me that, with the exception of Cayo Town, the ethnic and phenotypic variety of Cayo District tends to exist in discrete clusters - population centers of relatively high homogeneity. Thus you get, in most of Cayo District outside of Cayo Town, villages predominated by a single ethnic population with other groups represented in

105 by a single ethnic population with other groups represented in only minority proportions, and with less intermixture than in Cayo Town. Thus you get the "Mayan villages" of Succotz, San Antonio (primarily Mopan Mayan with some Creole), and Cristo

Rey (Yucatec Maya). Thus you get the historically Creole villages of Georgetown, Unitedville, Blackman Eddy, Tea Kettle, and Cammolotte, as well as the Creole-dominated capital city, Belmopan (all of which lately, however, have become infused with Belize's recent Central American immigrants - primarily Salvadoreans and Guatemalans) . Thus you get the predominately Mestizo and Mayan town of Benque and the exclusively Mennonite settlements of Spanish Lookout and Homestead Acres. Thus you get the recent Central-American- immigrant settlement of Las Flores, in addition to the government designed, social-experiment settlement of Central American immigrants and local Belizeans - the Valley of Peace community.

Cayo Town (San Ignacio)

The town of San Ignacio is often called Cayo or Cayo Town even though this leads to potential confusion with the wider district. As stated, it constitutes one-half of the political unit of San Ignacio-Santa Elena, officially created in the 1960's (Mazzarelli 1975:276). The population of the twin unit

106 is 8,869, with approximately equal numbers residing in each community. It is located 10.12 miles from Belize's western border with Guatemala.

Although they constitute a single governmental entity, San Ignacio Town and Santa Elena are significantly different in several ways. Santa Elena is more depressed economically; has more bars, few other commercial establishments (however, their street-vended barbecued chicken dinners are the best I've ever tasted); a higher ratio of Creoles to Mestizos ; and a reputation for being rougher (e.g., their teens "like to pretend they are gangs", one informant told me). Because of these differences and a more general sense of separateness that prevails across the two communities (in addition to mere feasibility factors), a research study of one of these communities - to the exclusion of the other - is completely défendable.

Although the district is characterized by enclaves of single ethnic groups (as just described), Cayo Town (like many urban centers, world-wide) has drawn together a diverse array of peoples. Thus, one can speak of the horizon or landscape of Cayo Town as an ethnically and phenotypically variegated one. The overall impression is one of not only a wide representation of ethnic types (noted for the district as a whole) and high degree of admixture, but of extensive cross-

107 interactions and interminglings of these groups - whether within families and in relations of choice (e.g., friendships}, or in other realms of social life.

For example, one sees individuals who either look Mestizo or define themselves as such, possessing closely coiled negroid hair, and individuals who look negroid (hair type, skin color, other physical features) rattling off in the

Spanish language. One is introduced to a Mestizo-appearing sister of a Mestizo friend (herself with one daughter who looks East Indian although the man of the house appears entirely Mestizo) who rocks, on her knee, a phenotypically mixed-Mestizo/black {see note #4 of the Background chapter] baby, while a phenotypically "non-mixed" black child runs about the yard - both of these her grandchildren. One sees tall "Mayans", evidence of their Spanish "blood", and hears Turkish surnames evidencing the Lebanese "blood" of Mestizo Cayans. One is introduced, by a little Creole girl, to her "brothers" - who themselves look almost pristine Mestizo.

Overlapping with, and not irrelevant to, both the wider representation of ethnic populations and the greater numbers of their members [and relevant to their genetic mixing, although the research of Van den Berghe (1978) and other scholars of admixture prove that the phenomenon I now describe is not a necessary factor (and therefore not always present)

108 for cases of significant admixture], is the third phenomenon mentioned earlier - the unexpected (from my North-American vantage point) ubiquitousness of cross-group minglings in forms other than mating or marriage. Close adolescent dyads consisting of, for example, one phenotypic Mestizo and one phenotypic black teenager abound; a black man on a bus engages in significant good-natured joking (including punching) with an elderly Mayan-looking man, without any sign of the letter's irritation, or of any of the reluctance that I expect and see in similar cross-group interactions in the United States. On an average day, the living room of the Garinagu home in which I resided the longest overflows with Mayans, East Indians, Mestizos and whites. The closest friend of one Mestizo gentleman is a Creole one, and his entire extended family turns out for the former's wedding party. A Mayan couple selects a Garinagu couple to be their "second godparents" at their wedding. One goes to the home of the adopted family of a phenotypically Creole or Garinagu child and finds oneself face-to-face with an entire family of Mayans. For a period of about one month, in my early morning trips to the kitchen, I continually "trip over" a young Mestizo boy asleep in "my"

Garinagu family's living room, and eventually learn that, "Oh, well, he's just decided to live here for a while!" An almost reverse (ethnically speaking) situation is witnessed in

109 a Mestizo friend's case - a young Creole girl who cannot get along with her parents lives there for almost the entire period of my Belizean stay.

Sacred Heart Primary School

Introduction

My school data were collected at Sacred Heart Primary School - a Catholic-affiliated school in San Ignacio, Belize.

At the time of my fieldwork. Sacred Heart Primary had a population of approximately 1,500 students and was divided into three administrative and functioning units - each with its own principal and assistant principal. The Infant Division consisted of the first three years of schooling (the Infant I and II, and Standard I levels); the Middle Division (Standards II suid III) ; and the Upper Division (Standards IV, V, and VI) . As explained previously, these levels correspond to the first through eighth grades of the United States educational system. The classrooms of most of my data collection activities were in the middle auid upper divisions of Sacred Heart School, as will be explained further, in the Research Methods chapter.

110 Physical Facilities

At the time of my research. Sacred Heart Primary School consisted of 10 buildings on approximately two acres of land, shared with the church edifice. All were sprawled across the side of one of the numerous hills making up the town of San Ignacio. The oldest of the buildings were of wood, the others concrete structures. Some of the latter were in operation for the first time during my stay - the fruitage of recent funding projects.

Most of the school buildings were one-story structures. These contained two to eight classrooms, lined in a single row. Each classroom contained doors and windows on two sides, the doors on both sides exiting to outside verandas or staircases. All buildings were painted white. Most of the classrooms inside the newer buildings were rather consistent in size: each capable of holding approximately 40 students ; often at 20 desks (each desk designed to accommodate two students on a bench) arranged in rows of five desks across and approximately four, front to back. Two of the three classrooms where I conducted the majority of my observations were examples of the 40 student-size classroom, while the other was a very cramped room about 9 by 12 feet, with 31 students crammed inside. A few classrooms at the school were double-sized rooms. In this case, different classes were

111 conducted on each side of a partition - often several portable blackboards. This apparently was not a case of merely "making do" . Evidence was that these rooms were constructed according to this design so that they could serve, alternately, as auditoriums, party rooms or dining rooms (I saw them used in all of these ways during my stay).

Because of high enrollment at Sacred Heart School, many of the classrooms were filled to capacity and beyond. In one case, the principal informed a late-registering family that their child could attend only if they provided the desk. This they did. And so in one classroom, there was the conspicuous sight of one child's seating being blatantly different from the others - a superiorly varnished chair-desk with the name, "Pedrito", engraved on the seat back.

Most rooms have electric lights fixtures, although these are rarely needed because of the numerous windows in each classroom and the bright sunshine filtering through them (another reason very well being the discouraging factor of the high cost of electric power in the country of Belize). The only time when lighting sometimes became a problem was during rain showers when windows had to be pulled shut. Some rooms lacked electrical outlets (even if possessing overhead lights). Classroom windows were capable of being closed

112 through the use of shutters. Screens were not used. (Flies and other flying insects were never a problem in Cayo until evening hours).

Temperature-wise, classrooms were sometimes very uncomfortable for my North-American body (especially during the hot season) , but were not hot enough to effect heat- related problems in terms of my camcorder's operation. After all, in these rooms, as in Belize in general, the heat effects of the brilliant, close-to-the-earth sun (which is indeed intense) are mitigated by the sea and mountain breezes - the final effect being to keep air temperatures lower than they otherwise would be.

To give the reader an idea of what a Belizean classroom is like, I describe the furnishings of one of "my" classrooms. A Standard III classroom researched by me contained the following furniture in addition to the student desks : a free standing closet, a bookshelf of books, and four tables on the various walls - one table holding a large bucket containing drinking water and a basin in which to wash hands, one serving as a science table (actually a bench), another, as an arts- and-crafts-display table. There was also a pencil sharpener on one wall; also the teacher's desk and a podium.

113 In some classrooms, visual teaching aids are generously displayed on the walls. Virtually all of these are teacher made; the teachers with the largest number of visual teaching aids tended to be the ones undergoing their year of practice teaching as part of the national teacher training program that a certain number of teachers are enrolled in each year. Their use of such aids figures in their evaluation rating. Other sections of classroom walls were evidently marked off, through use of religious posters or pictures - for prayer purposes. I would see students who arrived late enough to miss the first "period" of prayers and "Hail Mary's" (10 minutes in the upper Division; 15 minutes in the middle division) go to these areas (upon arriving and prior to proceeding to their desks) to pray silently. Because, in some classrooms, the purpose of these areas was not clearly indicated, it took me quite a while to figure out why (some) late-arriving students "walked over to that wall and stared at it for a few minutes before proceeding to rtheir) seat(si" (a quote from my fieldwork notebook).

Personnel - Church Administrators

Like most Belizean schools - as explained earlier - Sacred Heart Primary is a church-state school. As explained, this means that administrative tasks are handled by the sponsoring church which also assumes all building and operating expenses with the exception of teacher salaries.

114 Final responsibility for such tasks and responsibilities falls in the hands of the individual called the "local manager" . In the case of Sacred Heart and all other schools I came to know of in Belize, this turned out to be the religious head - in the case of a Catholic-run school, the priest. Father Means, a Belizean Creole, was the priest and local manager during the first three months of my school data collection (their 1992 Spring term - April to June) , and Father John, an Irish European, was his replacement, beginning at a point during the Fall 1992 term (September - December) . When I arrived in

Cayo, it was from the first of these that I had to secure permission to conduct my research (after first securing government clearance from the National Ministry of Education). Based on my observations, it is true that many times a church will also have an assistant local manager.

Personnel - Teachers and Principals

As earlier stated, my research was conducted in the middle and upper divisions of Sacred Heart School. Most of the teachers of these divisions were female. Most were of the Mestizo ethnic group. One in the middle division was East Indian, one in the upper division. Creole, and two, Garinagu. The principal of the middle division was a Mestizo female;

115 that of the upper division a Mestizo male during my first three months and latter, a Garinagu female whose assistant principal was a mixed Mestizo-Lebanese male.

Student Body

Most students at Sacred Heart Primary School were Catholic, but not all. Belizeam parents select schools for their children for reasons other than religious denomination. One example, of course, is when a community lacks a school operated by the family's religious group. In fact at Sacred Heart there was a Mennonite family in attendance during the last six months of my stay.

As common as being of other than the Catholic persuasion, is the phenomenon of being a resident of a community other than the one in which one ' s school is located - even a community in which, in this case, a Catholic school exists. At Sacred Heart Primary School, I knew numerous cases of students commuting to this school from either the adjacent-to-

San-Ignacio, sister city of Santa Elena or further away villages. Both Santa Elena and many of these villages have their own Catholic schools. Teachers and others told me that the reason for such cases is often that a parent has had a disagreement with school personnel in the local school and therefore has decided to switch their children to another

116 school, even if quite far from the home community. Because of this phenomenon, one sees all sorts of children of all levels traveling on inter-city busses, crisscrossing each others' home and school villages and towns. During a period when I was staying with a family outside of town and commuting each day, I would see numerous such children traveling in from villages further away. On one day, during post-school hours (when bus schedules are rather irregular), two little children and I waited for more than two hours (from approximately 3:45 p.m. until after 6:30 p.m.), before a bus arrived to take us to our destinations ; the next day one of the little children told me that when she finally arrived home, well after dark, her mom was "beside herself" with worry. Evidently the typical parent sending his or her child far away for schooling is able to tolerate such situations.

No statistics are kept but most students at Sacred Heart were Mestizo. Others were Maya, Garinagu, East Indian and Creole - many of the latter, mixed Creole-Mestizo.

Additional Facts Regarding Sacred Heart School. Teachers and

Students

In the infant and middle divisions all subjects are taught by the same teacher. In the upper division, subjects are taught by different teachers similar to the United States

117 junior smd senior high system (subject teaching). The difference between their system cind the United States subject teaching systems is that in Sacred Heart School, it is the teachers who rotate from period to period while the students remain stationary.

Class periods were 40 minutes long [except for the first period consisting of 10 minutes (for roll call, devotion and assembly)], with 10 periods a day.

Both students and teachers at Sacred Heart wear uniforms. This is consistent with other schools, and even (for adults) , some places of employment (for example, banlcs and supermarkets). Sacred Heart's student uniform consisted of a maroon jumper and a beige blouse for the girls; beige shorts or long pants with beige shirts for the boys. Female teachers wore maroon skirts and beige blouses ; male teachers, dark trousers and beige shirts. I had desired and planned to wear the same uniform as the female teachers while conducting my research at the school (in order to blend in) and had mentioned such to each co-principal early during my stay. Because neither of the co-principals responded with any sign of approval along these lines, I canceled this plan. Instead, I wore a white or beige blouse and a black or navy skirt every day I was at the school.

118 Male teachers were addressed by the title "Maestro" usually sans a personal name; female teachers, by the title "Miss", either alone or in combination with a personal name (some of the younger students seemed, sometimes, not to know their teachers' personal names) . Interestingly, I never heard the word "Mister", nor the terms "Seüora" or "Sehorita" used for teachers.

A Typical .Schogl Pay

At Sacred Heart School, the school day begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends, for the middle division at 3:30 p.m., and for the upper division, at 3:15. Lunch for the middle division is from 11:30 to 1 p.m.; and 11:35 to 1 p.m. for the upper division. No meals are provided by the school. Virtually everyone returns to his or her home to eat, even some who live quite far away. Those living too far arrange to eat at someone else's home. The home of one teacher in whose class I conducted some preliminary observations served as one such home for a student residing in San Ignacio's sister city,

Santa Elena. [Similarly, children from the town's Anglican school came, each day, to the home of the family that I lived with, to eat their noon meal.]

Each school morning, children begin arriving at the school at approximately 8 a.m. Until school begins, they play

119 games such as tag and marbles (during "marble season", which occurs after the Christmas holiday). The school grounds contain no playground equipment, imagination is the key (although there is a basketball court). Indeed, much of the school grounds involve land configurations such as steep drops and other dangerous features (for example, barbed wire) which we in the United States refuse to tolerate in our perhaps exaggerated efforts to create artificially dsmger-free environments for children.

A common sight on the school grounds is that of food vendors: women, children either too young to attend school or simply not attending (apparently); and children who do attend school - all selling candies, cooked foods such as panades, and (more than anything else) "ideals" (a frozen, flavored sugar-water concoction similar to popsicles or frozen Kool- aide sticks).

Ten minutes before classes begin, a child or teacher shakes a bell audible to all. Five minutes later it is shaken again and students respond by moving to the area outside the door to their classroom, and lining up in two lines - one for boys, the other for girls.

At a third bell a few minutes later, the teacher allows the students to enter the classroom. Once inside the

120 classroom, they stand beside their desks while a designated student leads them in prayer. Then they greet the teacher with "Good morning Maestro Tmale teacher's name! ", or Good morning , Miss [female teacher's name! " .

On some days, the upper division has assembly which, from what I observed, involves a talk delivered by the principal in the outdoors, although, as earlier stated, the school does contain rooms of potential size for such purposes.

Almost the same routine takes place after lunch except that, before entering classrooms, all classes sing together the Belizean National Anthem.

There is a 15-minute morning break and a 10-minute afternoon break for middle and upper divisions. A bell sounds to announce them. Children usually leave the classroom, often using the time to purchase snacks from the vendors.

After school each day, clean-up time for each class is held. Designated students remain and sweep the soiled-with- dirt-or-mud cement floors, first stacking the chairs on top of desks or tables.

121 Once every other week, a school-sponsored, after-school club for Standard VI students holds meetings - the "Junior

Youth Group".

122 CHAPTER 5 METHODOLOGY

BACKGROUND: TIME PERIODS AND LOCATIONS OF MY FIELDWORK STAYS

As previously stated, the fieldwork on which my research is based took place February 1992 - February 1993, preceded by a three month visit to Belize in 1990. The time spent in the Cayo District during these two trips was one week during the first trip, and 11 and 1/2 months during the second.

In Cayo, I stayed at a local hotel during my 1990 visit, and - during my 11 and 1/2 month, 1992-3 stay - with two local families: a white family for the first six weeks, and a Garinagu one for the remaining ten months. I continued contact with the white family after I moved out (e.g., renting computer "time" in their home). Throughout my Cayo stay, I also maintained a schedule of regular visits with two Creole families and with one Mestizo family (which I had planned to move in with, at one point in time).

For a four-week period prior to settling in Cayo for my 1992-3 fieldwork stay, and for the first one and one-half months of my 1990 trip, I stayed in Belize City. The purpose

123 of both these Belize City stopovers was to obtain clearemce, confer with local experts, amd conduct other secondary research (that city's governmental offices, libraries, and tertiary-level institutions constituting the appropriate repositories of authority and information for such projects) . After I moved to Cayo, I continued to make periodic visits to Belize City (usually one to three days in length).

Across my Belize City visits, I stayed in the homes of two families (one Creole, one Garinagu) , and in two small, intimate, family-run guest houses, each located in the same edifice as the family residence (one Creole family; one mixed Creole-Mestizo family),

While in the country of Belize, I also had occasion to visit regions of the country other than Belize City and the Cayo District - especially during the 1990 visit. Punta Gorda and its surrounding villages, Palencia, Sein Beight, Stann Creek (Dangriga), Corozol and several Belize District villages were among the places in which I spent one to 21 days, at different times.

124 DATA COLLECTION PLAN FOR RESEARCH IN THE CAYO COMMUNITY

Overall Research Plan for Collecting Community Data

My overall plan for collecting community data in Cayo, Belize was to utilize participant observation, and, in selected cases to be explained, open-ended interviews.

The participcint observation included, among other activities: participating in the day-to-day life of the Garinagu family with which I lived, through running errands such as purchasing items at stores and the market, and paying bills; accompanying "my" family on out-of-town trips, and to events such as weddings euid a family funeral; interacting with neighborhood children on an informal basis ; visiting, as mentioned, four families other than the one with which I lived (one Mestizo, one White and two Creole families) ; attending public and private events to which I was invited by these families and others ; and attending religious services and events held by the Catholic church operating the school which I researched (I was a regular attendant of this church's 9 a.m. Sunday masses, and sometimes attended the Saturday midnight mass, and the Sunday 6 a.m., Spanish-language one) .

In addition to the above participâtion-observâtion activities, I held intermittent, structured data collection

125 sessions with approximately four children. These involved miscellaneous interactive play activities, some of them designed to help me le a m the Belizean Creole language.

Supplementing or replacing numerous participant- observation activities, I also video-taped numerous community activities (my original topic and research methodology called for extensive use of this procedure, as explained later in this chapter). Indeed, as a result of the common sight of me lugging video equipment throughout the town, I came to be know as "the video woman" (I later learned).

One additional "arm" of my research plan soon became to conduct structured, open-ended interviews with older Cayo residents. The purpose of these interviews was to leam details concerning the history of the Cayo area - this both because of my discovery that few extant materials on this topic existed, and because of the perceived importance of such information in making sense of the present-day situation in Cayo.

All of the above were to be forced into the two to three days of the week, and/or the two to three hours of each day when I was not observing in the school (or completing tasks such as writing up field notes or attending to personal matters) ; as explained in Chapter 1 . the research design which

126 I followed during my fieldwork (i.e., prior to my topic change) assigned higher priority to my school data collection than to my community research.

Fieldwork Living Arrangements: Mv Attempts at Identifying A Family to Live With

One thoroughly deliberated aspect of my data collection plan for fieldwork in Cayo, Belize consisted of my desire to live with a family for the duration of my stay. This goal derived from at least two factors : (1) my desire to gain fluency in the Belizean Creole language together with my reasoning that this might be best accomplished in a family situation (versus living alone), and (2) my concern regarding a personality trait which I believed might limit my interactions with locals if I resided alone - an above-average tendency toward personal privacy and isolationism (perhaps deriving from living by myself for so many years).

Three requirements were included in my plan for living with a local family. The first requirement was that the family contain children of primary-school age. Like the reasons behind my decision to live with a family, the two reasons behind this requirement were methodology-related : I viewed such as likely to integrate me better into both my topic and my primary-school-data-collection site (recall my

127 study was originally to have been a schooling study); and, I believed such would expedite my Creole language learning (in that I might feel more comfortable with at least some of my

errors being corrected by children versus adults).

The second requirement was that the family I lived with be of either Creole or Mestizo ethnic group affiliation, since these are the two largest ethnic groups of the Cayo region.

My third and final requirement with regard to choice of a family to live with was to have my own sleeping room. This I believed was requisite for the necessary privacy for such things as reflecting on and writing up my notes, as well as desirable in terms of catering a bit to the personality weakness mentioned earlier.

My attempts at identifying my "ideal" family failed. The reason was probsüDly my desired combination of the presence of primary-school-aged children and having my own, private bedroom. As one local woman - herself familiar with U.S.A. households - summed it up, "In Belize we simply don't have the concept of the "guest room" . Specifically, what she meant and what turned out to be true was that the only families with empty bedrooms tended to be those in which some or all of the children had already left the natal home, with any remaining ones close to doing so, such that, in either case, all were

128 probably older tham. primary-school age. (Recall, also, that the average Belizean household contains five individuals sharing two or fewer bedrooms.)

The Mestizo family whose home I had expected to move into at one point was an unusual exception. The female head, six children, two grandchildren and (towards the end of my fieldwork) yet another son and his wife, were in possession of, and inhabiting, both their own small house and a house adjoining their property (the home of relatives who were living in "The States"). The local white family with which I briefly stayed also had an extra bedroom, but no primary- school-aged children. The Garinagu family with which I ended up living the longest fell into the category mentioned above of a family with extra space due to (some) children having left the natal nest. While also lacking an extra bedroom, this family was able to accommodate me (for what was supposed to be a temporary period while I continued to search for my ideal family) as a result of negotiations with one daughter to give up her room, with the promise of a new mattress for her bed upon my departure. Consistent with what has been said, the resident children in that home were older than my ideal : one in the final year of primary school (Uni ted-States-eighth- grade equivalent) , one in secondary school, and a final child, schooling at the tertiary level. This home, however, was almost never without neighborhood children swarming throughout

129 (ages three to approximately ten; primarily mixed Mayan- Mestizo, mixed Creole-East Indian, Creole, and Garinagu neighbors).

In summary, in terms of fieldwork living arrangements, one of my three goals (having my own bedroom) was completely achieved; another goal (exposure to primary-school-aged children on a regular basis) was achieved with some compromise; and a third goal (residence with a family of the Mestizo or Creole ethnic group) remained completely unaccomplished.

Observations on Regarding How I was Perceived By Locals

In ethnographic research, the human being functions as the principal research instrument. Thus, the flow of data from the researched to the researcher - both quantity and quality - must be acknowledged as vulnerable to influences from the human factor. Although I have found it difficult to draw any strong conclusions concerning specific or overall effects concerning my own experience, I believe it still appropriate to devote some attention, in this document, to the topic of how I was perceived by the individuals who were the focus of my research.

130 All in all, and in retrospect, I believe that - setting aside personality and related (e.g., behavioral) characteristics which I possess - three elements of ray personal background may have been salient to the San Ignacians and other Belizeans with whom I interacted. These three characteristics may have affected ray data and are therefore worth mentioning. They are: 1) ray phenotypic identifiability as an individual of African descent (ray classification in the United States is as "African-Araerican"); 2) ray nationality status as a resident of the United States; and 3) ray prior experience of residence in a society and culture (in Tanzania, Africa) possessing numerous similarities to at least some elements of Belizean society and culture (e.g., aspects of the Creole and Garinagu cultures).

The following examples of San Ignacian perceptions of and reactions to me suggest evidence supporting this proposition of the salience of these three personal characteristics for the individuals I researched.

One of the perceptions, on the part of Belizeans who saw or met me early during ray stay in Cayo, was that I was from one of the islands of the West Indies (e.g., Jamaica). Some later explained to me that this theory of foreignness despite my phenotype was due more to "the foreign way I carried myself" than, interestingly enough, to ray language traits

131 (North-American accent or failure to speak the local creole language). The fact that this theory of foreignness ignored the possibility of origins in the United States is also a bit interesting. Although the evidence is that Belizeans receive few United-States tourists of African descent, the statistics regarding the high numbers of black Belizeans who have emigrated to the United States since the 1940's (see Palacio 1988b) might have at least suggested the possibility that I was either an expatriate, United-States-resident Belizean, and/or a United-States-born-and-reared relative of a local Belizean.

Later in time, after I moved in with the San Ignacian family of Garinagu ethnicity discussed above (an African- derived group) , the assumption came to be that I was a relative of that family (indeed, my features were similar to those of several members of that family). It was never clear whether this newer theory included the element ignored by the earlier one - that of a United-States connection.

Across time, the San Ignacio community of a mere 4,000 people came to peg my background more accurately, finally discerning my United-States affiliation. As reported above, I eventually came to be known (at least to some) as "The American (this word commonly applied exclusively to North Americans) video woman".

132 Concomitant with knowledge of my United-States background came expressions of stereotypic assumptions regarding wealth supposedly possessed by me (at least from some San Ignacians). Upon seeing me dragging my video equipment past his home to school several days each week, one local individual who knew virtually nothing about me except that I was from the United States, asked me why I had not brought a car with me to Belize. When I explained that I did not have sufficient funds

to have done so, he exclaimed, "Tell that to someone else!"

My four years of residence in Africa also came to be known by at least some Belizeans. Certain commonalities in

culture and society exist across the two settings (many shared by a large number of countries outside the United States) which resulted in my instant familiarity with some features of Belizean society and culture with which I might not have

otherwise been familiar. This was noticeable to some Belizeans as the result of allusions to past experiences which I sometimes made on topics ranging all the way from commonalities or similarities regarding weather, food and

family structure, to practices and apparatuses associated with providing lighting (kerosene lamps) and for supplying fuel to gas stoves (individually purchased fuel canisters as opposed to pipe systems internal to the edifice) . I remember one incident in particular. At mealtime amongst a gathering of Garinagu individuals, a group of women set before me a plate

133 cf a popular Garinagu dish consisting of mashed-plantain with fish cooked in coconut milk. Early into their exercise in explaining to me what it was and the "proper" method of consuming it (sans cutlery) , it was discerned that I was already familiar with all these basics due to the fact that Tanzanian society (as well as some other societies, in both the eastern and western regions of the African continent) possesses a similar fish-with-mashed-starch-side-dish, also involving coconut milk, and also eaten with the fingers.

These background factors may have sometimes produced consequences in my favor, and sometimes not. I will mention five examples. Pertaining to the incident just reported, the fact that I was cible to interrupt the locals ' explanations with a gusto devouring of the given dish, fingers and all (the Tanzanian counterpart was a favorite of mine), was certainly one incident which impressed those who witnessed or came to know of it. Indeed, perhaps due to it and similar observations on their part, some San Igancians seemed to begin to assume my prior knowledge of a wide range of Belizean ways.

My African-derived phenotype may have positively affected receipt of data concerning what is later (in this document) advanced as a possible phenotype-based class system based on gradations of African-derived physical characteristics [see research suggestion #2 of Chapter 12 concerning Henriques'

134 (1953) theory of researcher advantages in this direction]. Whatever the case regarding research of the above phenotype question, there was evidence that my phenotype helped me, more generally, in accomplishing the "fly on the wall", blending-in goal of all ethnographers. This, of course, is believed - by anthropologists - to facilitate data acquisition. One incident illustrating my possible nonobtrusiveness involves a co-principal's comment to me - through a school window after she had exited a classroom in which I was conducting observations, and in which she had just finished delivering an extended lecture from the front of the room, "Oh! Hello, Miss Lisa; I didn't even notice you there".

Lastly (on the positive side), perceptions that I was a relative of a local family would presumeibly have helped to nullify impressions of me as a completely disparate element in the local community.

Effects in the opposite direction from some or all of the above, are also, however, possible. For example, in retrospect, I have come to wonder - relative to the immediately prior discussion, of this chapter, on my attempts at living with a Creole or Mestizo family - whether my failure to achieve my goal of residing with one particular family of Cayo's two largest ethnic groups was due, in part, to their perception of, and concern about, perceived high North

135 American standards I might hold in terms of a living environment - ones which they would have had difficulty meeting (fears auid concerns which I evidently failed to prevent, detect, and dispel). I continue to lament this missed opportunity for both obtaining valuable data regarding

Cayo's largest ethnic groups, and enriching, more generally, my fieldwork, and life experiences.

DATA COLLECTION PLAN FOR RESEARCH IN THE SCHOOL

Overall Research Plan for Collecting In-School Data

My original in-school data collection plan, designed for my original dissertation topic, can be summarized as a largely classroom-based, audio- and videotape-based data collection plan (to be followed by transcription of the tapes, and by the types of detailed, systematic language-based analysis procedures characteristic of the fields of linguistics and discourse analysis). Although I continuously engaged in recording fieldnotes, and engaged in some participant/observâtion activities, the most important data consisted of these audio and video recordings - themselves generated from observation (versus participant-observation) activities.

136 This predominately audio- and video-based methodology was also used, at the school, outside the individual classrooms - yielding recordings of school situations such as teacher- teacher, teacher-principal and principal-student interactions ; and videos of the monthly meetings of an after-school youth group.

Participant-observâtion and simple observation (that is, minus participation and taping) were used in the case of numerous other school-based activities such as faculty parties.

The complete list of types of school texts collected, either in machine-recorded or written form, include : texts of orally delivered teacher lessons ; blackboard texts ; background information sheets and handout sheets produced for teachers and students by either the Belizean Education Ministry or other school personnel (primarily on the topic of Belizean ethnicity) [1]; and texts of issues of a privately-produced educational newsletter, designed for use in Belizean schools (similar to the Weekly Reader publication popular in the United States). [2]

137 Choice of Grade Levels. Classrooms and Teachers

The first three months of my school research took place during the third and final term of the 1992 school year (April - June 1992). The first few weeks of this term were defined by me as a period of preliminary observations in numerous classrooms in order to make a selection of two to three classrooms for final study; my goal was to conduct observations in at least 50% of the total number of classes for each grade level, toward this end. These first few weeks of the term were also defined by me as an opportunity for teachers to react to me and to the idea of having an observer in their classrooms, such that I might better be able to subsequently select a person with whom I might establish rapport. I also wanted to discern class composition with regard to ethnic and other heterogeneity, since a main goal was to study classrooms which were as varied as possible.

As a result of this preliminary period of observations, I selected two teachers and classes for further study: Miss Theresa's Standard II class, and Miss Espana's Standard VI class (pseudonyms) . Two unexpected developments occurred, however, to alter this plan. The first resulted in my having to make a substitution for one of these two teachers and classes; the second, in adding an additional grade level and

138 teacher, along with that teacher's two classrooms (although for limited observation sessions, and during the last eight weeks of my fieldwork, only).

The first unanticipated development was that, between the term in which I selected Miss Theresa's class and conducted preliminary observations, suid the following two school terms during which I was to collect the bulk of my data (including my prioritized audio and video data), this classroom came to be selected for assignment to a visiting teacher who was to

CO-teach with Miss Theresa. The problematic factor, in my opinion, was that the visiting teacher was a nonBelizean. My decision to switch classrooms was due to a concern about a foreign teacher's presence biasing classroom behaviors vis-a- vis typical interactions in Belizean classrooms as well as discourses used to transmit ethnicity information. I therefore switched to a Standard III class taught by a Maestro Rosas.

As stated above, two months prior to my departure from the field, I also added two classrooms of an additional grade level (Standard V) to my roster of data collection classrooms. The reason for this alteration to my original plan had to do with the fact that the curriculum for this particular grade level included a mandatory social studies unit on Belizean ethnicity, and to the unexpected development that I came to

139 know of this late in my stay. As stated, it was not until two months prior to my departure (and four weeks into the teaching of the unit) that I added these classes and grade level; they were added as soon as I became aware of the existence of this curriculum for this grade level. This delay in information acquisition regarding the ethnicity curriculum of these classes occurred despite repeated efforts made by me, from the time of my arrival, to l e a m what the curriculum of each grade level of the school was (through both direct inquiry, and requests to review the written, government - authored curriculum guide), and despite the fact that I had publicly and clearly communicated ity interest in learning how the topic of Belizean ethnic groups was taught in Belizean schools. The knowledge was not acquired until I made an out-of-town trip to the national offices of the Belize (government) Curriculum Development Unit in Belize City to consult the written curriculum guide. This situation thus counts as one of those mystifying experiences that anthropologists sometimes have as outsiders to their adopted communities, and which may (or may not) be evidence of the locals intentionally trying to limit one's research efforts. On the other hand, once I learned of the ethnicity unit, the appropriate co-principal "welcomed" my idea of talking to that grade level's social studies teacher [as previously explained, teacher assignments in this, the upper- grade-level unit of the primary school, are specific to subject matter rather than grade level] to see if I could sit

140 in on some of her classes. Whatever the case, I remain overwhelmingly grateful to that teacher ' s immediate consent to my data collection activities, especially since the consent included permission for immediate use of my video-taping equipment, without the rather lengthy period of build-up in this respect which I purposely engaged in (prior to introducing this procedure) in the cases of the other two classes (see discussion of term-by-term research procedures, below) . The data from these classes lack the full-day context existing for the data from the other two classes researched, and span (as stated) only eight weeks.

In summary, the bulk of my school data collection efforts involved: one Standard III classroom; two Standard V classrooms, and one Standard VI classroom.

Term-by-Term Stages of the Data Collection Process

The entire first school term of my fieldwork stay (April

- June 1992) was to be a period of preliminary data collection while I "felt" things "out. Some of my activities during this period have already been explained (for example, rotation observations, partially toward "testing" teacher tolerance of outsiders in their classrooms) . In addition to the earlier mentioned goals for the first few weeks of this term, the entire term was one which I used to find out what goes on in

141 a Belizean classroom. This was needed, for one thing, toward eventually deciding when it would be worthwhile auid feasible to use my audio and video equipment.

My plan was that during the first (Fall) and second (Winter) terms of the following school year (Belizean schools break for summer months), I would gradually introduce, first the audio machine (during the first term) , and then the video camera (during the second and final term of my stay).

This plan meant that I was to remain with the teachers I selected during the third term of 1991-92 year, for the first and second terms of 1992-93 school year. This was to be true despite the fact that their students would change. The chauige in student populations was not an ideal situation in terms of my research plan, but unavoidable due to the necessary scheduling of my trip to Belize, and the structure of the

Belizean school year.

Week-to-Week and Day-To-Day Procedures

Week-to-Week Procedures

My week-to-week research plan involved observing in each of my selected classes one and one-half days weekly, for all subjects taught during the full or half day. This plan was

142 more or less successfully iiqplemented for the case of my first two classrooms, although not for the two added late in my final term (as earlier explained). The reasons behind the decision to observe for all subjects taught during the day or

half-day were : (i) the assumption that differentness transmission can easily take place during any part of a school day, regardless of subject taught, and (ii) the assunption that all-day stays ensure knowledge of context. One extra half day weekly was to be spent in the middle- and upper- division teacher offices, for "helping out" (for reciprocation purposes, as well as allowing additional experiences and opportunities for observations of interactions). (As previously explained, the remainder of the week was to be used for the community study and for personal tasks such as hand washing my clothes which took me three times as long as it did

Belizeans.)

