Culture of Honduras

thumb|252x252px|Traditional dance of Honduras.

The wealth of cultural expression in Honduras owes its origins primarily to being a part of Latin America but also to the multi-ethnic nature of the country. The population comprises 90% Mestizo, 7% Indigenous, 2% African descent, and 1% White. This influences all facets of the culture: customs, practices, ways of dressing, religion, rituals, codes of behavior and belief systems. thumb|250px|[[Holy Week in Honduras.]]

Popular culture

thumb|Group of dancers with typical costumes from Honduras.|252x252px

Popular culture in Honduras, as in most countries, is expressed not so much through sophisticated artistic creations, but rather by popular events that draw big crowds. In Honduras, such artistic and cultural events are held on specific days of the year and through special celebrations. Punta is a kind of dance and music the Hondurans proudly gather to do.

Hondurans celebrate national holidays and special events in the form of carnivals, fairs and parades throughout the year. For instance, in La Ceiba the annual carnival is a week-long celebration with music, exhibitions and special food, culminating in the most popular carnival in the country: "The Carnival of Friendship".

The Feria Juniana (June Fair) of San Pedro Sula includes musical concerts performed throughout the week, sporting events and exhibitions.

Puerto Cortés celebrates its fair in August with a "Venice" theme which includes parades of gondolas and other boats in the bay, and an evening fireworks display launched from boats.

Being a predominantly Catholic country, Honduras gives special attention to the celebrations of Holy Week. In some regions of the country, such as Comayagua, Choluteca, Copán and Intibucá, processions are held, especially during Thursday and Good Friday. Through these events, Hondurans commemorate the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for humanity by reenacting the events during the week between Palm Sunday and Jesus Christ crucifixion.

thumb|249x249px|Sawdust carpet in Holy Week.

Probably the most outstanding event is the creation of the sawdust carpets. People will decorate the trail where Jesus will walk through (to his crucifixion) to make the walk less painful for Christ. Some people - particularly the inhabitants of the North and South Coast - use this week as an opportunity to visit beaches, rivers and swimming pools, to escape the stifling heat.

Hondurans celebrate Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve on 24 and 31 December respectively. During these celebrations, the majority of Honduran homes cook special dishes to mark the occasion. Favorites include tamales wrapped with banana leaves, roast pigs' legs, and pastries. All of these celebrations are complemented at the end of the night with fireworks and firecrackers.

Other celebrations of special interest to Hondurans include Mothers' Day, Children's Day, Labor Day, Teachers' Day and Friendship Day.

Ethnic cultures

thumb|183x183px|Pre Columbian pottery from the Ulua region.

The predominant ethnic group in Honduras are the mestizo - people of mixed native and European (mostly Spanish) descent. Mestizos account for over 84% of the population of Honduras. There are several other minority ethnic groups. Amongst them are people who descend from native tribes that lived in the area before the Spanish arrived: Lencas, Chortís, Tolupanes, Pechs (also called Payas), Tawahkas, and Miskitos.

There is also a group called the Garífunas who descend from African slaves from the Caribbean islands.

According to the 2001 census the Amerindian population in Honduras included 381,495 people (6.3% of the total population). With the exception of the Lenca and the Ch'orti' they still keep their language.

Six different Amerindian groups were counted at the 2001 census: Before the conquest of Honduras in the national territory, each ethnic group had its own religion and its own gods, they were polytheistic and animistic religions, among them the Mayan Religion stands out, as well as the Chorotega Religion, the Lenca Religion and the Pech Religion.thumb|216x216px|A [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic cathedral in Amapala.]]During colonial times, Christianity and some African religions such as the Garífuna Dugú religion were introduced to Honduras, which is a mixture of African, Christian (Catholic) and indigenous beliefs. Honduras was the country where the second Catholic Mass was celebrated in continental America. This was held on August 14, 1502, in Punta Caxinas, two weeks after the discovery of Honduras by Christopher Columbus. Since then, the Spanish were in charge of instilling the Christian faith among the natives of Honduras.

After the independence of Honduras in 1821 and in the first constitution of the country promulgated on December 11, 1825, Honduras is declared a secular state, this supposes the null interference of any organization or religious confession in the government of the same, either in the executive, the legislative or the judicial.

In recent years, both the Catholic Church and Protestant churches have experienced significant growth in terms of the number of committed parishioners and communicate with the new mass media, have television channels, radio stations, newspapers, schools, colleges, universities and Internet pages.

thumb|215x215px|Maguen David sinagoge in [[San Pedro Sula, one of the places of the Honduran Jewish community. ]]

In addition to these religions, there are smaller-scale groups in Honduras that profess other religions, such as: Islam, Judaism, and members of the Rastafari movement among others.

