Afro-Peruvian
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Afro-Peruvians are citizens of Peru, descended from African slaves who were brought to the New World with the arrival of the conquistadores towards the end of the slave trade. According to the Inter-American Dialogue Race Report, January 2003, about 5% of the population of Peru is of African descent.
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[edit] Early history
The first Afro-Peruvians arrived with the conquistadors in 1521, to return permanently in 1525. They fought alongside the conquistadors as soldiers and worked wherever needed. Because of their previous acculturation in Spanish language and culture, they performed a variety of skilled and unskilled functions that contributed to Hispanic colonization.
Gradually, Afro-Peruvians concentrated in specialized fields that drew upon their extensive knowledge and training in skilled artisanal work and in agriculture. As the mestizo population grew, the role of Afro-Peruvians as intermediaries between the indigenous residents and the Spaniards lessened. The mestizo population increased through liaisons between Spanish and indigenous Peruvians. From this reality, a pigmentocracy became increasingly important to protect the privileges of Spanish overlords and their Spanish and mestizo children. In this system, Spaniards were at the top of the hierarchy, mestizos in the middle, and Africans and the indigenous populations competed for the bottom. Mestizos inherited the privilege of helping the Spanish administer the country.
Furthermore, as additional immigrants arrived from Spain and aggressively settled Peru, the mestizos attempted to keep the most lucrative jobs for themselves. In the early colonial period, Afro-Spaniards and Afro-Peruvians frequently worked in the gold mines because of their familiarity with the techniques. Gold mining and smithing were common in parts of western Africa from at least the fourth century. However, after the early colonial period, few Afro-Peruvians would become goldsmiths or silversmiths. In the end Afro-Peruvians were relegated to back-breaking labor on sugarcane and rice plantations of the northern coast or the vineyards and cotton fields of the southern coast. The indigenous population tended to work in the silver mines, of which they had a more expert knowledge than western Africans or Spanish, even in the pre-Columbian eras.
[edit] Slave trade
Over the course of the slave trade, approximately 95,000 slaves were brought into Peru, with the last group arriving in 1850. They were initially transferred to Cuba but continued to Panamá where they were brought to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Slave owners also purchased their slaves in Cartagena, Colombia or Veracruz, Mexico at trade fairs, and they took back to Peru whatever the slave ships had brought over. Slaves were distributed between encomiendas as a result of the "New laws" of 1548 and due to the influence of the denunciation of the abuses against Native Americans by Friar Bartolome de las Casas.
Slave owners in Peru also preferred slaves who were from specific areas of Africa, and who could communicate with each other. Slave owners preferred slaves from Guinea, from the Senegal River down to the Slave Coast, because the Spanish considered them to be easy to manage, and also because they had marketable skills—they knew how to plant rice, train horses, and herd cattle on horseback. The slave owners also preferred slaves from the area stretching from Ghana to Eastern Nigeria. Finally, the slave owners' third choice was for slaves from Congo, Mantenga, Cambado, Misanga, Mozambique, Madagascar, Terranova, Mina and Angola.
In the year 1856, President Ramon Castilla y Marquezado declared the freedom of the Afro-Peruvian ethnic groups and abolished slavery, beginning a new stage in history. Today, Afro-Peruvian communities celebrate the landmark decision of Castilla with a popular refrain:
- Que viva mi papá,
- que viva mi mamá,
- que viva Ramón Castilla
- que nos dio la liberta'
- Hooray for my Dad,
- Hooray for my Mom,
- Hooray for Ramón Castilla
- Who gave us freedom
The newly freed citizens typically took the last name of their former owners. For instance, slaves in the service of the Florez family named themselves Florez or Flores.
[edit] Afro-Peruvians today
Today, Afro-Peruvians (also known as Afrodescent Peruvians) reside mainly on the central and south coast, with the majority of the population in the provinces of Chincha, Ica and Cañete. Afro-Peruvians can also be found in significant numbers on the northern coast in Lambayeque and Piura. The greatest concentration of Afro-Peruvians and Mestizos of Afrodescent is in the Callao, an area that has historically received many of the Afro-Peruvians from the north and southern coast.