My in-school data collection plan also involved rotation of the particular day of observation for each week. This was to ensure data from all days of the school week. The plan also involved oversampling those days when social studies was taught (under the reasoning that the topic of differentness was more apt to arise during the teaching of this subject than during the teaching of some of the other subjects) . Beginning in my second term of observations, I tried to let the teachers have a say in the decision as to which days, during the

143 upcoming week, I would observe. I attempted this by suggesting, at the end of each observation week, three days I might come during the following week, allowing them the final decision. This may or may not have been wise. Maestro Rosas may have taken advantage of this procedure to limit my observation sessions to non-social studies days. However, my initial oversampling of social studies days, as well as my continuous monitoring of my observation days (to make sure I was obtaining observation opportunities across all the days of the week), served somewhat to offset these actions on Maestro Rosas' part, which, at any rate, did not begin until after a month or two into the second term.

Dav-to-Dav Procedures

On the selected day of the week for data collection for a particular classroom, [at least in the case of the two classrooms which I researched the longest, and at least during the first term of my research (Spring 1992)], I arrived each morning a little before the ringing of the school bell, and conducted observations in the school yard. At the ringing of the school bell, once students formed lines to enter the building, I moved to the back and walked into the classroom at the end of the girls' line. Once inside, I proceeded to a seat on the side wall, near the back of the particular classroom. From this location, I took notes on all that

144 occurred (to the extent possible) - including reproducing in my notebook, texts recorded on the classroom blackboards. Approximately six weeks into the second term of my research (Fall 1992), I began audio taping the classroom sessions. This involved arriving and entering the classroom 20 minutes early each day in order to position two (later four) microphones at selected locations around the classroom, and extending their cords, using two to three extension cords, along the side walls, to my seat near the rear of the classroom. All were fed into an microphone "mixer" machine (allowing me to control volume for the different mikes) , which itself was fed into my tape recorder. I used an inconspicuous earphone in one ear, from time to time, to confirm that the mikes were picking up sound. The tape recorder was in operation throughout the entire schoolday, including a.m. and p.m. breaks and during after-school cleanup periods. As previously stated, handwritten notes were taken concurrently, throughout the entire time of the taping.

At the beginning of ny third term of data collection

(Winter 1993), I began bringing my video machine (camcorder) and setting it up near my seat and tape recorder, although further to the front of the classroom (for the purpose of capturing side to frontal views of classroom activities). For the initial three weeks, I refrained from operating the machine; the teacher and principal were made aware of this

145 "breaking in" period designed to effect a "wearing off" of the novelty of having a camcorder in the room before I actually began use of it. Once in operation, the camera's view-finder window was never used; to aid in aiming and focusing the camera, I used a palm-sized television set, (volume turned off) attached to the video camera by an auxiliary wire long enough to reach comfortably into my lap area. The reason for the substitution of the small, virtually unnoticeable television monitor was, of course, the desire to be less obtrusive.

My schedule for use of the video camera initially involved twice-a-month usage, for entire days, in place of audio taping. The reason for this limited use of the camera was the expense of the video tapes. This schedule, however, "broke down" during the next-to-last month of my stay, when my tape recorders (back-ups included) ceased functioning for various reasons, such that I was forced to resort to videoing all day, each day at the school, until I could obtain a replacement tape recorder. Thus, I ended up with approximately 10 more days of video recordings than planned.

POST FIELDWORK PROCEDURES

At the end of the fieldwork period, my audio and video data records were scrutinized, and portions transcribed for

146 analysis. In addition, extant texts from the school (for example, selected copies of the teaching background sheets, and selected issues of the educational newspaper used in the school), were also smalyzed, as were my fieldnotes. It is to be noted that the majority of the in-school findings reported in the next four chapters of this document (the findings chapters) constitute portions of these transcripts, or excerpts from these extant school texts.

REFLECTIONS ON A METHODOLOGICAL ISSUE

In closing, I wish to reflect on one important aspect of my data collection philosophy which may have had negative consequences - my policy of eschewing the "solicited response". Specifically, throughout my fieldwork, I attempted to refrain from initiating discussion or even explicitly asking questions concerning the topics of my research (ethnicity and how the school transmits ethnicity information). This stubbornness - which of course precluded interviewing - was born of anthropological concerns regarding : general researcher influences; even more intentional, purposeful response tailoring on the part of cultural others; and my expectation, in 1992, of possible sensitivity, in Belize, toward topics dealing with ethnicity or "race". The experiences and insights of Moermaui regarding his Lue efforts (for exan^le, see Moermaui 1968:66-67), and personal

147 experiences as a member of an et. nie group which, in this country, is often researched as a cultural other, convince me of the first two possibilities (both are also extensively discussed in the social research literature). For example, Moerman, whose research topic (very close to my revised topic) was "..to learn the Lue categories of persons and occurrences...", reminds us, using his particular research topic as an exan^le, that "By his very presence as someone interested in culture and cultures, the social scientist establishes the primary relevance to him of ethnic (or kinship, or class, or political) categorization schemes as ways of reporting, recording and analyzing human occurrences.

He thus pressures [emphasis mine] those who would talk to him to pay primary attention to these categorizations even when they would not otherwise do so" (1968:66) . The somewhat opposite experience of an 1985 researcher in Belize alerted me to the possibility of the third problem for the topic of ethnicity in Belize. Lundgren's efforts at obtaining answers to inquires about "race" in Belize City met with significant reticence due (evidently) to topic sensitivity (see Lundgren 1987) . Indeed, one of the reasons why I adopted usage of the procedure of naturalistic recordings of local behaviors and conversations was as an at least partial solution to all three of these problems (not that this procedure is free of its own research influences).

148 By pursuing this policy, however, it might be said that I limited the amount of data I obtained (this, notwithstanding the fact that the very phenomenon of some topics not getting discussed unless explicit inquiry is made, is, itself, data). In many cases, and for some topics, I would say that this stubbornness turned out to produce (at best) a trade-off between data which may have been inferior as to validity, and little or ûfl (apparent) data at all. Although still holding strongly the concerns of informant avoidance of sensitive topics and researcher influences, including the opinion that cultural others often intentionally tailor responses to researcher questions, this frustrated researcher is willing to go on record confessing that if she had to do it again, she is not sure she would make the same decision - at least not under the pressures of a dissertation-producing project.

There were definitely exceptions to my "don't ask" policy (in addition to my planned, structured interviews with Cayo elders) - some of these will be obvious to the reader of this document.

149 NOTES

1. As Stated, the information I received was that these typed and photocopied sheets were products of Belize's National Ministry of Education. This is true despite the fact that they bore no independently identifiable statement or evidence to that effect.

2. This publication is published in the district of Cayo (in the town of Benque Viejo del Carmen) , and is printed and distributed by one of Belize's national, weekly newspapers - The Reporter.

150 CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS - CREOLES

INTRODUCTION TO THIS. AND NEXT THREE CHAPTERS

This document contains four chapters on research findings. This auid the next chapter report findings pertaining to Creoles and Mestizos, respectively. The subsequent chapter reports findings regarding the Caucasiaui population of Cayo, and the fourth (final) findings chapter reports miscellaneous findings - ones which cross-cut all the ethnic groups auid populations of Cayo.

Each of these four findings chapters begins with a Fieldwork Memories section. The purpose of these sections is to give the reader a visual and/or other sensory impression of the Creole, Mestizo or white population under discussion, through the sharing of memories from my fieldwork.

For the case of this auid the next two findings chapters (i.e., for all but the miscellaneous findings chapter), the fieldwork memories sections are followed by sections reporting

(first) Community Findings and (next) SchOOl PiSCQurse

151 Findings. The report of community emd school discourse findings in the Miscellaneous Findings chapter is a joint one (a single section).

Each Community Findings section attempts a broad, descriptive summary of the ethnic population's location in terms of the socio-cultural, economic and political landscape of the society. Because of my topic change and other conditions surrounding this revised research project, these reports are less than fully comprehensive ; the need for additional data collection is highly evident.

One additional point to be made about the Community Findings sections of each of the following four findings chapters, is that each ethnic-group-population percentage statistic (reported at the beginning of the community findings section of each chapter) is the statistic for the entire district; city-level statistics on Belizean ethnic groups were not available.

The School Discourse Findings sections of each of the following four findings chapters report discourse characteristics of oral and written school texts on the Creole, Mestizo and White groups (discursive form as well as content). The characteristics reported are those deemed

152 potentially relevant to Cayo's ethnicity system and/or those for which there is significant variation across the ethnic groups studied.

In these school discourse findings sections, the order of presentation is usually Discourse Findings followed by Text Examples. The text examples subsequently receive treatment in the form of (usually) Analysis discussions, Alternative

Interpretations of the Data discussions (introducing counter­ indications toward using the school discourse data as evidence of Cayo's ethnicity system), and Final Comment discussions. The exact order of these latter discussions in each case is explained at the beginning of the particular Discourse Findings section of the chapter.

In each case, I present the text example within its multi-paragraph or multi-exchange (in the case of interactions) context. The actual text example is underlined and labelled with an alphabetic character joined with an arabic numeral enclosed in parenthesis, for ease in referencing and scrutinizing.

153 FIELDWORK MEMORIES

The Latinized. IlJ Cayo Creole _ A .Lasting.. Impress-ioD

One indelible memory from my fieldwork experience in Belize involves the arresting sight and sound of a Cayo Creole male - the phenotypic double of any "average" "Blacktown, U.S.A." indigene - under a tent at a community festival, tiny rain in the background, bellowing out the highs and lows and moans and sighs of a Spanish language love song. Admittedly some of the savoriness of this memory derives from the beauty of the song, the melodious quality of the singer's voice, my newness to Cayo at the time, and the enjoyable context of the singing. However, much of the enduring power of this memory derives from the intriguing phenomenon of latinized blackness which it illustrates and which is so evident in Cayo, Belize.

This " spanish-ness" of the Cayo Creole - both culturally and genetically - is one of the main features characterizing Cayo and distinguishing Cayo Creoles from those of locations such as Belize City. This is not to say that cross-group participations of Creoles in Mestizo culture are not evident in that particular city and elsewhere in Belize. Indeed, other salient fieldwork memories of mine include remembrances of Creoles all over Belize enjoying latin tunes over the airwaves of Radio Belize, as well as eating tacos, tamales and

154 tortillas (technically a Mayan dish) - both at public events and in their homes. A frequent "chore” assigned to me by one Belize City Creole family with which I sometimes stayed was to run errands to the nearby tortilla factory to purchase the massa for the family's at least weekly tortilla preparation.

Nor is my claim as to the uniqueness of the "Spanishness" of the Cayo Creole intended to deny genetic admixture of Creoles with Latins elsewhere in Belize. On several occasions in Belize City, I stayed at a guest house operated by a mixed Creole/Mestizo family (Creole father. Mestizo mother, two adolescent daughters). [2] However, notwithstanding such examples from other areas of Belize, the magnitude of both the cross-cultural participations and the genetic mixing (of Creoles with Latins) in Cayo seems significantly greater than that of the other areas, either as depicted in the literature and/or as I personally experienced them.

One aspect of the latinization of the Cayo Creole - an aspect hinted at by the above recap of the Creole entertainer's performance of the Spanish language song, and mentioned yet elsewhere - is that many Cayo individuals identifying themselves as Creole are fluent in the Spanish language. Another is that many Cayo Creoles are adherents of Catholicism (historically correlated with Mestizo-ism and

155 Maya-ism) as opposed to the Anglican faith claimed historically and currently by the majority of the Creoles of Belize (Merrill 1993:201).

It was also my observation that many Cayo Creoles possess Spanish surnames (common, throughout Belize for Garinagu, although not for Creoles). Thus, Creole children at the school I researched include Angela Santos and Henry Reyes; Creole families with which I became acquainted include the Valdez's and the Rosaldos.

The Spanish surname phenomenon, more than the other latinization aspects I have just mentioned, evidences, of course, the genetic component of the Cayo Creole latinization phenomenon. While some of this latinization is historical and involves Amerindian as well as Mestizo inputs (see Note #1), and populations from outside of Cayo (to be discussed at length in a later discussion) , some of it derives from present-day admixture with local Cayo Mestizos.

Each of the above latinization features is discussed in greater detail - primarily in the subsections of the following discussions of community findings - each under the appropriate heading (religion, language, etc.). [31

156 Community Findings - Cayo Creoles

Occupations

My observation regarding Creole occupations is that a large sector of the approximately 23% Creole population of Cayo (Central Statistical Office 1991: Table Bl) is employed

in civil service and other government positions. Examples are postal, hospital and social welfare workers, school teachers, and government employees in the near-to-Cayo national capital (Belmopan). This is consistent with national statistics - both historical and current. These statistics inform us that Creoles have been dominant in the civil service sector of the Belizean government from early colonial days, prior to the arrival and/or integration of the Mestizos, Mayans and others into the polity. On the other hemd, I also observed many Creoles in Cayo working in the private sphere. At least a few of these owned shops (for example, a photography studio). Others worked as salaried workers in shops, hotels, and other places. I knew of one young Creole adolescent employed as a domestic in the home of a local white family. However, it may be true that domestic, custodian, and other bottom-rung positions are not as common for the case of the Cayo Creole as for the case of the Cayo Mestizo - especially the "alien" sector of this latter group (see Findings - Mestizos chapter).

157 There were also cases of Creoles regularly selling produce at the weekly produce markets and of Creole street vending of (Creole) baked goods - the latter likely a part-time activity.

Religions

In the district of Cayo, Creoles are Anglican, Catholic and members of other Christian Protestant denominations. However, as alluded to in the "fieldwork memories" discussion, a larger percentage are Catholic than is the case for the nation as a whole. The explanation given me for this phenomenon was one of admixture. Specifically, it is that these individuals represent Creoles from families who have acquired Mestizo family members through cross-mating, resulting in the offspring being reared in the Catholic faith, especially if the Mestizo implant was a female who later came to be the mother of this "F-l" generation.

Examples of Cayo Creoles affiliated with non-Anglican Protestant denominations include the case of one of my acquaintances who belonged to the local Nazarene church, although her family background included both (Creole) Anglicans and (latin) Catholics. Indeed, the Belize Census Office reports statistics to the effect that significant

158 numbers of Anglicans (most of whom we can presume to be Creole) have switched to other Protestant denominations since 1980 (Central Statistical Office 1991:7).

The Spanish-Icmguage-usage phenomenon among Cayo Creoles, reported in the "fieldwork memories" section of this chapter, deserves elaboration. One of my observations was that numerous Cayo Creoles speaüc Spanish in their homes. For example, of two Creole families living across the street from me at one point in time, one's in-home language was Spanish; English or Creole was resorted to, if necessary, for the case of public interactions. One of my informants, however, once gave me a lengthy lecture communicating his strong perception of the limits of this phenomenon in Cayo. While corroborating my in-home Spanish usage findings, he advanced his view that such cases fall into three limited (according to him) categories. Two of his categories were: 1) the category, again, of familial cross-matings with Mestizos; and 2) the category of recent immigration from a Spanish-speaking. Central American country. His third explanation - one which merely "begs the question" as far as explanatory power - was the possibility of the Creole family being a recent transplant from one of the more pervasively Spanish-speaking communities located west of Cayo, such as the town of Benque Viejo del

159 Carmen (the further question which needs to be asked is, "What was the reason for the Spemish language usage in the earlier locale: A cross-mating? Recent residence in a Spanish­ speaking country? Other?"). All in all, the main point I gained from this man's lengthy discourse was the need for me to be cautious as to any premature conclusion that all (or most) Cayo Creoles fall into the above category of in-home-

Spanish-language-usage latinization - a point with which I agree (and reiterate, on a more general level, in endnote #3) .

Notwithstanding what has just been stated (but consistent with the caution expressed by the informant just mentioned) , it is the Belizeaui Creole language that is undoubtedly the first tongue of the majority of Cayo Creoles. Yet, it seemed to me, that many of both these groups of Cayo Creoles (both those whose first language is Creole versus Spanish, and those who do not speaüc Spanish in their homes) are completely fluent in Spanish so as to be aüale to use it, for example, in business situations or for translation purposes more generally. I repeatedly witnessed one Cayo Creole woman who worked at a local ice cream parlor rattling on endlessly with

Spanish speeücing customers. Indeed, in the case of the other Creole family living across the street from me, Belizean Creole, versus Spauiish, was the in-home language, but Spanish was the second language of preference. Moreover - at least for the case of the adult family head - it was the only

160 additional language known. While my attempts at communicating with this woman in Standard English were completely futile, she became extremely helpful to me when the Spanish-language clientele of a social service agency located next door to ray residence at the time, would knock on my door (either by mistake or when the agency was closed), at times when their Spanish-language discourse (mostly questions) became too advanced for my graduate-school-acquired Spanish proficiencies.

Before closing, a point regarding the Belizean Creole tongue is in order. This New-World language amalgam is believed to be an invention of the individual strands of the Belizean proto-Creole population [4] in combination, first, with each other and Europeans in West Africa (initially, creating one or more West African, coastal pidgins), and, later, with the White ethnic group of Belize. Holm (1988), Dayley (1979), and Young (1973) among others, discuss this history; a few details are mentioned in endnotes for the "fieldwork memories" section of Chapter 7 of this document. As mentioned in the Background chapter, this language is virtually a lingua franca throughout Belize (although not spoken in some Mayan villages) . The point that is appropriate to make in this report of Cayo Creole findings is that my fieldwork data do not make it entirely clear whether Cayo Creoles hold the type of ambivalent attitude toward the Creole

161 lamguage - a major component of which involves feelings of shame and disdain - reported for other Creole and nonCreole Belizeans (Woods 1989). [Such has also been reported for members of other Caribbean Creole speech communities (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985) .] For exan^le, I never met - among Cayo Creoles - any who held the strong disdain for the Creole tongue possessed by one Belize City Creole acquaintance of mine who prohibited the speaking of Creole in her home. However, in this chapter's later section on school text data, I report a Cayo area finding which may or may not constitute evidence related to this thesis of Creole negative attitudes toward the Creole language.

Mating. and Eamily-Slcucture

From what I could tell, mamy Cayo Creoles are like their Belize City counterparts in adherence to documented West- Indian-Island mating and family-structure practices. The ones

I noticed in Cayo were : (1) serial mating tendencies ; (2) resultant "patchwork" offspring ("patchwork children" is a local term referring to the phenomenon of half-siblings being significantly different in appearance due to different paternity); (3) postponed, late-life submission to, or complete eschewing of, legalized marriage (preceded by, or replaced with consensual unions); and (4) fostering or what I

162 have called (Background chapter), the "granny phenomenon" (relatives other than biological parents - often grandmothers - rearing minors). The phenomenon of "outside children" is a fifth West-Indian-Island characteristic concerning which my fieldwork data are equivocal when it comes to the case of the Cayo Creole [offspring resulting from extra-consensual-union (or extra-marital) relations on the part of the male partner] . It was observed, by me, among Belize City Creoles, as well as among Cayo Mestizos and Garinagus.

One example, observed by me, of the first four of the above Caribbean phenomena (serial mating, patchwork offspring, postponement or eschewing of legal marriage and the granny phenomenon) was the case of a middle-aged, female Creole neighbor who had never legally married and lived as head-of- household of a family of six children born of different unions across time. One had an East Indian countenance, several looked mixed latin-Creole, and one was a carbon copy of the "average" North American African-American. Each child or set of children used their father's surname and the mother, hers.

Under the serial mating system, to the extent that a particular father remains involved in the financial support of his child or children, such things as Christmas gifts may end up being unequal. For the case of the 1992 Christmas of my Belizean stay, one child in this family received the

163 enormously disproportionate (in terms of expense) gift of a bicycle from his father, immensely outmatching his half- sisters' and half-brothers' Christmas bounty.

In addition to her own children, this female neighbor was also rearing one grandchild - itself the product of a serial, consensual union of one of her sons (this son legally married a subsequent girlfriend; I video-taped the wedding) . The child, who was five years old during my Cayo stay, had contact with her biological mother, making regular trips to the town and residence of the latter. Some of the other granny phenomenon cases I observed involved situations in which the biological parent or parents had migrated "States Side" (to the United States) . One woman I knew was urging her daughter to migrate to The States (as had three of the woman's older children) in order to pursue "a better life" but explained to me that she would never be in favor of the daughter's child accompanying the mom. My acquaintance was completely willing to assume full care for her daughter's child, because "it would hold [the migrant daughter] back" to have the child with her. Some cases of the granny phenomenon observed by me involved older siblings rearing younger ones. Rutheiser's research has produced statistics for numerous categories of type-of-caregiver (for the granny phenomenon) , for the case of Belize City (for exan^le, grandmother versus sibling) (Rutheiser 1991).

164 It deserves to be mentioned that, for the above five phenomena, generalizations across education, class level and religion may not be valid (especially for serial mating, patchwork offspring and the delay or eschewing of legal marriage).

One common West-Indian-Island practice with regard to which Cayo Creoles and all Belizeans may differ from West

Indians, is that of the one-parent, female-headed household (notwithstanding the example just described). The Belizean 1991 census found only one out of four of the households of the country (overall) to be female-headed, and only one out of five of those of Cayo District. It may be true that this disparity with West Indians is due to the greater number of Mestizos in Belize compared to most West Indian countries. In other words, it might be that Cayo and other Belizean Mestizos are skewing this overall statistic. I derive this theory from what is known about family structure patterns of "typical" Central-American Mestizo families - strong male-present, male- dominated households (Larvin 1989:252).

As is obvious from the "fieldwork memories" discussion of this chapter, that of the chapter on Whites, and other discussions of this document, Cayo Creoles are not completely endogamous. Cross-matings with whites, Spanish, Garinagu and East Indians have already been, or will be, reported.

165 Although I never heard of any Cayo-area admixing of Creoles with the Chinese ethnic group, such occurs elsewhere in Belize as evidenced by the case of one nationally prominent family of Belize's Toledo District; it was the guess of one of my informants that it could just as easily occur in Cayo. Present-day Creole-Mayaui admixture in Cayo constitutes another possibility about which I am unsure. Tabouret-Keller reports, at least of the Maya of a nearby village in the 1960 ' s and 1970's, that the Maya would never marry someone who had once been a slave (1976) . However, if it is true that Cayo Mayans would never marry Creoles, it may be true that they will at least foster (adopt and rear) at least "part-blood" Creoles. Although I was never sure whether the child involved was of Creole versus Garinagu derivation (and whether perhaps half-

Mayan versus "full-blooded" Creole or Garinagu) , I observed - when in Cayo - the case of a Mayan family rearing a phenotypically Creole or Garinagu child as its own. [5]

There is some evidence that Cayo Creoles engage in exogamy for the specific purpose of effecting a shift in their subsequent generation's phenotypes, in the direction of Caucasian features [as has been alleged for the Creoles of Belize more generally]. An upcoming section of this chapter, entitled Other - Hue, discusses this topic in more detail, and it is again taken up in subsequent chapters.

166 Expressive and Surface-Level Culture

The Creoles of Cayo - like their counterparts throughout Belize - manifest and perpetuate Caribbean customs such as West-Indian-Islamd music and dcuice (for example. Reggae and Calypso), and Caribbean death, funeral and burial practices (see Findings - Mestizos chapter for description of a Cayo case of the Caribbean-style funeral march). Their rice and beans is the "national dish" of Belize.

It was not clear to me whether the culture of the British and other colonial-day whites is revered by Cayo Creoles the way it seems to be by the Creoles of Belize City.

Other - "Hue"

The concern with skin color and phenotypic features mentioned above (section on mating and family structure patterns) , bespeaks what has been documented in the literature as the centrality of a European-features and European-culture- oriented value system in the early Belize settlement (Palacio 1988a and b) . It also supports the theory of the high valuing of white skin color and phenotype in present-day Belizean society (Palacio, personal communication) . This phenomenon has been referred to as a "hue" or "color" fixation (Henriques 1953) - the terms "hue" and "color" referring, as the

167 Conclusions Part II chapter of this document later explains, not only to skin color, but to phenotypic features such as hair type, and nose and lip shape.

An interesting event relevant to the possibility of a hue fixation in Cayo, Belize occurred during my stay in Cayo. A young, dark skinned. Creole contestant in the local "Queen of the West" beauty and talent contest acquired the required number of judges' points (for beauty, grace, and talent) to win the coveted title. Two things of note subsequently occurred. Firstly, local Creoles, including the contestant's fellow villagers (from a village just outside of Cayo Town) were reported to have proclaimed in disgust that she was too dark to be "Queen of the West" . Second (at least speculated - by one of my Creole informants - to be related to hue, if not ethnicity) , the town decision makers departed from past policy in declining to send the Creole contestant to compete for the national-level title in Belize City. [It is extremely interesting that Marger (1985:233) reports on a virtually identical beauty-contest-outcome occurrence for Brazil.]

Other data relevant to this thesis of the importance of hue among Cayo Creoles include evidence of the folk saying, "to marry to improve one's color", referring to selecting a mate who will effect a "lightening" of the "color" of one's offspring. [6] A third piece of evidence, related to this hue

168 adage, consists of marriages observed by me which could be interpreted as cases of Creoles selecting mates - either Creole or other - with clearly non-African features. The following school-discourse findings section mentions another type of evidence pertaining to the possible salience of hue in the ethnicity system of Cayo.

SCHOOL DISCOURSE FINDINGS

In this section, I report two findings regarding school discourse treatment of Creoles. The order of presentation is

Findings, Text Examples, Alternative Interpretations, and Final Comments. There is no analysis section for these cases, because both sets of text examples (i.e., for each of the two findings) are believed to speak for themselves. The relevant portions of the text examples are in bold type and are underlined; they are also labelled with combined alpha- numerical characters [e.g., "A(l)"]. Surrounding text is included for purposes of context. In total, there are three text excerpts presented for Finding I (excerpts A - C) and two excerpts (D and E) for Finding II.

169 Finding I. - Cavo Creole Ethnic Group:

PhenQtype - more specifically. skin hue = is a topic of discussion in written school discourses on Creoles. This is true despiLe the fact üiat such is rarely mentioned in discussions of the other ethnic groups. One social teaching contained in these discourses is that degree of lightness of complexion occurs in exact proportion to degree of genetic admixture with the European ancestors.

Text Examples : A_. Educational Newspaper. December 1992. Page 6. Creole Article (360 words, total text):

The original British amd blacks intermarried and created the Creoles. Creoles are the dominant group in Belize. A(l) Their complexion varies from fair skin with -just a small mixture of African in them to very dark skin like the African slaves. Creoles live in all six districts but the majority live in the Belize District. Many Creoles villages are found on the banks of rivers, creeks or lagoons in these districts. Some Creole villages are Placencia, Crooked Tree, Bob Eiley, G r a d e Rock, Double Head Cabbage, May Pen, Willow Bank, Bermudian Landing and Lime Walk. Many Creoles have Scottish surnames such as McDonald, McFadzean, McKay and English surnames such as Hulse, Young, and Usher. They adopted surnames from their European amcestors.

170 B_. Excerpt from Educational Ministry Background Sheet on Creoles (for teachers) (1.400 words, total text) [7] ;

Creoles Origin The Creole is descended mainly from the mixture with the European white settlers and their slaves. B(l) Some Creoles have very fair skin with just a «man mixture of African in them. Others have the dark skin like the African slaves. The Creole may also be descended from mixture with West Indian immigrants who came to this country either as farmers or as policemen. Homes The majority of the Creoles in Belize live in the Belize District. This is because when the European settlers first came to Belize they first settled in the area which now forms Belize District. Our history book tells us they started to cut nmhogany instead of logwood, they found that the trees were bigger and grew farther into the forests. This meant that more men were needed. More slaves were therefore used to cut the mahogany.

We also have Creoles living where their ancestors did on the banks of creeks auid lagoons. On the banks of Black Creek there are the villages of Bob Eiley auid Washing Tree. On the banks of Spanish Creek there is the village of Lemonal. On the banks of the Western Lagoon there is the village of Crooked Tree and Gales Point is on the banks of the Manatee Lagoon. Palacencia is a coastal village in the Stann Creek district. With Burrell Boom and Crooked Tree in the Belize District, 3(2) they form the three villages where many Creoles Of fair complexion are to be founds

171 Surnames Because slaves took the surnames of their masters. Creoles have many European surnames. For example, names like McDonald, McFadzean, Mckesey, McDougal, Mckoy, McFoay, McColly, McFarlene, McClaren, McCullock, McGregor, Burns, ____ amd Dawns on are considered Scottish surnames. Names like Hulse, Usher, Bradley, Bamner and Young are considered English surnames. Some like Reneam, Peyrefitte and Robateau are French names. O'Brien is an Irish name.

C. Excerpt Iram Educational Ministry Handout Designed students (entitled THE BELIZEAN CREOLE) (1.125 words, total text):

The Belizean Creole

Origin In the early days of the history of our country, the white European settlers bought African slaves to work with them in the cutting of logwood and mahogany. It was a mixture of these two peoples that brought about the Creole. However, there are West Indian immigrants who also came to our country. Some Creoles may also have descended from them.

Things to Do 1. Brainstorm to get an answer to the following question. C (1) Whv do you think some Creoles are (a) fair-skinned? m .dark skinned? C— (2J 2. On a map of Belize, insert the names of 121 communities of (a) mainly fair skinned Creoles (b) mainlv dark skinned Creoles. Homes and Shelter

A large number of the Creoles in Belize live in the Belize District. The Belize District is a predominantly Creole District. The Creoles spread throughout this district because of their search for bigger and better logs as they worked along with their masters. Today, we find the Creoles

172 living in every village in this district. Many of the villages are located along rivers or creeks or lagoons.

Alternative Interpretation of the School Text

Data on Creole Hue

The school text inclusion of hue as a major topic of discussion in the exclusive case of the Creole may not be due to or be evidence of the society's ethnicity system. It may be no more than a result of the fact that skin hue varies more for the Creole ethnic group than for any other group. In other words, the school discourse inclusion of this topic for the exclusive case of the Creoles may have nothing to do with the society's ethnicity system.

Final Comment Concerning Finding I

I earlier reported community data suggesting that white phenotypic features may be valued both: (a) among Cayo Creoles and (b) in wider Cayo society. The Conclusions. Part I and II chapters deliberate whether these two, and the above observations regarding Cayo government-origin school texts, are valid, and discusses the question of what exactly these might mean in terms of ethnicity in Cayo. These same discussions will again raise the issue - initiated in

173 i of this document - of the difficulties of determining whether particular school text data represent cases of state, versus community, ethnicity system "beliefs".

Finding II - Cayo Creole Ethnic Group:

The oral and written school discourses on the Belizean Creole language

174 (1) the proto-Creole originators of the Creole language possessed cognitive deficiencies for language learning.

(2) the proto-Creoles of Belize possessed physiological limitations which precluded correct pronunciation of English words - the linguistically acknowledged phenomenon of phonological substitutions or innovations due to physiological constraints caused by fixation of relevant sound- producing apparatuses by the time of adulthood (equivalent to those causing the typical adult English speaker's inability to pronounce the "click" sound of the Xhosa language).

In the first example below, the statement made is that the proto-Creoles were singly unable to pronounce the English words; in the second, they are said to "imitate" the words, although (it is implied) imperfectly.

Text Exan^les: D_. Teacher's Class Lesson (oral) QQ CreQles (February 3. 1993) (40 minute lesson) [nat&j the dots indicate breaks and pauses in the utteranceJ_L (PI). ..few of the Africans could pronounce the Rngliah words properly so they had to just follow . .and we as from them they have be, it has become the Creole (language). So the [Creole] English is

175 because the broken English D(2) because they couldn't pronounce master They would say..... S : massa T: massa S : massa T: because D(3) They nmiidn't say master or mister

etc.

E_. Excerpt from Ministry Background Sheet O n Creoles (for teachers) (1.400 words, total text) :

Creoles speak to each other in Creole. The language developed as a means of speaking among the slaves. Since the slaves came from various tribes they found it difficult to speak to each other or even to their masters. B(l) They therefore imitated their master's speech. From this we have the beginning of creole sneaking. For fixaiflplff;

massa mister mis sa gone gaan take tek for fu going gwine girl gial my mi

etc.

Alternative Interpretation

As admitted above, the reading I am criticizing is only one of two possible readings. The other possible reading is

176 not evaluative of the proto-Creole's cognitive skills. Only an empirical "test" could confirm which reading occurs for Belizeans.

Final Comment Concerning Finding II

The Conclusions Part II chapter of this document will consider the possibility that this discourse finding is related to the ethnicity system of Cayo. Specifically, it will attempt to relate this finding to the claim of the more general derision of the Creole language by either Creoles or all Belizeans - a phenomenon mentioned in the community findings discussion (for which the evidence in terms of my Cayo data was, however, equivocal). In regard to this latter theory, the reader will note that the above text excerpt contains one possible additional (even more direct) piece of evidence in this direction. I am referring to the defining of the Creole language as a "broken" form of the English language - that is, the use of an adjective with presumably negative connotations (which may have the effect of socializing Creole and other Belizean children to negative evaluations of the Creole language). [8]

177 1. My use of the term "latinization" is somewhat inaccurate since some of what I will talk about involves amer Indian characteristics or connections.

2. Indeed, Belizean anthropologist J. Palacio asserts that such Belize City mixed marriages constituted a purposeful trend in the early part of the 20th century. At that time, upperly-mobile Belizean Spanish migrated to Belize City from the north and strategized to increase their socio-economic status by marrying urbain elite Creoles [thereby gaining both urban and English language status (Palacio 1988a:51)].

3. A necessary footnote to all of the observations made, during my stay, regarding the latinization of the Cayo Creole is that, despite these latinization phenomena, many Cayo Creoles neither spoke Spanish, had Spanish surnames, manifested discernable latin genes, nor were Catholic

(although participation in surface-level Spanish culture by

Cayo Creoles was ubiquitous). Furthermore, at the borders of Cayo town, the Creole-Spemish landscape immediately changes, with Creoles looking and acting increasingly more pristine Creole as one travels from village to village in an

178 easterly direction toward the Caribbean coast (from Cayo Town to Santa Elena, to Esperanza, Teeücettle, Unitedville, Georgeville, Belmopan, etc.).

4. Recall that the discussion of Creoles in the earlier background chapter explains why I use this term ("proto- Creole") as a laü3el for the early African-origin slaves of Belize. It has to do with the evidence that the ethnogenesis of the Creole as an "unified" ethnic group did not actually occur until the end of the 19th century or beginning of the twentieth (Judd 1992).

5. Other details about this Mayan family and its black child included speculation as to the following scenario: (1) a Guatemalan woman, in Belize on a short-term-worker ' s visa, produced the child as the result of a relationship with a local black male. (2) Upon expiration of her visa, the woman decided against taking the child to Guatemala, out of fear of "the shame that would be cast on herself and her family" (because of the child's black-race paternity). (3) As a result, the child was handed over to a Belizean family to rear.

6. As explained, in this calculus of differentness, Caucasian features such as straight hair also count and can substitute

179 for skin color. Thus, when I once commented to a Belizean that one particular Creole bride-to-be was not succeeding in lightening her color in so much as her East Indian groom was darker than she was, my interlocutor retorted, "but the kids will get that beautiful (i.e., " straight") hair."

7. Germane to all Education-Ministry- leUaelled texts of this and the following chapters is note #l of chapter 5.

8 . Whatever else may be said about Cayo school discourses on the Belizean Creole language, it must be clear to the reader that their teachings are inconsistent with current linguistic understandings regarding Caribbean creole tongues.

180 CHAPTER 7 FINDINGS - MESTIZOS

FIELDWORK MEMORIES

Linguistic Lessons Learned from a Belizean Mestizo -

A Vignette

The word "Pickaninny" is defined in North American sources as "a derogatory term for a black child..." (Herbst 1997:178). My experience growing up in Afro-America corroborates this dictionary definition - the referent is a child possessing africanized phenotypic features, and, more significantly, the term is one used neither neutrally nor as a con^liment.

As it turns out, the Belizean Creole language has a term in its lexicon almost identical to the word "pickaninny" - the word "Pickni". The Belizean term "pickni" (meaning "child") was similar enough to me to evoke the same reaction as did the term "pickaninny". However, during my stay in Cayo, Belize, I learned four lessons about the word "pickaninny" and its Belizean equivalent: one in etymology; two in language divergence, and one in language acculturation. All of these

181 lessons converge in a single memory of mine - a repeated occurrence involving one particular Mestizo resident of Cayo. This womaui was the mother of several children possessing pristine Mestizo features. The memory I hold is one of repeated occasions when this woman, conversing causally with me about her children in the Creole language (a mixed, acrolectal version of it), would refer to these pristine

Mestizo-featured individuals as "picknis" . "I told mi pickni she betta tark (better talk) to she", she would say, or " Mi pickni had the chicken pox week a foh laas (week before last)."

