A Defiant Stand Against British Imperialism on 1 September 1872
1 September 1872 marks a significant historical event: the Battle of Orange Walk, 152 years ago. Comandante Marcos Canul, accompanied by approximately 100 Icaiché warriors, engaged a contingent of the 1st British West India Regiment at the barracks on the banks of the New River.
On that Sunday morning, Magistrate Richard Downer, representing the English colonial authorities and a friend of the major business interests that frequently prosecuted the Maya, found himself in a precarious position: he was subjected to the same treatment he often meted on the accused found “guilty” in his court.
Of note is that local families had evacuated the town prior to the attack. Despite local narratives, no eyewitness record identifies who was responsible for the shot that mortally wounded Marcos Canul during the confrontation.
The initiative to commemorate this event with a wreath laying ceremony in recent times was led by Domingo Perez in or around 2014 and has since been continued by the Northern Maya Association of Belize at the obelisk site, although the actual battlefield extended along the areas Riverside Street or Palmar Road, Muffles Street, encompassing the areas between Church, Bakers, and Gravel Streets.
References for Further Reading
- Belize Archives and Records Service. R111
- Bradley, L. (1973). The Last Fight. Belizean Studies, 1(1), 14-19
- Buhler, R. (1974). Background of the Caste War. Belizean Studies, 2(2), 12-14
- Burdon, J. (1934). Archives of British Honduras, Vol. 3. Sifton, Praed & Co. Ltd.
- Cal, A. E. (1983). Anglo Maya contact in northern Belize: a study of British policy toward the Maya during the Caste
- War of Yucatan, 1847-1872 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/18832
- Ellis, A.B. (1885). The History of the First West India Regiment. Chapman and Hall plus Project Gutenberg EBook
- Emond, C. (1983). The History of Orange Walk, Second Edition. Belizean Studies, 11(14), 37-45.
- Hulse, G. (1974). A History of Orange Walk. Belizean Studies, 2(2), 1-11.
- Reed, N. (1964) The Caste War of Yucatan. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Tzib, D. The Caste War, 1847-1901. https://www.slideserve.com/harrism/the-caste-war-1847-1901-powerpoint-ppt-presentation#google_vignette
Written By Giovani J. Pinelo
NICH-ISCR: Public History Officer