Belize

1200 BC – Maya civilisation may have begun in Belize. The oldest part of the archaeological site of Cuello is dated to 1200 BC.

250-500 AD – Mayan civilisation reaches its peak, covering a third of Mesoamerica; including Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. The Maya subjugated and absorbed neighbouring indigenous tribes as they expanded and promoted urbanisation. The Maya had advanced mathematics, architecture, writing and calendars which provide valuable insights into the pre-colonial history of Belize.

1000 AD – The Mesoamerican metal age begins – with copper, silver and gold being worked, often in religious contexts.

1000-1500 – The Maya city of Lamanai in Northern Belize was not abandoned. The post-classical Maya period saw migrations from the Southern regions of the former Maya territory into the Northern regions, with settlements maintained along the Caribbean coastline of Belize.

1638 – Belize was not properly settled by the Spanish. Free British buccaneers were able to settle in Belize to cut wood. They were known as the Baymen.

1763 – The British and Spanish signed a treaty allowing the Baymen to cut wood as long as they didn’t build fortifications or major settlements. Spain still claimed ownership of the region.

1800
– The British imported African slaves from their nearby colonies in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica. By the early 19th century, there were over 2000 black slaves in Belize compared to over 300,000 in Jamaica. Slaves in Belize were not as ill-treated as those in the Caribbean, working as loggers rather than on plantations, but many still sought to escape to Spanish colonies. Timber, particular mahogany, remains a major export in Belize even today. There was also a growing elite of free Belizean Creole people (Kriols) of mixed European and African descent in the 19th century.

 – The Indigenous Peoples were sometimes displaced by the arrival of slaves and Kriols. Some of the Mopan Maya were pushed out of Belize into Guatemala by colonial activities, but returned to Toledo in South Belize later in the 19th century to escape enslavement by the Spanish.

1802
– Escaped slaves from the lesser Antilles, called the Garifuna, arrived in Belize. They were of mixed indigenous Carib and African descent. There were about 150 Garifunas in Belize in 1802, but today they constitute over 6% of the country’s population and are the fourth largest ethnic group.

The region was named British Honduras and became a crown colony.

On 1st of June, British Honduras was renamed Belize. On 21st September it was granted independence, functioning as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. The British army left troops to assist the Belize defence force in protecting the country from Guatemala, with which ongoing territorial disputes have persisted since independence.

Mid ’90s – AB Energy Corporation granted concessions to explore in region covering 749,222 acres in lowland portion of Toledo.

1996 – Toledo Maya Cultural Council on behalf of the Maya villages of Toledo files a petition before the Inter American Commission of Human Rights for redress of violations on their lands.

1996 – Maya people under the leadership of Julian Cho embark on developing the Maya Atlas of Belize to compile evidence through written and oral records and maps of customary use of ancestral lands.

Photo courtesy of Tony Rath

Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA) is founded to promote the long-term well-being of the Maya people by defending their collective rights to their territories.

On 12th October the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), having received no response from the Government of Belize, makes public its report transmitted to them one year earlier. In the report, the IACHR recognise Maya peoples’ collective rights to land traditionally used and occupied in the southern district of Toledo.

 After a general election, the state of Belize adopted a narrow interpretation of the the Maya land rights case of 2007 and limited recognition to just Santa Cruz and Conejo.

 The MLA/TAA return to court to file a class action suit against the Government for failing to protect the land rights of all the Maya villages of Toledo.

 – A claim was brought by Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) and four communities to stop the energy company US Capital from operating in the protected area of Sarstoon-Temash National Park which encompasses land belonging to the Maya communities of Crique Sarco, Midway, Sunday Wood, Conejo, and the Garifuna community of Barranco.

 – The Court of Appeals recognise Maya Land rights and this decision is further appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The CCJ reaffirmed that the 39 Q’eqchi’ and Mopan Maya indigenous communities of Southern Belize have rights to the lands in Toledo which they have traditionally used and occupied. The ruling states that traditional Maya land-use practices constitute property rights equal in legitimacy to Western forms of property ownership.

The Maya peoples’ representative organisations, the MLA/TAA, signed an agreement with the TMLRC which determines a road map for the implementation of the CCJ Consent order.

Photo courtesy of Tony Rath