The four lessons learned by me were immediately recognized and accepted, on an intellectual level. Yet, during these conversations, I had to engage in continuous battle with the cognitive and imaging sectors of my brain to force them to call up a different referent from the one they insisted on calling up, and with my body to keep from coiling in indignation at a term I had been socialized to react to as a "fighting word". And, each time, I would afterwards walk away, shaking iry head in disbelief - a mother calling her own children "pickaninnies" with absolutely no hint of shame. And even more incredible than that - Mestizo people with straight hair, only slightly melamin-ized complexions and only

182 slightly amerIndian-tendered, European features. I suppose the only thing that would have shocked me more would have been to have heard Whites using the term for self-reference!

The reader has probably already guessed at least two of the four lessons I learned about the words "pickaninny" and "pickni" from this Cayo Spanish woman. Spelled out, they are: (1) the North American term "pickaminny" is the linguistic counterpart of the Belizean Creole term "pickni" (Nunez 1980:383). Both derive from African slave populations

- presumably ones fluent in one of the West African pidgins from which Belize Creole and at least one other West Indian Creole language derive (Holm 1988; Dayley 1979; and Young 1973); (2) the original word evidently developed its two pronunciation (auid spelling) variants in the two locations; (3) in Belize, the word never acquired the negative connotation it acquired in the United States (Herbst 1997:178); amd (4) because the Belizean version is a valid Creole term meaning "child" and because, in Belize, the Creole language has become a virtual lingua franca, it is a perfectly non-remarkad)le event for nonCreole Belizeams to use the term for their own children. And, thus, with regard to the possibility of Caucasiams using this term, even this is not inconceivable - given what I have said aUaout the lingua framca status of the Creole language and the multi-ethnic nature of present-day Belizean society! [1] [2] [3]

183 COMMUNITY FINDINGS - CAYO MESTIZOS

Occupations

The approximate 58% Mestizo population of Cayo (Central Statistical Office 1991) was observed by me to be represented in a wide rsmge of occupational categories, and at all levels - unskilled to skilled.

Many are business owners or mauiagers; others, salaried workers in such businesses. Banks, grocery stores, a sewing supply shop, other dry goods stores, a lumber supply store, guest houses and hotels are some of the places where I encountered the Belizean Spanish behind the counters amd cash registers. This was true in both the main commercial area of town and all through the neighborhoods. This situation matches the picture of Cayo painted by Mazzarelli for the early 1960's - that the Belizean Mestizos together with the Lebanese, controlled the commerce of Cayo (1967:224).

Other Mestizos in Cayo were taxi auid bus drivers, civil service employees (e.g., at the post office) and teachers (the majority of the teachers at "my" school were of this ethnic group).

184 There was also the sight of Mestizo street vendors selling cooked snacks or fresh produce in the town's main commercial area and on schoolyard grounds. While at least some of these were confirmable Belizean Spanish, others, judging from their limited English language skills, might have been aliens or nonresident transient workers (e.g., Guatemalans who come across the border on one-day visas).

Evidence from the weekly Saturday-morning produce markets showed clearly that many Belizean Mestizos of the area were engaged in farming, at least part-time.

There was much evidence of Mestizos working at the extreme lower end of the occupational scale, although the number of these belonging to the Belizean Speuiish ethnic group as opposed to "aliens" or nonBelizean (transient worker) Mestizos, again, is hard to judge short of more systematic investigation. For example. Mestizo individuals were highly visible as domestics in the local hotels and in private homes, and in performing custodial tasks at restaurants, bars and other places - more so, it seemed to me, than any other ethnic population. However, some of these I knew for a fact to be of the "Guatemalan transient worker" and "alien" categories (some - if I am to believe my sources - illegal in terms of immigration status).

185 Wealth

Some Belizean Spanish of Cayo were quite affluent. If one includes the contemporary mixed Lebcuiese-Spanish of Cayo (see background chapter section on Belizean ethnic groups, amd later discussion of this chapter) , this number becomes significantly larger. For example, the (mixed Lebanese-

Spanish) owners of the largest area hotel were amongst the wealthiest of Cayo. Others appeared extremely poor although, again, the problem of distinguishing "aliens" from "older" Belizean Spanish is at issue.

Politics

Most of the individuals on the Town Board were Belizean Spanish. The district's representative to the nation's House of Parliament was also Belizean Spanish.

Religions

Most Belizean Mestizos in Cayo seemed to be Catholic.

However, consistent with a wider denominational shift occurring within Central America in the last few decades, many seem to have converted to fundamentalist Protestant religions. I was told that many, if not most of the "alien" subgroup were adherents of these fundamentalist Protesteuit

186 denominations. Also, at a church service at the local Church of the Nazarene which I once attended, most attendees were (earlier-arrival) Mestizos (or Mayans).

Most Belizean Spanish of Cayo seem to speak both Spanish and Creole, with some percentage also being fluent in Stcuidard English. Under closer examination, this picture becomes very interesting. The case of first and in-home language patterns is an example. I was told that current-day Belizean children and youth through about age 20 have grown up speeUcing Creole as a first language (taught to them, even, by their parents) although this is not true of their parents. However, both my observations and my informants also indicated that, in most of these homes, Spanish might still be used between the father and mother, and between the children and the grandparents (also the parents with the grandparents) . This is consistent with Le Page's 1970's decade data which reveal what he calls "macaroni" structures of intra-family multi-lingualism in which family members used different languages for communicating with different family members (e.g.. Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985).

My observations, while in Cayo, Belize, were that, at least sometimes, the situation as to what the language habits

187 of a Cayo Spanish will be is even more extreme and surprising. For example, in the Belizean Spanish family I knew best. Creole was the only home language, meaning that none of the children were Spanish-fluent (although the single parent was) . The number of such "extreme case" families is probably limited, yet this category of Belizean Spanish who either do not speak Spanish at all or are less than fluent in this

Icuiguage must be greater than negligible. This I deduce from census statistics which report that the percentage of Cayo District residents reporting themselves as "speaking Spanish very well" is no higher than the percentage of individuals belonging to the Belizeam Spanish ethnic group in the district (58%) . What this means, of course, is that if there dfi exist any Maya and/or Creole who are fluent speakers of the language (and it is incontrovertible that there does) , then there must be some Spanish (i.e., non-negligible numbers) who speak it less then "very well".

The facts reported above definitely imply that the answer to the question of which Belizean Spanish speak Spanish, at least as a first language, is, in part, a generational one. Two other possible explanations are that it is in correlation with how long the individual or family has lived in Belize (assuming their home country was a Spanish-speaking one); and that it is correlated with the more general historical shift from lower to higher class of Belizean Mestizos. These three

188 explanations are not contradictory. The second explanation (point of immigration) has high explanatory value when one notes how much the Cayo District - unlike Belize City - has been, and continues to be host to a never-ending stream of migrants from Spani sh-speaking countries. The third explanation (class shift) is consistent with Joseph Palacio's thesis as to the place of language in the social hierarchal structure of Belize, at least as he posits it. This argument is that the socio-economic status of Belizean Spanish

individuals is in exact proportion to their shedding of the Spanish language (Palacio 1988a). The first two explanations also suggest that Cayo is in a state of flux or undergoing a transitional period with regard to first language practices among the Spanish - the trend definitely being toward Creole speaking. Indeed, Le Page's longitudinal data of 1970 and 1978 seem to have documented the beginnings of this shift (e.g., see Tabouret-Keller and Le Page 1983) . The explanation that Le Page gave to this phenomenon - at that 1960's period in history during which Belize was first entering its self- governance stage - was a highly period-specific, nationalistic explanation. This particular nationalism explanation may not fit as well for the Belize of the 1990's, yet a very similar one (updated to accommodate the "alien"- arrival events of the last three decades) was at least in^lied in opinions shared with me by numerous of my informants. This interpretation is that Creole fluency is inçortant to a

189 Mestizo individual in Belize in the 1980's and 1990's as a marker of non-"alien" status. Consistent with this, one nonSpanish Cayo woman commented to me on how quickly new Mestizo arrivals to Cayo acquire Creole language proficiency in order, presumably to be able to use it in public places so as to hide the linguistic signs of their "alien" status. Also, a third- or fourth-generation Belizean Spanish gentleman

(from Cayo) once shared with me his upset concerning the extra output of energy he had to exert during visits to Belize City (where anti-alien sentiments are especially high, among its majority Creole population) because of a perceived need to engage in unnaturally loquacious displays of his Creole language skills - this in order to arrest tendencies on the part of the Belize City Creoles to assign "alien" status to him (and treat him thusly). [4]

Whatever the reasons for the phenomenon of Cayo Mestizos flaunting Creole language skills, maybe it was a concern about the possible "language death" that could result from such, that led the headmistress of the school I researched to encourage (as she explained to me) the Mestizo students to speak Spanish at this English-medium school, in outside-of- the-classroom settings (such as in talking to her in her office).

190 Despite any status of Creole fluency as a marker of non­ alien Belizean-ness and despite the seeming contradiction involved, it seemed to me that, in Cayo, Spamish is clearly the rival of both Creole and Standard English when it comes to communication in the public domain. For example, in Cayo there seemed to be no adherence to the national-level dictate that English be the language of commerce. Not only did many individuals seem to automatically select Spanish as the medium to talk to what seemed to be even strangers as long as the latter looked Mestizo or Mayan (under an assumption that they would be understood) , in some business situations, I had to "force" some categories of individuals (for example, street vendors) to use English. As previously discussed, these latter individuals may have been aliens or nonresidents. Again, one informant ' s suggestion to me is that age is the importcuit explanatory variable in this phenomenon. He asserts that most Spanish adults over 40 will speak Spanish in public, whereas younger Belizean Spanish will automatically use Creole. Point of immigration into Belize would again have to be another explauiatory variable in this case.

Expressive and SurfacerLavei Culture

In Cayo, the Belizean Spamish ethnic group has preserved many of its Mexican and Central Americam traditions. In addition to its amerindiamized version of Catholicism, the

191 Belizean Spanish retain certain rites of passage, holidays, dances, play activities and foods. One common rite-of- passage observance is the Quince Anos commemoration of a girl's fifteenth birthday. Another involves an amerindian- derived, Mexican ritual, on the Catholic All Souls' Day - that of offering food to the dead (derived from the Mexican Days of the Dead rituals) . One informant shared with me the fact that the, then new, (Irish) priest was resuming the church's participation in this ritual after many years of church abstinence and disapproval (during the tenure of the previous. Creole, priest). Other examples of Mexican and Central-

American customs retained by Cayo Spanish include the pinata and greasy pole recreational activities and what is probably a modified version of the traditional Central-American, town- patron-saint fiesta (in the form of Cayo's Easter Festival).

The Latin-American-origin Hoghead Dance of earlier- generation Belizean Spanish is evidently currently observable only at ethnic festivals, and serenades are entirely extinct in Cayo (according to one teacher's report to her class as part of the school ethnicity curriculum).

Mestizo foods common in Cayo and throughout Belize are bollos, tortillas (technically, Mayan in origin), tamales.

192 tacos, panades amd tamilitas; as already mentioned, these are common elements in the diets of Belizeans of virtually all ethnic backgrounds.

If one is able to speak of the latinization of the Cayo Creole, one must also acknowledge the creolization of the Cayo Spanish ethnic group. Despite retention of latin culture, and despite their own lendings to Belize's cultural mosaic, the Belizean Spanish of Cayo (auid Belize more generally) have acc[uired numerous cultural patterns from other Belizean ethnic groups, mainly the Creole. When the mother of one Spanish- ethnic-group teacher (at the school of my research) died, we all marched through the streets of the town to the grave-site, to the accompaniment of drum and horn rhythms and sounds, the windows of stores and homes slamming shut in our faces all along the way. [5] This represents a typical Caribbean (thus Creole) style funeral march - although the ones I witnessed in Belize City were much more elcüDorate. Reggae music and diet (such as the eating of beans and rice) are additional examples which have already been mentioned. Although origin is sometimes hard to discern, some of the mating, marriage and family-structure practices discussed next may also be examples of such "borrowings" from the Creole.

193 Mating and Family-Structure Patterns

The Belizean Spanish of Cayo to whom I was exposed manifested several mating and family-structure patterns in common with the local Creole, However, two points are important here. First, ny cursory research on the Latin- American roots of the Cayo Belizeaui Spanish suggests that one cannot assume that the observed Creole-like patterns are cultural adoptions of Creole "ways" from the Creole. The "ideal culture" standards and values in the Mexican and Central-American, largely Catholic motherland societies of the Belizean Spanish did indeed dictate non-Belize-like practices such as pre-marital virginity for females, legalized, in- dissolvable marital unions, and marital fidelity (e.g., see Seed 1988) . However, "real" culture in these societies evidently often involved contrary practices. Although this was especially true among the poor (Borah cuid Cook 1966) , elites are also recorded to have engaged in alternative practices (Larvin 1989:18-155) . Moreover, numerous of these practices were similar, if not identical, to (probcdsly lower class) Belizean Creole mating and family-structure patterns. One example is the "palabra de casamiento" system - an extended engagement practice in which individuals lived together prior to legal marriage, "..for years and even decades..."(Lavrin 1989:134).

194 Secondly, I am not entirely confident regarding how pervasive the observed Creole-appearing practices are among Cayo Spanish; at least one of ny informants argues that they are not that common (especially serial mating) . Also, as in the case of Creole manifestations of these same mating and family-structure patterns, class, education and religious allegiance are probably relevant variables.

The observed mating and family-structure practices that

I speak of include Belizean Spanish in Cayo engaging in unions of the consensual, non-legalized type. Like the Creole case, these take the form of serial occurrences. The practices I observed also include evidence of outside extra-consensual or extra-marital relationships among Cayo Spanish men producing "outside" offspring - a West-Indiatn-like Caribbean trait which, ironically, I was aible unable to empirically document for the case of Cayo Creoles. For example, in Maestro Rosas' class at the school I researched, there were two Spanish students who I was told shared the same father - one an outside child.

The Belizean Spanish I knew best also manifested the family-structure characteristics of patchwork children amd the granny phenomenon.

195 One experience which bolsters my confidence in ny observation about the prevalence of non- (legal) marriage practices among the Cayo Belizean Spanish (despite the disagreement of this data with the alleged "ways" of their

homelands, and with the perceptions of one of my informants) was a campaign of the local priest's which he one day shared with me. This can^aign consisted of elaborate efforts on his part to get his (majority Spamish) congregation to marry legally - confronting individual members about it on the occasions when they sought to register their children for communion. [6]

As mentioned in the Creole section, the census finding that four out of five of the households of Cayo are male- headed suggests that Cayo Spamish may not manifest the typical Caribbean trait of female-headed households (as earlier stated, many of the Cayo amd Belizean Creole also appear different from their island cousins in this regard).

Two additional amd related characteristics of Cayo Mestizos not shared with Caribbeam peoples, I was told, were the family-structure characteristics of matrifocality and matriarchy. When present in the home, Spamish men function as

the sole or primary decision-maücer and as strong authority figures.

196 other - Group Label. Origins. Surnames and Admixture

gfQup. .Label

One of my most incontrovertible observations about Cayo residents was that virtually all of them use the label "Spanish" to refer to those individuals and that ethnic group which the government refers to as "Mestizo" . This was true of both the group members themselves and individuals from the other ethnic groups. The word was used not only as an adjective and adverb, but sometimes as a noun. The comment of one Cayo informant captures both the above point about terminology differences specific to probably two separate discourses (F) (lay and school, if not government) ; and the rather unexpected - to North Americaui ears - dual grammatical usage of the lay term, "'Mestizo', well that's what they mostly call them in the school, but we all say ' Spanish' , we would call a person a 'Spanish'".

Origins

Although there is some debate in the literature about the origins of both the Mestizo founders and the majority Mestizo populations of the Cayo District - especially for specific communities (see Mazzarelli 1976) , evidently most Cayo Spanish derive from the Yucatan area of Mexico. Despite this, a

197 significctnt group of the Mestizos of Cayo derive from the Peten region of Guatemala, and, more inç>ortantly, my observation and impression is that Peten-origin Mestizos (and Mayans) are perceived by Cayo residents as figuring much more highly in their families and lives than Yucatan ones ; innumerable individuals claimed ancestors or current relatives from the Peten area of Guatemala.

Spanish-Creole Admixture

The Creole findings chapter has established the fact of present-day admixture between Cayo Spanish amd Cayo Creoles. The example it included pertained to my experience of being introduced to one Mestizo teacher's sister, and her two phenotypically black grandchildren.

Spanish-Lebanese Admixture

My Cayo fieldwork yielded ample evidence of past admixture between the Cayo Spamish population and a Lebanese population historically instrumental in Cayo amd Belize's chicle industry. Many self-defined Cayo Mestizos possess "Lebanese" surnames such as "Espat" amd "Batos" . A few engaged in extensive amd elaüaorated discussions with me of this "Lebanese"-Spamish connection, including expressing allegations as to a common scenario surrounding the

198 miscegenation episodes. It was alleged that male "Lebanese" chicle mamagers commonly "took advantage of" the wives of Mestizo chicle workers during periods when the latter were on assignment in "the bush" collecting the chicle (in situations when the women were unaüDle to pay for needed merchandise at company-owned stores).

Surnames

As could be expected, Mestizo admixture has resulted in a range of surname types for the Cayo Mestizo. Many Cayo Mestizos possess British auid other non-latin, Europe am surnames. Sources of the British surnames include, of course, British ac Creole admixture (many Creole individuals, as has been stated, being bearers of British surnames).

One Cayo Mestizo informamt shared with me an amusing story related to the unpredictadiility as to surname source when it comes to the Cayo and Belizeam (more generally) Spanish population. It is a story of the surprise and initial confusion expressed by the North Americam administrators of a Caribbean scholarship program responsible for bringing him to the United States for undergraduate studies. When the numerous scholarship recipients assembled for the first time (for passage to the United States) , the officials were

199 expecting the sole latin-surname individual listed on their roster to be the sole Central-American individual recorded in their records (my informant), and the numerous British- sumamed individuals to be their British-West-Indian-Island recipients. As it turned out, my informant, Romero Bums, was the Central American, amd the Latin-sumamed individual, one of their British, island recipients (perhaps from Trinidad, given its Spanish background and influence).

SCHOOL DISCOURSE FINDINGS - MESTIZOS

The results of my analysis of school discourse treatments of the Belizean Spanish ethnic group were not prodigious. There appears to be nothing in the Cayo school discourse treatment of the Belizean Spanish that either distinguishes these discourses from those on the other ethnic groups or that is otherwise remarkable. Even the findings discussed below are, to some extent, true of the discourses on the other ethnic groups (although some of the discourse practices involved differ).

Upon reflection, I consider this paucity of findings to be a finding in and of itself. In the Suggestions For Future Research chapter, I will argue for future research on the possibility that the Belizean Spanish ethnic group is

200 something of an "unmarked-case" entity in conparison to the Creole and the White ethnic groups of Cayo [also in comparison to the Maya and Garinagu, if my cursory euialyses of my data on these groups is an accurate indication)].

h Would-Be-Finding

One other observation auid would-be finding about school discourses on the Belizeaui Spanish is one noticed in only one instance for the case of this ethnic group, although analogous observations were made, in a few instances, for other Belizean ethnic groups. This observation is that an allegedly derogatory term for referencing members of the Spanish ethnic group ("pana") was used in a teacher's blackboard text auid

(orally) delivered lesson (same day) on that ethnic group :

Excerpt from Blackboard Text (Feb 3. 1993) The Mestizo or Panias (sic) are the largest contribution to Belizeaui society. They are referred to as Spamish because they speaüc Spanish. A mestizo is of mixed Spanish and Maya or European and Maya. They inhaüaited Belize during the Guerra Caste or Caste War or War of Races of South Mexico. They actually settled in Corozal Town, Orange Walk Town, Sarteneja, Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker and a few villages. They brought with them Catholicism as well as the sugar industry.

201 Sxcerpt farm February 3, 1993 Class. Lesson (Baaed-on above Blackboard Text) (Same interlocutor symbols as explained previously.)

S: Miss,______panag? T: Huh? S: ______T: Panas, yes. Remember the Mestizos? They are. .are the, they would call them Panas...or, um, Spanish. They are the largest con-tri-but ion to Belize...Belizean society. They are referred to as Spanish because they speak. .Spamish. so, um, they refer them (sic) to Spamish (sic) ...instead of saying they are Mestizos. Right? We usually say, yes, you are. .Spanish. . .we do not say you are Mestizo? Then over this side, it says, "A Mestizo is mixed. .Spanish and Maya bio- or European and Maya"

This compares with other situations where the alleged derogatory terms of "coolie" (for East Indians) amd "turks" (for Lebanese) were used by Belizeans in conversational discourse. Ordinarily these acts would signal to me evidence worth noting in terms of possible attitudes toward the particular ethnic groups referenced. However, my day-to-day participant-observâtion evidence from Cayo is that no one in present-day Cayo reacts in taking offense to any of these terms although the evidence is that historically they did (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985). Indeed, there is possible evidence, in the case of the above excerpted lesson (the latter text above) , that the student in the text was engaged in asking the teacher what the term meant (not a certainty because of the inaudible portions of the text - as indicated by the blanks in the tremscription) . This might suggest that

202 this term is even disappearing in usage (although it would be possible that other terms are replacing it) . My own final conclusion has come to be the same as the attitude which one (Creole) informant of mine said was communicated to her by her East Indian sister-in-law about the term "coolie" - "Yes, it is a negative term, but we are used to it and it doesn't matter anymore". My own translation of this statement is, "The term is sittçjly not a negative term anymore." Thus I choose to omit this observation from any fuller discussion in this section.

Finding of "DistancincL'l

The only other notable discourse characteristic of the Belizean Spanish ethnicity curriculum discourses identified by my search is now presented and discussed.

203 Finding I (Belizean Spanish Ethnic Group)

SchQQl discourses on the Belizean Spanish ethnic group showed same signs of "distancing" of tllis gcaup Of people - constructing them as both "far awav" and as "somebody else".

The discourse practices accomplishing this effect for the case of the Belizean Spanish are as follows:

i) allotment of significantly more attention to Yucatan (War of Races)-origin Belizeam Mestizos than to Belize's Guatemalan-origin Mestizos - the latter being the group to which Cayo children would be more likely to be able to relate;

ii) Oppositional dichotomization and laibelling of the cüDove two categories of Mestizos in a way that foregrounds the Yucatan (War of Races)-origin Mestizos, and "footnotes" (as an afterthought) the Guatemalam category : the Yucatan (War of Races)- origin Mestizos become "the Mestizos" and the

204 Guatemalan category becomes "other Mestizos" possessing mere "footnote" status in importamce.

(iii) Frequent use of the trait list method of

instruction in the ethnicity lessons.

Two text excerpts (A and B) are now analyzed and discussed jointly to illustrate discourse practices #i and #ii (attention allotments, and fore-grounding auid footnoting labelling) . Both text excerpts are already at least partially familiar to the reader since they overlap with other excerpts presented earlier in this chapter.

After this discussion, text excerpt C is presented and discussed as evidence of the trait list method used for the case of the Belizean Spanish (#iii, above).

Text Excerpt A = Teacher'S Blackboard Text, F_ebruary 3. 1993 - Unit on Mestizos: A(l) The Mestizo or Panias (sic) are the largest contribution to Belizean society. They are referred to as Spanish because they speak Spanish. A mestizo is of mixed Spauiish and Maya or European and Maya. Thoy inhahited Belize during the Guerra Caste or Caste War or War of Races of South Mexico. They actually settled in Corozol Town, Orange Walk Town, Sarteneja, Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker and a few villages. They brought with them Catholicism as well as the sugar industry.

A (2) Other mest?T"« r-anw> from Peten in Guatemala and settled in Benque Viejo del Carmen and San Ignacio [Cayo] and other villages. 205 Recently the mestizo population has increased greatly due to the arrival of Aliens and refugees of Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Text Excerpt g = Cayo Produced Educational Newspaper for Primary School Students, January 1993. Page 6. Article on Mestizo Ethnic Group (104 words, total text): ETHNIC GROUPS OF BELIZE - MESTIZOS B(l) The Mestizos live in the northern southern and western parts of the country. The term Mestizos comes from the Spanish word for "mixed". A Mestizo is one of mixed European nd Indian ancestry.

In colonial days. Mestizos were despised cuid put down by pure-blooded Spanish.

In 1848 war broke out in the neighbor country of Mexico in the state of the Yucatan. It was the War of the Races. During this period, thousands of refugees arrived in Belize to find peace and safety. The war ended in 1874. Some of the refugees returned to their native land. More than 8,000 chose to remain and adopted belize as their home. They settled largely upon the Hondo River that runs along the northern border of belize. They worked as log cutters and farmers. These settlers have been extremely important in our history. Firstly, because they populated our northern districts. Secondly, because they introduced large-scale sugar cane cultivation. Their descendants form the majority of the population of the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts. B(2) Other Mestizos came from Peten in Guatemala in the 1880's and settled in Benque Viejo and San Ignacio [Cayo].

206 Analysis of Text Excerpts A and.B

Although the labelling phenomenon is not as clear in Text Excerpt B as it is in Text Excerpt A, the reader can see the difference in labelling. The space allocation difference should also be very clear to the reader.

The result of the above Icüselling and space allocations may be the message that the Yucatan Mestizos are the only Mestizos of Belize. Adding to this is that, in a later class review of the Mestizo-unit material, the teacher was satisfied with answers (from the students) which pertained only to the Yucatan-origin group. This only adds to the message that this far removed, "somebody else" category of Mestizos is the only Mestizo group of Belize.

TEXT EXCERPT C - Review Session on Mestizos. February, 1993 T : let's... go into our new lesson quickly and I'll...See if you can remember (long pause) see what you can remember what were the things that we were talking about last week. what ethnic con^osition or ethnic group we dealt with last week?...Mestizos. Okay, briefly, quickly. Just tell me what you know about the Mestizos. Go into

the main things. Cil) The origin! C { 2 1 _.Nhat .area did they live? C(3) Go into the foods, the dress. Whatever you know. Quickly, give me a brief history of that.

207 Analysis of-Text Excerpt C

The süoove excerpt gives some indication of the trait list method. This teaching method involves organizing the presentation of ethnic information around ethnic information categories such as "Their Food", "Places Where they Live" and "Their Music". A day's lesson typically amounts to "filling

in" appropriate content falling under these headings.

The trait list method, although probably a pedagogically convenient method of instruction for children of the elementary school ages, might be problematic for learning in a societal situation where there are so many cross-cultural sharings of the particular cultural items listed for each ethnic group. What the trait list approach does is to present essentialist assumptions and definitions about Belize's ethnic groups, as well as to make it sound as if each ethnic group ' s characteristics are uniquely its very own - as opposed to shared. Because Cayo children's daily experiences involve so many cross-ethnic participations (which means ethnic groups' characteristics are not uniquely their own) this may function to make this school-taught Mestizo group a distant, "other than us", "somebody else" people.

208 Alternative Interpretations. Regarding the Data From Text Excerpts A, B and C

The paragraphs of Texts A and B containing the term "other Mestizos" are conspicuously similar. It may be that the teacher's blackboard text (#A above) was a purposeful duplication of parts of the newspaper text (#B, above) which the teacher might have used in preparing her class lesson.

This would mean that I have actually only identified one case of this labelling phenomenon.

An alternative, understandable explanation for the differential amount of attention to the two Mestizo groups is, of course, the immensely larger size of the Yucatan migration.

209 NOTES

1. The Bellzeam Creole Icuiguage is merely one case of this term's existence in the Caribbean. The word (evidently usually spelled "pickny") exists in Creole languages throughout in the West Indies [e.g, in Jamaica (Nunez 1980)] .

2. Regarding origins, Herbst (1997:178) offers a slightly different and vaguer (although not inconsistent) explanation as to the origins of the word, saying, "It is thought to derive from the slave's pronunciation of the Spanish pequeno nino 'little one', or of the Portuguese pequenino. the diminutive of pequeno. 'small'".

3. According to Herbst (1977), in the historical West Indies, the term was sometimes used for white children - "as a term of endearment" (page 178) .

4. During my stay, I saw evidence of extreme rudeness and contemptuous behavior toward members of the "alien" population. One example occurred when I was on a intercity bus which had just pulled out from the boarding area in one town in the Cayo District. At a point after the fare- collector had collected one "alien's" fare, the "alien" discovered that the bus was headed in the opposite direction from his destination. That he was an "alien" became evident

210 to all when he tried to make it known to the bus driver that he wanted to reclaim his fare smd de-board the bus. The entire bus joined together in taunting and deriding the man, and the fare collector (presumably, an "older" resident

Mestizo of Belize) eventually literally threw the "alien" out of the bus door, without honoring his request for the return of his money. On the other hand, despite this type of evidence, I will still argue (in the Conclusions Part II chapter) that Cayo residents' attitudes toward aliens is not as negative as those of Belize City, and that it involves significant ambivalence [because Cayo individuals have so many ties to, and so much contact with, individuals on the other side of the (Guatemalan) border].

5. The explanation I was given as to why the occupants of businesses aind homes close their shutters at the passing of a funeral parade is that they wish to prevent the spirits of the deceased from entering their edifices.

6. An interesting occurrence along these lines was the occasion, during a religion lesson on "adultery" (which the teacher chose to define as "cohabiting outside of wedlock") when the teacher spent a great deal of time condemning couples who live together outside of legal marriage. Examples of the Spanish students' continuous challenges to this criticism of what (I think) they knew was a rather common practice, were :

211 "Maestro, Maestro, but suppose they love each other?", "Maestro, Maestro, but suppose they plan to get married someday? ". ëuid, intermittently throughout the duration of the lesson, numerous other similar questionings. The teacher, however, kept replying, "No good!", "No good!", "No good!"

212 CHAPTER 8 FINDINGS - WHITES

FIELDWORK MEMORIES

Whites In Cavo - Sights and Scenes

During my stay in Cayo, whites were clearly visible on a day-to-day basis. If for no other reason, this was because the town was a major rest stop and boarding point for busses travelling to and from Guatemala - that country's archaeological sites a popular side-destination for Belizean tourists, most of whom seem to be white. These primarily young, hippie-like travellers (their apparel typically accessorized with locally purchased Mayan plaid, or Rastafarian red, green and yellow striped caps, bags and ankle bracelets) could be seen transacting food purchases with street vendors, strolling the streets, or even lingering for a night or two at local guest houses or hotels.

As mentioned in the theory and background chapters, longer-term white transients in Cayo included the many British soldiers on duty at the local British military base, guarding the lO-mile-away Guatemalan border. Others included at least

213 one United States Peace Corps volunteer and one Cêmadicui international-volunteer-agency worker. There was also an Irish cleric sent, during ray stay, to replace the local Creole priest. Still others included nuraerous individuals whose agendas were unknown to rae, but whose presence as tenants in local guest houses and private homes was conspicuous when I investigated several as possible residences for ray own stays.

There were also whites residing in the Cayo area on a longer terra basis. Some were from the United States. One was a male store owner in a common-law union with a local Creole woman (until his female, "States-Side" friend's visit caused a breakup). Another operated a timber mill. Others were Canadian. At least two were British - one male and one female - both in unions with Spanish locals. White Mormon men were another category of whites visible in Cayo. They could be seen from time to time on the town streets, evangelizing from door to door, in their ties and stiff, crisp white shirts despite the stifling hot weather. And then there was the intermittent sight of one local, "drug-crazed" (I was told), young white male, his Caucasian hair in the matted facsimile of the "dreadlock" hairdo, roaming the streets, sometimes only scantly clad. I was told that he was the son of a long-term- resident white couple.

214 Some of the Cayo white residents were Belizean citizens; most seemed not to be. One family obtained their "papers" while I was a boarder in their home. From the ingression I received, virtually all were "newcomers" of the last thirty years versus remanents from early colonial days (recall explanation in background chapter that virtually all "original" Belizean whites repatriated themselves to Europe by the end of the 19th century, although a smaller group did, subsequently, "replace" them) . However, one of my informants alleged the presence in Cayo of what he called "Baymen families" which he defined as "leftovers" from the original European families. The family of the "dreadlock" gentlemsui above may have been one of these. My guess and evidence is, however, that mamy of the vestige families of which he spoke are now (admixed) Belizean Spanish or Creoles (or others) who merely retain surnames of the original white ancestors. This was the case with the owner of Carla ' s Market (whose last name was "Burns") , I was told by another informauit; "Burns" and "Andrews" are evidently two well-known "Baymen" names.

At the Catholic primary school where I collected my discourse data, there were several white students. They included a female student in Standard III (fifth grade) whose background was North Americaui and a male youth in Standard VI (eighth grade) who I was told was of German background. [1]

215 At the then only other primary school in town, there was at least one white female student and the town high school also had at least one white student.

Given the high levels of genetic admixture alluded to repeatedly in this document, it can be guessed that the white presence in Cayo was also detectable in mixed-union students at the schools. Indeed, at the other primary school of the town, I knew of one child of a British-Belizean Spanish union cind several mixed white-Creole children. One possible additional example at "my" school (setting aside the case of

one Spanish-Mennonite child) was one female child who was, to me, a curiosity if not an enigma. Her teacher conjectured that she was the product of her Belizean Spanish mother's relationship with a locally stationed British soldier. In appearance, the child was conspicuously different from the others in a country in which (by my observations) virtually all hybrids inherit some degree of latinized or africanized phenotype. Zooey's completely "clear" skin color ("clear" is the term used by Belizeans to refer to the skin color of whites), light brown hair, light colored eyes, and - most of all - freckle-filled face gave her a Dickensian countenance, making her look totally out of place in Belize. Because the teacher's theory as to her paternity was not confirmed, she

216 may not actually belong in this category of mixed-union students, yet I would still consider her evidence of a white presence somewhere, somehow.

ITY FINDINGS

Occupations

Most of the approximate 1.2 % white population of Cayo (recall, this figure represents the percentage of whites in the entire district), seemed to be in business. One family owned a bread bakery (previously having tried their hand at restaurant ownership). Another white owned a soon-failed pizza parlor, two other families, grocery stores. A few others had restaurants. One area hotel was owned by whites and also, as mentioned earlier, a local timber mill.

The Peace Corps volunteer alluded to earlier was assigned to the local Ministry of Education office, and, as previously stated, other whites were in the employ of the British army.

Wealth

The United States white timber mill owner family was listed by some of my informants as one of the wealthiest families in Cayo. The white family with which I had the most

217 contact might have also appeared to be wealthy, by local standards. They resided in a beautifully landscaped, very spacious multiple-acreage residence, on the hill west of the town. However, they told me they were not wealthy and historically had, at times, lived on the brink of poverty.

A point worth stressing is that there exists no "poor white" "category" in present-day Belize - unlike what was true historically of Belize (Bolland 1973, Palacio 1988b and Bennett 1988:25), and what is true in some of the other Caribbean countries (e.g., Barbabos and Trinidad) (Henriques 1953) .

Politics

I never saw or heard of any whites in public office or otherwise actively participating in local politics; this is consistent with the supposition that most are noncitizens. I was told, however, that they "influence things with their money."

Religions

A handful of the whites of Cayo (and of Belize more generally), were of the Baha'i religious community. As mentioned, others were Mormons. I would assume others were of

218 the world's major Christian denominations (Catholic, Anglican, Methodists, etc.); one white family attended the Catholic church which operated the school at which I collected ny discourse data. However others in Cayo did not seem to associate, visibly at least, with any of the locally existent religious groups. Attendance of a child at a religiously-run school is, of course, not an accurate indicator of family religious affiliation given Belize's church-state school system (resulting in parents sending their children to schools of religious groups other than their own if, for example, their own does not operate a school in their locale).

