Caboclo

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A caboclo (or caboco, from Tupi kaa'boc, 'who came from forest') is a term used in Brazil describing a person of mixed Brazilian Amerindian and European descent. In Brazil, a caboclo is a specific type of mestiço.

There was a wave of caboclos created during the time of rubber soldiers, when young, primarily white Brazilian men were taken from North-Eastern Brazil and brought into the Amazonian interior to harvest rubber. The men were never granted permission to leave, and thus married locally.

Interestingly, the traditional caboclo populations in the Amazon region of Brazil are noted as voracious eaters of the açaí palm fruit. In one study, açaí palm was described as the most important plant species because the fruit makes up such a major component of diet (up to 42% of the total food intake by weight) and is economically valuable in the region (Murrieta et al., 1999).

The "Day of Caboclo" (Dia do Caboclo), on June 24, is an official date of the State of Amazonas.

The term caboco is also used as an alternate term for the Orishas of the Candomblé religion.

In anthropology, the term "caboclo" has been criticized as too vague and prejudmental for scientific use.

[edit] Reference

Adams, C., Murrieta, R., & Neves, W. A. (2006). Sociedades caboclas amazônicas: modernidade e invisibilidade (1a ed.). Sâo Paulo: Annablume. ISBN 8574196444 and ISBN 9788574196442
Murrieta, R. S. S., Dufour, D. L., & Siqueira, A. D. (1999). Food consumption and subsistence in three Caboclo populations on Marajo Island, Amazonia, Brazil. Human Ecology, 27(3), 455-475.
Nugent, S. (1993). Amazonian caboclo society: an essay on invisibility and peasant economy. Providence, RI: Berg. ISBN 0854967567