The

Mestizo

Done by: Byron lima , Jason huang , yshani Lawrence,

Sephora sanchez , Marvin Padilla

DATE: OCTOBER 15, 2018

CLASS: 2 BOWMAN

SUBMMITED: TANIA VICENTE

 TABLE OF CONTENT

The mestizo history………………1

The mestizo food……………………2
The mestizo dance…………………3
 THE MESTIZO HISTORY

The Mestizo are a people of mixed Spanish and Mayan descent

representing roughly 48% of the Belizean population. They
originally arrived in Belize in 1847 to escape La Guerra de Castas
(the Caste War), when over 70,000 Maya revolted against the
20,000 Spanish throughout Yucatan, annihilating over one-third of
the population. The survivors, mostly Mestizo, fled over the border
into British territory. Additionally, many refugees of the Caste War
eventually reached western Belize by way of Peten, Guatemala,
establishing communities in Benque Viejo del Carmen, San
Ignacio, and San Jose Succotz.

The Mestizo are found everywhere in Belize but most make their
homes in the northern districts of Corozal and Orange Walk.
Having merged with the Maya in the north, this has resulted in the
Yucatec Maya giving way to the Mestizo, allowing them to lose
their language and several other cultural forms.

Since the 1980s, many thousands of refugee Mestizo from

Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have established
communities near the capital city of Belmopan; while those living
in the Stann Creek District have found employment in the citrus
and banana industries. Descendants of the earlier settlers also
inhabit the more northerly islands on Caye Caulker and Ambergris
Caye..
 THE MESTIZO FOOD

The first sugar farmers in the country were

Mestizo, from when they first settled in the
Corozal District along with their cane cuttings.
Due to their background, their food is a mixture
of Spanish, Mexican and Maya. Foods like
relleno, escabeche, chirmole, empanadas and
tamales came from the Mexican; while corn
tortillas were handed down by the Maya.
 THE MESTIZO DANCE

On a platter, a baked hog head is placed with special

bread. Stuck on the head are 12 sticks with 12 different
colored ribbons or fabrics representing the different
months of the year. The offering is made to ask for an
abundance of grain throughout the course of the year. The
second dance was the Bottle Dance (El Baile del la
Botella) which features a male dancing with a bottle on top
of his head surrounded by young females. It is said that
the dance originated when a man referred to as “el
borachito” (the drunk) asked a young Mestizo woman to
dance with him. The girl refused to dance with the man
because he appeared drunk. To prove his point, the man
danced with a bottle on top of his head balancing it without
the bottle falling. The other two dances highlight the charm
and beauty of a woman as they seduce and overpower the
man. In the “El Torito” dance, the female overpowers the
cowboy with her irresistible beauty, while in the “El
Degoyote” the female flirts with the male, eventually
controlling the mind and body of the male.