Lanouaaes

The whites with whom I came into contact the most spoke English as a first language. Among the adults of this subgroup. Creole and Spanish language knowledge and usage seemed limited. The white family owners of one local grocery store were exceptions who I would hear speaking Spanish to their customers all the time, and I also knew one Briton who was fluent in both Creole and Spanish. For the case of the children - especially those schooling locally, my guess is that Creole proficiency was common. One teacher once mentioned to me that the parent of one white child in her class prohibited that child from speeücing Creole. The teacher elaborated that the child's fellow (Belizean-bom) classmates

219 would therefore always attençt the usage of Standard English in their interactions with the child. Based on limited interactions of my own with this child, my knowledge is that she nonetheless possessed Creole comprehension and speaking skills. Indeed, I would hear her use one particular Creole expression - "No true?" (meaning "isn't that true?") quite frequently. I am not as sure about possible proficiency in the Spanish language among white children in Cayo.

Expressive and Surface-Level Culture

Because of Belize's adoption of foreign cultural elements, whites in Cayo tended to not be entirely cut off from their home-society cultures. For exanqple, music from the United States was broadcast on the local radio stations

[although this did not include the widest array of white music forms; African-American music was the most common United States form heard] . This music, as well as United States' popular culture more broadly, was also available through United States' television channels relayed to Belize via satellite-dish technology.

British "Commonwealth Day" was one "white holiday" that was celebrated in Belize [especially in Belize City where the celebration of it was quite elaborate (Scottish kilts and bagpipes included) ] . Mother's day was another holiday

220 familiar to at least United States whites. Although Belizeans indicated a Mexican origin for their version, it occurs on the same date as the United States version and is celebrated in more or less the same way. Christmas and Easter - two additional holidays highly familiar to expatriate whites of Belize - were, of course, also celebrated as was Halloween, each however with distinctly Caribbean and Belizean characteristics.

White-origin sports such as soccer existed in Cayo (basketball and cricket also popular in other locales within

Belize).

I am not sure to what extent most expatriate whites maintained their home-country dietary habits. The North- American-origin white family with which I had the most contact manifested very few signs of acculturation in this realm. Because of the availability of a wide array of food items from the United States (including the same brand names) as well as some British ones, it was easy for whites desirous of maintaining, at least North American diets, to do so (although at much greater expense) . Even I, when staying at a Belize City guest house lacking "board" provisions, had no trouble tracking down my familiar. United-States-manufactured, graduate-student staple of Van Camp Beanie Weanie.

221 Marriage Patterns

Some whites - including first generation expatriate whites - seemed open to exogamy. In addition to the two exogamous unions already mentioned (with Belizean Spanish and with Creole), I also knew of one with a Garinagu. The only two married "F-1" white individuals known to me in Cayo and Belize were also exogamous. However, I don't know how representative these marriages were since these individuals were both of the Baha'i faith which evidently encourages outgroup marriage.

It was not entirely clear whether whites marry certain local ethnic groups more than others. I was told that the preference of the British soldiers at least used to be Belizean Spanish women. [2]

Other - Self-Segregation?

There existed in Cayo some evidence, although equivocal, of white self-segregation or clustering of the type that has been reported in the literature for expatriate whites in other non-white countries, and among international sojourners more generally (and is alleged for Belizean whites, more generally - see quote in theory chapter discussion of whites). On the one hand, unlike Belize City, there were no residential

222 neighborhoods reserved for, or monopolized by whites in Cayo. Neither did I see evidence of white social clubs or "hangouts" in Cayo as observed auid commented on for the case of Belize City. On the other hand, white self-segregation, in terms of other social institutions, may have existed. One possible example occurred in Cayo in the form of a religious group opening a primary school operated and attended (largely) by Cayo whites. At least a few outside whites (ones not of that religion) transferred their children to that school. It remains an open question as to whether this behavior was evidence of white desires to cluster versus mere judgements concerning such things as the educational quality of their children's previous school; preferences for American versus British educational approaches (the new school, staffed by North Americans, may have had more of an American versus the more-or-less British approach that characterizes most Belizean primary schools); or something else. The only other possible evidence of white self-segregation is one I am inclined to disregard - the case of one white family's home operating as somewhat of a refuge and crisis center for other whites, in times of personal crisis (not all the individuals I saw using it thusly were white).

223 other - Specialized Treatments of Cayo Whites?

There also existed, for the case of Cayo, equivocal evidence as to hierarchal, "prestige" treatments of Cayo's white population on the part of Cayo's nonwhite residents. The point, however, that I cannot enphasize enough is that, given my data, only suggestive statements regarding such specialized treatments can be made.

One reason why the evidence is equivocal is largely because it varies as a function of which white group is involved (visitors, ethnic group members, etc.). In this regard, it is also weakened by the fact that I often could not be sure which category a particular Caucasian individual was a part of. My evidence is also very extremely limited in terms of number of cases observed.

The case of my f indings regarding members of Cayo ' s White ethnic group serves as an example of the equivocal nature of my data. Identical to my finding regarding treatments of light-hued, African-origin Cayo students at the school at which I collected my discourse data, no evidence of preferential treatment of the school's White students was observed (I am making the assumption that the families of these Caucasian students would be enumerable - census-wise - as members of Belize's White ethnic group). One White-ethnic-

224 group student in one of "my" classes was the son of one of the richest families of Cayo. Again, I never detected any specialized treatments extended to this student by his teacher. One teacher had (evidently) been hired by his family to take him and his sister home after school each day, auid I would sometimes observe them in their journey through the town streets - stopping in stores auid at the stalls of street vendors; I saw nothing unusual. Nor did I witness Cayo children giving local Caucasian residents - whether children or adults (again, presumably members of the White ethnic group) - special treatment.

One of my young-adult-aged White informants, however, related an experience from approximately twenty years ago, when she was a student at the same primary school, which suggests one type of specialized treatment. This memory was of the fact that the only (local) friends she had during these primary-school years were the (then) children of one particular local (Garinagu) family with which she knew I was acquainted. She explained that this was true in that all the other local (nonwhite) Cayo children were too awed and intimidated by her (and her sister's) Caucasiaui status to approach them to be playmates. Whether this is evidence of change across time or lacunae in my data on present-day Belize is not clear.

225 Like the case of White-ethnic-group children reported above, I cannot recall any empirical evidence of (positive) specialized treatments of adult members of Cayo's White ethnic group. Indeed, one such individual with whom I was acquainted

(an expatriate from the United States) seemed to receive numerous negative treatments from both Cayo nonwhite youth and adults. One example pertaining to this individual was his failure - across a lengthy time period, allegedly with no understandable explanation - to obtain a commercial license from town officials, in order to operate a business. The man finally "packed up and went home". Of course, for such cases, my data are slim enough that personality and other idiosyncratic factors must be considered.

While in Cayo, I was privy to a few blatant cases of specialized treatment of Caucasiams who were not members of the White ethnic group. Most involved individuals falling into the "visitor" category of whites. At the school at which I collected my data, a Caucasian woman arrived, well into my stay, as part of a "visiting teacher" program at a university in her (and my) home country, the United States. Both the adults cind the children of "my" school and its sponsoring church totally saturated this woman in specialized treatment. Students literally clung to her unceasingly, and, as she commented to me, " [she] never [went] anywhere in town without somebody's child wanting to go with [her] ." At a church-

226 sponsored outdoor rally which drew throngs of local individuals, all thickly bunched together in standing position because of the lack of provision of seating, I witnessed a chair floating across the heads of approximately 75 locals (and myself), being "handed" to this woman so that she would not have to stand. Of course I don't know the details of either one of these situations and it certainly may be true that this womêui's treatment was more a function of the fact that she was part of a special program, the nature of the special program (or what the specific program was) than it was a function of the mere fact that the woman was Caucasian, or a "visitor" white. It could also be due to idiosyncratic factors. Actually, this type of specialized treatment of visitors to Belize makes sense in view of the country's desire to attract tourists (one of the sub-categories of the visitor category) - a point I will pursue in the Conclusions Part I chapter.

SCHOOL DISCOURSE FINDINGS - WHITES OF CAYO AND BELIZE

This section reports three findings concerning the various populations of whites relevant to Belize (as delimited in the theory chapter). The first two findings are merely listed, without elaboration, or supporting data. The third is extensively discussed, using six text examples.

227 Finding I.(Whites):

Belize's White ethnic group, itself, was not included in the SChOgj*.S curriculum on ethnicity (although Lhs Mennonite ettoic group was) . Thus. Ministry of Education and other educational texts did not focus on them directly or explicitly as a primary topic. other present-day whites were alsa virtually omitted in the school curriculum discourses.

Finding II (Whites):

The earliest white antecedent populations of Belize (European buccaneers and its earliest settlers) . although not a curriculum focus themselves, came to be mentioned in several of the school's texts on the other Belizean ethnic groups. Specifically. references to them were contained in school discourses on the Mestizo. Creole and Maya ethnic groups.

228 Finding III (Whites):

In snhaai textual reports of negative acts committed by historical whites (white antecedents) against the historical

Belizean Maya and. Mestizo. the identities, of. the Beiiaean white antecedents are obscured by the discourses. This is also true of textual reports of the role of Belizean white antecedents as slavemasters of the Creole antecedent/proto- Creole slaves.

The six text excerpts below (each reported in a separate subsection) contain numerous discourse practices tending toward obscuring the identity of Belizean white antecedents in their negative historical acts or roles. In each subsection on each text excerpt, I point out and explain these discourse practices. Interestingly, it will be noticed that three of these discourse practices reoccur across the different text excerpts. Because of this, I choose to pre-list and define these three discourse practices in advance, immediately below, and later organize the Limitations and Alternative Interpretations of the Data sections in terms of them. The discourse analysis theory underlying several of these discourse concepts and phenomena as significant and valid indicators of social reality has been discussed in the theory chapter (section on Critical Linguistic Theory).

229 (i) ahgp>n^ agent syntax (The historical European victimizers remain unmentioned in the discourses.)

(ii) vagueness when referring tQ Lhs uhlLS. victimizers (especially indirect terminology) [The Belizean historical whites are referenced using less than clear labels (indirect terminology), or there is other vagueness of referencing.]

(iii) passive positioning syntax (The historical white Europeans are positioned late in the clause

or sentence, following a preposition.)

I now present and analyze each text excerpt (A through F) separately (except in the cases of C and D, and E and F, which are presented and commented on as pairs) - pointing out the ways each text can be argued to obscure actions of the Belizean white antecedents. After all the text excerpts have been presented and analyzed, I present separate Limitations and Alternative Interpretations of the Data sections, one each for the three discourse practices listed above, and a final one relevant to all the text excerpts. Texts C and D become important in one of these data limitations discussions because, in addition to containing clauses and sentences that can be read as obscuring whites, they contain similar cases

230 ways - these latter suggesting counter-indications to interpreting the earlier cases as white obscurément and/or to attributing any specific societal meaning to them.

Finally, at the end of the series of Limitations of the Data discussions, I present a retort defending the worth of the text examples for my claim of white obscurément despite the counter-arguments advanced (Final Statement discussion).

The overall significance of these discourse data of obscurément of historical whites, when it comes to the larger issue of Cayo's ethnicity system, is discussed in the Conclusions Part II chapter of this document.

TEXT EXCERPT "A" WITH ITS EXAMPLES rA(l)-A(5)1 FOR FINDING III (DISCOURSE OBSCURING OF WHITES): Source :___ Cayo Produced Educational Newspaper for Primary

School Students. September 1992 Issue. Page 6. Article on "The

Mavas" (140 words, total text):

At the end of the 9th century the Maya civilization went into decline. However some people remained on the land living in small scattered communities. A -ÜJ Our Maya ancestors M&ce occupying aceas throughout the whole of Belize when the Spaniards arrived in the Americas.. A (2) Their niimher was considerably reduced. A(3)

S s s a & were killed by Burqpeans, Aill acme by diseases and A(5) some were forced out of the country. 231 Today there are three groups (Yucateco, Mopanero and Kekchi) . Each group speaks a distinct dialect.

Analysis of Text Examples Contained in Text Excerpt A

In consideration of the possible discourse effect of obscuring historical whites in their negative acts against Belizean Mayas and Mestizos, sentences and clauses A (2) - A (5) are important. I will first make a point about A(2) , and then immediately pull A (3) - A (5) into the discussion. A(l) will be brought into the discussion at a later point.

A (2) and A(3) - A (5) Obscurément Evidence

At first glance A (2) ("Their number is considerably reduced".) would seem to be a strong, convincing example, by itself, of absent agent usage obscuring whites. This is because - in alluding to the historical phenomenon of Maya population decline (reduction), a phenomenon overwhelmingly caused by the advent of whites - this sentence is agentless

(in its reference to whites). However this reading is weakened when one examines this sentence together with A(3)- A(5) . When doing this, it becomes clear that the period at the end of A (2) is actually a colon. In other words, A (3) - A (5) serve the function of elaborating on sentence A(2), providing at least two of a total of three agents for the "reduction" mentioned in sentence A(2) . Thus, we are not valid in

232 criticizing A (2) as to what at first seems to be evidence of obscurément. We are instead required to overlook this seeming obscurément evidence, to view A (2) as a part of the larger unit A(2)-A{5), and to then evaluate the overall unit. Once doing this, other examples of obscurément of whites dfl become apparent. This is in spite of the fact that these three clauses [A (3) - A (5)] dfl provide agents for the Maya population reduction first mentioned in sentence A(2). For example, in clause A(3), the white European agent is mentioned but is positioned in the less cognitively noticeable part of the clause (passive positioning). Also, in clause A(4), the connection between the Europeans smd the diseases is not communicated (vagueness); and in clause A(5), the white European is not explicitly referenced at all (absent agent).

A(l)/A(3) Label Shift

Added to the aüaove vagueness, and serving to further obscure the white Spaniards in this text excerpt, is the fact that the la^Del used for the particular white population being referenced (the Spaniards) shifts across sentence A (1) and clause A(3). In A(l), the Spaniard is explicitly labelled a "Spaniard" (note this is in a sentence in which na negative acts are being attributed to this white population) and in clause A(3) , the Spaniard is suddenly re-labelled using the word "European" (note this is a clause reporting a negative

233 act) . What this word shift across A(l) and A (3) accomplishes is to exonerate the Spaniards [the result of the use of the word "Europeaui" instead of "Spaniard" in A (3) ] . As a result of this label shift, it can be argued that it becomes true that the individuals responsible for the killing reported in A (3) were people other than the Spaniards (some atllfiX group called "Europeans") . [In addition, the role of Europeans (of any type) in this negative act is de-emphasized in this clause because of the passive sentence positioning of the word "Europeans".]

Additional CharagterisJtics Contributing to the Above Label Confusion

Two other discursive characteristics contributing to this label change confusion across A(l) and A (3) emerge when we examine A(l) and A (2) as a unit. The first involves the usage of the verb "to-be" and its past tense "was" in A(2) ("their number was considerably reduced") . The usage of "was" instead of a more specific verb and/or tense (such as "became" or "came to be") which would be clearer in communicating the fact that the events of sentence A (2) [including, of course, those events presented in A (3) - A (5)] occurred subsequent to those of sentence A(l), contributes to vagueness in the

234 communication of the fact that the Spaniards were involved in the events of A (2) - A(5) . This is a viable argument at least in the case of North American English language usage. [3]

The second relevant discursive characteristic pertaining to the A(l)/A(3) lêüael shift also involves the A(l) - A(2) unit. It pertains to the internal construction of A(l) (specifically, including how its two clauses are ordered) and how this affects the transition between sentences A(l) and A(2) . Sentence A(l) is constructed such that its main theme is the areas the Maya ancestors were occupying. The statement concerning the Spaniard's arrival [the second clause of A(l)] is merely a secondary, subsidiary clause whose purpose is merely to state the point in time when the occupations of the areas occurred. However, it is only in this second clause of A(l) that any mention of the Spaniards occurs. Thus the Spaniard involvements is again obscured - due here to the fact that the only explicit mention of it is buried in a secondary, subsidiary clause making it even harder to link the label "Spaniard" to the label "Europeans" occurring later - at the point where (one of) the negative acts is explicated. It does not clearly let us know that A (2) - A (5) occurred after the arrival of the Spaniards (thus we do not ever guess that the Spaniards are involved, due to this vagueness of the time sequence).

235 TEXT EXCERPT "B" WITH ITS EXAMPLES FOR FINDING I: Source : Teacher's Review Lesson on The Mayan Ethnic Groups (Feb 1994)__(20 minute lesson) : [explanation of interlocutor symbols : "T" indicates teacher's statement; "S" indicates student's statement; blanks ("_____ ") indicate indiscernible speech; words in parentheses indicate words or statements which may or may not be rendered accurately in the transcription]: T : Good. Today we are going to study the Mayas. let's see what you know about the Mayas. We'll only be looking at the Mayas. S: ______T: Okay. ____ , tell me what you know about the Mayas. Let's see what you know about the Mayas. S: (That) they got their own god. T: Okay. They have their own god. Very good. S: Then they, then ______. T: They were our early, um, early, umm, inhabitants in our country. Very good. S: B(i) PBi, they were. they were um. Killed and slaughtered by the Spaniab- T: Okay, they were, they had war. B(2) They had war with the Spaniards or they ______. They had _____, okay. That's how some of them lived when um B (3) they started declining. s T They were very intelligent. Very good. S Ms., they lived in thatched houses. T They lived in thatched houses. S They were Christian. etc.

236 Analysis of Text Examples Contained in Text Excerpt B

Sentence B(l) . Sentence B(l) is smother example of the passive positioning of the Spaniards in the sentence ; thus the same points apply to it as were made for the passive- positioning clause A(3) of the previous text excerpt.

The reader may notice that in sentence B(l) of Text Excerpt B, the interlocutor is a student versus an adult. I do not know if this weakens the argument. In my opinion, this might merely mean that children's "talk" can also reflect the ethnicity system of the society (if indeed this phenomenon is a valid indicator of the ethnicity system of the society) .

B(2) and B(3)

Before introducing the second point, a assumption must first be stated concerning the meaning of the word "declining" in the portion of the classroom lesson text reproduced above - fraught as this text is with inaudible utterances. This assumption is that the "declining" in sentence B(3) refers to the Maya population reduction occurring after contact between the Maya and the Spaniards. [An alternate interpretation is that the word "declining" refers to the earlier, 9th century, pre-European contact decline of the Mayan Empire.] Once accepting this assumption, clause B (3) ("they started

237 declining") becomes very interesting. It is interesting because the agent it contains ("they") is actually the "experiencer" of the verb action communicated by the term "the declining". And, of course, "they" refers to the Maya. Thus, in this sentence, the experiencer of the verb action (the "declining") is the sentence agent (the entity responsible for effecting the verb action) . Thus it is that the Maya are being presented as the agents of their very victimization. This is a very extreme case of obscuring white involvement. It is telling us that: (a) only the Maya were involved and/or (b) that the declining was an internally generated action, and/or (c) that the Maya are agents responsible for initiating an action - that is, the action of the decline (analogous to a sentence such as "The arsonist started the fire"). Thus the Spaniards, again, are exonerated ("getting off 'scot-free'") - they are not responsible for the Maya decline (nor is anyone else except the Maya themselves).

TEXT EXCERPT "C" WITH ITS EXAMPLES FOR FINDING I: Source: Belize__ Ministry______Education__Backoround/Lesson

PJ.zoning Sheat on Mopan Mayans (For Use by— Teachers in

Preparing Ethnicity Lessons) . Rage 5__(1.177 wards^ total text):

Sometime around 1883 from across the Guatemalan Border, the ancestors of C(l) the Mayan Indiang now

238 known as "Mopan Mayas* returned to their hrmeland after being raided by S p a n i «h some centuries ago. They retained their independent way of living, rf2) but di a m a n t wipgH mit a lar-c»» m m ù ^ r of them. where by the few that survived (sic) , some settled mostly in the South West of Belize. These people have the tendency of being independent and also religious. They brought along with them two statutes of their Patron Saint namely, St. Luis and St. Iscübel and first settled in San Antonio Viejo now known as Pueblo Viejo. C(3) They were attacked bv people from across the border but the Indians won. They then proceeded to another part of Toledo District and settled at a place they named Aguacate. After a short time C(4) they were again invaded and this time their statues were captured and taken away. However, C(5) they followed the attackers and were successful in getting the statues of S t . Luis and S t . Isabel back after which they made another move and formed a village in the hilly and beautiful area, which is now San Antonio, the largest Maya village in the Toledo District. The inhabitemts do mostly farming.

TEXT EXCERPT "D" WITH ITS EXAMPLES FOR FINDING I:

Somrcej-Cayo Produced Educational Newspaper for Primary School Students. January 1993. Pag@__g, Article OR Mestizo,■ E-Üanlc group -L1Q4 words, total text):

The Mestizos live in the northern southern and western parts of the country. The term Mestizos comes from the Spanish word for "mixed" . D(l) A Mestizo is one of European and Indi an ancpmrry

D(2) In colonial days. Mestizos were despised and put do%m by pure-blooded Spanish.

0(3) In 1848 war broke out in the neighbor country of Mexico in the state of the Yucatan. It was the War of the Races. During this period 0(4) thrnigandg of refugees arrived in Belize to find peace and safety. The war ended in 18774. 0(5) Some of the refugees returned to their native lauid.

239 More than 8,000 chose to remain and adopted Belize as their home. They settled largely upon Hondo River that runs along the northern border of Belize. They worked as log cutters cuid farmers.

Analysis of Text Examples Contained in Text Excerpts C and D

In Text Excerpt C and in Text Excerpt D, we have additional examples of the usage of the passive position placement to reference white victimizers of the Maya and the Mestizo: sentence C(l) of Text Excerpt C and sentence D(2) of Text Excerpt D.

Sentences C(3) , C(4) and C(5) of Text Excerpt C, amd D(4) and D(5) of Text Excerpt D are not discussed here but saved for the Limitations of the Data discussion appearing at the every end of this chapter.

TEXT EXCERPT "E" WITH ITS EXAMPLES FOR FINDING I: Saurcs.:__Cayo Produced Educational Newspaper for Students. December 1992. Page 6. Article on Creole Ethnic Group (154 words, total text):

ETHNIC GROUPS OF BELIZE: THE CREOLES At the end of the ISth century the population of Belize was quite different...B(l) It was composed mainly of African slaves. British settlers, and the Maya. The 19 th century was a period of transformation. 240 The original British and blacks intermarried amd created the Creoles. Creoles are the dominamt ethnic group in Belize.

TEXT EXCERPT "F" WITH ITS EXAMPLES FOR FINDING I:

Source :_Cavo Produced Educational Newspaper for Students. September 1992. pages 1 and 4. Article on "Belize Past and

Present" (226 words, total text):

September 10th. 1992 - National Day This year we celebrate the 194th amniversary of the Battle of St. George's Caye. This event is an occasion of celebration. P ( 1) We celebrate the alorv of the Baymen (.freemen and slaves) . They fought well and won to defend our land.

September 2lth, 1 9 9 1 We celebrate the llth amniversary of our independence. We are a free country. Let us show our loyalty amd solidarity by taking part in the celebrations planned for the occasion.

Analysis of Text Examples Contained in Text _Excerpts E_and F

In the first text excerpt above (Text Excerpt E) , the use of the word "mainly" in sentence E(l) informs the reader that some categories are excluded from this census-like listing of sectors of Belize's end-of-the-18th-century population. In examining the list, one notes mention of a category called "African slaves" but no mention of amy category identifiaüale as the "slavemasters" of these slaves. The implication is

241 that the slavemaster category is amongst those categories excluded from the listing. However, this category is in fact included but obscured (under the label "British settlers").

Similar to their discourse treatment in Text Excerpt E above, in Text Excerpt F, the British slave holders are simply referred to as "freemen" [F(l) ] . Thus the slaveowners are, again, not mentioned, although, again, they are mentioned.

(As a relevant item of information, the historical event referred to is the "Battle of St. George's Caye" which involved the British and their slaves fighting together against the Spaniards.)

Limitations of the Data

Introduction

In weighing the worth of any claim that the discursive practices and their posited effects in the above examples are related to the ethnicity system of Cayo society, the counter argument must be considered that the practices are attributable to other reasons or sources.

As explained earlier, this section presents specific arguments or counter-indications toward using the above text

242 examples as evidence of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize. Mostly, the discussions point out alternative "readings" or explanations for the discourse practices involved. As explained earlier, the organization of the discussions is, for the first three discussions, by type of discursive practice or characteristic involved: (passive voice, absent agent and vague terminology). Also, as explained earlier, a final data-limitations discussion presents counter-indications applying to all the aODOve text examples.

Limitations of the Passive "Voice" Data:_The Alternative Explanation of Text Coherence Considerations

One alternative explanation for the passive voice cases in the above text examples pertains to the fact that the topic of each text in which they appear is the particular nonwhite ethnic group (versus the European whites). In such cases, it makes sense for the writer of the text to give syntactical prominence to the nonwhite ethnic group versus the white population discussed in order to achieve text coherence. In other words, one alternative explanation for these passive voice examples is that they are no more than concessions to style considerations versus reflections of social practice (the societal ethnicity system).

243 Limitations Qf the.-EflSSive "Voice" Data:__The Alternative Theory of Preferred Syntax

A second possibility (alternative reason) for the above, of course, is perhaps that passive voice is the preferred syntax form in Belizean discourses - regardless of topic. The following text might be an illustration or indication of this.

It is a paragraph from a text excerpt presented in eui earlier discussion, showing a perhaps important piece of evidence pertaining to passive positioning. The relevant sentence is C(3) . Since the sentence also contains evidence pertaining to absent agent (discussed in the next subsection), I will present the text at this point but combine ray further comments about its utilization of passive positioning with my comments on its utilization of absent agent - that is, in the next section below. The point to be made is, again, that perhaps mere preference for the passive "voice" is the reason for its use in discussing our topic of interest (whites).

Duplication of Portion of Text Excerpt C (Discussed Burlier): They brought along with them two statutes of their Patron Saint namely, S t . Luis and S t . Isabel and first settled in Sam Antonio Viejo now known as Pueblo Viejo. C(3) They were attacked bv people from across the border but the Indians won. They then proceeded to amother part of Toledo District and settled at a place they named Aguacate. After a short time C(4) they were again invaded and this time their statues were captured amd taiken away.

244 Limitations of the Absent Agent Data

The absent agent case of [A (1)] mentioned earlier may constitute weak data ("Our Maya ancestors were occupying areas throughout the whole of Belize when the Spaniards arrived in the Americas") . One counter-argument here is, again, that absent agent syntax is simply the preferred syntax in Belize. This alternative interpretation is bolstered when we notice several sentences in Text Excerpt C reproduced immediately above. Sentence C(3) and clause C(4) refer to an event that

does not involve whites (instead, they refer to Guatemalan- side, rival Mayans). Yet these sentences also utilize these two discourse procedures argued as white protection devices and as reflecting the society's ethnicity system: passive

"voice" [C(3) ] auid aüasent agent [C(4) ] .

Thus we are forced to consider the possibility that absent agent (as well as passive sentence positioning) is merely a pervasive tendency in Belizean discourse style. A remaining possibility would be to consider the theory that Guatemalan-side Mayas are also candidates for discourse

obscuring, just like the Belizean whites.

245 of the vague Terminology Data:__"Weakness"__ Example "E" (Due to Sentence Theme)

The case of the vague terminology used in Text Excerpt E (the partial listing of population categories which omits mention of the category of slaveholders) is weaker as data indicative of white obscuring than would be a text exanqple in which the text topic was "the slaves and their slavemasters" (versus the topic of this segment, "What are all the categories of types of peoples in Belize").

Limitations of the Vaoue Terminology Data: Vaoueness Examples as Mere Random Events

The exanples of vagueness presented above and argued as significant in effecting obscurément of whites may simply be random occurrences. This is suggested by the facts that (l) vagueness does not occur in some other school texts aüoout whites and their slaves (there do exist some texts which make the white slavemaster-slave relationship clear); and (2) similarly, other school texts are sometimes vague even when not about whites. One exaitple of each is reproduced below.

246 Example of A Clear Statement Of Whites

as Slays Owners - Icom.Ministry of Education Background Sheet on Creoles

Creoles Origin The Creole is descended mainly from the mixture with the European white settlers and their slaves. Some Creoles have very fair skin with just a small mixture of Africaui in them. Others have the very dark skin like the Africcui slaves.

Example of Vagueness in Discussion QUlsr (Nonwhite) Populations: Portion of Text Excemt D

(presented and discussed earlier):

D(3) In 1848 war broke out in the neighbor country of Mexico in the state of the Yucatan. It was the War of the Races. During this period D(4) thousands of refugees arrived in Belize to find peace and safety. The war ended in 18774. D (5) Some of the refugees returned to their native land

In this latter example, several sentences (beginning with D(3) appear adsout the War of the Castes and the resultant refugee immigration into Belize. Yet no details are provided as to either who the refugees are, or who the instigators of the war were. Thus these sentences might also "involve" obscurément, but this time it is the Yucatan Mayas that are being obscured, not a white population.

247 Limitations of All the Above "Obscurément" Data (Passive Positioning. Absent Aoent and Vague Terminology Cases)

The above texts and their text examples may indeed be valid examples of obscurément, yet not be reflections of the society's ethnicity system. A theory not yet presented along these lines is that they may instead be due to the efforts of one societal institution to "sanitize" its ethnicity discourses because of concern about the sensitivities of their youthful audience (primary-school-aged children).

Final Statement Concerning the Worth of the Above Discourse Data: A Retort

Despite the above limitations, counter-indications and alternative interpretations, it may still be true that these discourse data on Belizecui historical whites has some significance in terms of the current ethnicity system of Cayo. The Conclusions Chapter - Part II will combine these data with community data on Belize's whites in an effort to judge what all the Belizean white data of this study might indicate about the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize.

248 NOTES

1. There was a family of Mennonite children in the school during the second year I was there - a story in itself, but recall both that the Mennonites of Belize are not classified in the "white" ethnic group category and that my study does not cover them.

2. It was said, additionally, that, in the past, it had been very common for such couples to relocate to Britain, for the marriage to then fail, and for the Belizean Spanish wife to then return to Belize. The female owner of Anna's Market (a local grocery store) was pointed out to me as an example. It was also said that the marriage usually "worked" if the couple remained in Belize.

3. My reasoning may be culture-bound: while this vagueness is true of North American English usage, it is not entirely clear that such is true of Belizean Standard English usage ; I was privy to much evidence that Belizeans sometimes use English tenses differently from North Americauis - presumably as influenced by Creole language tense structure.

249 CHAPTER 9 FINDINGS - MISCELLANEOUS

FIELDWORK MEMORIES

Notes From My Fieldwork Notebook: Ms.Inana's Social Studies Lesson

Ms. Imma starts lesson. Tells students today they are going to discuss how towns and villages in Belize get governed. The kind of government they have. Explains especially going to explain the Maya system in the villages : alcalde system. [Now she's asking their ethnicities, Sort of an introduction, I guess] "In Belize, we have lots of ethnic groups, we have [writing them on the board, listing them all]. "How nany of you are Mestizo?" [Asking the kids in the room] "Raise your hand if you are." [So far, nobody] "Okay! listen up!" "Raise your hand, all you Spanish! Spanish - that's a Mestizo, we call them Mestizos." [Two raise hands. Many in this room look Mestizo to me] "Raise your hands, show me. Jose, you could raise your hand. Louisa, yours. What about you others? Raise your hands if you are Mestizo. Spanish."

"Okay so then we have, our Creoles." [writing on board] "So now, all you Creoles raise your hands." [Some are doing it. Five. Jane is raising hers ! ! ! ! -the white student of Miss Theresa's] "Jane, Jane, why is your hand up? I said for the Creoles. You aren't Creole !" [This is interesting! ] Jane : "Yes Ms., I am Creole. Teacher: "No, Jane. You don't come from Africa - your relatives don't. That's a Creole ! You are not Creole !" Jane : "Yes, Miss, I have some." [Teacher not saying anything. Thinking, I guess]

250 "South Africa?" - teacher's question. Jane : "Yes, Miss." "Well those don't count!" - teacher. [By now Miss Imma is looking kind of frustrated. ]

etc.

COMMUNITY. SCHOOL AND SCHOOL DISCOURSE FINDINGS

Four observations worth reporting in this section are the following: adults in Cayo sometimes defer on classifying friends and others as to ethnicity; both adults and children in Cayo often choose multiple ethnicities ; and teachers both distance the topic of ethnicity - in their teaching of it, and sometimes ignore student mistakes regarding the ethnicity information presented to them.

Two additional findings (labelled #V and #VI) are reported and discussed in the remainder of this chapter.

Miscellaneous Finding V :

Numerous Cavo children (ages 8 to 12) lacked clarity as to: jUJ their own ethnicity (own-group identity ambiguity). and (23 that of others (out-group identity ambiguity). Given the ages involved, this finding is also interpreted as one of

251 delayed ethnicity learning. These cases seem to span most of the ethnic groups. The total number of cases is, however, limited (approximately 10 to 25 cases) .

Specifically, my examples of own-group identity ambiguity (#1 above) [cf. "low self- or personal-group identification" (Phinney and Rotheram 1987] fall into three categories.

These include (a) cases of not knowing one's own ethnicity (fifth graders ) ; (b) mis-identification of one's own ethnicity (fifth graders); and (c) providing different answers at different times (fifth and seventh graders) . The above "fieldwork memories" section provides exanples of #1 - lack of own-group identification awareness [even if one discounts the final exchange between the teacher and the (blonde and blue eyed) white student, which might merely be an example of a student deciding to be contrary].

My examples of out-group ambiguity (#2 above) [cf. Phinney and Rotheram's construct of "low other-group identification awareness" (1987) ] include one Belizean Spanish child ' s comment to her teacher that she knew no Garinagu individuals despite my observation that a classmate with whom she plays regularly on the school grounds belonged to this ethnic group. A portion of the transcription of this exchange (from a class lesson) is now reproduced:

252 Text Excerpt: Teacher's Lesson on the Garifuna (Note: same interlocutor symbols apply here as explained earlier in this document): T: Yes, you can find them in the islands. And a matter of fact, around when Belize became independent, a team of Garifunas came from, from Nicaragua I think. Except that there, they don ' t know how to speak English. They speéüc Spanish because Spanish is the official language, of Nicaragua. They speéüc, speak Spauiish, and their Garifuna. In Belize, they l e a m English, they l e a m Spanish, and their, their language. Maestro. I never saw a Oari funa XL Yeg you have- Look at Desiree! Have you ever, uh, heard of um the Bishop specücing? s No. T You know the Bishop? S uh, uh. S Maestro _____ T You know the Bishop? S: T; Did you know he's Garifuna? etc.

Alternative Interpretations and Limitations of These Data

On the surface, the above data are very surprising and perplexing. How could it be that, in a community in which so much attention is paid to, and emphasis placed on, ethnicity (schools teach it, community events use it as a major theme.

253 etc) , youth could remain oblivious to the "correct" constructs. On the other hand, the above reported cases of ethnic ambiguity may reveal nothing or very little about the ethnicity system of Cayo. Their greatest limitation is their numbers. The number of cases is small enough that the counter-explanation of the atypicality of the individuals involved cannot be ruled out. However two facts bolster my confidence in these data. They are : (i) two other teachers - one in the same school and one in a different Cayo primary school - conducted ethnic identification exercises (at my request) and obtained similar findings; and (ii) another researcher reports the same finding for another heterogeneous, allegedly highly admixed town of Belize (Haug 1995).

One additional counter-argument is that this confusion on the part of Cayo children says less about any structural elements of the ethnicity system than it does about the overlapping, confusing terminology that has evolved for labelling ethnicity and related cultural phenomena in Belize. I think the theory has be to entertained that the whole topic of Belizean ethnicity is confusing to Belizean children of a certain cognitive level, due to the terminology for ethnic groups, national groups and languages. For exartçjle, "Creole" is a label for both a people and a language, and the two are not isomorphic. The word" Indian" is sometimes used for Mayans, and also exists as one-half of the labels for both

254 East Indians and West Indians. Also, "Spauiish" is the name for a language in addition to being the term for two different peoples - Spaniards and Belizean Spauiish (if not three groups recall discussion in Findings - Mestizos chapter). Additionally, the Belizean Spanish are sometimes referred to (especially in the schools) by the alternative term, "Mestizo".

Another example is that the language label "English", as used in Belize, although sometimes meaning "Stauidard English", can also refer to the local. Creole language. [In addition to referring to one or more languages, the term could also refer to a population - the British (as we shall now see), although I do not recall that this was a common practice in Cayo.] I once engaged Cayo students in the exercise of reciting, into my camcorder, their names, ethnicities, hobbies and a few other items of information about themselves. Numerous children proclaimed into the microphone, "I am English". I found this surprising and confusing because of the fact that, in addition to it being in error (another case of evidence for my ethnic ambiguity finding) , I had not, as just stated, heard the term "English" used, in Belize, as the label for any population - "British", and "white" being the terms I had heard (that seem to apply here) . Although my interpretation

255 is very in^ressionistic, I somehow felt that they were reporting what language they spoke instead of what their ethnicity was.

A third alternative interpretation of these data is that Cayo children's ethnicity-awareness-confusion behaviors may merely be a function of the school's method of instruction of the ethnicity unit versus evidence of the society's ethnicity system. This trait list method has already been discussed. The points presented in that discussion also apply here.

Final Statement Regarding Finding V

The Conclusions - Part II chapter will take this finding of ethnicity ambiguity/delayed learning, combine it with other data, and consider what it might suggest, if anything, about the ethnicity system of Cayo. In doing so, it will consider and address the alternative interpretations and the perplexing questions posed. A theory which will not be given full consideration, due to space constraints, will be proposed as a future research topic - whether these data (combined with other evidence) suggest that ethnicity is actually unimportemt in Cayo society [Palacio's theory (1988a)]. An argument suggesting that such might be the case can be framed as follows - If ethnicity were important enough in a society,

256 children would definitely receive adequate socialization to this knowledge - regardless of factors such as the level of cultural and genetic mixing, societal mixing, the extent of confusing terminology, or in^erfections in a school's teaching methods. Cross-cultural, ethnographic data relative to the inability of at least one of these factors (cross-group overlaps), to stand in the way of clear ethnic definitions and self-identifications supports this argument cuid will be discussed in the suggestions for future research chapter [for example, Moerman's Lue data (Moerman 1965 and 1968) .] As stated, full consideration of this theory will have to await further research.

In addition to Palacio and others' theories regarding the lack of important-ness of ethnicity in Belize euid/or Cayo, the above data open the door to consideration of other theories of differentness-system structures for Cayo, at least one of which (a type of hue system) I devote consideration to in the conclusions and future research chapters of this document.

257 Miscellaneous Finding VI:

Inter-Ethnic Interactions or Relations Across Belizean Ethnic

SiiauBs wees raeely discussed q c portrayed in Lhe schaal discourses. Indeed it was rare for any text to contain content pertaining to more tham one (contemporary) Belizeaui group at a time.

One exception to the above finding is reproduced below - an newspaper article on the Maya which starts with several sentences mentioning seven Belizean ethnic groups in the same sentence (in a prelude to the main text topic) . Otherwise,

there seemed to be silence on the topic.

Source; Cayo Produced Educational Newspaper for Primary School Students - September 1992. Paae_ 6, Article on The Mavas (145 words, total text): It is nothing unusual for a Creole to meet a Maya, a Mestizo, a Garinagu, a Hindu, a person of Chinese or a person of European descent on his way to work. It is not unusual to find children of three or more ethnic groups in a classroom. Belizean culture is indeed quite a unique blend of social and ethnic groups.

This silence on the topic of intergroup interactions precludes, of course, school discussion of inter-ethnic conflict. On one occasion during a class lesson, I witnessed what seemed to be a student ' s attempt to introduce the topic

258 of ethnic conflict in Belize, and the teacher's stifling of this discussion (this evidence controvertible - one reason being the occurrence, again, of audibility problems):

Text Excerpt - Teacher's Lesson on Mestizos. February 3. 1993 S; people in Salvador . T: Huh? S: Spanish people, in Salvador, they call them

T: People who usually ____ , then they would call them (ladino/latino.) Any Spanish person you see they, you usually call them like that. S : Miss, _____ . T: But these here in Belize, it's how they call them, like that. S : Miss, . Miss, _____ . T : Thank you. S: Miss, in some parts of Belize, a Spanish person could, get beat up right away? T: Okav. we are not thinking about fighting. Okay. let's think about what urn, .we would like fairly, not thinking about fighting.

Limitations of These Data

The sample size in the case of these data is again very small and, again, there is the question of whether this form of "sanitizing" the class discussion is an aspect of the ethnicity system, or a tactic to misrepresent the ethnicity system (if there is indeed a distinction, as posed earlier in the discussion of obscurément of historical whites in school discourses).

259 There is also the possibility that the teacher's behavior of constraining the student's discourse on this particular topic was due to the presence in the room of an outsider - me, the researcher.

Final Statement Regarding Finding VI

The Suggestions for Future Research chapter will suggest combining community data (especially those on day-to-day intergroup interactions) and other data with this finding of the cibsence of coverage of intergroup relations and the stifling of discourses on intergroup conflict, to determine what they reveal, if anything, about the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize. One possibility is that they constitute an example of a phenomenon discussed in the theory chapter as a tendency of societal educational institutions serving the state needs of maintaining national stcüoility - restricting information that is transmitted to only those topics that the society desires its youth to internalize.

260 CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSIONS - PART I

INTRODUCTION

My overall conclusion regarding Cayo, Belize, is that there is manifested, in this Belizean community, more than a single set of claims (discursive and behavioral) concerning ethnicity. Close scrutiny of my findings and informed reflection suggest that these multiple assertion-behavior sets of Cayo constitute fairly self-contained, internally self- consistent, parallel systems. Moreover, the structure of these ethnicity claim sets (systems) matches well with the five categories offered by the analytical framework amd model of an ethnicity system presented in Chapter One and used to guide me in my analysis of my data. This framework and model declares that each of these ethnicity claim sets (systems) includes claims as to: 1) what the appropriate ethnic categories for Cayo, Belize are; 2) what the appropriate

attributes and behaviors related to each category should be; and 3) who the appropriate actors in each case can, should or must be. Sometimes, they also include 4) additional statements - such as assertions regarding relations across the

resultant ethnic groupings, or ratings as to the relative

261 positions of these groups within a status hierarchy. They also contain assertions as to 5) who has the authority to decide and/or declare matters 1 - 4 above.

In my judgement, this conclusion of multiple ethnicity systems is the only one possible in the face of the variegated and contradictory findings which have been reported in the last four chapters of this document. One exanple is the school data which reveal texts depicting Cayo's ethnic groups as highly discrete units characterized by nonoverlapping, essentialist traits, versus community data exposing the existence of numerous cross-ethnic-group sharings of traits. Another example is the profuse evidence that ethnicity is a salient form of differentness in Cayo, juxtaposed against evidence that at least some Cayo residents may lack clarity as to their own, and others' ethnicity.

Specifically, the claim sets, or systems, of ethnicity which I tentatively conclude as manifesting themselves in

Cayo, Belize include : a) a government constructed system of ethnicity, and b) a lay or lived system of ethnicity. The government system originates, of course, from outside of Cayo Town (from the nation's capital), but because it obligatorily inserts itself into the town's government-subsidized schools, impacting several segments of Cayo's population (youth, teachers, educational administrators, and probably also

262 parents), it is to be considered a valid local reality. In addition to these two systems of ethnicity, I see possible evidence of a third system which, although operating entirely outside of Cayo, may be of local relevance - a multi-vocal, internally disagreeing one constructed and perpetuated by Belizean intellectuals, based largely in Belize City (see Suggestions for Future Research chapter discussion, as well as endnotes # 3 and #4 of that chapter for more on this possible discourse (F)).

This chapter (Conclusions - Part I) and the next chapter (Conclusions - Part II) discuss and present conclusions regarding the first two systems (the state system of ethnicity and the lived/lay System - hereafter referred to as merely the "lay" system) . As stated, a few points about the third are made in the last chapter of this document, (Final Summary and Suggestions for Future Research).

In these conclusions discussions, three major arguments unfold. The first is that these ethnicity systems disagree with one another in terms of numerous of the five elements listed as part of my model of ethnicity systems. Second, I argue, tentatively, that, while familiar with (even sometimes professing and, in the case of teachers, teaching) the government ethnicity system, Cayo residents are engaged in living out lives which conform to the second, lay system of

263 daims regarding ethnicity in Cayo. A final argument is that citizens cope with this situation of conflicting discourses (F) by engaging in a set of dissonance-reduction strategies, including (for the case of school teachers) communicating their disagreement with the state system during their teaching of it.

I now make a few preliminary points about my definition and data sources for the Belize state ethnicity system. I then present my tentative conclusions aüDout it. After this presentation, I discuss which elements of the state system are predictable and which not. In doing this, I sometimes compare the content of the Belize state system to the differentness systems of the governments of other societies (discussion section).

As stated, conclusions regarding the lay system are discussed in the next chapter.

BELIZEAN STATE SYSTEM OF ETHNICITY

Definition

Again, my definition of the Belize government-cons true ted system of ethnicity consists of that government's "response"

264 to each of the earlier presented five questions: a) what the appropriate ethnic categories of Cayo are; b) what the appropriate attributes cuid behaviors in each ethnic category are; c) what actors have permission or cam be expected to identify with each category; d) what additional claims concerning ethnicity are made; and, e) who has the authority to decide auid declare these things.

As explained in the theory chapter, the Belizean state ethnicity system - like all such systems - is used to set public policy for purposes of state-building and administration. As the theory chapter explained, in serving this function, it can be expected to contain a mixture of several different types of claims and agendas concerning ethnicity. Three such types of claims and agendas - deducible from points made in the theory chapter (points regarding state needs and behaviors regarding ethnicity, and the relationship of schools and school texts to state needs) are : l) attempts at accurate, objective statements as to current realities concerning ethnicity in the society; 2) visionary statements - meaning projected goals as to what the state would like to be true about ethnicity in its society, or is aiming toward; and (3) ideology - statements designed to explain and justify less-than-completely palatable (to elements of the citizenry)

265 realities and which, in the process of the explanation and justification, often intentionally disguise or distort these realities.

Two Comments Concerning Data Sources for the State System of Ethnicity

The sole type of data-source which I use for Belize's state system of ethnicity consists of quoted government statements from government and other texts. Most are government-origin texts used in the school of my research.

Specifically, they consist of background sheets on the Belizean ethnic groups, composed - for teachers or students - by the Belizeeui Ministry of Education (again, see endnote #1 of Chapter 5 ) . Excluded are texts which constitute paraphrases or interpreted presentations of government stances regarding ethnicity. The reason for this selectivity is to avoid the issue of accuracy of interpretation that would exist as to whether a particular text is correctly stating the government's stance. The discourses of the school teachers, and those of the educational newspaper used in the schools are also excluded due to the difficulty of determining which ethnicity system [i.e., which discourse (F) ] such texts represent (recall discussion in chapter one)]. Such are, however, used, along with a special double - check, for evidence

266 of lay claims (see next chapter) ; this same double-check system was not feasible for use for the case of data for state system claims .

An additional point needs to be made pertaining to what I have presented above as the nature of the phenomenon I am calling "state ethnicity systems" and the nature of the data I use to discern the one of Cayo, Belize. This point is that it must be expected that the nature of the data which I use to discern Belize's state ethnicity system might conflate and

mask distinctions that exist across the elements, explained above - of objective statements, visions, and ideological statements. Thus, to whatever extent that any of these exist for Cayo and wider Belize, they may be lumped together in both my definition and my presentation of supporting data for the state system. For most of the purposes of this project, I do not think that this situation is of any consequence. However, it does become relevamt at (at least) a few points in my attempts to maüce sense of the realities about ethnicity in Cayo, and is worth keeping in mind, in general.

267 Research Conclusions as to Characteristics of the -S-tate System c£ Ethnicity-ln Cayo, Belize

Research Ccncluaicns.,.Regarding Characteristics Eertaining to Elements #1 - #3 of Belize’s State System

The Belizean State system of ethnicity asserts that there are eleven valid ethnic groups for Cayo and the nation more generally (Mestizos, Creoles, Garinagu, Mopan Mayas, Ketchi Mayas, "Other" Mayas, East Indians, Chinese, Whites,

Mennonites, and Lebanese).

For all the ethnicities and populations focused on in this document (Mestizos, Creoles and whites), the content of the definitions of these ethnic categories references genetics. For at least two (Mestizo and Creole), the category definitions also include historical origin. For these same two, they also include cultural traits. Spelled out, the definition for the White ethnic category is one of genetics (and perhaps historical origin); that for Mestizos and Creoles, historical origin, genetics, and cultural traits. It says that Belizean Whites are self-reporting Caucasians of any national origin, and that Mestizos are individuals whose ancestors "originated" in Mexico or Central America, are a genetic blend primarily of Spaniard and Amerindian, and are engaged in a number of designated behaviors such as speaking

268 Spanish, growing sugar cane, eating panades and nachos, and dancing the Hoghead Dance. It says that Creoles are individuals with partial African ancestry, who do such things as grow rice, com, plantains, vegetables and ground food, eat fried fish and johnny cake, and call their farms plantations. It is to be noticed that both these definitions constitute lists of essentialistically defined traits. By this I mean that these traits are defined as mandatory and permanent for each group, implying innate-ness and mutual exclusiveness. Also, not only is a Mestizo (for example) defined as an individual who does A, B and C, any individual who does A, B, and C is defined as a Mestizo.

When it comes to criteria and procedures for assignment to the ethnic categories, the Belizean state system's critérium is one of descent (if your parents are Mestizo, you are Mestizo). Thus ethnicity, in Belize's state system, is an ascribed status. This assignment system is a fixed and rigid one, resulting in ethnicity lacking capacity for modification or situationality. Finally, there seems to be no rule for what to do with individuals of mixed parentage.

269 Research Conclusions Regarding Characteristics Pertaining to #4 of the State System (Additional Claims Regarding Ethnicity)

Equal Respect for All Ethnic Groups? In this government system of ethnicity, there seems to be some evidence of the message that all ethnic groups are to be respected equally. However, side by side with this evidence, there is school text evidence of the existence of at least some types of partiality across the groups or group subunits, along the lines of behaviors and/or textual information inclusions and exclusions

(both quantity and quality).

For exan^le, there is some government-based school text evidence that some of Belize’s ethnic groups or subunits of them are not afforded mention of, or credit for, particular attributes, events or accomplishments. We have already seen examples of this in the findings chapters. It was seen that, in school ministry-based texts, the existence of Guatemalan- versus Yucatan-origin Mestizos as a component of the Belizean Mestizo group tends to be de-ettç>hasized or ignored. Also, we saw that Creoles receive criticism and insult instead of applause for their contribution to the nation of a lingua franca which - in the lay system of ethnicity - currently seems to serve, not only as a mere vehicle of universal communication in a nation otherwise lacking this essential.

270 critical component of successful state-making (Verdery 1994) , but the important identity function of defining and distinguishing Belizean-ness.

Two other very interesting exait^les of partiality occur for two populations not included under the purview of this study. School and media government texts in Belize often construct, romanticize, and elevate historical Mayas as the (sole) Belizean "ancestor", and reinvent the historical Garinagu as slaves instead of nonslaves. However, as has been discussed elsewhere, for the case of the former (the school texts manifesting this characteristic) , it is hard to know whether they are declaring the state system versus something else.

Research Conclusions Pertaining to Characteristic #3 Above: Who is Allowed to Decide and Declare Matters Pertaining to

Ethnicity

The State's Granting (to its Citizenry) of the Right to be Ethnic. There is contained in the Belize state system of ethnicity one inç>ortant underlying assun^tion which itself is a claim about ethnicity (specifically a claim as to who can say and do what) . It is the Belize state's concession to its citizenry (even encouragement) , of the right to be ethnic - to retain such sub-national identities historically constructed

271 in Belize, prior to the emergence of the new nation-state. As will be discussed in the discussion section of this chapter, at least some other multi-ethnic states globally have made alternative decisions along these lines - for exanple to: (a) discourage or downplay whatever pre-existing allegiances of this type might exist; (b) refrain from constructing, reifying or emphasizing new ones themselves; or (c) engage in a homogenization policy. Although there is evidence that Belize once subscribed to the above policy of downplaying ethnicity - even in the recent past - as we have seen in the findings chapters, ethnicity in Belize during the 1992-93 period of my fieldwork was highly validated (officially and unofficially), with the government being a major participant in this validation. For one thing, the state used the eleven ethnic categories as the basis of its enumeration of the population in decennial censuses (the point here is that this was not always the case historically, and not the case in some countries) . Also, during the period of my stay (and for numerous years prior), the state caused ethnicity to be promoted in programming on government radio and television stations, in addition to requiring its inclusion in school curriculums (of government-subsidized schools). During that period, ethnicity was also commonly used in Belize to structure entertainment components of a wide range of public functions, including governmental ones.

272 "Many Cultures. Qns People* :__ ThS StatS Dictating Concurrent National Level Identity. Of course, what the above characteristic (the state’s granting, to its citizenry, of the right to be ethnic) actually means is that, in Belize, the above rights to sub-national allegiances and identities are allowed as adjuncts to a mandated national-level allegiance and identity. In other words, the Belize state system asserts that, despite the above sub-national allegiances, Belizean citizens are expected to identify, first and foremost, with a over-arching, meta-ethnic constellation called "Belizeam". This claim is evidenced in the political motto of the People ' s United Party (the political party in office during my Belize stay), "Many Cultures, One people". One additional claim being made here is that there exists no contradiction or conflict between the two allegiances, nor any threat of the one (e.g., ethnicity) to the other (e.g., nationalism) . It is to be noted that this characteristic of "the mandate to be Belizean" joined with the above one of "the right to be ethnic" constitutes one type of nationalism model available to heterogeneous nation-states - the pluralist integration model of nationalism (Bolland 1987; but see Moberg 1997) to be discussed more below (discussion section).

273 Ihs state ' s Right to Decide Which and HSK Many Ethnicities Ego Has. Despite the state's concession to its citizenry of the right to be ethnic, it is clear, from the earlier summary of the Belize state’s ethnicity classification definitions and rules, that the state reserves for itself the right to decide which ethnic category Ego "chooses". In actuality, what happens is that the state attempts to predetermine any decision of Ego's in this regard (what Ego may perceive as his or her own decision) by its rigid category definitions and rigid classification rules. As a part of this, it is even answering the question of whether Ego can claim a multiple ethnic identity - the answer being in the negative. This is true regardless of whether Ego's parentage is mono-, dual-, or multi-ethnic. It is also true regardless of whatever else Ego might desire, such as to be in a second, third, entirely different, ethnic group from either of his or her parents. The Conclusions - Part II chapter will introduce and discuss cases of individuals in Cayo possessing such a goal (as part of its consideration of a hue-fixation basis for the Cayo lay ethnicity system).

A Final Note

There may be additional characteristics of the Belize state system of ethnicity which did not manifest themselves in the texts I drew upon.

274 Discussion

Some of the Belize state ethnicity system features are predictable and some are not. This section elaborates on this fact. As part of the discussions, the above findings are sometimes compared to elements of the differentness systems of other, similar societies.

Eredlctable Elements of the State Ethnicity System

That the government of Belize would construct its own “system" of ethnicity could have been predicted. The literature on ethnicity and nationalism ubiquitously declares the tendency of multi-ethnic nation-state governments to adopt visionary or ideological discourses and programs for the purpose of effecting and ensuring national unity and stability. Even short of this, any government can be expected to espouse discourse and programs to regulate diversity phenomena so as to msocimize chances for effective routine governing (Verdery 1994; also see Ramos 1995) .

It was also predictable that any such system adopted by such a government might be at variance with at least some observable realities. After all, it is more inport ant that the content of such "factual" statements, visions or

275 ideologies eüsout: ethnicity conform to the nation-building and maintenance needs mentioned above, and discussed in the theory chapter, than to any actual societal realities.

It could also have been predicted that such an ethnicity system might possess internal contradictions. Such a system might easily contain and espouse certain claims on certain levels, in certain texts, on certain occasions, or for certain

audiences (and other claims in or for other situations). If one recalls the fact of the competing state agendas of vision, ideology, and factual claims as all potentially contained within a state system - and realize how these are inherently

capable of disagreement, one can easily see this possibility.

Numerous of the particulars of the Belize government's system of ethnicity could also have been predicted : a) the assertion that national unity is possible in tandem with sub­ national allegiances [but, as was mentioned and will be discussed (see later discussion), the second part of this proclamation - the decision to allow and encourage ethnic identity itself - is not entirely predicteible] ; b) that all ethnicities would be claimed to be equally respected; c) that only one ethnicity would be condoned for each Ego; d) that the definitions and rules pertaining to ethnicity would be essentialist and rigid, auid ethnicity an ascribed status;

276 and e) that the state would define itself as the appropriate authority and decision maker on most matters pertaining to ethnicity.

The reasons why #2 above (equal respect of all ethnic groups) is predictable is rather obvious (given a state's need to prevent subgroups from feeling outweighed by other ethnic groups of the society) c u id requires little elaboration - if no more than ideology, it directly and immediately contributes to prevention of ethnic strife and therefore contributes to state stability.

The important, predictable basis for the first part of #1 above has already been discussed (that a government would expect national-level identification and loyalty), and the issue of the second element of #1 (that a government would allow sub-national allegiances) will be discussed in the first discussion of the next section on unpredicted elements of Belize’s state system.

The three predictable characteristics, mentioned above, which do deserve comment at this point are the "only one identity" rule; the essentialism and fixity of the ethnic category definitions and classification rules; auid the state's designation of itself as authority and decision maker.

277 An appropriate explemation for these features is offered by ethnicity-nation-state theorists such as Verdery (1994). As Verdery points out, any government has the need for clear cut and accurate information as to not only its overall population, but all its subdivisions. It also has the need for durable auid staible realities regarding the same - this in order to be able to more effectively perform routine governing functions. Definitions and classification rules which do not change, which contain mutually exclusive elements, which construct ethnicity as an ascribed status, and limit each Ego to one ethnicity serve these needs well. Being the only power permitted to define and classify a citizenry makes all these features more likely.

Nonoredictable Elements of the State's Svstem

As mentioned earlier, the first part of characteristic #l in the definition of the Belize state system (that ethnicity is an acknowledged right) is unpredictaible and therefore deserving of comment. In other words, as already stated, despite the fact that a government assertion of "Many

Cultures, One People" is predictaüale, a government's decision to even allow the "many (cultures) " in the first place is not entirely predictable. As mentioned, there are numerous cases, world-wide, of governments who evidently out of concern for unity, survival, and stcüoility, have made a conscious

278 decision, with regard to sub-national allegiances (such as

ethnic identifications) , to either: (a) downplay ethnicity, (b) homogenize their populations, or to (c) refrain from constructing replacement ethnicities.

According to Ramos (1995), in Argentina, any claim of diversity is prohibited. That is, although ethnic-type differences exist, they are downplayed by a taboo regarding "talking" cüDout them:

[In Argentina] ..the very discussion of internal diversity is so cold as to be virtually inconceivcüale (page 415) .

Other states admit the existence of ethnic heterogeneity but possess a clear, strong agenda of either ethnic/racial group, cultural and/or genetic assimilation-ism or homogenization. By this is meant an agenda or program involving the "exchange of ethnicity for nationality" (Stutzman 1981:46) . For exan^le, in Ecuador there is definitely a push toward homogenization across the three major ethnic/racial groups (Mestizos, Indians and blacks); all are to become Mestizo in transition to becoming white ("blanqueamiento"). Stutzman summarizes this situation in Ecuador as one in which, " ethnicity is lost or denied when

[read "because"] the goals of national culture are accepted" (page 46).

279 Yet interestingly enough, there seems to be yet another category of nation-state policies when it comes to the matter of acknowledging and endorsing ethnicity - states which seem to adopt a political tactic of temporary endorsement of ethnic diversity and allegiances. Ramos and others argue that, in the case of Brazil, ethnic diversity only seems to be applauded and celebrated, but is actually only being temporarily tolerated as part of a temporary phase - “ all diversity [is] irresistible to the charm of Brazilness [but] here, blackness, Indian-ness and European-ness are temporary conditions that will eventually thaw into the grandiose project of smooth and perfect national assimilation" (Ramos 1995:415; see also Marger 1985).

Thus, Brazil is a state which, in actuality, possesses a purely assimilationist and homogenization agenda - despite even completely opposite appearances.

Advancing a similar point and returning to a phenomenon previously noted, in Belize as we have seen, the state allows for the possibility of ethnicity for its citizenry, but it wants, itself, to dictate which ethnicity, and that there be only one. In an important sense, this might be considered a way for the state to control and contain the ethnic diversity that it is giving license to. In this sense, Belize’s case

280 may be one of, "..a government..mcüc[ing] just enough room to domesticate [diversity] in the hope that it will not rock the establishment boat" (Ramos 1995:415).

The Belize state decision to use genetics, historical origin, cultural traits and descent as the content of ethnicity definitions and classification criteria is also less than entirely predictable. Content of ethnic categories and criteria for ethnic classification varies, even across the nearby countries surrounding and similar to Belize (both Caribbean and Latin Americam). I will mention several variants, including the United States one, although, in most cases, it is not clear from my sources whether the societies in question possess the dual type of ethnicity system

situation (state versus lay) I am positing for Cayo; if the latter, we need to know whether the information presented is for a state or a lay (or some other) system of ethnicity.

Summarized, the options for ethnic group definitions and group assignment criteria observed empirically seem to include 1) behavioral traits (meaning cultural traits, including language), 2) physical attributes, 3) genetics or historical origin, and 4)socio-economic attainment factors such as education or income level.

281 At one extreme, there are societies in Latin America which distinguish ethnicity solely on the basis of cultural traits and behaviors. For Ecuador and many others in Latin America - at least for the case of the Amerindian-Mestizo distinction - cultural behavior is the only or virtually the only distinguishing feature; an individual can change his or her ethnicity from Indian to Mestizo by no more than adopting the cultural ways of the latter (Stutzman 1981) . Others describe a similar situation for other parts of Latin America. The rule is also operational for Latin-Americam Creoles/blacks, but in this latter case, is usually rendered more cottqplicated by the insertion of color into the formula.

In the case of the United States, in one application of its state system of ethnic classification (the "hispanic" application), the criterion of cultural behavior is narrowed even further to the single trait of language (other cultural traits being virtually ignored) [e.g., see Kottak's discussion (1999:39)] . In this case, historical origin (i.e., country of origin), physical attributes and even genetics are, theoretically, ignored - the individual may theoretically be phenotypically or genetically Asian; may derive (descent and historical origin-wise) from Puerto Rico or Mexico or Spain (or Japan?) and still be classified as “hispanic" .

282 (Interestingly enough, here again the one exception is the negroid case - here, genetics overrides classification as a ■hispanic".)

At perhaps the opposite pole, some societies of the Latin-American/Caribbean region - at least according to Roberts (1993) - look only at physical attributes. This is argued as being the case for Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic [Roberts (1993) ; see also Rodriguez (1997) for the case of Puerto Rico].

Other societies inject cultural and socio-economic attainment into this physical appearance formula, some of these, however, sometimes transforming the categorization into one of "social standing". Countries such as Brazil (Banton 1997, Harris 1970, Kottak 1992) and Jamaica (Henriques 1953) have sometimes been advanced as examples of a tri-partite criteria system - of phenotype, culture and socio-economic attainment - as the basis of either a race or a social class/status system. Banton (1997) interprets the situation

in Brazil [one which he labels a social standing system, although labelled by others as a racial one (e.g., Kottak 1992:67 and Marger 1985:226)],

What happens today in Brazil may be explained, very crudely, by reference to the idea of a continuous scale in which con^lexion is only one element in this computation of status. It is as if, when one person meets another, each obtains an impression of

283 the other’s wealth and education; persons are judged from their mode of address, speech and complexion, giving them imaginary points on a series of scales. A dark-complexioned lawyer might score 6 out of 10 on wealth, 9 on education, 8 on costume, amd 1 on complexion, an average of 6. In Brazil, this person would rank above a fair- complexioned black who scored 3, 5, 4, and 8 on these scales...(page 57).

As we can see, with the exception of the case of the African-derived populations in places like Ecuador and the United States, none of the above draw on the factors of descent, historical origin and genetics in a definitive way - especially not as criteria for Ego classification. To the extent that they do count, descent, historical origin auid genetics can be overruled [in some cases, even if your parents (and/or siblings) are one ethnicity or race, you still may be(come) something different] (Roberts 1993:20; Kottak 1992:68). Belize and the United States, seem to be the only ones whose state systems do emphasize descent, genetics and historical origins ; they both do it in some cases. Indeed, in certain applications, this combination of descent, genetics and historical origins is the sole variable. Such is the case for the United States' ethnic category of "African-American".

The United States' hypo-descent definition (Harris and Kottak 1963) and one-drop rule (Davis 1993:4-6) both dictate that anyone with any African genetic component (that is, referencing genetics, descent and historical origins) is an “ African-AmericcUi" (Davis 1993) . Culture, socio-economic attainment and phenotype are immaterial in these cases. 284 Belize seems to classify its whites, Mennonites, East Indians and Chinese this way (by genetics, descent and historical origin) although not the other, main groups (Mestizo, Maya, Creole and Garinagu) where, as already explained, both culture and historical origin and genetics are used (cultural behavior, however, assumed to be isomorphic with historical origin).

FINAL STATEMENT

The next chapter (Conclusions - Part II concerning the lay system of ethnicity in Belize) will consider how Belizeans actually live out their lives, in contrast to the claims of the Belize state system of ethnicity.

285 CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSIONS - PART II

INTRODUCTION

Definition of Cayo Lay Ethnicity System

The Belizean state, and Cayo lay systems of ethnicity differ significantly. The state system, as shown, permits - even encourages and celebrates - ethnic ascription on the part of its citizenry. It yet attempts to regulate this diversity.

Mandatory, mutually exclusive, essentialist categories are thus an aspect of this system. Rigid rules of classification are another. All in all, the Belize state system of ethnicity is a cluster of definitions, rules, and propositions about diversity shaped as much, if not more, by the unity and stability needs of the polity as by the realities of how Belizeans live their lives.

The lay ethnicity system of Cayo, as will be shown below, has its own list of definitions, rules and propositions concerning ethnicity. The structure of these latter appears to be parallel with the types of claims of the state ethnicity system (only the content of the "slots” is different). Thus

286 the lay ethnicity system of Cayo can be summarized as being citizenry (in this case) claims as to: A) the appropriate ethnic categories for Cayo; B) the appropriate traits, behaviors and other definitional characteristics for the categories; C) the classification criteria and rules; D) amy additional ethnicity claims existing in Cayo; amd E) the locations of the "rights" for making determinations regarding A) through D) ad)ove.

My full conceptualization of the Cayo lay system includes several conponents. [1] Figure 11.1 presents a diagram of the relationship of these components to each other, amd to the state ethnicity system. The following paragraphs explain these conç)onents.

In addition to the above list of characteristics of the Cayo lay system, which derives from my analytical framework of chapter one, my conceptualization of the Cayo lay ethnicity system is one which includes at least two major components or subsystems: (1) each ethnic group's claims concerning the above list of issues; and (2) a meta-ethnic, public arena cluster of claims as to the above list. The theory and literature review chapter gives details of the origins of these constructs, I will refer to these units as lay subsystem #1 and lay subsystem #2.

287 Cayo State Ethnicity Cayo Lay Ethnicity System System

(the central Subsystem Subsystem government's #1 #2 claims as to the five elements (each ethnic (the meta-ethnic of my model of group's claims public arena an ethnicity as to the five claims regarding system) elements of my the five model of an elements of my ethnicity model of an system) ethnicity system)

(each ethnic (each ethnic group's claims group's claims regarding the regarding the list, as it list, as it pertains to pertains to its own self) other groups)

Figure 11.1: My Model of Cayo State and Lay Ethnicity Systems

288 As Stated, ethnicity subsystem #l (ethnic group claims) includes within it each group's concept of self - all that constitutes its ethnic identity. As evident from points made in the theory chapter concerning the origins of the constructs I am introducing in this chapter, Harrell (1990) would stress

the existence, within this subsystem #1, of two separate components or sub-components : each ethnic group's consideration of the five issues in terms of itself (its self­ definition) , and each ethnic group's consideration of them in terms of other ethnic groups. In both cases, behaviors as well as perceptions, are included. An important point is that both aspects get carried out largely in isolation of other ethnic groups and wider society.

My lay subsystem #2 (meta-ethnic, public arena claims) entails the actual functioning of the social organization. It entails interactions between the ethnic groups, with the state, and with other societal institutions. Thus it includes actual societal-level consequences of individual and group ethnic behaviors. This includes "responses" to ethnic group claims regarding issues #1 through #5 of the earlier stated definition of the lay ethnicity system - affirmations or denials of these claims. Thus, just as the overall lay system is capable of disagreement with the state system (and the lay system of Cayo with the lay systems of other regions of

289 Belize) , there exists the possibility of internal disagreement between the two lay subsystems, #1 and #2 of the overall lay system.

In some sense, however, the lay ethnicity subsystem #2 is better described as a separate level or domain vis-a-vis lay ethnicity subsystem #1 and the state ethnicity system. It is the domain or arena in which each gets played out, cuid also affirmed or dis-affirmed, tested and contested, mediated and so forth. For example, among other things, it is the arena where all of the school phenomena reported in this document take place. Here the state system gets presented to members of the society's newest generation - this process involving, at minimum, teachers' attempts to interpret the state system to an audience which has so far largely only experienced the lay #1 subsystem, but also, more than that, possibly involving efforts on the part of teachers and others to contest or disaffirm, or at least mediate, that system.

One point that is important to make is that my usage of the terms "public" and "public arena" in labelling this subsystem does not mean to imply the well-known, often-used theoretical dichotomy of "public versus private". In other words, it does not signify a distinction between ethnic behaviors in particular domains such as home versus "public" domains (e.g., school, work and neighborhood) . Although this

290 home-other distinction is sometimes a truism in the way I use the terms and have set up my definition of "public arena", the emphasis in niy dichotony is between isolated, intra-group behaviors (whether in the home qjh in places like schools, work, etc.), and interactive, inter-ethnic behaviors with their consequences. It refers less to the home only in that actors in a home would tend less to be types of actors true of public arenas. If, for example, a member of an outside ethnic group is in one's home, then the interaction, behavior or activity becomes a public arena phenomenon.

Later discussions concerning possible hue sensitivity among Cayo Creoles and for wider Cayo society constitute a useful exercise in applying this conceptual distinction between lay subsystems #1 and #2. Not all other discussions, unfortunately, apply it due to limitations of the data as explained in chapter one.

Chapter Organization and Preliminary Points

In this chapter, I present discussions and conclusions regarding characteristics of the Cayo lay system. These conclusions are ordered in terms of the same earlier presented list of questions which, as also mentioned earlier, formed

291 both the cuialytical framework amd the conceptualization of ethnicity systems that enaüsled me to bring order to these f indings.

In including the term "discussions" in my description of this chapter, I wish to prepare the reader for the fact that this chapter is, in some sense, an exercise in analyzing my data (findings), in addition to a mere report of conclusions. Along these lines, the discussions of this chapter are replete with deliberations around issues of whether particular conclusions are valid, versus mere statements in definitive form. In this way, this chapter differs from dissertation conclusion chapters which are the outcomes of studies lacking the variegated, fuzzy and contradictory findings of this study (which turned out to be true more of this lay system than of the state system). Because of the laborious nature of all data analysis exercises, some readers may wish to first skip ahead to the succinct summaries of the conclusions of this study, presented at the beginning of the next, final chapter of this document, before taking on the project - of this chapter - of understanding such things as why I came to the particular conclusions I reached, and "how strong" each conclusion is.

292 The above is the reason why the report sections for each conclusion often (more often than not) begin with a heading entitled "Discussion âDd Resultant Conclusion".

