The Mopan people are an indigenous, sub-ethnic group of the

Maya peoples The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...

. They are native to regions of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

History

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the British forced the Mopan out of Belize and into Guatemala. There, they endured forced labour and high taxation. They migrated from Petén, Guatemala to avoid this forced labor and taxation. The Mopan originally settled near modern Pueblo Viaja, but Guatemalan officials claimed that they were still within bounds of Guatemala, so they moved further east around 1889 and founded San Antonio in Belize. In the 2010 Census, 10,557 Belizeans reported their ethnicity as Mopan Maya. This constituted approximately 3% of the population.

Culture

The Mopan Maya people practice a spirituality that relates to the Maya Catholic Faith. The prominent factor that has caused the decline of these traditional practices is the influence of Protestant evangelical missionaries. There is an absence of written traditions of the Mopan Maya people, so the preservation of their culture relies on oral transmission.

Language

The language of the Mopan people is Mopan language. It is a member of the

Yucatec Maya language Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic com ...

branch of the

Mayan languages The Mayan languagesIn linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and as ...

. Several thousand Mopan people, located in Belize and Guatemala, speak the Mopan language.

Religion

The

Cacao tree ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest p ...

has played a significant role in the religious life of the Mopan Maya people. The Cacao tree is known as ceremonial tree in the Mopan Community. The tree is locally known as ''cucu''. Both the tree itself and its beans that it produces are said to contain spirits. The traditional religion of the Mopan people is Maya-Catholic. In this religion, the Mopan Maya people consume Cacao beverages at religious celebrations. However, since the 1970s, numerous Mopan villagers have left the Maya Catholic faith and joined Protestant groups. As a result, they reject beliefs related to spiritual aspects of the natural world.

Agriculture

The economy of the Mopan Community is based on agriculture. The Mopan people have a long history of being small holder, independent farmers. The members of the Mopan community have extensive knowledge in the local flora and fauna. The Mopan people cultivate maize, beans, and plant rice. These crops serve as cash crops. The cacao tree, and the cultivation of Cacao, has been financially beneficial for the Mopan people. They have been able to establish relationships with companies interested in the purchasing of Cacao, including the Hummingbird Highway Hershey Company and Green and Blacks.

References

External links

"Maya Homeland"
University of California Berkeley Geography Department and the Toledo Maya of Southern Belize. {{authority control Indigenous peoples in Belize Toledo District Indigenous peoples in Guatemala Petén Department Maya peoples Mesoamerican cultures