Today a low percentage of the population is considered atheist, another low percentage of Hondurans consider themselves agnostic, 50% of the believers are Catholic and an important part of the autochthonous ethnic groups conserve their original religion.

Tribal and Indigenous Culture and Struggles within Honduras

thumb|Mayan rain god [[Chaac representation at the Mayan Sculpture Museum in Copán. ]]

There are several different tribes located in the country of Honduras known as the Lenca, Miskitu, Tawahka, Pech, Maya Chortis, Xicaques, and many more. Each tribe has its own history, cultural traditions, and livelihood within Honduras. These indigenous people fight environmental justice-related issues daily throughout their lives. Many indigenous people face the risk of eventually being forced to change their culture and historical practices within their own land to adopt the new modern-day culture of Honduras. Hence, there is growing popularity in the belief that indigenous people stand in the way of the country’s national development.

The Lenca tribe, for example, is one of the largest in the country and has a population of around 100,000 and around 612 different Lenca communities.

Along with the remote living conditions, hydroelectric facilities and mining are becoming popular in Lenca’s territory. The Lenca are ready to fight, even if it means losing their lives and some already have. Young Lenca people face challenges such as finding employment as there is little way of making a consistent income within most locations that the Lenca tribe inhabits. Instead, they must leave and likely will find themselves working in the military. The Lenca tribe is striving to find any possible solution to these problems and wants young Lenca people to be able to stay within their communities. For instance, a damn was set to be constructed on the Gualcarque River. During this event, mass corruption occurred and individuals from marginalized groups such as those from Lenca and Garifuna tribes were restored to the streets. It has been an uphill battle for all in this position since then. Honduras still remains in a coup-like atmosphere with electoral frauds, increased deaths, a large migration of its people, activists being arrested and killed, and so on. The organization known as the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) plays a great role in activism towards these issues that the Lenca tribe and others face. Members of the COPINH group, such as Thomas Garcia, have been shot and killed during these protests against building dams and mining. The Miskitu tribe sums up around 5% of the indigenous population within the country of Honduras and is very large. As of 2009, the Honduras government has finally handed over a large chunk of land to the Miskitu people however, a major plan to construct a dam known as the Patuca 3 hydroelectric project was funded in the main cultural lands of the Miskitu and other tribes. As soon as this land was handed over, the government also began pestering these tribes about potential gas and oil uses within the land.

There are 41+ dam constructions which are all occurring in an area of tribal land. There have been several meetings between the tribes including the Tulupanes, Pech, Miskito, Maya-Chortis, Lenca, and Garifuna. The government of Honduras continues to jeopardize these tribal communities and utilize rivers that hold a huge link to the tribe's traditions, culture, and roots. With such resistance between indigenous peoples and the government, there is a popular belief that indigenous people are against any further development of their land. When, in reality, indigenous people are open to changes and modifications within their land if the choice is made by their own people. This strong willed-attitude and belief are held as if the changes to the land occur as a decision made within the tribe then they will not lose connection with the land and can continue on with their way of life. All members of the tribes are ready to fight for the rights and title of their land if the construction of dams becomes an official plan.

Despite many tribes such as Garifuna having a long history with their land and their presence in Honduras, their and other tribes' lands are sometimes deemed to be practically non-existent. Not only is their land within Honduras also experiencing issues with the construction of dams and or mining locations but also with recent tourism that is steadily increasing. With tourism becoming popular, the Garifuna face an increased risk of losing their land, as do many other tribes of Honduras. Some are promised employment within this new wave of tourism however, their culture is also becoming more visible to others, making it not as sacred. In addition, because of this increase in tourism, new developers have begun stomping the lands of the Garifuna and constructing upon their land (large resorts for tourists, etc), taking their land, and ripping their culture away from them. There are massive conflicts over the land being utilized in this way.

In recent years, indigenous tribe members are still experiencing discrimination and a true lack of human rights toward their culture, land, and people. In 2016, 600+ activists gathered in the capital of Honduras known as Tegucigalpa. The event was known as the Summit for Indigenous and Peasant Communities in the Struggle Against Extractivism and was hosted by the Platform of Social and Popular Movement of Honduras. Struggles were shared by each tribe such as the problem of logging within the Tolupane tribes' land, extreme dam construction, and mining faced by the Lenca, members of the Garifuna tribe facing increased tourism and drilling within their lands, and so on. The groups combined in an effort to support one another and design resistance strategies together. Extraction methods are increasing rapidly and are often targeted to occur within indigenous people’s land instead of other prime locations. Activists are rising to promote these issues and improvements are being made but it will take a great deal of time to see them.

Culture of Honduras

Popular culture

Ethnic cultures

See also

References