Information about Gauchos

Gaucho (gaúcho in Portuguese) is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile and Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil. In Brazil it is used to call people born in the Rio Grande do Sul state.

The word gaucho could be described as a loose equivalent to the North American "cowboy". Like the North American word cowboy, Venezuelan or Colombian llanero, or Chilean huaso, or the Mexican vaquero, the term often connotes the 19th century more than the present day; then gauchos made up the majority of the rural pampas population, herding cattle and practicing agriculture as their main economic activities.

There are several conflicting hypotheses of the origin of the term. It may derive from the Quechua huachu (orphan, vagabond) . The first recorded uses of the term date from around the time of Argentine independence in 1816.

History

Gauchos were generally nomadic and lived on the pampas, the plain that extends north from Patagonia, bounded on the west by the Andes and extending as far north as the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Most gauchos were either criollo (South Americans of Spanish ancestry) or mestizo (of mixed Spanish and Native American blood), but the term applies equally to people of other European, African, or mixed ancestry.

Some gauchos were recorded as being in the Falkland Islands [1], and have left a few Spanish words in the local dialect e.g. camp from campo.

The gaucho plays an important symbolic role in the nationalist feelings of this region, especially that of Argentina and Uruguay. The epic poem Martín Fierro by José Hernández used the gaucho as a symbol against corruption and of Argentine national tradition, pit against Europeanising tendencies. Martín Fierro, the hero of the poem, is drafted into the Argentine military for a border war, deserts, and becomes an outlaw and fugitive. The image of the free gaucho is often contrasted to the slaves who worked the northern Brazilian lands. Further literary descriptions are found in Ricardo Güiraldes' Don Segundo Sombra.

Like the North American cowboy, gauchos are generally reputed to be strong, honest, silent types, but proud and capable of violence when provoked. There is, perhaps, more of an air of melancholy about the classic gaucho than the classic cowboy.

Also like the cowboy, the gauchos were great horsemen. Typically, a gaucho's horse constituted most of what he owned in the world. During the wars of the 19th century in the Southern Cone, the cavalries on all sides were composed almost entirely of gauchos.

The gaucho diet was composed almost entirely of beef while on the range, supplemented by yerba mate, an herbal tea-like drink rich in caffeine and nutrients. Argentine cooking draws influence from the simple but delicious recipes used in gaucho meals.

Gauchos dressed quite distinctly from North American cowboys, and used boleadoras (three leather bound rocks tied together with approximately three feet long leather straps) in addition to the familiar "North American" lariat tor riata. The typical gaucho outfit would include a poncho (which doubled as saddle blanket and also as sleeping gear), a facón (large knife), a rebenque (leather whip), and loose-fitting trousers called bombachas, belted with a tirador, or a chiripá, a piece of cloth used in the fashion--but not the function--of a diaper. Several of these items were British imports into the area; for example, bombachas were originally made in Turkey. In the wintertime, gauchos wore heavy wool ponchos to protect against cold.

Modern influences

Gaucho is also the common denomination of the current inhabitants of the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. An example is the Brazilian football player Ronaldinho, known by Brazilian people as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, as he was born in that State. The term is also used to identify some groups of people who live in other states of the southern half of Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina. For those people evoking this denomination usually has the purpose of expressing the pride one has for its origins as immigrants to untouched lands and for the hard-working nature it represents. Gauchito (a boy in the Argentine colors and a gaucho hat) was the mascot for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

In Popular Culture

• DC Comics owns two characters named El Gaucho. One was a Wonder Woman villain equipped with a flying robot horse and an electric lasso (from Wonder Woman #263) and the other one is an Argentinian masked hero (see Batmen of All Nations).

See also

• Hacienda system
• Literatura Gauchesca
• Rebenque, the gaucho riding whip
• The Taba Game
• Estancias
• Pato
• Florencio Molina Campos
• Gauchito Gil
• Vaquero
• Cowboy (U.S.A)
• Morochuco (Peruvian Andean cowboy)
• Piajeno (north coast mule rider of Peru: Piura and Lambayeque)
• Charro (Mexican cowboy, nomad and bandolero)
• Guajiro (Cuban cowboy)
• Huaso (Chilean cowboy)

References

• Confederacion Gaucha Argentina
• Folklore del Norte Argentino (in Spanish)
• Movimento Tradicionalista Gaúcho (in Portuguese)
• Página do Gaúcho (in Portuguese)
• Aldo Sessas - Gauchos
• Richard W. Slatta - Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier