The Krismos Bram and Sambai of Belize are inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Belize proudly announces the official inscription of the Krismos Bram and Sambai of Gales Point Village "Malanti" on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, approved at the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee, held on December 9, 2025, in New Delhi, India.

Speaking at the event, Rolando Cocom, Director of the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), stated: “We are confident that the Gales Point community, along with the many practitioners, knowledge bearers, and advocates involved, will see this as a significant step forward that strengthens their efforts to safeguard their values, knowledge, and skills. For Belize, this moment also reflects our firm and ongoing commitment to the 2003 Convention.”

This nomination was made possible through the direct participation of the Gales Point Village community and the National Kriol Council, as well as the efforts of the National Institute of Culture and History. The process also had the support of the Institute for Social and Cultural Research, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Education, Culture, Science and Technology, led by the Honorable Francis Fonseca.

In this coastal town, Christmas is a vibrant celebration that has endured for centuries. The Krismos Bram is a lively procession of music, dance, and storytelling in which villagers walk from house to house during Christmas and Boxing Day. Meanwhile, the Sambai is a vibrant circle dance around a bonfire that connects entire generations through rhythm and tradition.

These traditions, which date back to the 1700s, originated in the resilience of enslaved Africans who transformed adversity into cultural expression. Their recent inscription on the UNESCO list represents a long-awaited achievement.

This international recognition strengthens preservation efforts and motivates new generations to keep this cultural heritage alive. With UNESCO's validation, Bram and Sambai are established as cultural treasures that Belize will continue to protect and celebrate.

The Return of the King, one of the top 10 discoveries of 2025

After more than four decades of excavations at the Maya site of Caracol, a team led by archaeologists Arlen and Diane Chase of the University of Houston made a groundbreaking discovery: the tomb of Te' Kab Chaak, Caracol's first known ruler and the founder of the kingdom's dynasty. It is highly unusual in Maya archaeology to associate human remains with a historical figure known from hieroglyphic inscriptions. This is also the only ruler's tomb found at Caracol.

Te' Kab Chaak ascended the throne in 331 CE and presided over Caracol in its early years, before it became one of the most powerful Maya cities in the southern Yucatán Peninsula. The ruler's burial was unearthed in an area of ​​the site that the Chases first investigated in 1993. Last year, the team revisited the site and detected a large void directly beneath the point where previous excavations had stopped.

When the team members entered the void, they found a rectangular burial chamber two meters high whose walls were covered in red cinnabar, evidence that the deceased was an important person. Artifacts on the chamber floor included ceramic vessels, jadeite jewelry, and carved bone tubes that archaeologists have stylistically dated to the reign of Te' Kab Chaak, which ended around 350 CE. The most exceptional object was a mosaic death mask of jade and shell that once covered the face of the Maya king.

Source : Belize Tourism Board