Afro Bolivian

Afro Bolivians are Bolivians of African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from this community. The term can refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Bolivian society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class culture.

History of slavery in Bolivia

The mines of Potosi that many Africans and Natives died working from the harsh conditions

In 1544, the Spanish Conquistadors discovered the silver mines in a city now called Potosí, which is on the base of Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) in Bolivia. Almost immediately, they began enslaving the natives for working in the mines. However, the health of the natives working in the mines was becoming very poor, which is why the Spanish began to look towards a new group for labor. By the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, the Spanish mine owners and barons began bringing in African slaves in high numbers to help work the mines with the natives that hadn’t run out of health.

The conditions that the slaves had to work in were horrible. In fact, the brown and black slaves working in the mines survived no more than 6 months. First off, Potosí is 13,000 feet in elevation, making it the highest city in the world. Naturally, the slaves were not used to working at such a high altitude. Also many of the lives of these Native and African workers fell short because of the toxic smelter fumes and the mercury vapors that they were inhaling while working the mines. Also, because of the fact that the slaves had to work in the very dark mines for about four months, once they finally left these dark mines, they had to be blindfolded to protect their eyes from the sunlight, which they hadn’t seen in a long time.

Although it was a requirement for the Natives and Africans over 18 years of age to work in the mines for 12 back breaking hours, younger children were still put to work in the mines. These children did work less hours; however, they were still exposed to the very harsh conditions such as asbestos, toxic gases, potential cave-ins, and explosions. It is estimated that as many as eight million Africans and Natives died from working in the harsh conditions of the mines from a time span of 1545, when the Spaniards first put the Natives to work, until 1825, the end of the colonial period. This colonial period is certainly the worst human rights abuse of Europe’s colonial era.

The Spaniards way of combating the harsh conditions for the slaves in the mines was to chew coca leaves. Coca, which would eventually become a very important element of Bolivian culture, is an agricultural product that is consumed in Bolivia, but can also be processed into cocaine. By chewing the coca leaves, the slaves were numbing their senses to the cold, as well as preventing the feeling of hunger.

The Yungas

After their emancipation in the 19th century, Afro-Bolivians would relocate to a place called the Yungas. The Yungas, which is not far north from the city of La Paz, is where most of the country’s coca is grown. In parts of the Yungas such as Coroico, Mururata, Chicaloma, Calacala - Coscoma, and Irupana are a large number of Bolivians of African heritage. Before the Bolivians relocated to the Yungas, it was a place mostly inhabited by Aymara Indians (Indigenous group that makes up about 25% of the indigenous population and along with the other indigenous group called the Quechua Indians make up the majority of the indigenous population) and mestizos(European and Native mixed people). It is believed that the Natives thought that darker skin was more attractive, which is why they were impressed with the skin of the Africans when they first began arriving to Bolivia. For this reason, it is no surprise that many of the Afro-Bolivians would intermarry with the Aymara, adopt many of their cultural elements such as their style of dressing, and even become an Aymara speaking subculture.

ome black Indians with drums of African origin

Although these Afro-Bolivians were free, they still had a difficult battle in trying to maintain their culture. Many elements of their culture began to disappear, such as their feast, language, and spiritual sense to name a few. They had to fight very strongly against the colonial aggression and exclusion of their post-emancipation culture. One of the ways that they were able to hold onto this culture was through their music and dance.

La Saya(Saya music)

The biggest African influence in Bolivian culture is Saya music or La Saya. Saya, which is growing in popularity in Bolivia, is still very misunderstood. In fact, no one except the Afro-Bolivians themselves seem to be able to interpret it. The reason for this lack of understanding of saya is because the interpretation of the instruments as well as the rhythm is very peculiar. It involves Andean instruments incorporated with African percussion. The primary instrument is the drum, which was passed on by their African ancestors, along with gourds, shakers, and even jingles bells that are attached to their clothing on the ankle area.

During the performance of saya, the Afro-Bolivians wear Aymara style clothing. The women wear a bright multi-colored blouse with ribbons, a multi-colored skirt called a “pollera”, with a “manta” (back cover) in their hand, and a bore-slain hat. The men on the other hand, wear a hat, feast shirt, an Aymara style slash around the waist, woolen thick cloth pants called “bayeta pants”, and sandals.

Every rhythm of Saya begins with the beating of a jingle bell by the Caporal (foreman) who guides the dance. This Caporal (also called capataz) guides the dancers with a cudgel (whip) in hand, decorated pants, and jingle bells near the ankles. The women, who have their own guide during this dance, sing while moving their hips, shaking their hands, as well as dialoguing with the men who play the bass drum and coancha.

Afro-Bolivians today

Even though Bolivia had the richest silver mine in the world in the 17th century, it is currently the 2nd poorest country in South America. The majority of the Bolivians lives in rural areas, are unable to acquire basic needs, and depend on farming for their survival. For this reason, one can conclude that the conditions for the Afro-Bolivians aren’t very good either, since many Afro-Bolivians live without electricity. In fact, it was reported at Bolivia’s national referendum in 2004, that Afro-Bolivians (as well as the indigenous people) face discrimination, disadvantages in health, life expectancy, education, income, literacy, and work under brutal conditions.

It has been estimated that 25,000 Afro-Bolivians live in the Yungas, however, this number could possibly be wrong, since not even the Afro-Bolivians themselves know the number of their population. Once thing we do know is that the Afro-Bolivians are proud of their culture and have fought very hard to preserve it. In fact, in the town of Mururata, the Afro-Bolivians managed to keep their original culture for a long time, and even have a direct descendant of an African King living there. Not only that, but they are also in the process of trying to put together African culture classes for the young people, in an attempt to maintain their African culture. The future of the Afro-Bolivians is unclear; however, it is clear that the presence of mother Africa is still present in Bolivia.

ee also

*Caporales
*Afro-Latin American
*Yungas

External links

* [http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2006/08/31/475312.html Dagbladets MAGASINET om afrobolivianere]