On the southern coast of the Ica Region, there are many cotton fields and vineyards, and the area is commonly known for its black populations such as that in El Carmen of the populous Chincha Province. There are other such towns in the Nazca, Ica City and in the district of San Luis in the Cañete Province near Lima, and Nazca to the south of Lima. In Lima, the towns most well-known for having large concentrations of Afrodescent populations are Chancay, Puente Piedra, Chorrillos, Rimac, and La Victoria.
Afro-Peruvians also reside in the northern regions of Peru such as La Libertad and Ancash, but the larger populations are concentrated in the northern valley plantations of the regions of Piura and Lambayeque.
Most Afro-Peruvian communities live in rural farming areas where mango, rice, and sugarcane production is present. Contrary to the southern coast, these communities are mainly found away from the coastal shores and in to the region of the yungas, where the plain meets the Andes.
The greatest Afro-Peruvian populations of the North coast are found mainly in the outskirts of the Morropon Province and concentrate themselves in Piura and Tumbes. The central province of Morropón is well known by its black communities in cities like especially in the cities of Chulucanas, Yapatera, Chapica del Carmelo, La Matanza, Pabur(Hacienda Pabur), Morropón, Salitral, Buenos Aires, San Juan de Bigote and Canchaque, and to the north Tambogrande. All of these cities belong to the Piura Region, where there are large rice fields and mango plantations. South of the Lambayeque Region and north of La Libertad where sugarcane production was very productive in the past, there are several cities known for their black inhabitants. Examples are the colonial city of Saña in Lambayeque, famous for being the second most important Afro-Peruvian city of the Peruvian north. Also Tuman, Capote, Cayaltí, and Batán Grande within the region of Lambayeque are known to have large amounts of Afro-Peruvian populations in the sugarcane region.
Recently it has been verified that the community with the greatest concentration of Afro-Peruvians is Yapatera in Morropón (Piura), made up of around 7,000 farmers who are largely descended from African slaves of "malagasy" (Madagascar) origin.
Formerly, Chincha to the south of Lima and other communities in Ica were known as the towns of greatest Afro-Peruvian concentration, but due to the excessive mixing between the Afro inhabitants native to the area and the Andean migrants, the Afro-Peruvian root has been more hybridized. Also, many of the Afrodescent residents of these communities migrated towards Lima for better opportunities.
Freed slaves also arrived in small valleys in the rain forests of the Amazon such as Cerro de Pasco and Huánuco and there are still small populations with African ancestry in these areas.
[edit] List of famed Afro-Peruvians
- Eva Ayllón - popular Peruvian musician
- Guajaja - popular Peruvian musician
- Susana Baca - folklorist and musician
- Nicomedes Santa Cruz - poet and folklorist
- Caitro Soto - composer of famed Toro Mata rhythm, popularized by Celia Cruz in salsa style
- Teófilo Cubillas - one of history's greatest footballers
- María Elena Moyano - civil leader
- Immortal Technique - hip-hop artist and activist
- Jefferson Farfan - leading scorer and star of PSV team.
- Julio Melendez - named the greatest Boca Juniors stopper
- Mauro Mina - boxer
- Cecilia Tait - the greatest smash in volleyball (Hall-Famer)
- Ricardo Palma - Limeño traditions writer of 1/4 African blood
- St. Martin de Porres - famous Limeño saint
- Ronaldo Campos de la Colina - one of the original founders of Peru Negro and preserver of Afro-Peruvian rhythms played on the cajon
[edit] References
- Blanchard Slavery and Abolition in early Republican Peru
- Browser, F.P. The African Slave in Colonial Peru
- Lockhart, J. Spanish Peru: A Colonial Society
- Millones, Luis Minorias étnicas en el Perú
[edit] See also
