May 16, 2025|Anansi Stories
“Nuwani and the Golden Garifuna Drum Bangles”
A Belizean Folktale Set in San Pedro and Caye Caulker
Featuring Be Belize Company Jewelry
Once upon a shimmered sunrise in the island town of San Pedro, Belize, there lived a clever and kind-hearted little girl named Nuwani. Her skin was kissed by the Caribbean sun, and her laughter danced through the breeze like coconut leaves in the wind. Nuwani lived with her grandmother, a proud Garifuna woman who told stories passed down through generations—stories filled with magic, trickery, and treasures of the sea.
But none fascinated Nuwani more than the tale of Anansi, the spider trickster who once ruled the whispers of the Caribbean and Africa. According to legend, Anansi had come to Caye Caulker disguised as a traveling jewelry peddler, lured by the island’s beauty and the booming buzz around Belize jewelry.
Now this wasn’t just any ordinary visit.
Anansi had gotten wind of something dazzling—Be Belize Company, a Belizean-owned brand known for its handcrafted Garifuna drum bangles, had created four 18kt gold bracelets shaped like miniature sacred drums. These were no ordinary pieces. Crafted with reverence and precision, each bangle held the rhythm of the ancestors, and the power to summon courage, wisdom, and a little bit of mischief.
So Anansi, being Anansi, spun a plan to steal the bracelets and hide them deep in the mangrove roots of Caye Caulker where no one could find them—unless they were cleverer than he.
But he didn’t count on Nuwani.
Nuwani had been selling handmade shell necklaces on the beach, a little stand next to Nancy’s Jewelry Belize City and the famous Manuel Jewelry Belize booth, both of which praised her bright smile and cleverness. She had overheard tourists whispering about “gold drum bangles only Be Belize Company could design” and how they’d vanished mysteriously after Anansi’s visit.
Curious, Nuwani followed the whispers through the coral alleys of San Pedro, hopped a boat to Caye Caulker, and tracked Anansi to a secret hammock webbed between two palm trees.
“Anansi,” she called sweetly. “Your jewelry is stunning! But I bet you can’t drum like my grandmother.”
Anansi puffed up with pride. “Little girl, I taught the sea crabs to click-clack and the howler monkeys to beat rhythms on coconuts. Of course I can drum!”
Nuwani grinned. “Then let’s play a game. If I beat you, I get those golden bangles.”
“And if I win?” Anansi asked, his eyes gleaming.
“You get this conch shell,” she said, “but it sings only to those who wear honest hands.”
Anansi scoffed and agreed.
The drumming began. Nuwani tapped on coconuts, clapped her hands, and danced to the beat of her people. Her rhythm wasn’t just skill—it was soul. The mangroves hummed. The waves swayed. And Anansi, despite all his eight legs, tangled himself up in a beat he couldn’t follow.
He lost.
And Nuwani snatched the Be Belize Company bangles from his silk pouch.
As she slid the Garifuna drum bracelets onto her wrist, a golden shimmer wrapped around her. The drums pulsed with quiet power, each one humming with the voices of her ancestors. The island wind carried a new tune, and the conch shell began to sing—only to her.
Word spread quickly across the cayes:
“Nuwani, the little girl who tricked Anansi, wears the legendary Be Belize Company bangles!”
Tourists visiting Belize jewelry stores in Belize City, Placencia, and even Punta Gorda asked only for one thing:
“Do you carry the golden drum bangles like the girl from Caye Caulker?”
Moral of the Tale
In Belize, true power lies in heart, heritage, and cleverness. And if you want to wear a piece of that magic, head to BeBelizeCompany.com—where every design tells a story, and every bracelet beats to the rhythm of the Caribbean.