Before proceeding, I wish to remind the reader of three points and share a fourth. First, the particular ethnic groups and topics discussed in this chapter are not exhaustive of the whole of the Cayo lay ethnic system due to constraints of the data and parameters of the study, as explained in chapter one. Second, all interpretations and conclusions are tentative - in need of further substantiation.

A third reminder is that, my data for Cayo' s lay ethnicity system consist of texts and behaviors of individuals both inside and outside the school. In the case of the school

data, they are comprised of teacher statements during lesson deliveries, auid of texts of the privately produced educational publication. The Children's Newspaper. Two earlier discussions have pointed out the problems of using such data to determine social reality - in this case, the state and lay realities [specifically, the problems of "reading social realities directly from texts, and of discerning whether such texts represent state or lay claims, (see theory chapter)].

Because of these challenges, and consistent with my promise of chapter one regarding this dilemma, anytime I use these school data as evidence for the Cayo lay ethnicity system, I

293 supplement them with data from other sources, in addition to presenting additional arguments in support of them as evidence, in this case, of the Cayo lay system of ethnicity.

A new piece of information worth sharing with the reader pertains to the way I worked with my data to decipher the lay ethnic system of Cayo, Belize. I used at least two strategies. Sometimes I worked "bottom up" (the grounded approach) - beginning with actual observations, and attempting to build explanations from them, or applying already known explanations to them. At other times, I worked "top to bottom" - starting with extant explanations or theories for Belize or similar societies amd searching to see if sufficient evidence existed in my data to support these as explanations for the case of Cayo. (In this latter case, I again found the need to present supplementary arguments - this time, in defense of pursuing the particular extant theories.) In some cases, I actually may have used a combination of the two strategies.

294 DISCUSSION AND RESULTANT CONCLUSION PERTAINING TO ISSUE "A": A LAY CLAIM AS TO AN ADDITIONAL ETHNIC GROUP IN BELIZE

Introduction

As evident from observations reported in the findings chapter. The lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize makes at least one claim concerning the proper delimitation and delineation of ethnic categories for Cayo, Belize. Following the lead of other regions of present-day Belize, the

Cayo lay system (both subsystems #1 and #2) asserts that one of the currently existing state ethnic categories is an improper conflation of two separate categories and that there thus exists a twelfth ethnic category for Cayo and the rest of Belize. This additional category is the "alien" category (emic nomenclature) . It includes the products of the current, two-decade-old political- and economic-based Mestizo migrations into Belize from Central American countries such as

Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. As explained and illustrated across the background, findings and Conclusions - Part 1 chapters, the government system subsumes these refugees under the "Mestizo" ethnic category, while lay Belizeans - including earlier-arrival Belizean Mestizos - make a distinction between these newcomers amd others.

295 Content of the Alien Category

Spelled out, and as suggested by the above, the lay ethnic system of Cayo asserts that an alien is a recent immigrant to Belize from a Central American country such as El Salvador, who speaks Spamish, practices latin culture, and, genetically, is Mestizo.

The Cayo lay system alleges that in addition to the above types of cultural traits, aliens possess certain nonculture-specific behavioral commonalities. Some of these are negative.

For example, many Cayo individuals (of the "older" ethnic groups) go on record claiming that the aliens are violence- prone; they are thus held responsible for the recent rise in crime in Belize. I was repeatedly admonished for walking alone the two mile distance from an acquaintance's residence to my own (through a deserted area) because of "aliens who will rob you and chop you up with a machete" . In addition, it is said that they possess miscellaneous other asocial traits. One non-married Cayo female (Mestizo) blamed alien women for "stealing all the local men" even to the extent of breaking up existing unions between Belizeans. One school principal (Mestizo) blamed the low "teachaüDility" and academic performance of a class in her school on the fact that "they

296 are mostly aliens.” Indeed, when it comes to Belize overall (including Cayo), these recent Central American immigrants of Belize have been constructed largely as a pariah group; this has included the casting of them as a scapegoat population in

terms of many perceived Belizeam social problems.

As stated, the many negative constructions contained in the Cayo lay definition of the alien ethnic group are consistent with those of the lay definition of aliens of wider Belize (as are the earlier reported demographic and cultural traits attributed to aliens by Cayo individuals) . However, the Cayo lay system may be at variance with the rest of Belize in expressing partial disagreement, or ambivalence and conflict, regarding the alien group. Two categories of evidence are relevant here. The first is that Cayo residents sometimes seemed to be asserting an exemption rule for Guatemala-source immigrants when stating the definitional criteria for categorizing persons as aliens. Specifically, when enumerating countries of origin of aliens, some Cayo residents (including teachers) would either omit Guatemala or tack it on, in reluctant fashion, at the end of their list. They did this despite the fact that Guatemala is, by far, the largest contributor of current migrants into Belize - most of whom fall into the "alien" category (41.2% versus, e.g., El Salvador's 22.1%, and Honduras' 9.1%) (Central Statistical Office 1991:13) . On numerous occasions, I found myself having

297 to press in order to get locals to include Guatemala as a country of origin of aliens. One plausible explanation for this behavior is, however, understandeüale. In its location only 10 miles from Guatemala, Cayo is a community with many positive, affective-domain ties to this particular immigrant provider (e.g., family and friendship ties), such that it can be expected to possess conflicts when it comes to forcing immigrants from this particular source into a pariah slot.

The second category of evidence is that the consensus concerning alien negative traits, and the construction of aliens as scapegoats does not seem as strong in Cayo as in, e.g., Belize City. One example is that, withstanding the attitude of the earlier mentioned school principal, numerous

Cayo educational personnel voiced positive opinions about alien education-related values and behaviors.

A final definitional characteristic of aliens asserted as part of the Cayo lay system, as evidenced from the discussions of the findings chapter, seems to be that they are Mestizos who lack Belizean Creole language speaücing skills. Indeed, acquiring proficiency in Belizean Creole may be one method of exiting the alien category. Recall that the findings chapter reported one informant's perception that alien newcomers to Cayo endeavor to quickly gain Belizean Creole proficiency.

298 Final Chapter Summary and Comments Regarding The Cayo Lay System Claim Regarding Aliens

The lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize (both subsystems #1 and #2) declares that there is a twelfth ethnic category for Cayo and Belize. It is a category of individuals called "The Aliens". It includes recent Central American immigrants to Belize, although no other recent immigrant groups. [Belize has recent East Indian and Chinese immigrants, but these are never referred to as "The Aliens" . ] This lay system seems to define "lack of Creole speaking skills" as an alien trait. It also alleges that aliens possess certain other (noncultural) distinguishing behavioral traits. Many of these are negative. However, the Cayo lay system seems to suggest that Cayo locals are either in disagreement, or are ambivalent, regarding definition of aliens as a pariah population. Thus, when it comes to the issue of Belize's alien ethnic group, the Cayo lay system may be dual-voiced. This may represent a struggle of "sub-discourses" (F) in process - i.e., a struggle as to what is to be said about this group (some Cayo residents agreeing with the rest of Belize and some not).

In summarizing the contents of the Cayo lay definition of aliens, it can be said that it is a definition of nationality (i.e., origin from any one of a list of specific Central American countries, in addition to the lack of Belizean

299 citizenry), period of entry into the nation-state, and (negative) social behaviors. It largely ignores culture (with the exception of referencing lauiguage).

Because of the demographic and behavioral nature of the alien definition, alien status is not an ascribed, fixed, permanent status ; an alien can "shift" categories and become a Mestizo. Part of the procedure for accomplishing this may be through acquiring the Belizean Creole language (and perhaps modifying or dropping Spanish language usage). [2]

DISCUSSION AND RESULTANT CONCLUSIONS REGARDING ISSUE B: APPROPRIATE DEFINITIONAL TRAITS.

BEHAVIORS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE THREE ETHNIC GROUPS AND POPULATIONS OF THIS STUDY

Introduction

The following sections present discussions and resultant conclusions, regarding Cayo lay system claims as to definitional attributes of the ethnic groups under consideration in this study (Creoles and Mestizos) , and of the Belizean White population - in that order. In each case, I begin the discussion by: (a) recapitulating the government system definition of the ethnic group (as deduced from my

300 data) in order to contrast it with the lay system's; auid (b) pre-listing the lay claims later reported in the section. I then present additional detail and discussion (including comments) about each one.

The Creole Category: Discussions And Resultant .Conclusions Regarding Definitional Characteristics (Lav Claims Regarding Creole Traits. Behaviors and Other

Characteristics)

Reiteration of State Definitional Claims, and Pre-llst &£. Contents of this Section

As noted, the government system definition of Creoles is a genetics, historical-origins and cultural-traits one. It would seem to declare that a Belizean Creole is a Belizean individual of African derivation, admixed with the white, European populations which colonized Belize. The definition sometimes acknowledges additional admixture sources, but these usually include only other African-derived population sources such as a late 19th century migration into Belize of Jamaican blacks (Palacio 1988b:134). According to this state definition. Creoles bear European surnames, and can be light- to dark-hued - the degree of lightness indicative of the

301 amount of Caucasicui genes. Cultural characteristics include a list of nonMestizo, nonAmerindian, essentialist traits such as dietary preferences for plantains, and beans and rice.

I now discuss four characteristics attributed to Creoles by the Cayo lay system: (a) Mestizo and Amerindian genetic attributes; (b) Mestizo and Amerindian cultural attributes; (c) hue sensitivity attitudes and behaviors ; and (d) latin surnames. While the third (hue sensitivity) is a characteristic hinted at in the state definition, the first, second and fourth are not.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Definitional Characteristics - Lay Claims As To Mestizo and Amerindian Genetic Admixture Sources

In contrast to the state system, but as evidenced by observations reported in the findings chapter, the Cayo lay system can be said to make the claim of additional significant gene inputs (from other than white colonizer and other African sources) into the Creole gene pool - inputs from Amerindian and Mestizo sources. This Amerindian- and Mestizo-source gene input would seem to derive from three separate admixture experiences, although it is not clear that there is sufficient local awareness of the second and third to merit considering them part of the cognitive-behavioral construct being referred

302 to as the "Cayo lay ethnicity system". The three admixture experiences are : mixture with Cayo Mestizos ; mixture with Guatemalans; amd mixture with (Spanish) Honduran and Mosquito Shore (Nicaraguan) individuals.

Admixture Involving Cayo Mestizo Sourcss. The most recent of these admixture experiences would seem to be the currently observable admixture experience involving Cayo Mestizos ■ The manner in which this particular gene inflow claim is made is clearly evidenced in the findings chapter - examples of Cayo Creoles in their current practice of, and admission of, admixture with current Cayo-area Mestizos. These examples clearly indicate that Cayo nonCreoles also possess this understanding of present-day admixture of Creoles with Cayo Mestizos as an aspect of their definition of Cayo Creoles. Thus, this is an incontrovertible claim of the Cayo lay system concerning ethnicity.

One thing that is not clear is how far back in time this phenomenon of Cayo Creole - Cayo Mestizo admixture extends. Several researchers have reported anti-Creole biases among area Mestizos (and Mayas) which may have prevented significant admixture with Cayo Creoles as recently as the 1970's. For example, one of Le Page and Tcüaouret-Keller ' s longitudinal data collection discussions for the late 1970's, speaks of " . .very powerful prejudice on the part of parents preventing

303 intermarriage between children of different groups..." (1985:230), and is also replete with quotes from Mestizo parents abhorring the possibility that their children might marry or mate with Creoles (or Garinagu) . Mazzarelli's (1976) and Tabouret-Keller's (1976) reports also include such statements. In addition, one 22 year old Mestizo informant of mine shared childhood memories of routine, daily schoolyard fights between Mestizo and Creole children circa 1975-80. Of course, both the ethnographic and populat ion-genet ics literatures clearly demonstrate that purported bias attitudes are less than accurate barometers of cross-group sexual behaviors (Van den Berghe 1978) . Indeed, as mentioned in the findings chapter, numerous adult Mestizos of Cayo reported to me that other-than-recent generations of their families contained Creoles.

Despite the possible brevity of this admixture phenomenon, the lay system seems to assert that it has been along duration phenomenon (in that this is what the locals all seem to assume).

Admixture Involving Guatemalan and Nicaraguan Mosquito Shore/Spanish Honduran Sources. In addition to the contemporary admixture experience of Cayo Creoles with Cayo Mestizos, there seems to have been two much earlier Mestizo- source and/or Amerindian gene influxes into the Cayo (proto- )

304 Creole gene pool. The findings chapter mentions these only briefly, and indeed there is some question as to whether knowledge of them by Cayo locals is adequate enough for them to qualify as part of the lay ethnicity system, versus being mere historical facts. Despite the openness of this question, I choose to mention these experiences since I am able to introduce at least some ethnographic, as well as some secondary-source, support for both their occurrence and for local knowledge of them - eladjorating on the brief mention contained in the findings chapter. Another reason for introducing these historical facts is because it raises an important issue - that of which historical identities and experiences get erased (or re-configured) (perhaps because they come to be considered unacceptable for some reason or other) versus utilized in the construction of the present-day ethnic group identity. This issue might be considered an extension of the issue of the location of the rights of determination as to aspects of the definition of the ethnic group.

The dates for this earlier Mestizo-source and/or Amerindian admixture experience are the 18th and 19th centuries. It consists of the following two separate admixture experiences: 1) Belizean proto-Creole admixture with Guatemalan Mestizo and/or Mayan females as a consequence of 18th and 19th century slave desertions to the Peten region of

305 Guatemala (presumably male slaves, although see Schwartz 1990:66), and 2) presumed admixture with 19th century Spanish Honduran and Miskito Indian (Misquito Shore, Nicaraguan) males who worked in the Cayo area as laborers in the local timber industry of that period. [3]

Schwartz (1990) and Mazzarelli (1976) inform us of some of the details of the former of these admixture experiences : the desertions of slaves from Belize into Guatemala [beginning immediately after their arrival in Belize in the 1720's (Bolland 1973:11)]; their settlement in the Peten region of Guatemala, e.g., in the town of San Benito; the fact that many took Mestizo or Maya mates while in residence; and that many later returned to Belize [Schwartz (1990:66-67 and 308-310); and Mazzarelli (1976:285-286), who also cites Burdon (1931, Vol. 2), Soza (1957) and Pendergast (1967)]. [4] It can be assumed that at least some of these returnees included admixed offspring. Corroborating Mazzarelli's and Schwartz's assertions is Le Page's 1979 - 1985 longitudinal research in the Cayo area which identifies a few examples of what might be descendants of these unions between Cayo-origin proto-Creoles and Guatemalan Mestizo or Mayan individuals (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985). For example, he relates his research team's experience concerning, "the [Cayo] shoemaker [who] was not very dark and called himself a Creole man; he called his wife a 'true Spanish from Bullet Tree Falls', a former Maya

306 chiclero village" (page 227). (Recall the term "Spauiish" is often used, by Belizeans, in the noun form and as a synonym or alternative for "Mestizo"). Le Page's account continues.

Great was our surprise when she arrived during the interview (she had been at the river doing some washing). She was not only very dark, much darker than her husband, but she had also all the stereotyped features of a "Negro" (lips, nose, hair, etc) . However she spoke only Spanish (p. 227) .

In so much as most of the residents of Bullet Tree Falls (a village approximately three miles from Cayo) derive from the

Peten region of Guatemala (Sullivan 1978), this woman might have been a descendent of a union of a Belizean proto-Creole with a Spanish-speaking Mestizo or Mayan from Guatemala such that her husband's reference to her as a "Spanish" was not inappropriate. In so much as there seems to be reported (in the literature) no other source of African ("negroid") genes among Guatemalcui Spanish during this period, this reading of the evidence seems at least plausible.

The second of these early Amerindian and/or Mestizo admixture experiences does not seem to be discussed in the literature and therefore is largely merely posited. The historical circumstances surrounding it, however, are well

307 documented. They consist of 19th century seasonal migrations into the Cayo area of Miskito Indian and Spanish Honduran males for employment purposes.

Although these males began entering Cayo as early as the 18th century, any admixture between them and Cayo Creoles would have tohave been delayed until the I9th century after Creole females ceui be assumed to have been resident in the Cayo area. [5]

Mazzarelli (1976:281) discusses the Miskito phenomenon in Cayo, and Le Page's 1979-1985 investigation reveals nomenclature ("Waika") for this group as still existent in the Cayo ethnic-group lexicon of the period of his data collection.

As mentioned in the findings chapter, the way in which all of these admixture claims (the Guatemalan, Honduran and Nicaraguan ones) were expressed in my data is through examples which Creole informauits gave of ancestors from these locations. For example, the copious family history data of 86 year old Creole informant, Mrs. Jane Rosaldo (rendered in scrawled script in a family diary loaned to me) contains at least one relevant entry - a reference to her Guatemalan grandmother. It reads, "..Old Sammy married Miss Jane Requena, known as Juana or Muma - a Peten offspring from

308 Delores, Peten. Colored Mayan..." Another reference in her diary refers to her father, a "George Usher from Spanish Honduras", arriving in Cayo at the end of the 19th century. However, it is not clear (given his last name) , if any of Mr. Usher's genes were latin or Miskito.

It should be pointed out that, if one assumes Mazzarelli and others to be correct regarding the recentness of the Creole-Cayo Mestizo admixture, additional (although indirect) evidence for the Honduran latin admixture claim presumably exists, at least to some extent, in the latin-surname phenomenon among Cayo Creoles (the Guatemalan experience having involved females) .

As already stated, despite data of mine such as referred to above, I am not sure whether many Creoles and any nonCreoles of Cayo are aware of these latter two gene sources. Thus it is that these may or may not validly be part of the Cayo ethnicity lay system - either subsystem #1 or of #2.

309 Discussion. And .Résultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cavo Creoles - Borrowed Amerindian and/or Mestizo Cultural Characteristics

What probably resulted from the above historical admixing is of course not surprising and points to another example of differences between the Cayo lay and Belizean state systems of ethnicity - the introduction (into the Cayo Creole cultural trait inventory) of Mestizo atnd/or Amerindian cultural characteristics. Two very likely examples of such cultural traits have been mentioned in the findings chapter. They are Catholicism amd the Spanish-as-the-home-language phenomenon. Both of these might signal the Guatemalan input versus the Spanish Honduran/Nicaraguan one in that this former input constituted a female one - that gender which, it might be argued, would be most likely responsible for "decisions" as to family language and religion, at least with regard to offspring.

Discussion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cavo

Creoles - Lay Claim As To Possible Hue Fixation

Introduction. One of the observations reported in the findings chapter was that, when summarizing characteristics of the Creole ethnic group, school government-source texts devoted attention to discussion of the phenotypic

310 characteristic of skin-color gradations (and that school-text mention of this topic was exclusive to the case of the Creole group) . Thus it is that sensitivity to Creole hue was one characteristic advauiced as one aspect of the Belize state ethnicity system's definition of the Creole ethnic group.

In addition to these school-discourse data regarding Creole hue, three other categories of data pointing in the same direction were reported in the findings chapter - these, ethnographic and community (versus discourse) ones. These latter hint at the possibility that sensitivity to several phenotypic traits - not only hue gradations, but hair texture and facial features (nose shape and lip thickness) - is part of either or both subsystems #1 and #2 of the lay ethnicity

system of Cayo, Belize. More specifically the claim is that these traits are significant in terms of a Creole beauty standard/aesthetic, if not also in terms of some sort of category and/or status assignment system - either or both within the Creole ethnic group and in wider society. In all these cases, Caucasian features are the positive polar extreme, and "negroid" ones, the opposite. This claim might even exist for Cayo ethnic groups, more generally (see Mestizo Definitional Claims section).

An instant, unequivocal conclusion regarding color sensitivity among Cayo Creoles is impossible, given the weak

311 support provided by ray fieldwork data. However, this theory of Creole hue fixation for Cayo, Belize is an interpretation worth further consideration for four reasons. First, a type of hue-cura-class/race social structure which placed a high value on white physical traits did exist, historically, in Belize (Bolland 1973; Palacio 1988b; Joseph 1978) . As Palacio explains,

[This] society had its own social orgamization with a stratification system determined by colour...[In this society] , the varying shades of skin color became almost castelike in their exclusive gradations [sic] of where [an individual] ..fits (1988:136) .

Joseph (1978:14) provides further details. In Belize, as elsewhere in the West Indies, a rigid hierarchy of colour had been introduced such that from the black to the white, by law, there are seven or eight legalized ranks...

In continuing his account, Palacio makes it clear that the basis of the ordering was the "value that whiteness symbolized rank" (p. 136) . This type of revering of whiteness is one aspect of what Henriques (1953) calls, for the case of Jamaica, a "white bias" [cf. Degler's "whitening ideal" concept for Brazil (as discussed in Marger 1985:229-230)] . Second, this societal characteristic is posited by at least one anthropologist for the case of conteitqporary Belizean society (e.g., Palacio 1988a:53). Third, I saw and was given evidence of hue sensitivity for the case of Belize City [e.g. , 312 light-hued Creoles (or Garinagu) in key service positions; lighter-hued ones receiving preferential attention in terms of service in business establishments], and fourth, this posited cultural value (whiteness as revered) and a wider social hue hierarchy based on it are common in other Caribbean societies such as Jamaica (Henriques 1953:42-63) , Trinidad (Segal 1993), St. Vincent and Antigua (Palacio 1988b:136).

Before continuing, there is one point worth making regarding ny interpretation of the roots and nature of this historical system in Belize. It is that the colonialist governing sector of the early Belizean society (a state system) was responsible for the initiation of this system as a society-wide one, and that both it and the public arena (a lay subsystem #2) , are responsible for its continuance through, among other things, continuous reinforcement of relevant attitudes and behaviors contained in the proto-ethnic group subsystem (i.e., a lay subsystem #1) . My main point is that the proto-Creole groups of that community lacked the power-base to establish or perpetuate such a system, on a societal level, on their own. In making this statement, I am making the same argument as Roberts (1993) does in explaining why highly developed, enduring hue systems did nat become a characteristic of Afro-American social structure in several United States areas.

313 In some areas of Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and South Carolina "free people of color" once (emphasis mine) occupied an intermediate status resembling that of colored West Indians and held themselves aloof from unmixed African-American (sic) . The refusal of whites to exempt even the lightest of mulattoes from legal and social discrimination eventually forced the colored Creoles of Louisiana and other light mulattoes to cast their lot with black (emphasis mine) Americans...(page 20).

Another way to state the above point is that the genesis of this stratification system, in the early Belize Settlement, was in the hegemonic government discourse (F) , while the successful reproduction of it was the result, first and foremost, of agreement and coordination between this state discourse (F) and the public arena discourse (F) ; the particular proto-ethnic groups' discourses (F) being of insufficient strength to assert themselves - at the societal level (i.e.. beyond lav subsystem #1) - independently of, or against, these two other more powerful discourses (F) . In my opinion, this is the way that any current reality regarding hue sensitivity in present-day Belize must also be viewed.

As explained earlier - in the findings chapter, this "hue" phenomenon in Cayo or Belize may involve hue by itself or in combination with other phenotypic traits. The version that all three of the phenotypic traits mentioned earlier are culturally meaningful, operating in some hierarchical or mitigating combination, is the more plausible form of the

314 theory in so much as this is what is claimed of the West Indian emd Belize City cases. [6] Thus, this is the version of the thesis that I will, in most cases (except for the Mestizo case), pursue. Generally I will refer to the entire cluster as "hue" or "color" - in a manner consistent with many other Caribbeanist scholars (e.g., Lowenthal 1968:320 and Henriques 1953:47).

Spelled out, there exist several possibilities as to how and where hue may play a role in Cayo society: (a) as an aspect of Creole self-identity, including expectations (whether justified or not) of differential treatments in the wider public arena (subsystem #1), (b) as an aspect of other ethnic group's perceptions concerning Creoles (subsystem #1) ; (c) as an aspect of other ethnic groups' perceptions of themselves (subsystem #1); and/or (d) as an aspect of public arena claims (subsystem #2) . We have already seen that it is a part of the state ethnicity system.

In deliberating whether a hue fixation conclusion is a valid one for my Cayo data, I take up, in this section and continuing in the section on Possible Creole Category Shifting, the first of the above listed possibilities - that Cayo Creoles construct hue as meaningful within their own ethnic group, including conceiving of it as being of consequence in wider Cayo society. In the section on

315 definitional claims regarding the Cayo Mestizo group, I consider the second and third possibilities [(b) and (c) ] , and in the section on Other Claims (specifically. Is Creole Hue Fixation Consequential) , I consider the fourth possibility (d)

whether hue is of consequence in the public arena.

Hue as Part of Creole Self-Identity (Lav Subsystem #1). As stated in the findings chapters, the evidence, in my data, that Cayo Creoles perceive hue as meaningful consists of a limited number of behaviors, comments and folklore items. Reported were the disparaging comments of some Cayo-area Creoles regarding a dark-skinned Creole girl's winning of a local beauty contest; the existence of the folk adage "marrying to improve one's color"; and observed marriage behaviors involving Creoles choosing mates with "desirable" traits which they themselves lacked.

The first of these data point directly to the possibility of hue as a beauty aesthetic; of whiteness as a cultural value. When these data are combined with historical evidence, this theory of a white bias indeed seems to be a plausible conclusion for the case of Creoles in Cayo, Belize. As explained earlier (background chapter) , Cayo Creoles derive from a society which possessed this "white bias". Thus, Cayo Creoles could easily have continued this value system from their slavery experience when they resided in the hue-and-race

316 stratified Belize City community, leaving it for labor in the Cayo area only on a seasonal basis (during timber extraction seasons).

It also seems plausible that Cayo Creoles might have been influenced by this Belize City experience to continue to construct hue, as not only an aesthetic, but as both: (a) the basis of an intra-ethnic stratification system (lay subsystem #1) , and (b) the basis of a criterion for assignment of individuals into the resultant intra-ethnic categories (lay subsystem #1) . Such intra-group hue systems have occurred either along with, or in place of inter-group hue systems (lay subsystems #2) ; certain regions of the United States serve as examples [for example, historical South Carolina emd parts of historical Louisiana - as mentioned earlier in this chapter

(Roberts 1993:20)]. As part of these intra-group stratification systems, lighter-hued members within these African-derived communities self-segregated themselves with endogamy behaviors, separate clubs and churches, etc. In the early Belize City case, however there is no mention of hue as a possible critérium for distinction in the intra-Creole group stratification system that existed there. This is true despite the fact that it has been speculated that the historical Belize City proto-Creole may have constructed at

317 least some other intra-group distinctions - based on such things as .origin, length of time in the Settlement, and the nature of their duties..." (Palacio 1988b:134).

Two of the hue-related items of data reported earlier (i.e., the adage of "marrying to improve one's color" and the outgroup marriage behaviors) could be interpreted as supporting this theory of an intra-ethnic stratification system. The first is pregnant with allusion, suggesting both the structure of the system (the existence of separate, hierarchically arranged units based on hue) and the rule and method for movement from one unit to another (selective mating towards "lightening" one's future generation's color). Also, as seen, historical evidence indicates that a foundation for such a system had already been laid. However, the evidence from the remainder of my fieldwork data is simply not strong. For example, I saw no evidence of intra-group segregation such as separate clubs or churches within the Cayo Creole group. However, while such a fully developed intra-Creole stratification system may not exist in Cayo, it is not to be ruled out that Creoles might possess a less than fully developed set of quasi internal categories - a more informal set of internal status distinctions.

Also, while such an intra-group system may not exist (lay subsystem #1) , the ethnic groups of Creole, Mestizo, White and

318 other may be hierarchically ordered in wider society (lay subsystem #2) , with Creoles ranking in a less than maximal position, such that it might be true that Creoles use marriage and mating strategies to raise their rank through exiting the Creole category amd entering the next higher ethnic category. The later section of this chapter, on shifting rules, explains this in greater detail. Thus, as stated, I will later consider the possibility that the earlier two data items are evidence of such a (lay subsystem #2) inter-ethnic-group stratification system (and an inter-ethnic-group classification rule) (in the

Shifting Section) , in addition to considering whether a cross- ethnic-group (that is, class) hue system exists in the Cayo lay subsystem #2.

Discussion And Resultant Conclusion Regarding Definitional Characteristics of the Cayo Creole - Lav Claim As To .Latin Surnames

Creoles are the only ethnic group for which the state definition (as discerned from school-based, government-text data) discusses surnames. In doing so, it emphasizes European ones. Contrary to the State system definition, the Cayo lay system definition of Creoles includes a recognition of the possibility of latin surnames for Creoles. Examples of this have been given in the findings chapters.

319 Final Chapter Summary and Comments Regarding All Conclusions Concerning the Cayo Lay System Definition of Creoles

The Cayo lay system claim as to the appropriate traits, and other definitional characteristics of a Creole seems to consist of the notion of someone with African genes mixed with white and recent Cayo Mestizo-source genes, perhaps possessing genes from 18th and 19th century non-Cayo Amerindian and

Mestizo sources (especially in cases of early-resident Cayo Creoles) (subsystem #i) . These Creole individuals possess numerous Amerindian and Mestizo cultural traits (subsystems # 1) and seem to covet Caucasian hue, hair and facial features. While it is possible that this ethnic group contains hierarchically arranged subcategories (ordered by the above phenotypic criteria) (subsystem #1) , sufficient empirical evidence of such is lacking such that I am inclined to conclude that these subgroups do not exist. I am, however, willing to conclude that Cayo Creoles probably do possess a hue fixation and white bias, and thus a preference for lighter hue, and also that this may translate into a loose system of quasi subcategories (lay subsystem #1) . Whether or not the

Cayo lay system includes the claim of hue sensitivity as a reality for its subsystem #2 (the public arena) , will be discussed later in this document.

320 The Mestizo Category: Discussions and Resultant Conclusions Regarding Definitional Characteristics (Lay Claims Regarding Mestizo Traits. Behaviors^

and other Characteristics)

Reiteration of State Definitional Claim, and— Pre-List— Of. Contents of this Section

The reader will recall that the state definition of a Mestizo is a genetics plus historical-origin plus cultural- trait claim. Mestizos are Belizeans who are a mixture of Europeans and Mayans, who derive primarily from the Yucatan area of Mexico, and who practice and manifest a pre-defined list of essentialist cultural traits, including speaking Spanish, practicing Catholicism, and (at least as represented in school texts) growing sugar cane.

I now recap and comment on nine lay ethnicity system claims. All are either omitted or contradicted by the state system.

321 Discussion and Resultant Research Conclusion Regarding Lav Definitional Characteristics of Cavo Mestizos - Claim As To

Hi^tQ.Elcal Origins -in Peten. Guatamaia

The discussions of the findings chapter have suggested that the Cayo lay system includes a modification of the state statement of historical origins when it comes to Mestizos. They show that, while the government system asserts that (virtually) all Belizean Mestizos derive from the Yucatan area of Mexico, the Cayo lay ethnicity system acknowledges the fact that Belizean Mestizos also derive from the directly-adj acent- to-Cayo area of Peten, Guatemala.

As mentioned in the findings chapter, one way that Cayo Mestizos expressed this claim was through routine mentions and admissions of Guatemalan relatives in their family trees. In addition, the reader will recall that teachers mentioned the fact of Peten-origin Mestizos in their lesson deliveries, although often in footnote fashion.

322 Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lav Claim As To Admixture With "Lebanese" f7] . Cayo Creoles and Other Non-Latin Whites

The Cayo lay ethnicity system makes a claim, as is clear from the findings chapter and the Creole discussions of this chapter, regarding Mestizo admixture with Creoles - its claim is clearly that such admixture exists. My experience of being introduced to one Mestizo teacher's sister, a phenotypically pristine Mestizo sitting on her veranda, bouncing her two phenotypically black grandchildren on her lap (see Research Setting Chapter, section on Cayo Town) is an example which remains with me.

As explained in the earlier discussion on Creole admixture with Cayo Mestizos, this particular admixture phenomenon may be only very recent. However, as also mentioned, it seemed to me that the lay claim is that this phenomenon is a much longer-durât ion one - this being the local perception among Mestizos, Creoles and others. This disparity of perception - if it can be confirmed - may have an additional significance - as an example of how, sometimes, current situations might require explanations that are not consistent with actual history. Specifically, one wonders

323 if, for some reason, Cayo Mestizos or Creoles need to believe that the admixture experience between them is longer than it has been.

The lay ethnicity system of Cayo also makes a claim regarding genetic admixture of Cayo Mestizos with early 20th century "Lebanese" immigrants (emic terminology; see note #7) into Cayo - one which I never saw acknowledged by the state system. The claim is that many Cayo Mestizos are descendants of male "Lebanese" managers of area chicle operations during the industry's heyday in the early 20th century - an industry employing many local Mestizos and Mayans, as well as some Creoles (Mazzarelli 1976:299) .[8] Recall the example of "Lebanese" surnames, and of allegations of "Lebanese" behaviors leading to the admixture presented in the findings chapters.

This Mestizo, yet admixed-with-"Lebanese", population seems to be distinguished from others in Cayo who are also probably at least somewhat admixed Mestizo-"Lebanese" but defined as belonging to the "Lebanese" ethnic group. [9]

The lay system also acknowledges Mestizo admixture with other historical non-latin whites (see later discussion of non-latin surnames among Cayo Mestizos).

324 Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regardincr Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lay Claim As To Similarity of Mestizos and Creoles in Terms of Cultural Traits

The Cayo lay ethnicity system makes the claim that Cayo Mestizos and Creoles are culturally the same in many ways. Although (as reported in the Findings - Mestizos chapter), in some cases of Creole-like traits among Mestizos, it seems impossible to know whether the source is acculturation versus cultural survival from the Mestizo homeland settings (however aberrant - recall Mestizo findings chapter discussion regarding Cayo Mestizo marriage patterns as a possible lower- class variant of Guatemalan or Mexican ones) , the bottom line remains that, in numerous ways, Cayo Mestizos appear very much the same, culturally, as Cayo Creoles. The examples reported in the Mestizo findings chapter included, not only mating and marriage behaviors among Mestizos (although these data were contested by some of my informants), but the sharing, across Mestizos and Creoles, of such traits as use of Spanish as an in-the-home language and use of the Creole language. The sharings of latin and British surnames are additional examples - discussed earlier and again below. One interpretation is that the Cayo lay system is involved in blurring otherwise distinct state boundaries. Or it may be saying that these

325 traits are not distinct, mutually exclusive Creole and Mestizo ones capable of being defined essentialistically the way the state does.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lay Claim As To Spanish Language as Optional

As we have seen in the findings chapter, Spanish language usage or even skill is not a required criterion for lay classification as a Mestizo. In so much as Spanish is not an in-the-home language for at least some Mestizos (and i s the first and/or the in-the-home language for at least some Cayo Creoles), the Cayo lay system is, again, contesting the state one by blurring the Creole-Mestizo boundary or, perhaps, saying that Spanish language usage is not a Mestizo trait - in other words, not to be essentialistically defined.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lay Claim As To Non-latin. Non "Lebanese" Surnames

Yet another phenomenon regarding Cayo Mestizos which blurs Creole-Mestizo boundaries is that many Mestizos of Cayo

326 possess British and other non-Spanish and non-Lebanese,

European surnames, presumably the result of admixture with the British, as well as emy admixture with Creoles (many of whom, of course as explained earlier, are bearers of such non-latin European surnames). Thus, latin versus non-latin surname is not a reliable marker of Mestizo affiliation. (This is even more true since many Garinagu also bear latin surnames, as do many Creoles - as has been mentioned.) Thus, this constitutes another way in which Cayo Mestizos and Creoles are alike (both can have either European or latin surnames) , and thus the boundaries are further blurred. Or, again, we have a lay subsystem claim that latin surnames are not a Mestizo trait, nor, British ones, a Creole trait.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lay Claim As To Hus Sensitivity Among Mestizos for Self, and Toward Creoles

Introduction. This section pertains to whether hue sensitivity exists on the part Mestizos regarding their own group (lay system #1) , and whether Mestizos hold a perception of Creoles which includes sensitivity to hue (lay system #1) . While in isolation providing limited evidence of such, once

327 buttressed by historical evidence, my fieldwork data do suggest the conclusion that Mestizos notice hue amongst selves, as well as limited evidence that they notice it for the case of Creoles.

