Banner for Indigenous Music Festival

The 12 of October is celebrated as Columbus Day in Belize and among the activities the government is promoting through the National Institute of Culture and History, NICH, is a “World” Indigenous Music festival. The day is also known as Pan American Day and Dia De La Raza and is mainly celebrated in the North and West of the country that has a rich Latino and Mestizo culture. But NICH has decided to throw government support behind a new event – in Belize City. Part of the NICH blurb in its press release:

“The very enthusiastic, Mr. Gregory Vernon, Director of the Institute of Creative Arts, NICH, declared, “IndigeNOWbelize, World Indigenous Music (WIM) Festival is a bold new initiative of the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) intended to achieve two broad objectives in the long term: to shape and embolden Belize’s music identity, and to secure for it a recognized place on the world music scene.

“The sound of Belize is as diverse as the cultural strands that make up its people. IndigeNOWbelize WIM Festival will privilege this sound! The Festival will be an annual event, with a different indigenous sound each year. This year the sound is Amerindian with a special focus on the Maya, in celebration of the end of the 13^th Baktun. Whatever the sound in a given year, Belize music will be center stage.”

Two things of note here. Firstly this “World” music festival is a stretch. The list of stars:

Florencio Mes Harp,   Toledo, Belize
Alma Belicenia Marimba,  Cayo, Belize
Maya Bwai Band,   Toledo, Belize
Ascenthium Band/Pablo Collado   Belize & Cayo
Lucio & the New Generation, Orange Walk,
Ballet Folklorico de Guatemala,Guatemala
Las Pasteles Verdes Band, Peru

Of these, a ballet group from Guatemala and an eighties pop music band from Peru hardly qualify or fit in to the indigenous nomenclature. Los Pasteles Verdes had their heyday 30 years ago and most recently appeared on Ambergris Cay for the Costa Maya public dance. They (or their promoter) must have seen a good market here to make a redux appearance.

Secondly, the venue the festival has suffered a little setback. Public outrage, especially from sports fans that have for years been grumbling about bureaucrats organizing public dances on the football pitch at the MCC Grounds, has come to a head. After a campaign from an emboldened Football Federation of Belize ably assisted by Amandala publisher Evan Hyde who wrote an editorial in his newspaper last week on the issue, led to an announcement that the Indigenous Music Festival was now looking for an alternative venue. In a TV interview FFB President Ruperto Vicente said:

“I must make it clear that we’re not against any cultural fair. But we are against the use of the MCC Grounds for such activities. The reason being is that if you had visited the grounds after the King and Queen Carnival, vehicles were driven on the pitch, and the surface of the pitch was seriously damaged. That endangers our players when they are playing games.”

The festival is planned to be an annual event, with a rotating theme. This year it is Maya Music. The event starts in the evening and runs to 2 in the morning with a public dance. Presumably party goes will not be dancing to the tunes of a Maya harp or ballet music. Which is where the eighties pop group from Peru comes in.

Maya Mural at San Bartolo Archaeological Site

Two new murals found at archaeological sites near the Guatemala border have been described as magnificent pieces of art that speak to the history of the Maya according to experts at the unveiling of these new discoveries.

The two murals paintings, the first of the ancient Mayan culture in Guatemala, were discovered in an archaeological complex in the northern Petén, bordering Mexico and Belize according to an official announcement.

U.S.archaeologist William Saturn said in press conference that one of the murals atSan Bartolo, of which he is its director was found in the regional archaeological project.

“We found some impressive murals that speak to the long and complicated story of the Maya.” “It is a work of art without comparison,” he said.

According to Saturn, the mural discovered at San Bartolo, whose complex covers 2 square kilometers and where they continue investigations, is dated in the year 100 B.C.

The mural shows human and animal sacrifice and your was painted with utmost delicacy.

The archaeologist explained that the archaeological complex of San Bartolo is about 15 meters below the surface of the Earth.

He explained that the mural was discovered in a tunnel where his team has been working for five years in order to preserve the site of the ancient Mayan culture.

Saturn added the other wall was discovered in the complex of Xultún, which has an extension of at least 20 square kilometers.

This mural, also adorned with paintings, he said, was found in a trench by a student, and in which an image of a King with adorned with green feathers in a ceremony ed trying to be transformed into a Mayan God.

