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Craft Techniques of Belize

The Depository documents 9 techniques in Belize; by risk level: 2 endangered, 7 vulnerable. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.

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Basketry & Woven Fiber

  • Belizean Creole Titai (Tie-Tie) Vine WeavingBasketry & Woven Fiber · Vulnerable

    The weaving of slender, thorny titai vine — harvested from swampy and water-adjacent forest areas in rural communities of Cayo and Corozal districts — into baskets, hampers, fruit bowls, lampshades, bassinettes, coasters, and furniture.

  • Jippi Jappa Maya Coil Basket WeavingBasketry & Woven Fiber · Vulnerable

    A coiled basket-weaving technique of the Maya of Toledo District, southern Belize, using unspun fiber from the jippi jappa palm (Sabal mexicana), in which roughly eight plants' worth of prepared fiber is boiled to prevent fungal…

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Food, Drink & Botanical

  • Garifuna Ereba (Cassava Bread) ProcessingFood, Drink & Botanical · Endangered

    A multi-stage bitter-cassava processing technique in which the tuber's toxic cyanogenic compounds are physically pressed out through a seven-foot woven basketry tube before the resulting flour is griddle-baked into a bread that keeps for a…

  • Q'eqchi' Maya Traditional Cacao Processing & Stone-Ground Chocolate MakingFood, Drink & Botanical · Vulnerable

    A complete tree-to-bar chocolate-making tradition of Q'eqchi' and Mopan Maya communities in southern Belize's Toledo district — the self-described "Chocolate Capital of Belize" — in which cacao, a tree considered sacred and planted only…

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Boatbuilding & Maritime

  • Belizean Creole & Garifuna Dory (Dugout Canoe) BuildingBoatbuilding & Maritime · Endangered

    The hand-carving, from a single massive hardwood trunk, of the dory — a dugout boat whose name derives from the West African word duri and which is technically distinguished from the plain hollowed-log canoes of earlier Indigenous…

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Woodwork & Carving

  • Belizean Mennonite Furniture MakingWoodwork & Carving · Vulnerable

    Hand- and workshop-built solid wooden furniture — dressers, cupboards, beds, tables, doors, shutters, and cribs — produced by Old Colony and Old Order Mennonite communities in Belize, most prominently the more traditional colonies of…

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Mask, Puppet & Costume

  • Dangriga Garifuna Wanaragua (Jankunu) Mask MakingMask, Puppet & Costume · Vulnerable

    The construction of the pink-painted wire-mesh masks and elaborate crepe-paper crowns worn by Wanaragua (Jankunu) dancers during Garifuna Christmas and New Year celebrations, centered on Dangriga, Belize's Garifuna cultural capital.

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Musical Instruments

  • Garifuna Drum MakingMusical Instruments · Vulnerable

    The hand-carving of solid-wood Garifuna drums — hollowed without joins or glue from single hardwood logs, traditionally started by burning coals directly into the trunk, then chiseled, planed, and fitted with a deer-, peccary-, or…

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Stone & Gemstone Carving

  • San Antonio Maya Slate CarvingStone & Gemstone Carving · Vulnerable

    The carving of soft black slate into relief images of Maya deities, rulers, and ceremonial scenes, revived from a lost ancient practice by five sisters — the Garcia Sisters — of the Yucatec Maya village of San Antonio, Cayo District, after…

All stone & gemstone carving techniques worldwide →