Mestizo Hue Sensitivity Toward Self. Historically, Cayo Mestizos derive from societies which, similar to those of the early Creole, manifested a sensitivity toward hue, although perhaps lacking a cultural value centered, itself, on hue. Specifically, the structures of the Peten, Guatemala and Yucatan, Mexico societies from which Belizean Mestizos derive (as well as Latin-Americcui societies, more generally) included a three-tier structure based on different degrees of admixture with, and adherence to, whiteness amd white attributes : "pure" Spaniards at the top, mixed Spaniard-Amerindians in the middle, and "pure" Amerindians on the bottom (Reed 1964:22 for the Yucatan; and Schwartz 1990:6 for Guatemala, but see pages 3 and 7 for caveat points) . Indian ways and looks were denigrated, the European end of the scale holding the opposite, positive, value (Reed, 1964:22). Although some scholars stress that the true basis of this Latin-American system was a genetic-purity concern inherited from European Spanish society (e.g., Martinez-Alier 1974:75; cf. Banton 1987:53-54), hue can still be considered to have been a blatant marker of such purity such that it constituted a trait

328 to which individuals were socialized to be sensitive. [10] Moreover, the source of most of Belize's Mestizo population was the inid-l9th century, Yucatan-area "War of the Castes" - a revolt of Yucatan-area Amerindians against this system.

Thus it is reasonable to assume that the majority of Belizean Mestizos and proto-Mestizos, including those of Cayo, possessed a particularly acute sensitivity to hue at the historical moment when they entered Belize. [11]

The limited ethnographic pieces of evidence from my fieldwork that Mestizos pay attention to hue among themselves include the following (not reported in the findings chapters) . A Mestizo woman once lectured me as to the reasons why many Guatemalan-origin Mestizos were darker than "clear" (Belizean terminology for the complexion of the "average " white European) ; another wondered why I was confusing two particular Mestizo individuals since, she claimed, one of them was "clear" while the other was not (their coloring appeared identical to me) ; yet another (a Mestizo landlady) continuously referred to one of her Mestizo tenants as "the brown one" (although, again, the one's coloring appeared, to me, identical to the others').

Mestizo Hue Sensitivity Toward Creoles. While serving as additional evidence of Mestizo hue sensitivity in terms of self, at least one item of data from my fieldwork suggests

329 that Mestizos are sensitive to the trait of hue for Creoles (also, unreported in the findings chapters) . This evidence entails the case of a Mestizo informant whose daughter was dating a Creole gentleman. I once asked her how she felt about this. She responded that it was "okay" since her daughter was not "clear" anyway [indeed, both the Creole young man and the Mestizo young woman were within the same range with regard to the numerous phenotypic characteristics under consideration (hue, hair, and facial features)]. This definitely indicates awareness of hue for both the Creole group and for own- (Mestizo) group. [Additional interpretations of this remark (such as that of a possible hue endogamy rule) "cry out" for consideration and are taken up in the Suggestions for Future Research Chapter.1

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Lay Definitional Characteristics of Cayo Mestizos - Lay Claim As To The "Mestizo" Label

A final difference between the lay and state systems, when it comes to Mestizos, pertains to the lahmi applied to the group. The lay system of all of Belize, including Cayo, asserts a different label from the government one for the Mestizo category - the term "Spanish" versus "Mestizo". The origin of this lay term is evidently simply the fact that the

330 earliest resident Belizean ethnic groups considered the

Spanish language trait to be the most salient characteristic of the first large Mestizo migration into Belize, such that this became the label for the group.

Final Chapter Summary and Comments Concerning All Conclusions

Pertaining to Lay Definitional Characteristics af Cayg Mestizos

The Cayo lay system defines a Mestizo as an individual with roots in either Guatemala or the Yucatan, and not unlikely possessing Creole, "Lebanese" or white genes. They seem to manifest sensitivity to hue for both members of their own group and for the case of Creoles. They call themselves (and are called by others), "Spanish". Although they possess some unique cultural traits, culturally, they are in numerous ways similar to Cayo Creoles: seemingly practicing, to some degree, the same mating and marriage behaviors; sometimes possessing non-latin, European surnames, and sometimes speaking English versus Spanish in their homes.

In closing, it is interesting to reflect on one point brought out in these last two sections : how Cayo Mestizos may have acquired at least some of their Creole-like traits (e.g.,

331 mating and marriage practices) , not from Cayo (or other) Creoles, but, elsewhere (brought them with them), while Cayo Creoles may have obtained some of their Mestizo traits [e.g., genetic ones and, Catholicism and Spanish-as-the-language-of- the-home] , not from Cayo Mestizos, but, likewise, from elsewhere, but how, in the end, they both look the same. [Thus, the boundaries are thus blurred and/or Mestizo traits cease to be Mestizo ones, or Creole traits. Creole ones.]

Along these lines, it is also interesting to note that, to the extent that the above is true, many Belizeans - both Cayo locals and others - are perhaps in possession of a correct conclusion concerning Cayo Mestizos and Creoles, but for incorrect (wrong) reasons. Here I am referring to the fact that most Belizeans seem to hold the assumption that Cayo

Creoles and Cayo Mestizos are biologically and culturally mixed with one another, but seem to assume this is due to a similar and lengthy history of such mixing while the latter may not be the case.

332 White Ethnic group: Discussions and Resultant Conclusions

Regarding Lay Claims (Claims Regarding White Traits. Behaviors and Other Characteristics)

Although my coverage of Belizean whites in this document generally includes all the white groups of Cayo (as delimited in the theory chapter) this particular discussion limits its discussion to the White ethnic group - in order to be consistent with the previous two discussions. Other discussions later in this chapter consider conclusions concerning the wider range of Belize's white populations.

State Definitional Claims Regarding Belize's White Ethnic groijip

Because I have no government -based school data pertaining to the white ethnic group of Belize, my statement of the state definition of the Belizean White ethnic group is surmised largely from government texts related to activities connected with the polity's population enumeration activities.

The state ethnicity system's definition of the Belizean

White ethnic group would seem to at least include individuals

333 who are not of the Mennonite religion; who, having historical origins in Europe or North America (excluding Mexico), self- define themselves as members of the "white race" ; and who currently reside in Belize. This would include recent transplants as well as the few with early Belizean roots. This definition is thus one of religion and self-asserted race which ignores both nationality and culture.

Conclusion Concerning Lay Definition of the White Ethnic Group

When it comes to the subject of lay perceptions regarding Belize’s White ethnic group, my report concerns that aspect of the lay subsystem #l which involves self perceptions - a particular ethnic group's definitions of its own ethnicity.

This statement, of mine, of the Cayo Whites group's self- concept derives almost entirely from data from living and conversing with Cayo Caucasians, and from observing their behaviors (although, unfortunately, exclusively with and of recent Cayo Caucasians versus "older", "original" Cayo ones). Most of these individuals fit into the category of the White ethnic group of Belize. Their lay system definition seems to agree completely with the state definition. The characteristics of it which seem most salient are its seeming

334 inclusion of both Belizean citizens and noncitizens, and its disregard of former (motherland) nationality. The group seems to possess a significantly strong sense of solidarity.

RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS REGARDING ISSUE C; CRITERIA AND RULES PERTAINING TO CLASSIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS INTO BELIZE'S ETHNIC CATEGORIES

I report on only two ethnic groups in this section Creoles and Mestizos.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion

Regarding.Creole Category Classification - Lay Ethnicity Shifting Rules?

Introduction

This discussion continues the earlier commenced one on whether hue is meaningful among Cayo Creoles. Specifically, it considers the possibility that Cayo Creoles possess two

335 category classification rules, applied by them for the purpose of movement out of (exiting) the Creole ethnic group (an earlier discussion having rejected the theory that Cayo Creoles possess a fully developed system of intra-ethnic subcategories based on hue). The first rule involves genetics and would allow for cross-generational changes only. This rule is posited as analogous to a genetic shifting rule existing in Caribbean societies such as Jamaica and Trinidad called the "mulatto escape hatch" (Degler 1971). As explained, it lays out the procedure of mating with a lighter- hued individual, plus the principle that the result will be a different, and perhaps (at least in the cases of Jamaica and Trinidad), higher classification status (in the cases of Jamaica and Trinidad, this higher status is a class one) for the offspring. Banton (1983) explains how, in Jamaica, the system existed historically.

[T]here existed a system in which darker hued individuals mated with lighter individuals... [Thus,] men and women escaped from the bottom tier of society and secured intermediate positions (page 56) .

It is clear from the this quote that my earlier reported data of the Cayo marriage adage and marriage behaviors can be interpreted, along these lines, as suggesting a genetic admixture shifting rule.

336 Final .Summary fll. Conclus ion Regarding a Genetic (Hue) .Shifting Rule

My final thinking about the matter is that ny admittedly limited ethnographic evidence, together with the historical data reported earlier, are strong enough to suggest that, just as Cayo Creoles probably possess a "white bias", they do indeed possess some version, to some extent, of a genetic admixture shifting rule (equivalent to a mulatto escape hatch rule) . Part of this conclusion is that the Cayo Creole version is conceived of and intended primarily for inter- ethnic, public arena interactions, as well as actual inter­ ethnic shifting (subsystem #2) [an earlier discussion having concluded that there is a lack of empirical evidence for any intra-ethnic subcategories within the Creole group to which to apply it (subsystem #1) , and my data also suggesting the absence of a full-fledged class-cum-color system in wider Cayo to which to apply it (subsystem #2) - see Other Claims section of this chapter, below]. In other words, Cayo Creoles conceive of this genetic shifting rule as producing consequences in the public arena, along the lines of either : (i) resulting in differential treatments in their dealings with other ethnic groups (suggesting a type of hierarchy similar to a class-cum-hue one), and/or (ii) actually leading to a change in their ethnic classification. It would appear that the rule is being applied by Cayo Creoles along the lines

337 of matings with not only lighter-skinned Creoles, but anyone with non-negroid traits : whites. Mestizos and East Indians included. Even the early genetic admixture experiences of Creoles with Amerindians and Latins may have been examples of this (a theory that will be explored below).

Whether this rule is acknowledged and reinforced by lay subsystem #2 will be discussed under Hue as_Consequential.

Possibilitv of a Nonoenetic. Comportment Shifting Rule

In addition to the above genetic admixture shifting rule among Cayo Creoles, there is at least some evidence to suggest another set of behaviors which perhaps operate something like a comportment or attainment escape hatch. This set of behaviors is similar to the phenomenon referred to by Segal as "respectability" (Segal 1993:91-93). [12] Like the first rule, this phenomenon of inç>roving status through the adoption of specified behaviors has also been observed for some West Indian societies. Segal explains the "respectability" phenomenon for the case of Trinidad

For a nonwhite "Creole" to acquire..white traits and biographical features was to gain respectability...a person's bodily color could be altered by achievements (page 92).

In cases reported in the literature on the Caribbean, this version of what I am calling a comportment shifting or

338 escape hatch rule was in^lemented in terms of imitation of white, specifically British, cultural behaviors. While I see no evidence, in Cayo, of visible level, "apings" of British behaviors (such does exist for Belize City) , I did see, and have reported. Creole behaviors which are similar to, or the same as. Mestizo and/or Maya behaviors - e.g., speaking Spanish in the home and practicing Catholicism. While I have, up to this point, offered an alternative explauiation for these traits, it seems at least plausible that some of both the historical and the current Cayo Creole tendencies in this direction could be interpreted as such conportment escape behaviors. What I am here suggesting is the possibility that maybe some of the observed phenomenon of Spanish language usage, Catholicism and other Spanish behaviors among Cayo

Creoles may not be mere offshoots of "neutral", nonpurposeful historical genetic admixture, or offshoots of admixture at all, but the result of deliberate, strategic actions, initiated by some Creoles (with or without admixture) , for the purpose of shifting their positions toward exiting the Creole ethnic group.

I refer especially to individuals or families who were basically phenotypically Negroid (and probably classifiable, in government terms, as Creole), but, who, possessing one or a few Spanish-like traits, self-defined themselves as Spanish. It could be that they were exploiting the blurred boundaries

339 in order to be something other than Creole, or, more precisely stated - applying a conçortment shifting rule. The case of the wife of the Creole shoemaker researched by Le Page's team and reported on (in a quote) earlier in this chapter is perhaps deserving of (re-) interpretation along these lines. In the earlier discussion, this case was advanced as a possible exan^le of Cayo Creole-Guatemalan Mayan or Mestizo admixture. However, we could now re-evaluate it and posit it as other than admixture (genetic shifting), but instead as comportment shifting. Indeed, Le Page's statement makes it clear that the woman lacked the phenotypic traits suggestive of such admixture, instead possessing definitive negroid ones. Maybe this is a case of a "could/should-be" Creole who has adopted one or more Mestizo traits (Le Page mentions Spanish- language usage) and redefined herself as a Mestizo. But again my data are equivocal. In contradistinction to these cases of mestizo-ized Creoles self-ascribing as Mestizo, other Creole appearing families with the very same, just as many, or more Spanish-like traits, chose to self-define themselves as Creole and thus do not seem to be applying or showing evidence of a comportment shifting rule.

In further developing this last point, and in closing this entire discussion of the genetic and comportment shifting rule possibilities, I share the case of one family in my data which might serve as a kind of case study for thinking through

340 the issue of whether either the genetic or comportment escape hatch rules exist or are being applied among Cayo Creoles in terms of interactions and traits involving Mestizos (or Amerindians) . The family in question possessed the following Mestizo traits: (1) a latin surname; (2) a Spanish great­ grandmother who had reared her family speaking Spanish in the home (although the husband was British) and (3) a mother whose first husband (although not her second) was at least latinized. Phenotypically, the entire family could be taken as either mestizo-ized Creoles or creole-ized Mestizos. In frustration at not being able to figure out, on my own, the Mestizo-Creole classification rule for such blurred cases, I eventually bluntly asked them what made them Creole versus Spanish. They could give no reason, except to comment that, "people make choices . "

Several points regarding the above seem worth asserting in this discussion of the possibilities of genetic and comportment escape rules for Cayo Creoles. First, the above response may show that they understand the theory I am now positing. Second, and on the other hand, if nothing else, it was clear, from not only their comment but their ethnic affiliation behavior, that they, at least, felt no need to "exploit" the situation to advance out of Creole-ness. This may mean that indeed there was no situation to exploit - that is, that my theory regarding shifting rules (genetic or

341 comportment) is wrong. Another interpretation, however, is that these rules do exist in Cayo, but that this family case constitutes euiother example of dual-vocality in the Cayo lay ethnicity system (some Cayo Creoles participating in this aspect of the system, and others, not) . A final thought, however, is that, if these traits that I here refer to as "Mestizo" (e.g., mestizo-ized physical features, latin surnames, and speaking Spanish in the home, etc.) are not actually considered, in Cayo, as Mestizo (i.e., assentialistically defined as Mestizo) - and this is what I have thrown out at several earlier points - then this entire argument is invalid. The Creoles are not accomplishing Mestizo-ism. In this sense, the validity of my theories regarding genetic and comportment shifting rules being applied to Mestizo genes and behaviors perhaps hinges on the answer to the following question: "Which is true : many Creoles possess these traits because these traits are considered Mestizo traits, ÛC these traits are not considered Mestizo ones because so many Creoles possess them?"

Final Chapter Summary and Comments Regarding The Above Two Conclusions of Creole Shifting Rules

Cayo Creoles would seem to possess a concept of a genetic escape-hatch-shifting rule (lay subsystem #1) . The conception is that the procedure of mating with an individual possessing

342 Caucasian-like "hue" guarantees either or both differential treatments in the public arena and cross-generational exiting from the Creole ethnic group. It is possible that one way that this rule has been applied by Cayo Creoles is in historical and current matings with Amerindians and Mestizos, in historical and current matings with whites, and in current matings with emyone else possessing non-negroid traits (including East Indians) . Cayo Creoles do not seem to possess

any fully developed set of intra-group subcategories within Creole-ism to which to apply this shifting rule, although there may exist a loosely drawn set of hue distinctions

amongst themselves.

A second shifting rule that Cayo Creoles may possess, historically and currently, is a comportment one. This rule does not, however, seem currently to be applied to British behaviors (as is reported for many West Indian societies and for Belize City) ; it perhaps is and has been applied utilizing Mestizo and Amerindian behavioral traits.

Both of the cüaove shifting rules, to the extent that they exist, are lay subsystem #1 claims ; the same is true of auiy Creole constructions or conceptions of intra-group or inter­ group units (to which the shifting rules are applied). A

343 later section will discuss the question of whether these subsystem #l claims are affirmed by the wider societal arena (lay subsystem #2).

Discussion and Resultant Conclusions Regarding Classification Procedures Pertaining to Both the Creole and Mestizo Categories - What Is the Rule Used bv Locals?

We have seen that the lay ethnicity system of Cayo asserts both that Creoles can have Mestizo-origin genes and behaviors, and Mestizos, Creole ones. We have also seen that there seems to be no statement as to where the line is drawn between these mestizo-ized Creoles amd creole-ized Mestizos. Thus, the lay system blurs the state system boundary between the two groups in two ways ; the admission that each can possess genes and behaviors of the other, and the lack of a clear statement as to where the boundary line i s . Needless to say, and as we have seen, this blurred Cayo Creole-Mestizo boundary affects classification into both the Creole and

Mestizo categories. The family case study, presented in the last section, in consideration of a possible hue shifting rule, is also an example of this difficulty of classification into the Creole auid Mestizo slots. As has been stated.

344 because of all this, it was difficult for this researcher to determine what the lay classification rule in these two cases (Creole and Mestizo) is.

One possible conclusion is that the Cayo Mestizo-Creole classification rule is a significantly arbitrary one. Another interpretation will be discussed in the Other Claims section of this chapter: one suggested by Marvin Harris' Brazil work - that the rule may be purposely and functionally ambiguous - so as to accomplish certain hegemonic reproduction goals (Harris 1970) .

A possibility suggested in the above Shifting Rule discussion, is that a less-than-ambiguous, orderly and predictable rule does exist for classification into these two groups. What is suggested is that the rule may be one of self-ascription, utilizing the already prescribed categories (from the government) of Mestizo, Creole, and such. The order to the system may be that all Mestizos always self-ascribe as Mestizos - regardless of degree of creole-isms [13], and that Creoles self-ascribe as either Creoles ar Mestizos - usually (although not always) the latter, if they possess, or can effect, at least latin traits (behavioral or genetic). The structure of this three-category self-ascription rule is schematically represented in Figure 11.2.

345 "TYPE" OF INDIVIDUAL SELF-ASCRIPTION RULE Mestizo - with few or no These can and will always creole-isms self-ascribe as Mestizos Mixed (behavioral or genetic) These can self-ascribe as Individual Creoles or Mestizos Creole - with few or no These cannot choose, but must mestizo-isms always self-ascribe as Creole

Figure 11.2: Posited Self-Ascription Rule for Cayo Mestizos, Creoles and Mixed Individuals

346 One additional category of evidence exists in my data in favor of such a self-ascription system - Cayo individuals refraining from labelling others in favor of allowing the latter to label themselves (see Miscellaneous Findings chapter), although, in the end, I choose to interpret these data differently. This is discussed in the Other Claims section below.

DISCUSSION AND RESULTANT CONCLUSIONS REGARDING ISSUE D: OTHER LAY CLAIMS

Hue Again - Research Conclusion Regarding Whether It is Consequential in The Public Arena

Introduction

This section considers whether the public arena includes affirmation of Creole hue sensitivity, including its (genetic) mulatto-escape-hatch and comportment shifting principles (also, any Mestizo or other ethnic group hue sensitivity

347 phenomena that might exist) . This constitutes the question of whether the subsystem #2 of the Cayo lay ethnicity system, amd both the two aspects (Harrell's components) comprising Cayo's lay subsystem #1, agree or disagree when it comes to the question of Creole hue.

Hue Sensitivity In Wider Cayo Society

I saw very little evidence in Cayo that Creole (or Mestizo) hue matters within the realm of the wider, interactive public arena; the data, however, are mixed.

On the one hamd, there is the example of the (Mestizo) Cayo City Council officials' decision not to allow the 1993 local contestant for the National Queen of Belize Contest - the dark-hued young Creole woman discussed earlier - to advance to the next (national) level of competition. The excuse advanced pertained to scheduling problems which they claimed would put the Cayo contestant at a disadvantage. However, a few informants expressed to me their opinion that such would not have happened had she been of a lighter hue. (Other informants offered a variant of this opinion - that it was a case of ethnic bias.)

Also, it is true that I never saw a dark person as waiter or waitress in the most prestigious hotel in Cayo, in any

348 other town restaurant, nor in such places as the bank which I frequented (behaviors common in Belize City).

On the other hand, evidence against this thesis includes the following examples: dark-skinned children at the Catholic church I attended were selected to perform the offertory amd other church service tasks just as often as light-skinned ones, and I never saw any evidence, in the school where I conducted my research, of students (or any other Belizeams) receiving differential treatment due to hue. For exanç)le,

variously hued children presented themselves or were selected for various school competitions (e.g., a Valentine’s Day King/Queen competition). On one occasion, candidates of a rainbow of hues, competing in a school fund-raising competition, entered the classroom in which I was observing, in order to obtain contributions. My fieldnotes indicate no dearth of contributions in the case of the darker students (also that there was no match between hue of donor and recipient) . In addition, two dark-hued adults held co­ principal-ships at the school (and seemed to be respected by their peers).

However, here I am obligated to admit serious lacunae in my data - in the sibove areas as well as societal realms such as educational opportunities, wealth distribution and the wider range of job discrimination possibilities. These

349 require a level of investigation that I did not give them. Also, there may even have existed more snhM m types of evidences of differential treatment based on hue for the children or adults in the school with which I was affiliated.

Final Chapter Summary and Comments Regarding My Conclusion Concerning Hue in the Public Arena

My frauik opinion is that no final conclusion can be drawn at this point regarding hue as a variable governing human relations in the Cayo public arena. My study is lacking in necessary data in this area. The data that do exist do not convincingly demonstrate that the public arena is affirming and/or reinforcing the hue lay subsystem #1 value amd behavior cluster among Cayo Creoles (amd Cayo Mestizos) . To the extent that it might be doing so, the manifestations are certainly less blatant tham what is exhibited in Belize City, or reported for the cases of Jamaica and Trinidad. Instead, it seems possible that the Creole value amd behavior cluster regarding hue, observed in this study, may be largely a vestige leftover from the earlier period of Belizean history when the then Belize Settlement possessed a class-cum-hue/race social structure - a system which continues to some degree in present-day Belize City. Likewise, the hue sensitivity of the Cayo Mestizo cam be interpreted as a similar kind of cultural lag. Note that what this means is that, while such Cayo

350 subsystem #l notions of hue and its societal-level effects may be of little or no "use" in present-day Cayo, they are useful for stays in Belize City (suid perhaps elsewhere in Belize). This applies to both Cayo Creoles and hue sensitive Mestizos (and anyone else) . Again, all in all, my opinion is that more research is required before forming any conclusion about a hue system in the Cayo lay ethnicity subsystem #2.

Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Regarding Comportment Sensitivity In the Public Arena - Is There an

Ethnic Hierarchy In Cayo?

Regardless of whether a hue sensitivity system does or does not exist in the Cayo public arena, and notwithstanding the fact that additional data are needed for a firm conclusion, it is possible to suggest another system as existing in the Cayo public arena - an ethnic group hierarchy system. This is what is implied by two of my two earlier theories that perhaps, both historically and currently. Creoles have been applying both genetic and comportment rules in cin effort to exit completely the Creole category, and that a classification system of self-ascription rules might exist in Cayo according to which Mestizos always self-ascribe as Mestizos, while Creoles self-ascribe as Mestizos when they are

351 able. As note # 13 suggests, the Lebanese and/or mixed Lebanese-Mestizo populations may have - at least historically - held positions in such a hierarchy. It is, of course, also probable that the White ethnic group is ranked within this structure. With regard to the Creole-Mestizo portion of the hierarchy, a point that is strongly itrç)lied is that mestizo- ized Creoles (and, presuméüDly, creole-ized Mestizos) hold an intermediary position between those of their parent populations - that is, those Creoles-who-are-on-their-way-to- becoming-Mestizos (as well as those Mestizos who have "ingested" creolisms) . The ranking order that is so far being suggested is one which is consistent with the presence of a "whitening ideal". However, without further data, alternative rank orders should not be ruled out. One possibility which is at least theoretically possible, is that mixed-group status ranks higher than either, or all, other group statuses; this has been documented for the case of Haiti, at least immediately after its revolution (Davis 1993:87-88). Only further research can decide this issue.

352 Discussion and Resultant Conclusion Concerning Lay Claims Regarding Cayo Whites introduÆtioD

This section will address the question of lay claims regarding whites of Belize. In doing so, it will consider the question of whether the earlier reported school discourse finding regarding antecedent whites of Belize informs us of anything concerning the current ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize - either concerning Cayo's present-day White ethnic group, or the ethnicity structure more generally. The specific proposition addressed, regarding this latter, is whether the textual "protection" of historical whites reported for school discourses is related to one of my community findings concerning some present-day Cayo whites - that of preferential, "prestige" treatments. The reader will note that this discussion constitutes an example of my use of the promised strategy of combining my text data with other types of data before drawing conclusions regarding Cayo's ethnicity system.

Two points to keep in mind along the way are : l) the earlier reported school text finding of discourse "protection" of Belize's historical whites [through (posited) discursive

353 obscurément of their negative actions against historical Maya and Mestizos] (Findings -Whites chapter) may be valid as evidence of attitudes toward historical whites, but may bear no relevance to Belize's current situation, and. 2) the white school text data finding of obscurément and the interpretation of this as "protection" of whites, may not, themselves, be valid. This latter is true to the extent that the propositions of Trew, Kress and colleagues are less than justificüale (for exan^le - and first and foremost - the supposition that passive voice amd absent agent constructions do have cognitive processing effects on text readers, and, second, the supposition that connections can be drawn between passive voice and aüosent agent constructions in discourses and the phenomenon of social image-protecting of power-holding sectors of a society).

Regarding the Proposition that the School "Obscurément" Data ifi Related to Cayo Treatments of Any of Belize's White Populations

The school text "obscurément" data do not correlate with my community data findings regarding treatment of members of the present-day White ethnic group who were found to receive no preferential treatments - at least no easily noticeable ones (recall findings chapter report of the lack of

354 specialized treatments of White students in "my" school, as well as at least one case of negative treatment of an adult White Cayo resident).

However, my community data regarding treatment of Cayo's white transient (visitor) populations does at least suggest the possibility of preferential types of treatments in interactions between Cayo residents and members of this subgroup of whites (recall Findings - Whites chapter report of the "prestige" treatment, by both Cayo adults and children, of a white visiting teacher at "my" school). Thus, my school discourse obscurément data can be claimed to be consistent with this finding. However, the only logic available to suggest a relationship between the two - that is, an explanation as to why the two might be related - is the argument that Belize does not wish to discourage white visitor groups to Belize by any utterances, on the part of any of its official "organs", of negative statements regarding any group of whites with connections to Belize. This would have to be true despite the lack of connection - nationality-wise - between the origins of most of Belize's present-day white visitors and those of the historical whites of Belize. Because the discourse (F) allegiances of some of the school texts reflecting the obscurément finding were nondiscemable (some were from the independently produced educational newspaper used in the schools), it is also hard to know how

355 much of this is a lay system characteristic, and how much, a State ethnicity system one. Some nonschool, nongovernmental texts - for example those of Belizean intellectuals - do boldly place historical white agents in the active versus passive position in sentences referring to the historical negative acts of these whites,

Two populations of Cayo whites for which there does exist a strong logical reason to expect a connection between school text "protection" of historical whites and current treatments (for the same reason as that stated for the above case), are the subcategory of the resident British solders in Cayo (yet another "visitor" population), and the category of the absentee whites related to Belize. For the second of these cases, this would exist despite, again, the discontinuity between the compared groups in terms of nationality - the historical whites were of European nationalities, while the absentee white group of Belize is largely North American. However, for neither of these groups do I possess empirical data of my own regarding current (face-to-face) treatments. Thus I cannot report the types of treatments members of these groups experience in face-to-face interactions with nonwhite Cayo residents.

356 Final Statement Regarding Lay Treatments of Cayo Whites

It can be (very tentatively) concluded that the lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize and its wider social structure extends no specialized, prestige-like treatments to Cayo's White ethnic group, although it may be offering "specialized" treatments to two of the other white groups of relevance to Belize - visitor whites (including the resident British solders) and absentee whites. A point worth making is that several of the particular cases I present (Findings - Whites chapter) of the overall inconsistency of white treatments suggest that the treatment of Cayo whites by nonwhite Cayo residents occurs on a case-by-case basis (indeed, on the basis on expectable factors such as the personality features of the particular white individuals).

Regarding my school text data, my final statement is that there does exist a reason why characteristics of school texts, among other public discourses, might manifest the characteristic of obscurément of the negative acts of the historical whites of Belize in connection with specialized treatments of some categories of present-day whites; this reason is stronger for some of the cases than for others. Thus, the school texts may be said to validly reflect (and transmit) elements of broader Cayo social realities, if not the ethnicity system, more narrowly.

357 CLAIMS PERTAINING TO ISSUES D AND E - POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS FOR SOME OF MY FINDINGS

Six interesting findings of this study, not yet discussed, are as follows: (1) the younger segment of the Cayo citizenry (e.g., children up to age 12) manifests delayed learning in terms of ethnic identity - not knowing their own and others' ethnicities ; (2) some adults and children (in cases when the latter dfl "know" their ethnicities) alter their statements of ethnic affiliation across days and weeks; (3) adults sometimes defer on classifying others, instead delegating to Ego the "right" of self-classification: (4) adults and children often choose multiple identities; (5) teachers distance the topic of state-defined ethnicity during their mandated teaching of it; and, 6) students' mistakes during ethnicity lessons in the school (e.g., during review sessions) are ignored or de-emphasized. These six findings are analyzable in numerous ways - either individually or as (one or more) clusters. One of the ways in which these findings seem capable of interpretation is as examples of either "E" or "D" : claims as to the appropriate location of the rights of determination regarding any and all the claims of the Cayo ethnicity system (E) , or "other claims" of the lay

358 ethnicity system of Cayo (other than "A” through "C") (issue D) . Five possible interpretations along these lines that I envision are sketched below.

One way to interpret these six findings is as evidence that Cayo citizens find it cognitively difficult to relate to the state ethnicity categories. This interpretation places all of these behaviors in the category of Other Claims (issue D). It would seem to me that this is especially possible if the Cayo individuals are Creole or Mestizo, given all that has been said about similarities between these two. Under this interpretation, five of the six behaviors described in the above six findings comprise a lay statement that the government brand of ethnicity - especially its "Creole" and "Mestizo" categories - is one "we don't understand". This is because the state ethnic groups "don't 'look' like us" ("they are distant to us/we are not them"). Thus, we are reluctant to use the government ones [deferring to others the right of self-classification and honoring those decisions (C above) and, perhaps - when it comes to teachers - distancing the entire topic (E)]; finding them hard to learn [the delayed ethnicity learning among children (#1)]; and/or making mistakes in applying them [selection of multiple categories and/or alteration of ethnic group identity statements across

359 time (#4 smd #2: people are either unsure of what the right answer is, or maybe forget what they said the previous time because they were merely guessing, anyway !)] .

A different, second, interpretation from the above "cognitive confusion" interpretation considers these actions as contestation or resistance behaviors through which the Cayo citizenry asserts that it, not the government has the final say as to ethnic definition and classification. The Cayo citizenry resists the government system by playing around with its categories and rules (altering ethnicity claims across time and selecting multiple identities in violation of state rules), deciding themselves what they will be (allowing self­ ascription and selecting multiple identities) , and refusing to take the whole matter seriously (teachers ignoring student errors). Thus, these might pertain to "E" of the initial issues of this chapter : who has the authority to make determinations regarding aspects of ethnicity.

A third interpretation is that these acts constitute evidence of a claim that ethnicity is simply unimportant in Cayo society. This interpretation might be considered as placing these acts in the category of "Other Claims" (Issue "D") (although it might alternatively be considered evidence of a differentness system in Cayo based on factors other than ethnicity - see Suggestions for Further Research chapter). It

360 simply is not important to know, remember, or teach about ethnicity - either one's own or others'. And if one chooses to declare an ethnicity, it is not in^ortant which one or ones are selected, and so forth.

A fourth interpretation, for at least the first four acts (children not knowing their ethnicity, shifting membership across time, allowing each Ego to self-ascribe, and multiple identities), again joins these findings with evidence for the unimportance of ethnicity in Cayo society, and again positions these findings as examples of "other claims" (if, like interpretation #3 above, not an entirely different differentness system). This interpretation is that, in Cayo, Ego's ethnic identity may not be an important aspect of Ego's overall individual self-concept and identity. Verdery's argument in this regard would be that, if ethnicity were an integral part of Ego's self-concept, it would be both remembered and held constant (1994) . This is, however, an interpretation which ignores the possibility of individuals utilizing even core elements of their identity in strategic, situational ways.

A fifth interpretation allows the thesis of the importance of ethnicity in Cayo, but asserts that this ethnicity system includes a certain type of intentional fluidity. One form of this intentional fluidity might be a

361 type of "ambiguity" which serves a structural function - similar to the Marvin Harris theory alluded to earlier in this document. In the case of his Mina Velhas, Brazil data which revealed a very low level of local consensus as to classification of individuals into a typology of local racial categories, Harris argued that this ambiguity (in which significant "noise is tolerated"), served the political function of the "prevention of the development of a "race"- based ideology among the low socio-economic, dis-empowered population in question, therefore protecting the current structure of inequality. If the "racial" group cannot agree on group membership, it will probably never be sufficiently solidified to "rebel" (cf. Marger 1985:235). Even if this particular interpretation is inappropriate for Cayo, alternative functional-reproduction explanations for at least some of the above six behaviors (or for the system in general) , focusing on the fluidity manifested by it, might fit. This interpretation could be considered to constitute yet another example of an "other claim" regarding the ethnicity system of Cayo (D). [14]

362 AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION FOR THE ABOVE SIX FINDINGS - CAYO DISSONANCE REDUCTION STRATEGIES IN THE FACE OF MULTIPLE ETHNICITY DISCOURSES (F)

In positing that a particular community is constructing, and persisting in living, its own social system - against the forces of a more powerful hegemonic one, it seems logical to ask how this group effectively accomplishes this : what mechanisms of response to minimize dissonance do they use when confronted with the hegemonic system pressuring them from all around. Indeed, having posited the type of dual, disagreeing ethnicity composite as has been posited for Cayo, this dissertation effort should be judged lacking if it does not address this question.

It is my opinion that the above six findings suggest an answer to this important question. Thus I now offer for them an interpretation which differs from the ones presented in the previous section. Although the weight of my evidence for this particular interpretation is no greater than for the earlier interpretations, the superior merit of this interpretation, I believe, lies in the fact that it contributes this essential element of am explanation of a mechanism for minimizing dissonance between the two disagreeing discourses (F) which I have posited in this document. While the

363 contestation/resistance interpretations offered by me (interpretations #2 above) also acconplish this same need, it represents, it seems to me, a harder to prove allegation.

Thus my final, tentative conclusion regarding my findings that Cayo teachers distcuice the state-mandated topic of (state) ethnicity in their teaching of it, ignoring students errors in the process ; that Cayo youth manifest delayed ethnic learning of the topic of state-defined ethnicity; and that Cayo residents alter state-defined ethnicity claims across time, accept all claims offered by all Egos (whether consistent with state definitions or not) , and choose multiple identities, is that all of these low or non-cooperation (with the state ethnicity system) behaviors represent ways in which Cayo citizens cope with the presence, in their world, of conflicting discourses (F) concerning ethnicity.

SOME FINAL COMMENTS

From all that has been deliberated and concluded in this

chapter, we see that the Cayo lay ethnicity system differs significantly from the Belizean state ethnicity system. We also see evidence of behaviors which constitute strategies through which Cayo residents ward off or deal with the unwelcome presence of the hegemonic force of a competing ethnicity system which differs from the one they have

364 constructed for themselves. The major problem with all of these interpretations, as has been stated innumerable times, is that they are all tentative.

