Ethnic Groups
The predominant ethnic group in Honduras are the “mestizo” – people of mixed native and European (mostly Spanish) ascent. Mestizos account for over 93% of the population of Honduras. There are several other minority ethnic groups. Amongst them are people who descend from native tribes that were in our territory before the Spanish arrived: Lencas, Chortís, Tolupanes, Pechs (also called Payas), Tawahkas, and Miskitos. There is also another important group, called the Garífunas, who descend from African slaves from the Caribbean islands and are a relatively recent addition to the Honduran family.
According to the 2001 national census, the 7 minority ethnic groups contributed nearly half a million members to the whole of the Honduran family:
| Ethnic group | Population |
|---|---|
| Lenca |
300,594
|
| Miskito |
55,500
|
| Garífuna |
49,952
|
| Chortí |
37,052
|
| English-speaking Afro-Caribbean |
13,303
|
| Pech |
4,138
|
| Tawahka |
2,649
|
| Total |
473,531
|
Religion
Most Hondurans are members of the Roman Catholic Church. Traditionally Catholicism has been the strongest religion in the country but, recently Evangelism has become popular and is gaining strength, specially amongst the younger generations.
Languages
Spanish is the official language of Honduras and is spoken by all Hondurans. English is spoken by many people of Afro-Caribbean ascent on the islands off the northern coast of Honduras (the Bay Islands). On the mainland, relatively few people are bililngual, with English being the most common second language, for those who learn one.
When you travel in Honduras, be aware that it will very useful for you to speak and understand at least enough Spanish to be able to ask for directions and understand replies. This will be specially true away from the cities, were most people will only speak Spanish.
Several native tongues are still spoken by the native groups living in rural areas. For example, the Tolupán speak the “Tol” tongue and the Garífuna have their very own language that is a unique mixture of their original African languge and those of other native Honduran ethnic groups.
Food
Honduran dishes usually contain meat – beef is preferred, but chicken and pork are also very popular. Seafood recipies have been traditionally served in the coastal areas. Lamb, which is popular in many middle-eastern recipies, is virtually non-existant in the traditional Honduran cookbook.
As for taste, the Honduran cook will rely on spices such as cumin curry, “allspice”, and herbs such as coriander and oregano, lime juice to give food a very rich flavour. As far as “hotness”, Honduran food usually is not as hot and spicy as many would imagine using Mexican food as a reference.
Honduran food relies heavily on the use of corn (maize) as a basic ingredient. Nearly all traditional recipies contain corn or other foods made from corn. The most common (and perhaps the simplest) example is the humble tortilla.
Tortillas
Tortillas are made from dough of ground corn. The dough is mixed with water, rolled into small balls that are later flattened into discs approximately 6-inches across and 2 to 3mm thick (the thickness and diameter varies slightly from region to region of the country) These are placed on a hot and slightly concave metal plate (called comal) to cook.
Once cooked, the tortillas will be stacked and served wrapped in a cloth to keep the warm during the meal (nobody likes a cold tortilla!). Traditionally, Hondurans will eat tortillas with nearly every meal and many regard a table set without a tall stack of tortillas as an unacceptable.
Corn is eaten in many other forms: the picture below is of some “fritas” (literally, “fried things”). A batter is prepared from coarsely grounded corn mixed with milk and sugar. A laddlefull of this batter is then fried in hot oil.
Tamales
A tamal is a brick-shaped lump of cooked spiced cornmeal, with a filling made up of several foodstuffs, including meat (either beef, pork or chicken), potatoes, olives, capers, raisings, rice and many others. Once shaped, the tamal is wrapped in several layers of fresh banana leaves and tied-up with thin strips cut from the same leaves. Then it is cooked in boiling water. The banana leaves form a water-tight seal that cooks the tamal without letting any water in or any of the aromas and flavours out. Before serving, the banana leave wrapping is untied and removed (some can be left underneath for presentation)
The tamal is one of the most authentic dishes in Latinamerica. They are known in most countries in Latinamerica, with variations on the basic recipe, size and name (they are know as “hallacas” in Venezuela)
The National Dish
The Honduran national dish is called “Plato típico” (literally, “typical dish”) and typically contains the following:
- Beef, marinated, diced, and barbecued on a skewer
- Pork sausage (similar in taste and appearance to Spanish chorizo)
- Pork crackling
- Refried red kidney beans
- White cheese (similar to Greek Feta cheese)
- Fried plantain slices
- Rice
- Salad
- Sour cream
- Cheese
Celebrations
Christmas and New Year
Christmas is perhaps the biggest celebration of the year for Hondurans. It is filled with religious meaning, as the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ is at its heart. Christmas is celebrated at the stroke of midnight on the night of the 24th of December (as opposed to the 25th on other countries that also celebrate Christmas).
