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Abstract
This interpretive essay examines the way in which the name Belize was artfully reconstructed to claim derivation from a Scottish buccaneer named Wallace that was eventually transmuted into Belize. As far as could be ascertained, the theory came into existence sometime around the second decade of the nineteenth century from a relatively obscure Yucatectan writer who sought to claim Spanish proprietorship of the British settlement of "Belize". His revanchism did not succeed, but the myth stuck and is believed by many even today
"Historiography is often the most potent expression of history."
- P.E. Hair
Introduction
The act of naming is an aspect of power and empowerment. That is, it is usually the one or the group in a position of control that is more likely to do the naming that will become recognized. And, all too often, the tendency is for this naming to reflect favourably on the initiator, as it is typically unfavourable, distorted or demeaning to the subordinate. This is not to say that the subordinate is not also engaged in naming. But this is usually done behind the scenes, in sequestered areas away from the domain of the powerful, and, in James Scott's words, not likely to stick as the "public transcript".1 Or, to shift position slightly, not likely to become the "keyword".2
Frantz Fanon obviously understood the nature of naming and history when he enjoined the colonized or "Third World" people to write their own history. To him, this will "bring into existence the history of the nation - the history of decolonization".3 In the process, third world historians should carefully re-evaluate the textual content of the histories of their countries written by the colonial masters. The text is always, in Fanon's words, "not the history of the country which he [the settler] plunders but the history of his own nation in regard to all that she skims off, all that she violates and starves".4
By the same token, the evaluation process should not rest with the explication de texte. In fact, it should begin with a careful scrutiny of the name of the country. Many colonized countries were given their names - or rather, were re-named - by the colonizers. In early modern history, it all...