Jíbaro

Jíbaro is a transliteration form of the indigenous word xibal or xibalo (read history). It is a term commonly used in Puerto Rico, as well as other Latin American countries, to refer to mountain-dwelling, natives originaries from the jiba of the ancestral line of the Great Can or Ban. peasants,^[1] but in modern times it has gained a broader cultural meaning.^[2]

History

Puerto Rican jíbaro in a sugar-cane field during harvest, ca. 1941

In Puerto Rico, the word "jíbaro" has been used to refer to the country people, the people who farm the land in a traditional way. To know the origin of the word, the culture and the way of life of the jíbaro must be known and analyzed in the context of history and anthropology. The two colonization periods that occurred to natives of this island must be considered, as well as the way of life of jíbaro people, what the people grew for food and how were their houses, utensils, beds, cooking ways, clothes, and ways of talk at the moment when American troops invaded the island. It must be considered how this historical, cultural and political process and periods have affected the way of talking, the words of their language, now mixed with the Spanish, and the new ways of life after the assimilation was underway.

The first linguistic and etymological study made on jíbaro words was done by Óscar Lamourt Valentín. After his experiences among natives of Chiapas, he decided to return to his homeland, to Lares, Puerto Rico, to continue studies in history, native language, oral traditions and customs of the jíbaro. He interviewed various jíbaros and made an etymological study. He analyzed many words used by jíbaros, as well as many words already known to be native or Taíno. After doing his multidisciplinary studies, he compiled the first etymological dictionary of the jíbaro language. He discovered the relationship with the Yucatecan Maya language. Huana Naboli Martínez and Uahtibili Báez continued the linguistic study initiated by Lamourt Valentín. They have presented the studies at various forums, as Caribe Plurilingue at University of Puerto Rico, and in a book titled Puerto Rico: la gran mentira.

The linguistic analysis of the word jíbaro is as follows: Jíbaro is derived from the term caníbaro or canxíbalo, also xíbalo, since the x and j was used for the same phonem. But as a derived form, from the native language of the people of the Caribbean, Carib or Caniba, this word had suffered transliteration as well as several misinterpretations, as happened as well to the native culture, language and history of the people of the "Islas de los Caníbales" (as it appears in the 1545 Map of Alonso de Santa Cruz). As used in Puerto Rico or Borikén, it refers to "La gente de la montaña" or "mountain people", being jíbaro or uajiro is to be natives or descendants from the jiba of the main caracoel, one of the "hermanitos gemelos" ("twin brothers"), recalled in the native mythology, the one called Temiban caracoel, also transcribed from the chronicle as Deminan. As related in the native oral story, on Temiban caracoel's back grew a jiba. Then, one of his brothers hit his back with a thunder axe. Then, from the jiba out came the turtle woman, CaUahNa (Caguana, in Spanish), whose symbol can be found carved in the Ceremonial Center of Caguana in Utuado, a native sacred area. So, as for the native people of Borikén or other islands of the Caribbean, jíbaro, or uajiro is the same, which is xíbalo, and it means "to be descendants from the male of the jiba", which is the mountain or dzemí (cemí), from where the native people came. All these native terms can be defined by Yucatecan Maya, as was explained in the linguistic and etymological studies of Óscar Lamourt Valentín, Huana N. Martínez and Uahtibili Báez, native descendants of Borikén. They analyzed more than 500 words, common "tahino" words and others that are attributed to Spanish or African origin, as bakiné, yanhotau. Lamourt Valentín was the first linguist and anthropologist to analyze the word jíbaro and other words from the jíbaro language, taking into consideration the historical and anthropological context. The native of Borikén is the jíbaro. The word taíno or tayno as it was obtained from the chronicle refers to a condition or an expression, not to the ethnic name for the native group. It must be noted that this term was used by archaeologists as a word for classification purposes. As such, it must be clarified that the word tayno does not refer to the ethnic group that inhabited the island, but the word jíbaro is the right word to use to refer to the natives of Borikén. Many new analyses have been conducted since this study was made known, but none have the strong data to be considered academically sound. Therefore, these studies engage in mere speculation.

Modern usage of the word

Since at least the 1920s^[3] the term "jíbaro" has a more positive connotation in Puerto Rican culture, proudly associated with a cultural ideology as tough pioneers of Puerto Rico.^[4]

However, the term occasionally also has a negative connotation. A jíbaro can mean someone who is considered ignorant or impressionable due to a lack of a more European style of education, as are many country or "hillbilly" people of many other cultures. Despite this negative connotation, the image of the jíbaro represents an ideology of a "traditional Puerto Rican": hard-working, simple, independent, and prudently wise.^[5]

Colloquially, the jíbaro imagery serves as a representation of the roots of the modern day Puerto Rican people and symbolizes the strength of such traditional values as living simply and properly caring for homeland and family.^[5]

Uses of the word in other countries

• In Cuba there exists a word similar to jíbaro, Guajiro. In Cuba and the Dominican Republic a jíbaro can also refer to a runaway dog.^[1]
• In Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, Xivaro, or Gibaro, which is pronounced similar to jíbaro, was a name given to the mountain natives of mentioned countries by the Spaniards and Portuguese.^[6]
• In Ecuador, givaro is the indomitable indigenous or country persons who are endlessly elusive to the white man.^[1]
• In Peru, the word jíbaro refers to country or mountain inhabitants.
• In the 18th century Mexico, a jíbaro was a fable of a child born of a lobo (Wolf) and a china (Chinese), actually that is the child of a mixed-race father (the son of an indigenous man and a black woman) and a mixed-race mother (the daughter of a white man and an indigenous woman).^[1]

Further reading

• El Jibaro. Puerto Rico Off The Beaten Path. Page 157. Accessed January 16, 2011.

References

• Puerto Rico: la gran mentira. 2008. Uahtibili Baez Santiago. Huana Naboli Martinez.