A caboclo () is a person of mixed

Indigenous Brazilian Indigenous peoples in Brazil ( pt, povos indígenas no Brasil) or Indigenous Brazilians ( pt, indígenas brasileiros, links=no) once comprised an estimated 2000 tribes and nations inhabiting what is now the country of Brazil, before European con ...

and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of ''

mestiço Mestiço is a Portuguese term that referred to persons born from a couple in which one was an aboriginal person and the other a European. Mestiço community in Brazil in Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons born fro ...

''. The term, also pronounced "caboco", is from

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (' ), also Portuguese of Brazil (', ) or South American Portuguese (') is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil and the most influential form of Portuguese worldwide. It is spoken by almost all of ...

, and perhaps ultimately from the Tupi ''kaa'boc''. It means a "person having copper-coloured skin" A person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and sub-Saharan black ancestry is known as a "'' cafuzo''." In the 1872 and 1890 censuses, 3.90% and 9.04% of the population self-identified as caboclos, respectively. Since then, caboclos are counted as

pardo ''Pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') is a term used in the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial descendants of Southern Europeans, Amerindians and West Africans. In some places they were defined as ne ...

s, along with mulattoes (mixed Black-White) and cafuzos (mixed Amerindian-Black). A survey performed in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

showed that 14% of Whites and 6% of Pardos reported a mixed Amerindian and White ancestry. According to the Mexican researcher Lizcano, based on a non genetic based estimation, caboclos (''mestizos'') would be 12% of Brazilian population.

Etymology

The term ''caboclo'' (which in the Amazon Basin and in

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially that of the Yoruba, and the Roman C ...

is usually pronounced without the ''l'', as ''caboco'') is said to come from the Tupi word ''kari'boka'', meaning "deriving from the white". Its primary meaning is ''mestizo'', "a person of part Amerindian and part European descent." But it may also be used to refer to any Indigenous Brazilian who is assimilated.Wafer, James William. ''The Taste of Blood: Spirit Possession in Brazilian Candomblé''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991, p. 55. The term Indian should not be confused with people originating from India in South Asia. The king of Portugal, D. Joseph I, encouraged marriages between European colonists and Indians in the 18th century; this enabled the European men to settle into families, and resulted in the birth of the first ''caboclo'' children. Similarly, in the 19th century during the time of

rubber soldier Rubber soldiers (Portuguese: ''Soldados da borracha'') were people in Brazil which were compulsorily drafted to harvest rubber in the Amazon rainforest during World War II.Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises n ...

and transported them into the Amazonian interior to harvest

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, a ...

. The men were never granted permission to leave, and married local native women, fathering more generations of mestiços. The ''caboclo'' populations in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

region of Brazil are noted as voracious eaters of the '' açaí'' palm fruit, which is basic to the traditional diet of the natives. 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 term ''caboco'' is also used as an alternate term for the '' Orishas'' of the

religion. The caboclo is also an Orisha.

Days celebrating racial groups in Brazil

*In Brazil, the "Day of the Caboclo" (''Dia do Caboclo''), observed annually on June 24, in celebration of the contributions and identity of the original caboclos and their descendants. This date is an official public holiday in the State of Amazonas. *" Mixed Race Day" (''Dia do

Mestiço Mestiço is a Portuguese term that referred to persons born from a couple in which one was an aboriginal person and the other a European. Mestiço community in Brazil in Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons born fro ...

'') is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all mixed-race Brazilians, including the caboclos. The date is an official public holiday in three Brazilian states. *" Indian Day" (''Dia do Índio''), observed annually on April 19, recognizes and honours the indigenous peoples of Brazil. *" Black Awareness Day" (''Dia da Consciência Negra'') is observed annually on November 20 as a day "to celebrate a regained awareness by the black community about their great worth and contribution to the country". The date is an official public holiday in five Brazilian states.

References

Citations

Books

* Adams, C., Murrieta, R., & Neves, W. A. (2006). ''Sociedades caboclas amazônicas: modernidade e invisibilidade'' (1a ed.). Sâo Paulo: Annablume. and * Nugent, S. (1993). ''Amazonian Caboclo Society: An Essay on Invisibility and Peasant Economy''. Providence, RI: Berg.

Journal articles

* 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.

External links

*http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/13/news/brazil.php {{Skin colors Multiracial affairs in Brazil Métis Race in Brazil