On the site there is also a lunar calendar and a wall that was used by the Maya for their mathematical and astronomical.

The archaeologist said that to fully excabate and restore the archaeological complex which was dedicated to the Kings and Mayan ancestors, and which dates from the years 300 to 400 A.D. will take at least 20 years due to its large extension.

According to an article in Science Magazine, “The ruins of San Bartolo, Guatemala, contain a sample of Maya hieroglyphic writing dating to the Late Preclassic period (400 B.C. to 200 A.D.). The writing appears on preserved painted walls and plaster fragments buried within the pyramidal structure known as “Las Pinturas,” which was constructed in discrete phases over several centuries. Samples of carbonized wood that are closely associated with the writing have calibrated radiocarbon dates of 200 to 300 B.C. This early Maya writing implies that a developed Maya writing system was in use centuries earlier than previously thought, approximating a time when we see the earliest scripts elsewhere in Mesoamerica.”

Chantae Guy at Continente Americano Pageant in Ecuador.

Chantae Chanice Guy recently represented our country at the Miss World 2012 pageant where she made history by becoming the first Belizean delegate to place in the top ten in the Top Model preliminary challenge.

Now she sets her sights on Ecuador for a new pageant – Miss Continente Americano 2012. She has been modeling for the past four years and is currently a student at the University of Belize majoring in Mathematics.

A press release issued by Leilah Pandy’s LAPEL Model organization says that “It is our intention for Chantae to represent her country at the Miss Continente Americano 2012 pageant in September in the beautiful country of Ecuador.

“We ask for your contribution and sponsorship to assist us to send Chantae well-prepared with all that is needed for her to travel and compete in Ecuador.

“Chantae will leave on September 11, 2012 and will take part in the pageant during the final two weeks of September. The competition seeks to integrate the cultures of the American nations and to promote cultural tourism in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

“The Leilah Pandy Enterprises Pageantry & ModeLLing Agency (the LPELL Agency) is a company promoting the fusion of culture, fashion, creativity and Belizean talent. The Agency specialises in training delegates for local and international pageants and in coaching models for runway shows and modeling jobs for print and commercials.”

LAPEL can be contacted at 001 832 312 8612

Chantae in Ordoz China with Miss Colombia, Miss Curacao and Miss Barbados

Chantae tours the scenic Escobar Hacienda in Ecuador’s Chongon province.

To enjoy the natural beauty of Ecuador  the candidates to Miss Continente Americano spent the morning at the hacienda of the Escobar family, in Chongón province.

The Queens of America were enjoyed with typical Ecuadorian dishes such as fish with onions, shrimp ceviche  and roast pork. They were later  serenaded by well-known singer Nayyib Salazar Scaff.

The 21 Candidates enjoyed the attractions of the Hacienda and local media used the opportunity to take photographs of the beauty queens in the surrounding lake environment.

The official contestants of Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, Miss Earth winners or finalists in their respective nations vie for the Crown to select the most beautiful in America, with the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador as the venue.

Chantae in one of her final appearances just before the pageant in Ecuador.

This event was broadcast live 29 September by international media networks: Antenna Latina Dominican Republic; Telecorporación Salvadoreña El Salvador; Teleprogreso Honduras; Corporacion Medcom Panama; Bolivia Unitel; Channel 5 Great Belize Television; in time delay Channel 22 in Miami and Canal Del Orgullo Nicaraguense.

Among the invited personalities on the panel of judges was CNN journalist Fernando del Rincon who heads the central news in Spanish division and is also  an interviewer for political and international issues.

Brasil’s Camila Serakides Miss Continente Americano 2012

Chantae did a good showing at the Continente Americano Pageant but did not win. The coveted crown as the most beautiful woman on the American Continent went to Brazil’s Camila Serakides. Felicidades República Federativa do Brasil! Adelante Belice!

Mexico’s Natalia Villanueva is the winner of the International Costa Maya Festival Beauty Pageant held in San Pedro Ambergris Caye on 2 August 2012.  Natalia along with seven more Central American beauties from El Mundo Maya competed in the contest.  Natalia, was Señorita Juventud and participated in Nuestra Belleza Yucatán. The tall and leggy beauty answered all the questions with grace and easily outclassed the other competitors. Some commentators, including a former Costa Maya queen have observed that most of this year’s competitors were height challenged – with the exception of Miss Mexico. The beauty pageant is part of the Costa Maya cultural fair on Ambergris Caye that culminates over the weekend with more musical and cultural performances.

