When it comes to Belizean battles - most of us only know about the Battle of StGeorge's Caye - and the veracity of that one is in serious doubt. But you probably haven't heard about the Battle of Orange Walk - and that's because it doesn't fit neatly into the historical narrative that the British constructed for the colony of Belize. But, at 71, historian Dr Angel Cal says that this was a real battle and one that illuminates many important truths about defining Belize's boundaries. Jules Vasquez was at the book launch today:

You may not know about the battle of Orange Walk - but it happened in 1872, and pitted the Icaiche Maya against a detachment of soldiers from the English First West India Regiment.

Historian Dr Angel Cal has compiled the history based on manuscripts from the Archives and Records service:

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"This is an attempt to make available to the public, to our students, to our teachers what the archives has on the battle of Orange Walk. Ok? `So there is a faithful reproduction. The documents were in handwriting. So that had to be paleographed. Okay. And not only paleographed, but that needed to be analyzed. So there is some analysis in there."

From those records and analysis he has made this booklet - which brings to life a long obscured chapter in history.

He explained what led to the battle:

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"The first major, and to me, the most important reason is that the British colonial government and British land companies were ignoring and treating the Maya with disrespect. They did not want to pay the royalties for the mahogany that they were getting out of the forests. The Maya said you have to pay. That's one. The other one had to do with the boundaries. The boundaries. Related to the first one is that when that line was being opened, the western line, after the 1859 treaty with Guatemala, they started to open that line. And the British used that as an opportunity to push that line as further to the west as possible, even if - and it did- encroach on Maya territory."

"The third one is personal. That same magistrate, he whipped one of the Icaiche soldiers the previous July, whipped him, and then boasted about it."

To find out what happened in the battle, you'll have to read the book- but the lesson here is larger:

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"So when the British came. We know who stood up to the British colonialism in Belize. We know. And that is part of the story. That's part of what we are saying."

"So the resistance against British colonialism in Belize was interpreted, misinterpreted, distorted."

"The Battle of Orange Walk was a sacrifice that both the Maya and the San Pedro Icaiche Maya of Belize, of western Belize, they did that on our behalf, on Belize's behalf."

And more than just stand up to the British…..

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"Most definitely in the 1500s and 1600s, part of the 1700s, It was the Belize Maya who "brakes" the Spaniards."

"It was the Belize Maya were blocked Spanish colonialism from taking over our country. But yet when we talk about the patriots of Belize, very seldom is this mentioned. Almost three centuries of resistance and all the pain and the suffering and the dying that that signified."

That this is not a central part of Belize's origin story Cal says is deliberate erasure of the indigenous input into nation building:

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"Has it been undersaid? Yes. Yes, definitely yes. Was it deliberate? Yes, it was deliberate."

Reporter:
"So have the people in this book been whitewashed truth from Belize history, post colonial history in a very deliberate attempt at erasure? I would say an unqualified yes. But it was part of British colonial policy. That narrative, unfortunately, sir, unfortunately, our government, both PUP and UDP, have swallowed that narrative."

Dr. Angel Cal, Historian
"And perpetrated it."

"And have taken and have tried legally to stop the southern Maya from cleaning their legitimate historical rights. "

The book is available online for free at the 501 Academy and for a hard copy you can check at the Image Factory.