Garifuna Women and the Politics of Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of the Belizean Women's Movement

3rd Place in 3-minute Thesis Competition, Autumn 2020In this study, I examine the efforts of women in Belize's Garifuna indigenous group to negotiate and transform cultural politics in relation to race, class, and gender as organizers and participants in the Belizean women's movement from the late 1970s through the 1990s and today. To this general aim, I have developed two subprojects. The first subproject involves chronicling the life of Ms. Cynthia Ellis, a Garifuna woman and one of the leaders in the Belizean women's movement, through a series of interviews to explore her journey as an academic, a United Nations representative, and a grassroots organizer working to negotiate the causes and projects of everyday life in Belize and the funding of liberal feminist organizations in the United States and Canada within the political context of Belize's post-independence period. For the second subproject, I use both interviews and observational fieldwork to work with the Sandy Beach Women's Cooperative, a group of women who started a beachside restaurant and guesthouse in the 1980s during Belize's women's movement, in their efforts to assert their right to their land and preserve their cultural heritage through the creation of a local museum. The museum will include content about the history of the women's cooperative, Garifuna cultural history and artifacts, as well as an exhibit on the life and work of famous Garifuna musician Andy Palacio, who recorded his album Wátina at Sandy Beach. The creation of the museum requires the women to negotiate an international network of funding and support and make decisions about museum content to both portray their desired message and survive as a successful tourist attraction. The lives and legacies of the women in both of these subprojects shed light on the ways Garifuna women in Belize negotiate and transform cultural politics in relation to race, gender, both in the historical context of Belize's women's movement and in the present day where they continue to face similar struggles.Office of International Affairs International Research GrantNo embargoAcademic Major: GeographyAcademic Major: International Studie