This year’s festival includes the participation of Caribbean recording artist Kevin Lyttle and the Latino music group Los Pasteles Verdes from Peru well known in Latin America for their world hit songs such as “Reloj” and “Recuerdos De Una Noche”.

Miss Mexico Natalia Villanueva crowned Miss International Costa Maya 2012. Image Credit: San Pedro Sun.

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Miss Belize World sent out this picture along with a message thanking her supporters in Belize and elsewhere for the all the encouragement and well wishes she received during her stay in China.

City of Belmopan model Miss Chantae Guy represented her country at the Miss World Pageant in Ordos, China. Miss World 2012 is the 62nd edition of the Miss World pageant and is being held on 18 August 2012 at the Dongsheng Fitness Center Stadium, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China.

One hundred and twenty contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, breaking the previous record of 115 contestants in 2010.

The contestants are touring Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sanya in the lead up the to the big event.

Western social media such as Face Book are not accessible from within China so updates to Belize about its contestant are being relayed by relatives and friends via email and posted as they become available.

Chantae is 20 years old and stands at 1.75 m (5ft 9in). She hails from Belmopan, Cayo and was the first runner-up at the Miss World Belize 2011 Pageant.

A country’s most beautiful natural treasure is the smile of its people. Beautiful Chantae. Beautiful Belize.

August 18 Update: The Miss World Pageant was held today in Ordos China. The crown went to Miss China Wu Wenxia. When asked why she should be crowned with the title, the 23 year old music student said “When I was young I felt very lucky because so many people helped me, and I hope in the future I can help more children to feel lucky.”

Belize’s Chantae Guy did not place in the finals of the pageant. But she says it was a wonderful experience she would not have missed for the world. In a message sent from China, Chantae said, “Thanks to God who gave me the strength,wisdom and ability to be apart of this event. My family, friends, and my fellow Belizeans for your support, I did my best! I am happy I was able to bring light to our country and I hope that our beautiful country will now start supporting pageantry and see the potential it has in bringing our country much need world recognition.

Here are some additional photos of Chantae in China.

Chantae in front of a restaurant. Barely visible is the Belize Flag on her hat band.

Miss Belize World with Miss Barbados World.

Miss Belize World Chantae left, with Miss Nigeria World.

Chantae at photo shoot in the deserts of China.

Miss World Belize Chantae Guy placed in the final ten for the Top Model Competition in China. Following her showing in the Top Ten, Chantae did a photo shoot with Vogue Magazine which will be run in the next issue. The photo shoot was for the top Chinese 1346 Cashmere Line.

Miss Belize World 2012 Chantae Guy competes in the Miss World Pageant in China.

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Archaeologist Edwin Roman with giant mask at at El Zotz Maya Temple discovered in The Peten, Guatemala. Image Credit Prensa Libre.

Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture along with Guatemalan and U.S. archaeologists have announced the discovery of a new archaeological site in the Valley of Buena Vista, Petén, Guatemala right across our western border.

A report in today’s issue of Prensa Libre newspaper says that the temple was discovered by  archaeologists Stephen Houston (USA), Thomas Garrison (USA) and Edwin Roman (GUA) at the archaeological site El Zotz (BAT), 23 km from the center of Tikal, and belongs to the substructure of the Devil’s Pyramid.

It is called the Temple of the Nocturnal Sun and according to Roman, “was created with the intention to see and be seen”. It dates back to the early Classic Maya Period, approximately  A.D. 350-400.

The structure stands out because “it announces its presence when the Sun rises in the East and hides on the horizon, as representing a dance with the Sun”. At the rear of the temple is the tomb of the ruler and founder of the first dynasty: Pa’Chan, being a daily reminder of an eternal revival Temple.

The iconography of the temple suggests a “glorification in the Sun” and at the top of the entrance to the temple is a frieze representing three different phases of the Sun.

