About Hopkins Village
The village is separated into two parts; the Northside (Baila) and the Southside (False Sittee). Hopkins is surrounded by the Maya Mountains and the Cockscomb Range inland, and the Caribbean Sea on its shore. The village was created in 1942 to replace the village of Newtown, which was devastated by a hurricane further up the coast.
The Garifuna Culture
Garinagu, the people, whose language and culture is Garifuna, have a rich and interesting culture which in Hopkins is continued and preserved more than any other Garinagu settlement in Belize.
The shipwrecked Africans (see our history page) quickly adopted as their own the Carib Arawak language, customs, traditions, occupations, music and dance, and traditional religion — chugu, amuyadahani, and the highly celebrated Dugu –Aduguruhani– the Feasting of the Ancestors, which is conducted by the Garifuna traditional healer –Buyae or Shaman. At the same time, the Garifuna African ancestry can be traced back to the region of West Africa, to the Yoruba, Ibo, and Ashanti tribes specifically, in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, to mention only a few.
The Garifuna Language
The Garifuna speak an Amerindian language with a small number of loan words from the French, Spanish, and English.
The Garifuna Music
Garifuna music is a rich and creative amalgan of all the cultural traditions to which the Garifuna are heir. Songs, dances, mime, plays, processions, storytelling, and poetry make up the branches of Garifuna performing arts. Everyone is encouraged to participate and small children perform publicly with a mastery rare in cultures where musicianship is considered the special gift of a privileged few.
The Garifuna use drums and rattles in their music. The drums are typically made from hardwood, such as mahogany, and the skins of peccary, deer, or sheep. The rattles, known as sisira, are made from seed filled gourds with hardwood handles. In secular dance music two drummers are the rule, one the primero and the other designated as segunda. Each drummer plays his own part, with the sugunda acting mainly as a steady accompaniment to the more expansive and elaborate cross-rhythms of the primero player. Three large drums are used in sacred music.
Lyrical themes vary widely. Many themes concern travel, expressing a desire to leave, or the lonliness of being far from loved ones. Other songs are written to commemorate an event, comment on someone’s foolish behavior, or poke fun at some situation.
Natural Environment
As a part of the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor which stretches from southern Mexico to Panama, Belize’s biodiversity – both marine and terrestrial – is rich, with abundant flora and fauna. Belize is also a leader where it comes to protecting its biodiversity and natural resources. Recent (July 2010) information[21] from the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations of Belize (APAMO) indicates that some 36% of Belize’s land territory falls under some form of official protected status, giving Belize one of the most extensive systems of terrestrial protected areas in the Americas. Neighboring Costa Rica, by contrast, only has 25.8% of its land territory protected.[22] Some 13% of Belize’s territorial waters – home to the Belize Barrier Reef System – are also protected. The Belize Barrier Reef System both constitutes a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site and the second largest barrier reef in the world, second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