For Hondurans, Christmas is a very special and emotional occasion and is important to spend it with the family. Just before midnight, the family will gather and pray together, which may include the reading of passages of the Bible that narrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Once the prayer is finished, the family members engage in a round of hearty hugs and wish each other “¡Feliz Navidad!” The Christmas meal is usually served after this.
Christmas meal: The Christmas meal is extremely important. Usually, it takes several days to prepare and several days to recover from it. The typical menu is a combination of the traditional Latin-American menu of tamales, torrejas, sweet potato puree, eggnog, roast ham; and items extracted from the North American Christmas menu: roasted turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
Inevitably, the influence of North-American and European cultures has filtered into the Honduran traditions, and now Christmas trees and exchanging of gifts are considered to be absolutely essential elements of Christmas. The figure of Santa Claus ubiquitous during the season and most Honduran children learn to believe in him from an early age, just like children in many other countries.
Pyrotechnics
Several weeks before Christmas Eve, the streets of the cities become populated with vendors of firecrackers and other pyrotechnical articles. Hondurans, especially children, will spend considerable amounts on money purchasing pyrotecnics. The amount of pyrotechnics set off (and the noise level) grows in exponential progression thought the Christmas season, reaching a a spectacular climax at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve.
The Año Viejo – The Old Year
A few days before 31st of December, the children and youngsters in the neighborhoods of the cities will fashion a life-size doll of an old man, representing the year that is about to end: the Año Viejo. The doll is fashioned from whatever materials the children can gather and dressed with old clothes collected from the neighbors and stuffed with as many pyrotechnical devices as possible. Sometimes they are made to look specifically like politicians or other famous (or infamous) public figures.
At the stroke of midnight of 31st of December, the Año Viejo is set alight, with all the pyrotechnics setting off in a loud and bright display that the neighbors gather around to see. This is echoed to spectacular effect throught the cities and towns, as each neighborhood will have its own Año Viejo.
The Año Viejo is meant symbolise of all the bad and forgettable events of the outgoing year. In a way, burning the Año Viejo is symbolic “burning away” bad memories. It can also simply be great fun to watch!
On the eve of December 31st, Sara, René, Dennis, and Diego proudly pose
with the ‘Old Year’ they have crafted from old clothes, a plastic football and a mop.
Easter
Easter celebrations center around Semana Santa (literally “Holy Week”). During this week, Christians commemorate the events of the last days in the life of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Bible. It begins on Sunday of Palms. It is a period of reflection and good behaviour for all Christians.
With Catholicism being the dominant religion, Easter is an important time of the year for Hondurans and it is celebrated accordingly, with religious parades, special masses, and other traditional events hailing from Colonial times.
On the evening of Good Friday, people attend a special mass to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. Since the Catholic tradition indicates that he resurrected three days later, a meal is arranged to commemorate this on the evening of the following Sunday.
Most of the year the figures depicting Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and other saints are kept safely inside the Catholic churches. But on Good Friday, they are dressed in elaborate dresses and paraded around the city or town. The floats are slowly carried through the streets by volunteers. The parade is slow and quiet, save for a band that plays a funerary piece. The parade is Jesus Christ’s funerary procession.
Traditionally, the streets on which the parade is set to pass are covered with decorative “carpets” made from painted sawdust. The colored sawdust is painstakingly arranged to create intricate patterns or paintings depicting religious scenes and characters from Catholic tradition. These “carpets” are true works of art, made entirely by volunteers.
Birthdays
In most of Latinamerica, it is customary to celebrate a child’s birthday with a gathering of friends, a meal and a piñata - a hollow figure made of papier-maché in different colours, filled with various types of candy, chocolates, and small toys. Traditionally, piñatas would be shaped like a star, but today they can be made to order to resemble anything you can imagine, with characters from the latest cartoons and animated films being the most popular.
Piñatas on display in a supermarket in Tegucigalpa.
The piñata is strung up so that it can swing about and children attending the party take turns to strike the piñata with a wooden stick. Usually the child at turn is blindfolded and the piñata is made to swing back and forth at random, whilst the rest of attendees help by shouting “Up!”, “Down!”, “Left!”, “Right!”, “Cold!”, “Warm!”, etc. This continues until the piñata has suffered enough punishment to allow the contents to pour out for all the children to rush in and collect them.
For some strange reason, at most birthday parties you will hear people sing “Happy Birthday” in English (and sometimes also in Spanish). This is followed immediately by the traditional blowing of the candles on a cake that will be shared by the guests.
Demographics
The population of Honduras has grown steadily during most of the XX century. This growth has accelerated during the last 4 decades thanks to the success of government programs aimed at reducing infant mortality and increasing overall life expectancy. According to the 2005 census, Hondurans numbered 6,927,000 and with the current growth rates (2.5% per year), it is proyected that the population will reach 8,606,000 by 2015. It is worthwile to mention that families in the rural areas of the country tend to have more than twice the number of children than those in the urban areas.
Honduras is a young country, with just over 50% of the population under 19 years old (only 3% of the population is 65 or over). The population is split approximately evenly between men and women.
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