Inheritance

Zanolee Grant

2023 / 20 minutes
United States / Honduras, United States
English

The Creole population of Honduras, who inhabit Bonnacca, Roatan, and Utila live in a Latin American country while upholding West Indian values and social norms. Their existence, survival, and success can be credited in large part to their land, originally inhabited by Indigenous Natives known as Pech Indians.

Beginning in 1830, ex-slave masters and formerly enslaved people began to relocate to the largely uninhabited Bay Islands where they were granted parcels of land by the British Crown, who had possession of the islands during this time. Residents of the islands built a self-sustaining farming and export economy, until the islands were ceded to Honduras when the Wyke-Cruz treaty was signed between the two nations.

The treaty allowed the Creole population to keep their land, practice their religion and language, and elect proper representation to the Honduran government. Bay Islanders would later institute a law banning the sale of land to non-citizens and foreign owned corporations. Over the years, several laws passed by the Honduran government have undone protections granted to the Bay Islands community. Inheritance explores how these laws have contributed to the erasure of West Indian Hondurans, and how their land is slowly being taken away as a result.