The next, final chapter will present suggestions for further research towards strengthening the aüaove interpretations. It also includes discussion of points regarding investigating theories that factors other thaui ethnicity are the importsuit operating variables in any differentness system existent in Cayo, Belize.

365 NOTES

1. This four-construct model consisting of: 1) an ethnic group's claims concerning self (first component of lay subsystem #1) ; 2) its definition by other ethnic groups (second component of lay subsystem #1) ; 3) state claims as to the ethnic group ; and 4) public arena ones (lay subsystem #2) , is my own creation. As explained in the theory chapter, it draws heavily on Weaver (1984) and Harrell (1990) . Weaver's work applies the private/public distinction common, in various forms, across the anthropological literature. Her "private" notion seems to cover the two components of ny lay ethnicity subsystems #1 (each ethnic group's concept of self, and other ethnic groups' concept of the ethnic group in question), and her "public" notion, both my public arena and state systems of ethnicity. Harrell's work advances the idea of a distinction between ethnicity as a set of internal notions and rules for an ethnic group, and "ethnicity in action" - .their external relationships with other ethnic groups and with the state" (page 516) . The first component of my lay subsystem #i is somewhat synonymous with this internal ethnic definition of his, although mine explicitly emphasizes behaviors as well as notions; his "ethnicity in action" seems to include both the second component of my lay subsystem #1 and my state system, if not also my public arena system.

366 2. As alluded to in the findings chapter, "aliens" desiring to exit the alien category might be pressured, in some Belizean communities, to discard conç>letely their Spanish language trait. Indeed the model of Belizean social structure and mobility posited by Palacio (1988a) contains a clear claim along these lines - in its description of anglophone Belizean populations (regardless of ethnicity, color or urban-rural residence) as ranking above hispanophone (even bi-lingual) ones (page 53) . I am inclined to want to modify Palacio's theory for the case of Cayo, toward arguing that a total relinquishing of Spanish in the Cayo case might not be required - at least for local status and mobility - given the firm footing, if not prestige, that the Spanish language seems to have in Cayo society (recall findings chapters). There might, however, be pressure toward modifications in pronunciation, and such - to approximate Belizean Spanish versus Guatemalan (or other) variants.

There exists at least one other case in which Creole language usage is a marker of Belizean-ness and a distinguisher of new versus old immigrant status for migrants who are of similar or identical national origin. According to what I was told, this phenomenon exists for the case of the Belizean Chinese - at least in Belize City. Recent Chinese arrivals are strongly disliked by the lay public, in contrast to the descendants of earlier Chinese immigrants (19th century indenturees), and

367 Creole language usage is the marker that nonChinese Belizeans look for, in daily interactions, to distinguish members of the two groups.

3. Two points: (1) Helms (1977:23) and others say that, in addition to the Honduran Spanish and the Miskito Indians, free French "Negroes" as well as "Black Caribs" came to Cayo as seasonal laborers ; and (2) all in all, the sources I consulted contained confusing statements as to which of these various outside labor pools in early 19th century Cayo were free laborers versus slaves. In the case of the Miskito Indians, there were evidently some of both categories.

4. Two points, however, need to be admitted. First, according to Schwartz (1990:309), the total number of these migrants was limited. Second, in the same discussion, Schwartz makes the assertion that most of these black migrants were from "southwestern Belize". This would seem to weaken my claim that the Cayo area was heavily involved as a provider and recipient of such proto-Creole expatriates and repatriates (the geographical location of the Cayo area of Belize being a bit more central-western than south-western).

5. Mazzarelli (1976:304-306) provides 19th century dates for such settlements in several of her discussions of this period of Cayo history. She also quotes Pendergast (1967), that

368 settlements made up of [proto-Creole] loggers and "..their wives and families ..." came into existence in the Cayo area beginning circa 1839 (page 283).

6. Henriques (1953) gives an idea of some of the variation across the hue systems of different West Indian island societies. For example, according to him, "In Trinidad, more emphasis is laid on skin color than on features, whereas in Jamaica the two are more or less equal" (page 47) .

7. "Lebanese" and "Turk" were the two terms used by Cayo lay persons for reference to members of this ethnic group, although there was some opinion that the latter term held a pejorative connotation. The government census system uses the hyphenated term, "Syrian-Lebanese".

8. The "Lebanese" immigrants of Cayo inherited the lumber procurement industry within a few generations after their arrival in Belize [when the previous, white owners repatriated themselves to Europe beginning in the late 1800 ' s (Mazzarelli

1976)] . Details regarding their history in Cayo are difficult to find. Germane to auiy admixture experiences is Le Page and Tabouret-Keller's statement that, "..Whereas at one time their grandparents went back to Syria or The Lebanon for their wives, recent generations have married locally - from among the Spanish - and all generations have taken mistresses from

369 among the Mestizo or Spanish" (1985:211) . This thesis of initial Lebanese endogamy followed by a recent change seems consistent with current local perceptions in Cayo. Yet some perceptions are that there might still be some resistance to exogamy. For exarrçle, one of my teen-aged informants spoke of a Lebanese classmate's frustrations at his parents' resistance to the outgroup dating and marriage behaviors of himself and his siblings.

9. The Cayo locals with whom I interacted seemed to have a clear understanding of certain family names in Cayo as designating "Lebanese" versus "mixed-with-Lebanese Mestizo" individuals.

10. Several additional points csui be made concerning this theory of a genetic purity fixation:

a) Obviously, this concern for genetic purity did not prevent the New World Iberians from creating the admixed "mestizo" populations of the New World.

One scholar explains away some of this apparent contradiction by arguing that the Iberians merely took advantage of a New World genetic-based hierarchical structure analogous to their own (at least in the case of several of the New World Amerindian populations such as the Incas and

370 Aztec), to govern their admixture behaviors (Banton 1997:54). In other words, they supposedly admixed only with individuals of the New World Amerindian aristocracies. Another way to reconcile this seeming contradiction would be, of course, to simply posit that (European) homeland social rules broke down in this (New World) frontier situation; b) This theory of a genetic purity fixation - inherited from the European experience - would seem to conflict with H. Hoet ink's theory that the citizens of Spain and Portugal and their New World emigrees had historically acquired (through Old World contact with the Moors) , a "somatic norm image" which was presumably darker than that of any pure Iberian (Hoetink 1967; cf. Mintz 1971); c) Regardless of whether Hoetink's darker "somatic norm image" or Martinez-Alier's genetic purity theory is the correct one for the cases of the 19th century Yucatan, Mexican and Peten, Guatemalan homelands of the Belizean Mestizo, it still seems that an argument can be made that these Mestizos were sensitive to hue differences; and

371 d) Obviously, present-day Latin American societies have cüoandoned or modified this concern for genetic purity or else they could not have constructed contemporary ethnicity systems which distinguish between Amerindiems and Mestizos based solely on behaviors versus genetics (i.e., systems wherein an Indian can become a Mestizo by merely changing behaviors (as discussed in ray Conclusions - Part I chapter).

11. Here I use terms referring to both already-mixed Euro- Indians and yet - to-be-become-mixed-with-Indiaui Spaniards as being part of this Yucatan "War of the Castes" immigrant population. Both groups were represented in that migration (see Palacio 1988b).

12. Segal's "respectability" concept would seem to be unrelated to the "respectability/reputation" construct of Abrahams (1983) cind Wilson (1969 and 1973) . While both constructs refer to behaviors, Segal's seems to involve a dichotomy between nonEuropean and European cultural behaviors, as opposed to Abraham and Wilson's explicit dichotomy between sets of Caribbean "male" and Caribbean "female" behaviors. Also, Segal, writing in 1993, fails to acknowledge Wilson or Abrahams in relation to his concept, instead citing Powrie (1953) and Braithwaite (1953). Finally, while these two works

372 predate Wilson's and Abraham's 1969-1983 conceptualization and usage of the term, and although theirs seems at least to overlap with Segal's, and with Powrie's and Braithwaite's, neither Abrediams nor Wilson ever seem to cite these early sources cited by Segal.

Actually, both Segal's respectability concept and theory regarding the effects of certain types of behaviors on group classification and/or status, and my comportment theory fall closer to the numerous theories of cultural, social, or economic behaviors as constituting importsuit variaüDles in the various race and ethnicity classification systems of Latin America. Examples include the social/economic attainment behavioral theory of "race" classification effects which numerous scholars discuss as being part of the Brazilian definition of "race" for the case of the African-derived population (darker skin can be offset by income and/or occupation); the cultural attainment behaviors criterion claimed by Roberts (1993:19) for ethnic or race classification for the African-derived peoples in " . . most of South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic" ; and the European-ized culture-only criterion used for classifying and distinguishing Amerindians and Mestizos in most of Latin America, according to numerous New World Euro-Amerindian scholars, including Richardson ["An Indian ceases to be an

373 Indian when he gives up Indian ways..."(1970:15 as discussed in Roberts 1993)]. Many of these points were at least alluded to in the discussions of Conclusions - Part I chapter.

13. The Cayo Lebanese and/or whites might also hold positions in this hierarchical system. Because of this (or perhaps unrelated to it) , it may be incorrect to say that Mestizos always self-subscribe as Mestizos - they may select something other than, or higher than, Mestizo.

14. Many of Harris' findings for Minas Velhas, Brazil, were similar to those of his student, Kottak, for Arembepe, Brazil. For example, locals, in both cases, disagreed when categorizing individuals and/or soon forgot the "race" label applied. However, Kottak's overall interpretation and explanation differed from Harris' due to other findings of the respective studies. While Harris renders the interpretation presented in this document (for his findings), Kottak concludes, for his community, that race/ethnicity (note that Kottak defines "race" as one type of ethnicity system) is simply not an iirçortant factor in any aspect of life in

Arembepe (see Kottak 1992:67-70).

374 CHAPTER 12 RECAP OF RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Recapitulation of Research Conclusions

In the previous two chapters (Conclusions - Part I and Conclusions - Part II) , I have presented numerous conclusions regarding ethnicity in Cayo, Belize. The conclusions of both these chapters are now briefly recapped under the following four headings: (i) the multi-vocality of ethnicity in Cayo, Belize; (ii) the content and structure of Belize's state ethnicity system; (iii) the content and structure of Cayo's lay ethnicity system; and (iv) strategies used by Cayo residents to respond to the imposition of an outside, hegemonic discourse (F) in disagreement with their own. It is to be remembered that all conclusions are tentative.

(i) The Multi-Vocality of Ethnicitv in Cavo. Belize: Recap of Research Conclusions

It is concluded that ethnicity in Cayo, Belize is comprised of more than a single discourse (F) . Two major ones concluded as operational in Cayo are a governmental set of 375 daims concerning Belizean ethnicity, and a combination of lay cognitions and behaviors which I call the Cayo "lived/lay ethnicity system". Further research is required to know if additional discourses (F) are also involved - either internal or external, directly or indirectly experienced. One of these might be a cluster of ethnicity claims rooted in dialogue amongst mostly Belize City intellectuals. [1]

(ii) The Content and Structure of the Belizean State System of Ethnicity: Recap of Research Conclusions

It is concluded that, unlike the homogenization policies of many heterogeneous nation-states, the Belizean state system of ethnicity is based on the pluralist intégrâtionist model of nationalism (Bolland 1987) . This means that the Belizean state discourse (F) endorses all of the historically-available ethnicities of Belize as acceptêible adjuncts to the all- critical, national-level identity required for survival of the polity. [2]

Predictably, however, the Belizean government retains for itself the role of sole authority regarding matters such as ethnic ascription. It attempts to predetermine the ethnic identifications of its citizenry through the prescription of fixed, mutually-exclusive ethnic categories defined by essentialist characteristics, and through rigid, precise

376 (although over-sinplifled) , rules of classification. It is concluded that, for all three ethnic categories under the purview of this investigation, the defining content includes genetics, and, for the Creole and Mestizo categories, the additional characteristics of historical origins and essentialistically-defined cultural traits. The rule for classification is concluded as being one of descent. It, however, lacks any provision for the phenomenon of mixed parentage. One important additional state system claim tentatively concluded by the research (despite some contradicting school text evidence), is that of the parity of all the ethnic groups in the eyes of the government and wider society (equal respect, and the lack of an ethnic hierarchy) .

(iii) Content and Structure of the Cayo Lav Ethnicitv System:

Recap of Research Conclusions

The residents of Cayo, Belize do not seem to accept the above system of mandatory, mutually-exclusive categories.

Instead, the lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize reveals itself as a locally constructed system containing original, optional, overlapping and shifting categories and quasi- categories (for example, the "alien", mestizo-ized Creole and creolized Mestizo entities). In the case of the Creole and Mestizo categories, a combination of non-essentialistically defined or conceptualized cultural traits and the visibly

377 discernable trait of phenotype are tentatively concluded as replacing the above presented state list of essentialistically-def ined, nonvisible and fixed definitional traits (essentialistically-defined cultural traits, genetics and historical origins). Mestizo physiognomy and cultural traits seem to be serving as major acceptable substitutes for the historically instituted anglo physical and cultural standard.

Instead of ethnic classification being externally prescribed and predetermined by descent, self claims, choice and voluntariness seem to be central to the system. For example, any claim Ego can and chooses to make as to Creole or Mestizo membership stands a chemce of being honored. Instead of categorization being permanent, category shifts are tentatively concluded as possible. A descent group can effect inter-generational shifts through adopting outgroup behaviors and/or altering phenotypes through admixture.

While I posit the hue-and-shifting-rule conclusions for that aspect of the lay system involving perceptions and behaviors among Creoles and Mestizos (elements of what I call subsystem #l of the lay ethnicity system) ; I am unable to form

378 a firm conclusion as to whether these phenomena are operational in wider Cayo society (defined as subsystem #2 of the lay system) ; more research is needed on this issue.

Additional features concluded as associated with the lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize include : a possible intra- Creole-group, hue-based prestige system; the probable existence of some type of ethnic hierarchy in which Mestizos rank higher than Creoles ; and the probable operation of extra­ ethnic, socio-economic and educational (class) influences on all of the behaviors and cognitions comprising the lay ethnicity system.

_(iv) Cavo Responses to the Government Ethnicity System: Recap of Research Conclusions

An important, implied aspect of the above cluster of tentative conclusions about the Cayo lay ethnicity system is that Cayo residents live out their daily lives according to this system, largely ignoring the government system. This research concludes that when Cayo residents are forced to contend with the governmental system in settings such as state-subsidized schools with their state-mandated ethnicity curriculums, they apply a set of strategies to minimize dissonance concerning the disparities. It is concluded that these strategies include a pattern of non- or reluctant

379 cooperation when it comes to the following: (a) teaching the state system [teachers distance the topic of state-system ethnicity and ignore student errors (also, although outside the scope of this investigation, homes and other expected socialization agents apparently "pass" on performing co­ socialization duties when it comes to this body of social knowledge)]; (b) learning the state system (children manifest delayed learning when it comes to the state system) ; and (c) implementing state-system knowledge (children and adults ignore rules for classification of self such as the rule of "no multiple ethnicities", alter ethnicity claims across time, and accept others' self ascriptions, regardless of how consistent or inconsistent these are with state dictates).

Suggestions For Further Research on Ethnicitv in Cayo. Belize

In this section, I present a list of suggestions for further research on the topic of ethnicity in Cayo, Belize. These suggestions pertain to the conclusions recapped in sections #(i)-#(iv) above. Three preliminary points are in order. First, in order to make the list manageable, my suggestions for the case of the lay ethnicity system [#(iii) above] are limited to only those conclusions pertaining to the following lay elements : hue fixation, ethnic shifting

380 (including such things as the adoption of outgroup comportment behaviors) and the possibility of am ethnic hierarchy. In limiting myself to these conclusions, I take the liberty of tentatively assuming that these elements are more important aspects of the Cayo lay system them, for example, the phenomenon of the average society member's usage of the label "Spanish" versus "Mestizo" for the Mestizo ethnic group. It

is inç)ortant to understand that this course of action is only for feasibility purposes in producing this document. Regarding future research, all my tentative conclusions concerning the Cayo lay system should be researched, with caution being taken against "premature closure" regarding which phenomena are or are not important components of the system.

Second, my suggestions consist, sometimes, solely of specific questions for further research, and, at other times, both questions and recommendations as to data collection techniques (often ones from other, similar studies). Third, despite the methodological strengths which lead me to suggest them, the proposed data collection techniques may possess some characteristics potentially countering their effectiveness for the purposes for which they are suggested; this I fully acknowledge, even though I do not always point this out in the discussions. Along these lines, I also acknowledge that some

381 of the suggested techniques merit more deliberation than my discussions in this document give them, and, perhaps some modification, before adoption.

The suggestions are now presented - basically in list form, although interspersed with necessary introductory discussions. Just as they reference the conclusions recapped in sections #(i) through #{iv) above, they are presented in the same order and utilize, basically, the same headings.

Research Suggestions Pertaining to the Multi-Vocality of Ethnicity in Cayo. Belize

To the extent that the goal of further research on the topic of the multi-vocality of Cayo ethnicity is limited to substantiating the lay and state systems presented in this document, the only further research needed regarding ethnicity discourses (F) of Cayo, Belize might be research which confirms the existence of each of these two Cayo discourses (F) , and which effects a fuller understanding of the content of each. One suggestion along the lines of confirming these discourses (F) is to investigate the content of "messages" on the topic of Cayo ethnicity communicated by socialization agents other than, for example, the educational system from which I obtained much of my data. For example, what ethnicity messages do the media and homes relay? The critical question

382 is whether the content of their "messages" corroborate the existence of the two discourses which I propose, as well as the content proposed, by me, for each. Unfortunately, this procedure suffers the weakness of "one-sided effectiveness". While it can be effective in confirming the discourses I have advanced, it Ccuinot be effective in disproving them [since any disagreeing messages might simply mean the existence of yet additional discourses (F) in Cayo] .

If, contrary to the above, the goal of further research on ethnicity in Cayo is to prepare for future study of my original research topic (the cultural transmission, through school texts, of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize), or to understand Cayo or Belizean ethnicity in its entirety, one may wish to research the following three questions pertaining to the topic of multiple ethnicity discourses (F) in Cayo: i) Is the Belizean intellectual ethnicity discourse (F) , to which I have occasionally alluded, a valid reality? If so, what is its content and structure? As mentioned, it is clearly multi-voiced and intra- conflictual (recall the contradicting assessments of Belizean ethnicity by two Belizean scholars shared in chapter one) [3]; what are the details of this? Other than scholars and researchers such as

myself, who and what does this discourse (F) influence in Cayo (and the rest of Belize)? [4]

383 ii) What of other discourses(F) or subdiscourses (F) affecting or operating in Cayo - either internal or external to Cayo, or even Belize? For example, what of Judd and Wright's' thesis regarding elite influences on ethnicity formation, wherein is emphasized the role of the elite sector of a particular ethnic group influencing or controlling that ethnic group's self-construction (an aspect of the lay #1 subsystem) [Wright studied the Garinagu - see Judd 1992] . Does this notion involve a valid discourse (F) or subdiscourse (F)? Does such exist in Cayo for the case of any of its lay #1 subsystems? What of other possibilities, including discourses (F) of ethnicity from the United States which evidently have influenced

Belize historically (see endnote #1)? iii) What are the specific discourse (F) affiliations and allegiances of particular school texts and text authors in Cayo? The answer to this question is necessary in order to know - in any future study of the role of Cayo school texts as mechanisms of cultural transmission - which ethnicity discourses (F) are being advanced or adhered to by which specific texts or speakers (recall discussion of the second reason for my need

384 to supplement school text data when using them as evidence for arguments regarding the Cayo lay system in the previous chapter) . Along these lines, I suggest the collection and scrutinization of a wide sample of text examples from each particular discourse (F) source - government or/and other (in order to compare these to the school texts, toward correctly pegging the latter).

S.uggsstions tac_Furth.ec_ Research o £ the___ Belizean State Ethnicity System

In further researching the Belize state system of ethnicity, efforts should be devoted to determining answers to the following questions :

i) Historically why did the Belizeaui government switch from de-emphasizing ethnicity to "celebrating" it?

ii) Could there be additional reasons, other than the above mentioned adoption of a celebration policy, why the Belizeaui government installed an ethnicity curriculum in the schools, in the first place? Was it perhaps a response to ethnic

pressure groups?

385 iii) Why has the Belizean government now discontinued the ethnicity curriculum in the schools [recall the reference to Haug (1995) of the Conclusions Part I chapter]? If a consequence of

the 1993 change in ruling party (see Rutheiser 1991), what is this new government's agenda?

iv) Is there any evidence that Belize is like Brazil - masking a homogenization agenda as a

pluralist one?

Suggestions for Further Research of The Cavo Lay Ethnicity

I precede my specific suggestions for further researching the Cayo lay ethnicity system with an advance statement summarizing, in explicit form, what I believe is the main critical research need contained in all of the specific suggestions presented. The critical research need to which I refer is that of amassing much more data to substantiate the worth of my raw data as evidence for my conclusions. Alternately stated, there exists the need to confirm that the cases I use as evidence are other than aüoerrant, and, that the phenomena I use them as evidence for are more pervasive than

386 the limited cases that I am able to reference. Specifically, a greater number of cases need to be amassed as evidence for each of the conclusions I have drawn.

This general mandate having been stated, my specific suggestions for further researching the lay ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize are as follows (again, addressing only the subset of lay ethnicity conclusions which pertain to hue fixation, ethnic shifting and the possibility of an ethnic hierarchy):

1) . Collect additional data to confirm whether a white ideal and hue sensitivity truly exist among Belizean Creoles and Mestizos (and whites?). Heed the methodological lesson gleaned from past research which warns of the possible problem of verbal reticence on these topics, especially as a function of researcher phenotype/"race". Henriques' 1953 research of hue among Jamaican Creoles is an example of such past research. A darJc-hued East Indian Jamaican (page 46) , Henriques argues that white researchers are particularly likely to experience the reticence problem in that, "the acute color consciousness of the West Indian inhibits him from giving information to someone who

represents the values he himself is lacking but

387 trying to attain" (page 45) ; Herskovits contends much the same for the case of hue research among United States blacks (1928:62). My own suggestion is that all attempts at eliciting verbalization on these topics be avoided - regardless of researcher phenotype. Instead, for both of these sensitive topics (white bias and hue fixation), I suggest a highly non-obtrusive, "fly on the wall" version of participant-observation. In addition to the observational data generated, this strategy should yield non-solicited verbal information relatively free of the kind of bias which results when respondents are highly conscious of the presence of the disparate element in their midst. An additional idea is to employ an indirect questioning instrument such as the picture-based instrument used by Harris for his somewhat different research question concerning hue in one community in Brazil (Harris 1970:76). This instrument consisted of a deck of 72 full-face drawings constructed out of combinations of skin tone, hair form, and nose types with all other features held constant (used for the purpose of obtaining emic nomenclature for the range of local "race" categories). Again because of the importance of obscuring the sensitive hue-and-

388 whiteness-fixation focus of the current data collection effort, the instrument constructed for the Cayo research might also need to include bogus questions as to emic preferences regarding additional physical traits.

2. Amass additional data regarding the possibility that Cayo's hue fixation system may: (1) encompass additional ethnic groups, other than the Creole one (e.g.. East Indians and Mestizos, and perhaps whites) , and (2) involve some type of selective mating rule. For both of these possibilities, recall the case of the Mestizo mother's comment regarding her daughter's dating relationship with a boy of the Creole ethnic group hinting at both cross-ethnic hue sensitivity and a hue-based mating rule (in response to my inquiry as to how she felt about her daughter dating a Creole, she stated, "Well, she's not clear, anyway, so it's okay"). Could the selective mating rule be one of hue endogamy (the edsove Creole and Mestizo individuals were phenotypically similar)? [Marger discusses the possibility of a hue endogamy convention for the case of Brazil (1985:232) .] Or might a hue hypergamy rule exist in Cayo (one of the two individuals may have been slightly "lighter" than

389 the other) in which - like the hypergamy rule of

the #1 lay subsystems of Jamaica (Henriques 1953:49-55) amd other New World societies with black populations (including Afro-America, U.S.A. - see Herskovits 1928:62-66), males "marry up" in terms of color?

3. Collect additional data regarding whether hue "matters" in the public arena (i.e., in the Cayo lay #2 subsystem) . One itrç)ortant focus of such

inquiry needs to be the "life chances " of differently hued individuals. I am referring specifically to long-term, critical life outcomes such as occupational and educational attainment which my own observations did not and could not adequately address. Keep in mind, however, the following fact. This approach seeks to determine the existence of hue sensitivity in the public arena through attempting to determine, more narrowly, whether hue discrimination (i.e., gatekeeping) is practiced by the hegemonic agents of the public arena. In doing so, it constitutes yet another "one-sided effectiveness" test [like the procedure I suggested for confirming the validity of Cayo's two ethnicity discourses (F)]. While the presence of hue discrimination would

390 necessarily signal hue sensitivity, the absence of hue discrimination might not mean a complete lack of hue sensitivity.

An important element of the above suggestion pertains to the rsinge of variables that need to be examined. As convincing as Henriques ' and Herskovits' investigations are (both based on personal observation of correlations of hue with such things as wealth, prestige and power), they both posses the weakness, in terms of a proof of hue discrimination. of omitting attention to important variables such as individual aspirations and motivational levels (which may operate as competing, contributing, or intervening influences on life attainments) . For any effective test for hue discrimination, attention to such factors is an absolute must. Because of this, I suggest future research which attempts to control for these types of variables. While this type of control can be accomplished through large sample, random varying of these variables [for example, the study of African-American hue in which a team of sociologists conclude that hue prejudice and discrimination still exist in the United States' subsystems #1 and #2, despite expected changes due

391 to the Civil Rights movement (Keith and Herring (1991)], I suggest a less quantitative research design with alternative controlling procedures. Specifically, I suggest the procedure of

retrospective inquiry as to the (prior) existence of the to-be-controlled-for variables, followed by the "matching" of different-hued respondents as to the same. For the case of research studies on Belize, the closest example I have seen is anthropologist Rutheiser's synchronic, ten-year "tracer study" of Belizean youth (1991) . As part of his investigation of education, culture and neocolonialism in Belize, Rutheiser looks at mid­ life occupational and educational accomplishments, and retrospectively inquires as to the earlier-life factor of school choice as a factor possibly influencing these later-life outcomes.

In making the above suggestion, I am acutely aware of the veracity problem when it comes to self- report data collection procedures. This weakness needs to be at least kept in mind during the analysis.

4. Further research the phenomenon of current Mestizo-source cultural/comportment adoptions among

392 Creoles (including Creole Catholicism, and Creole Spanish language usage) . Do the same for the phenomenon of Creole-like mating and marriage patterns (and any other creole-isms) among Cayo Mestizos. In both cases, the goal - in line with the earlier stated mandate concerning the need to improve upon my original database (because of the small number of cases and the possibility of these being aberrant) - needs to be to leam how pervasive these phenomena are. Also, in order to better determine origins and sources, in the case of the Creole-like traits among Belizean Mestizos (whether post-Belize-arrival borrowings or survivals from the pre-Belizean homelands of the Cayo Mestizos), conduct more extensive historical research on early, to mid-, to late-19th-century mating and marriage patterns within these Cayo Mestizo homelands. Suggestion #5 below involves yet an additional technique for further investigating this issue of current, alleged Mestizo/Creole cross-group borrowings.

5. More than other data collection strategies for further researching the Cayo lay ethnicity system, I suggest the techniques of collecting family history and current census information from Cayo

393 residents. My reasons for suggesting these techniques include both the numerous types of data that can be amassed thusly, and the numerous research questions that can be addressed by the obtained data. The latter include the numerous issues discussed in the discussion sections of this document's conclusions chapters, with stalemate

results [such as the questions mentioned in #4 above, of: the prevalence of Mestizo borrowings among Cayo Creoles, of Creole borrowings among Cayo

Mestizos (versus cultural survivals), and of the length of the duration of these phenomena].

Collect this data from a large number and wide

range of self-defined Creole and Mestizo individuals in Cayo. The obtained data should include not only the conventional genealogical information of generation, gender and mating partner(s), but type of union (legal or common- law) , ethnicity (of course), and comportment traits

such as language and religion.

Again, the veracity problem regarding self-report data must be taken into consideration. For the case of genealogical information, the data- collection experience of the Le Page research team

394 is especially discouraging in this respect. Their genealogical inquiries yielded respondent claims for a greater number of Spanish female ancestors (grandmothers and great grandmothers) "..than any census [of the period] .. allowed for..." (Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985:219). Perhaps future brainstorming can produce modifications to, or checks on, these techniques so as to inçrove chances for valid data.

In total, there are at least five specific research outcomes in regard to which I believe this family census/history data collection exercise might be effective. Most of them pertain to issues on which no resolution was reached in the discussion sections of the conclusions chapters. They are : a) supplementing the procedures suggested in #4 above for confirming whether (and the extent to which) Creoles currently possess (and historically have possessed) Mestizo- and/or Amerindian-source behaviors, and Mestizos, Creole ones. b) as mentioned in #4, addressing the question of the "moment" of adoption or commencement of the Creole Mestizo-like "con^ortment" behaviors and the

395 Mestizo creolizations, as well as detailing the context of each. Examples include the point in time and conditions surrounding a Creole family's adoption of the Catholic religion, and a Mestizo woman's adoption of Creole mating patterns. c) permitting the uncovering of evidence of any pervasive historical tendencies as to one-time proto-Creole or Creole families applying a Mestizo- based genetic shifting rule in order to become present-day Mestizos or mestizo-ized Creoles. Just as Judd's genealogical investigation of Belize City was able to tract how such New-World-African families became near-white Creoles (ostensively through applying the anglo-based shifting rule discussed earlier in this document) (1992:220-232), we hopefully will be able to uncover Creole-to- Mestizo shifts along Cayo's Creole/Mestizo continuum. [5] This validation of a historical Mestizo-based shifting rule strengthens any thesis of the validity of a present-day Mestizo-based shifting rule as an aspect of the current Cayo lay ethnicity system. [Such a genealogical exercise would also, of course, yield evidence of anglo admixture for the case of Cayo, analogous to Judd's Belize City situation, supporting the thesis of the

396 anglo-based shifting rule for Cayo, as well as (again analogous to Judd's Belize City situation) indirectly supporting the thesis of the "white ideal" for the Cayo case - whether for Creoles or Mestizos, or both.] d) bolstering the San Benito theory as to Guatetnalcui genetic admixture for the case of Cayo Creoles, and also helping immensely toward settling the question of how far back in time Cayo Creoles have admixed with Cayo Mestizos. e) Lastly, if designed to include inquiry as to skin hue (perhaps utilizing personal photographs for the cases of antecedent relatives), contributing answers to the questions advanced in #2 above - e.g., of possible hue endogamy or hypergamy on the part of Creole and other Cayo males.

6. If there does exist in Cayo this phenomenon of a Mestizo-based shifting rule as a substitute for the earlier anglo- one, several additional questions need to be answered : Why is it that Belize City Creoles are not exhibiting this same behavior? [Recall that Belize City Creoles tend to be rather

397 hostile to even the "old" Mestizos of Belize]. Is a lack of economic competition or some other causal factor true of Cayo versus Belize City? Also, why would Cayo Mestizos consent to this "marrying (racially) down"? Palacio (1988a) had an explanation for this phenomenon as it occurred with the early-century Belize City Mestizo/(light­

skinned) Creole matings [that such marriages represented, for Mestizos, a worthwhile trade-off - although they might be "losing" somewhat in terms of color, they were "gaining" in terms of English

(versus Spanish) language acquisition]; what is the explanation for the Cayo case?

7. Research further the question of what the local lay rule for classification of Creoles and Mestizos is (especially for mestizo-ized Creoles and creolized Mestizos). For this purpose, collect additional observation data. It might also be worth collecting elicited response data, as well as simulation data - the latter perhaps again using the Harris picture-based instrument explained earlier. However, in employing any picture-based procedure for this purpose, the researcher needs to be alert to the possibility that non-physical factors may be involved in the local definitions

398 and classifications - as was, in fact, true of Harris* Brazil (Harris and Kottak 1963, amd Harris 1970) , and as is reported for Puerto Rico (Rodriguez 1997) and similar societies. The earlier proposed, family census/history investigation could also be designed to shed some light on this question of local conventions for

distinguishing Creoles and Mestizos.

8. Devote empirical attention to the issue mentioned earlier of whether any of my contradicting evidence for the hue - as - important - in - the-public-arena thesis (i.e., my data as to a lack of hue discrimination in my Cayo school and church) are explainable deviations when it comes to any future validated prevalence of public arena hue discrimination. However, this issue is - at base - a theoretical versus empirical one. Thus the main contribution which such empirical research can make is (analogous to what has been pleaded for all my research conclusions) to confirm that these "violations" exist in the school and church, on a broad scale. Subsequently, the researcher needs to devote time to either locating or developing theory as to how and why the realms of the child and/or of Catholicism are valid, explainable exceptions in

399 the face of a hue bias system otherwise permeating the society. One possibility is that these types of public displays of preferential treatment of individuals are basically prestige actions, and that schools and Catholicism are two arenas in which no one cares about impressing others.

9. Collect further data on the presence or absence of an ethnic hierarchy as part of the lay ethnicity system of Cayo. Amass additional observational and interview data for this purpose. Also, seek out

the same kind of attainment data suggested above (for the issue of public arena hue discrimination) in order to decipher the Cayo ethnicity ranking order. Three examples of specific questions are : "Do Catholic, Spamish speaking, and/or latin- sumame Creoles enjoy higher prestige in Cayo society than other Creoles?", "Do genetically admixed Creole/Mestizo individuals, as a group, rank higher than their parent populations)?" and,

"Where do whites and Lebanese rank?"

10. Research the issue of the Spanish (Mestizo) ethnic group is a kind of "unmarked" entity in Cayo

400 a theory suggested by the virtual lack of distinguishing features of the school discourses on this group (recall Findings - Mestizos chapter).

11. Research the possibility that the findings of this study, of school absence of coverage of intergroup relations and of the possible stifling of discussion of intergroup conflict, hold any real significance in terms of Cayo's ethnicity system. My earlier discussion (Chapter 9 on miscellaneous

findings) suggested that at least the latter of these two findings might represent an example of a society's educational system supporting the state in the letter's need to maintain national

stability.

Suggestions for Further Research Dissonance Reduction Responses-to-the-State-System Behaviors of Cayo Residents

The level and type of research needed for the topic of Cayo behaviors in reaction to the state ethnicity system is the same as for the above (lay ethnicity system) issues. The data on which I based these tentative conclusions need to be supplemented in order to confirm how pervasive the non- and reluctant cooperation behaviors I report actually are (kids

401 not knowing their and others' ethnicities; individuals deferring, to Egos, the right to classify themselves, etc.). Further research on these particular topics is especially critical because my samples for these non- and low cooperation behaviors are particularly small. Also, in some cases, all my exan^les derive from a single ethnic group. Thus the possibility looms large that the conclusions drawn about, for example, choosing multiple ethnicities or about delayed learning, may be valid for only specific ethnic groups [6] , in addition to the possibility that the individuals reported as exhibiting these low or noncooperation behaviors are either atypical or unique in some way. I suggest observation and perhaps interview data for these purposes.

Additional Topics for Further Research

The above constitute my suggestions for further researching the tentative conclusions advanced in this document regarding Cayo ethnicity. Before closing, it needs to be stated that another important area for further research is the cluster of alternative interpretations for my data which this document has advanced at points (as alternative conclusions). Examples include the theory that ethnicity is of no importance (in terms of social relations) in Belizean or Cayo society, and the one that the contradictory ethnicity-

402 related characteristics reported in this document for Cayo, Belize are merely or largely a function of a "state of flux" which Belize appears to be experiencing.

Final Statement

In closing this document, I state my firm conviction both that: (1) implementation of my suggestions (in some form) will lead to a more complete understanding of the reality regarding ethnicity in Cayo; and that (2) then and only then can there be fruitful investigation of my original dissertation topic - mechanisms of the cultural transmission, through school texts, of the ethnicity system of Cayo, Belize.

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