The village of San Basilio de Palenque, a small village in northern Colombia, was one of the first communities of escaped African slaves during the Spanish Colonization. The descendants of these African slaves are now working on preserving their cultural heritage, as well as the Palenquero language, a Spanish-based Creole language estimated to be spoken by 2,500 people. Through stories of the slavery passed along from generation to generation, as well as the musical traditions being kept alive, this village appears to bring the African continent to this corner of Colombia.
The blog Azadón de Palo [es] interviews M. Elena Salgado, a resident of the village and answers the question, “What is it like to live in San Basilio de Palenque?“
Es un lugar pequeño, donde todos nos conocemos. Somos generaciones de todas las familias, desde las primeras que se refugiaron en los Montes de María (así se llama la zona que rodea a San Basilio). Nuestras casas son humildes, hechas con material que nos da la naturaleza; tierra, bahareque, tapia y cemento a la vista. Nuestros techos son de palma y lata, que ayuda a refrescar y soportar el calor.
In the homes, the sounds of Afro-Colombian resonate, and in which many sectors of society want to claim. The essence of that concept takes strength and it is in that way that the blog Colombian Passport [es] publishes the following paragraph about this history:
Lo que bien se sabe acerca de los colombianos negros es que son las personas descendientes de los que fueron traídos como mercancía, forzados por las compañías negreras europeas entre los siglos XV y XVIII a todo el territorio de las Américas.
Patricia Quintero Barrera of the blog Etnicográfica [es] writes:
La Afrocolombianidad o Identidad étnica Afrocolombiana es el conjunto de aportes y contribuciones, materiales y espirituales, desarrollados por los pueblos africanos y la población afrocolombiana en el proceso de construcción y desarrollo de nuestra Nación y las diversas esferas de la sociedad Colombiana. Son el conjunto de realidades, valores y sentimientos que están integrados en la cotidianidad individual y colectiva de todos nosotros y nosotras. La Afrocolombianidad es un patrimonio de cada colombiano(a), indistintamente del color de la piel o el lugar donde haya nacido.
Finally, on Asabbagh's channel on YouTube, there is the trailer of a documentary that shows what San Basilio de Palenque is like now, a community that was not declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in vain.
5 comments
culture is one of our most important heritage, it is very important to protect and cultivate all their traditions and not to forget and get lost with time.
a suggestion:
tapia and bahareque are not the same as adobe.
hugs :)
That was my fault as the translator, it appeared to be teh same. What would be the difference between tapia and bahareque?
:) no problem
http://tinyurl.com/y86xegf Bahareque definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth tapia definition (bad translation, not taipa, is tapia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe adobe definiton
A good example: Suso’s house in tapia
http://convergentes.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/im000748.jpg
and Suso’s house in adobe http://convergentes.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/im000748.jpg
and a house in bahareque http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Bahareque_llanos_house_from_Venezuela.JPG
greetings
Thanks to Eduardo for translating and Blueandtanit for your comments.
Greetings,
Cati