"I not gong to tell you a bad médisn to jrink, an I noo wen is a médisn dat is going to harm yor insaid. I will tell you a médisn dat is gud fo you, laik I tol m & eacute;ni av de touris dem, dat com op. Bot some dees, wen you ca n kanek me back, an wrk wit me, an you can say, 'Bot Teo, r'mémba you tol me dis...?' I will nen neglek dat wrd, bikaaz I tol you it. 'Deez tings, deez tings are tings dat Teo tol me."-- Teo Williams

Thanks to Permanent Secretary Dr. Victor Gonzalez of the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment, the rich and colorful folklore of Belize can now be read in Creole by locals and tourists alike in "Teo's Way: His Life, Personal Philosophy and Folklore." Painting word pictures with the story-teller's craft, Teo Williams expounds on his early days in Bullet Tree Falls, working with the archaeological project at El Pilar, fending off looters in the temples and palaces, extolling the virtues of trees and herbs, honey bees, deer, pecary, gibnuts, tapir and snakes on the site, warning of the devious and unpredictable duende, and remembering his days of chicle work in Cayo. The compilation of folkloric tales was presented to Amigos de El Pilar in the shadow of the Maya temple mound of Bullet Tree Falls on Sunday, March 19th by USAID representative Robert Dakan. The colorful Hogshead Dance and the Mestizada Dance were performed by the traditional dancers of Bullet Tree Falls for a crowd of 200. Dr. Gonzalez initiate d the idea to publish Teo's stories, which were compiled by Belize River Archaeological Survey Settlement (BRASS) project director Dr. Anabel Ford of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Funding for the publication was provided by USAID, under the Tourism Management Project, Ministry of Tourism and the Environment. Amigos de El Pilar, the community-based organizationthat promotes cultural arts, history and pre-history in Bullet Tree Falls will distribute the publication as a method of generating income for community projects of cultural heritage. Along with Amigos President Marcos Garcia and his fellow members, other groups attending the presentation included the Bullet Tree Falls Village Council, the area Representative for the region, Minister of Trade and Industry Salvador Fernandez , and the Belize Center for Environmental Studies. The Belize Department of Archaeology has worked with BRASS at the ancient Maya site of El Pilar since 1983. In collaboration with BRASS, the Department installed Teo as caretaker in 1992. What began as a standard archaeological survey is now being developed into the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, a 2,000 acre rese rve in Belize that is contiguous with the archaeological reserve of Pilar Poniente in Guatemala.

Teo Williams

For more information on "Teo's Way" and the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, write

Copies of "Teo's Way" will be placed with the Belize Archives in Belmopan and the National Library Service in Belize City.

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