Monumental figureheads of stucco 1.50 meters high were found on the facades of the temple. The masks are in mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo) – three-dimensional which is not often seen in the Maya world. Experts say that “the temple has a total of 14 giant figurehead masks at the height of the frieze, but only eight have been documented” and say “it is necessary to continue exploring and investigating because only know 75 percent of the structure is currently known”.

The masks depict the face of the Maya Sun God changing as he traverses the sky. One mask resembles a shark, possibly a reference to the sun arising from the Caribbean sea in the east. The noon day sun is depicted as an ancient being with crossed eyes that drinks blood, while the evening suns resemble jaguars that awake from their daily slumbers to hunt the nocturnal jungle. From paint traces found, archaeologists say the masks were painted crimson, making for a breath-taking spectacle in the early morning and at dusk.

Unlike the highly centralized Aztec and Inca civilizations, the Maya empire that spanned much of what is now southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and northern Honduras, was a liberal federation of city-states.

Karen Jasmine Middleton Miss Belize Costa Maya delegate 2012.

Karen Middleton hailing from the northern district of Corozal has been selected as Miss Belize Costa Maya 2012. The 19 year old beauty will compete against delegates from around the Mundo Maya countries, including Panama, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica, at the Miss Reina de la Costa Maya Pageant in August. The announcement was made this week by the Costa Maya organizing committee on Ambergris Caye.

Karen Jasmine Middleton is a student and aspiring model. She is 5’9″ and her measurements are 34 – 25 – 34.

Maya carving at staircase in La Corona, Guatemala. Image Credit: Prensa Libre

GUATEMALA city – The new text was revealed this week by U.S. and Guatemalan archaeologists who explained that they discovered the inscribed stone hieroglyph last April during research carried out by students of the universities of Del Valle (Guatemala) and Tulane and Texas (United States).

U.S. archaeologist, David Stuart, one of the experts who announced the discovery, explained that the staircase where the inscription was discovered contains the longest Mayan text so far unearthed in Guatemala.

It’s the second reference that is found in the story about the change of the Maya calendar. The other is on a site called the Tortuguero in Tabasco (Mexico), said the Mayanist.

The stone carving was found in a set of panels that are part of a staircase discovered in the La Corona project, an archaeological site found in 1999 and located in Petén, on the border with Mexico and Belize in northern Guatemala, an area that served as the seat of the Maya civilization along with Honduras and El Salvador.

A report in this week’s newspaper Prensa Libre quotes Stuart, an epigrapher at the University of Texas, as saying that the stone  makes reference to the 13th Baktun, Maya Calendar account long, and was carved to commemorate the visit of the King of the Maya city of Calakmul.

References To Baktún And The Maya Calendar

The Mayan calendar is based on a series of twenty years; each called a katún and a series of 20 katuns, called baktún, which equals about 394 years.

King Yuknoon Yichaak Kahk, who was the most powerful Maya ruler at the time, visited La Corona on November 29 of 696 A.D. after Christ, i.e. 13 centuries ago.

The text written in the stone refers to the culmination of the 13 Baktun on December 21, 2012.

In the hieroglyphs carved stones of the ancient Mayas did no prophecy but wrote events of their own history in the 7th century, the U.S. expert said.

He said that the stones reveal stories of rulers and nobles of La Corona with names in order, and also of queens – women that were related to the dynasty, but which were of Calakmur.

Cited, as an example, the figure of a nobleman who is speaking in Conference with the King of Calakmur, which was a Maya capital, and another who is sitting on a Maya throne  whose stone refers to a war and that has feathers of quetzals (national bird and symbol of Guatemala ). According to Stuart, the La Corona was much smaller than the Calakmur Center, but had a close relationship with the capital.

Reaction To Disovery

Guatemalan archaeologist Tomas Barrientos explains that the staircase was formed by many panels, but they have only found 22 that were discarded by looters, 12 of which are carved with hieroglyphs.

“Why we consider that this is one of the longest Mayan texts of history,” because the panels were part of the front steps of the building which is estimated, had been a residence, according to Barrientos.

U.S. archaeologist Marcelo Canute, who coordinates the research project in La Corona, since 2005 says that the site was a the target of looters and the hieroglyphic monuments were “the most desired and coveted”.

