Dangriga: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Ancient Mayan sites in the south of Belize were historically less important than in the north. However, south of Dangriga, Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit are evidence of a society flourishing around AD 700-800. Later, the Maya of southern Belize resisted Spanish conquest, but were decimated by European diseases.

English buccaneers and North American Puritans settled along the coasts in the 17th century, and the earliest Creole villages were established near river mouths in the 18th century.

On 12 April, 1797, Garinagu (plural of Garifuna) arrived in Roatán, Honduras. In 1802, they landed on the shores of Belize. Descendents of Amerindian and African people, their language is a dialect of the native Brazilian language, Arawakan.

Those Maya who survived the British conquest were driven out of the country to the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the late 19th century, Maya started moving back to Belize's far south where there are now more than 30 Mayan villages.

Around 1800, runaway slaves from Belize City founded Gales Point Manatee - a village strung along a narrow peninsula jutting 3.2km (2mi) into the Southern Lagoon, one of a series of interconnected lakes and waterways between Belize City and Dangriga.

On November 19, 1832, the biggest single Garifuna landing occurred at Dangriga when 200 Garinagu arrived from Honduras in dugout canoes.

Modern History

During the 20th century, small-scale agriculture, fishing and some logging became mainstays of the region's economy.

Thomas Vincent Ramos, an early promoter of Garifuna culture who inaugurated Garifuna Settlement Day, died in 1955. A monument stands at the meeting of Commerce and Front Sts in his honor.

Dangriga was called Stann Creek Town until the 1980s. It's new name comes from the Garifuna language, meaning 'sweet' or 'still water'.

The 80s also saw the beginning of punta rock - a fusion of electric instruments and acoustic Garifuna instruments.

Recent History

Today, the growing and processing of citrus fruit in Stann Creek Valley, located west of Dangriga, is a major agro-industry.

In 2004, the Gulisi Garifuna Museum opened. Dedicated to one of the original Garifuna settlers in Belize and a daughter of Joseph Chatoyer, a Garifuna leader who died fighting the British on St Vincent, it offers a unique look at the colorful Garifuna people.

Until recently, Dangriga had the second largest population in the country behind Belize City. Orange Walk Town, however, has knocked it back into third place.

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