As we told you last night, the National Institute of Culture and History has committed, basically, to re-write history to include Winston Herbert and Wilhelm Butler. They are the villagers from Rockstone Pond who found the Jade Head at Altun Ha. They were working as laborers in an excavation headed by Dr. David Pendergast and in the nearly three decades since, they've been sitting in his shadow, as all the history books say it's Pendergast's discovery. Now, that's going to change, at least in the literature put out by Belize. So what will the story of the Jade Head "reloaded" tell us? It should be pretty much what they told us in June of 2005, when we first gave prominence to the overlooked legacy of these Rockstone Pond residents. Here again, is the story of Winston, Buster and the Jade Head.
[Original Air Date: June 21st, 2005]
Jules Vasquez Reporting, Email - [jules.vasquez@gmail.com]
Little do we know how much we owe to the hard headed and stick to it I've-ness of two boys from Rockstone Pond. Walking into the main plaza at Altun Ha you might think these two men - both residents of the adjacent village of Rockstone Pond were accidental tourists. But in fact even as tourists and tour guides walk past them without even a second glance, Winston Butler and Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert are pivotal, central figures in the history of Altun Ha, the site that draws all these visitors. But these men are not even footnotes in the storied and gloried history of Belize's most visited Maya site. In fact they are forgotten, and now they want recognition.
Their story goes back to March of 1968 - when they were working in a crew of 26 men along with Dr. David Pendergast on Altun Ha. They had been working for four years and were clear on what they wanted.
Winston Butler, Rockstone Pond Villager
"We wanted to make our name famous, my partner and I, so I told Dr. Pendergrast 'boss we haven't found anything and I want to work where we can find something.'"
Pendergast put them here at the top of structure B4, or as its known the masonry temple. He warned them of the dangers.
Winston Butler,
"He told us it is very dangerous so we must take our time and we started to dig."
But after a few days - Pendergast became discouraged and told them to close up the hole.
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert, Rockstone Pond Villager
"Mr. Pendergast gave up and he told us to go home and that when we come back we should cover the hole."
But these two at the time young men from Rockstone Pond, Winston then 23 and Wilhelm then 32, didn't. Instead they were intent on realizing this fame that so obsessed them
Jules Vasquez,
So now this is when Mr. Pendergast had expressedly told you all to close up the hole. What made you all want to continue?
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"We were interested in the work, we didn't only work for money, we worked because we wanted fame."
Jules Vasquez,
At this point you all had been working here 5 years.
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"From the beginning, from the start."
Jules Vasquez,
And you all wanted the fame and the notoriety of finding something great?
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"Definite."
Jules Vasquez,
And you were confident there was something great?
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"Definite."
And so they continued to dig:
Winston Butler,
"The more we go down the easier it was becoming. While digging we discovered a round object which is a Jade button."
That first find created excitement and the surety that more would follow - it did.
Winston Butler,
"It was only about 15 minutes to 12 when I came upon some soft dirt, soft soft, so I took my shovel and start to scrape it and it lead me to something solid at the bottom of that fine dirt. But I said to my partner, look something is here and I said this looks like a capstone."
Beneath that capstone was a tomb - that became apparent as they were scraping around the capstone::
Winston Butler,
"While scraping I saw dirt dropped on the far corner, dropped through the crevice, so I told him something is here. I told him in Creole, 'something deh yah.' He came and examined it and he said, 'bwoy you know fi true something deh yah.'"
Something was there: the single greatest archaeological find in Belize's modern history but they would call over Dr. Pendegrast's wife, Trisha first.
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"I hailed Mrs. Pendergast and I said we found the tomb. She said, 'Buster you know what is a tomb?' I said well if I am working here over 5 years now and if we don't know a tomb then it doesn't fit well for us to work here."
And they did know what they had found. But it would be some days before the tomb would be fully exposed. With the help of the entire crew, they had to raise the massive capstone first, and that's when the glorious jade head was revealed. Winston was doing the brushwork.
Winston Butler,
"While I was cleaning I saw a piece of green, just a small piece, and I started to brush it but the more I cleaned this thing, the bigger it get until it got about this size. When I looked up and saw Dr. Pendergast staring down I said, 'boss it seems that this is a very big piece.' He said 'hmm' and to just continue. The more I picked that thing and brushed it, the more it got bigger and it got about this size; all eyes looking down. After looking down
on that thing, he turned it over and made a big sigh and said this is the biggest find in Central America. He passed it to each one of us in that room."
And that feeling has stayed with them throughout their lives. But what has not stayed is that first blush of fame. Nowhere are these two men mentioned for sticking to a mission that their boss had abandoned.
Jules Vasquez,
In the intervening years, since 1968 to now, all the books I read have Pendergast as the one who found it. We had it on TV the other day that it was Pendergast who found it when you all are telling me that if it were up to Pendergast this wouldn't have been found.
Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert,
"The whole tourism thing wouldn't have been so grand. I feel that they left us bad, they were supposed to at least give us something or a little job to you know...but there is nothing."
Winston Butler,
"My partner and I, we need to be recommended. I would like that history prevails see because they are some youths wondering in the city, and all over the world, who don't even know about this finding. And if they do know or hear about it, they already believe or heard that it was a white man. So I would say that from here on I would like that our names be sounded and not Dr. Pendergast's name anymore because he knows to his heart that he didn't find that. As the song says, 'you don't have to wait until the man dead to tell him he's good.'" [Laughs.]
And while the gods of academia may feel hard to give them that recognition, until then, all they want is a license free and clear to work as tour guides in a place where they didn't write history, they made it.
Winston Butler,
"I would like that they give me a free license because as I told you, and I would never leave out my partner if he wants a job as a tour guide, we both get a free license because when we are touring Rockstone Pond, in the bush or here in the main city, we could tell the people because we worked and we know what we find. We know that from that time until now what we can do or what we were doing."
And if the broad strokes of history miss these two highly skilled and determines menial workers, it will be an unforgivable oversight, but every time a tour bus zings by theirs homes in Rockstone Pond they'll always be sure of the part they played in making Belize's tourism product special.
Winston Butler,
"When I see it on a postcard, or in a magazine, see it on the dollar, I say that this is a real real thing. This along with my partner and I we have made Belize famous in the part of tourism."
And while they asked that a tour guide license be given to them, NICH managed second best, giving them a scholarship to get tour guide training.