Canute says that La Corona met initially known as “Q”, through reference to the looted monuments that are in museums of United States, Australia, and Europe.

In his opinion, the site had so much to choose from that the looters discarded the “more unattractive” and went with the  ”more beautiful”.

“The looting demonstrates that in at La Corona there was something important,” according to Canute, director of the Middle Americna Research Institute at Tulane University.

“We have found many hieroglyphic monuments and we are trying to make a map of the site to see how it looked in the past, what its population was like and the use of animals so as to better understand the social, political and economic life of the city”, he said.

Guatemala, along with southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador  is preparing to commemorate in several archaeological sites of the ancient maya civilization, the completion of the 13 Baktun. The event is being marketed as the biggest tourism event of the year. Once pitched as an end of the world event, tourism marketers such as the Belize Tourism Board are now selling it a the Dawn Of A New Era.

Belizeans watching Independence Day celebrations parade in Belize City.

Here are the statistics of Belize’s population broken down by district and sex calculated as at 2010 courtesy of the Statistical Institute of Belize. From left to right the figures show Total, followed by Male and Female population totals.

Population

COUNTRY TOTAL 333,200 MALE 166,500 FEMALE 166,700

Urban 172,800 84,400 88,400
Rural 160,400 82,100 78,300

Corozal 37,300 18,600 18,700
Corozal Town 9,400 4,500 4,900
Corozal Rural 27,900 14,100 13,800

Orange Walk 49,500 25,200 24,300
Orange Walk Town 16,700 8,300 8,400
Orange Walk Rural 32,800 16,900 16,000

Belize 100,100 49,300 50,800
Belize Urban 79,600 38,900 40,700
Belize City 66,700 32,200 34,500

San Pedro 12,900 6,700 6,200

Belize Rural 20,500 10,400 10,100

Cayo 80,800 40,200 40,600
Cayo Urban 49,200 24,000 25,100
San Ignacio/Sta Elena 19,900 9,700 10,200

Benque Viejo 9,300 4,500 4,700
Belmopan 20,000 9,800 10,100
Cayo Rural 31,600 16,200 15,400
Stann Creek 34,500 17,700 16,800

Dangriga Town 12,500 6,000 6,500
Stann Creek Rural 22,100 11,700 10,400

Toledo 31,000 15,400 15,600
Punta Gorda Town 5,500 2,600 2,900
Toledo Rural 25,500 12,800 12,700

Belize fashion designer Rebecca Stirm (right) with Trinidad’s Shanon Kwong at Mission Catwalk competition in Jamaica. Image courtesy JAE Magazine.

Fashion designer Rebecca Stirm was eliminated from the Mission Catwalk Jamaican reality TV show Competition in episode 11 on 5 June 2012. The designer had won four challenges, and was in the lead in the show. Winning this episode was Ryan Chan of Trinidad.

After a taste of victory with his first win last week, Ryan Chan of Trinidad has won yet another challenge on Caribbean fashion reality series Mission Catwalk; a win which qualifies him for some enviable prizes including the chance to show at London Fashion week. His scores also put him in the top three ranking which means he will be showing at Caribbean Fashion Week this Friday.

Mission Catwalk is a fashion reality series created by Jamaican fashion designer Keneea Linton-George aimed at discovering and developing new talent. The Kingston-based show tests the creativity and skill of each contestant through various challenges The task for the series’ final challenge was to create a mini collection for SOHO boutique dubbed “London 2012” for a fashionista travelling to London for the Olympics.

Rebecca, 18, used Latino and Mayan culture as inspiration for her design worn by model Abenah Gonzalez. In an interview with Caribbean Magazine she spoke of her design inspirations.

“We are nestled in between two Hispanic-speaking countries so unlike the rest of the English–speaking Caribbean we have a lot of Hispanic influence. So I chose the cut of my dress from kind of that quince años (Sweet 15 celebration in Latino culture) bigger skirt (full skirt) small bodice and then chose to do the embroidery based on more of the Maya culture. I really wanted my piece to have a lot of oomph out on the runway so I wanted a lot of material, so I actually looked in the curtain section for material. I was able to get a lot of this very, very light; airy fabric for a little bit of money since we were on a tight budget. I added embroidery to give it some detail and intricacy.”