Zambo

For other uses, seeZambo (disambiguation).

Zambo(Spanish:[ˈθambo]or[ˈsambo]) orSambuis a racial term historically used in theSpanish Empireto refer to people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixedAfricanandNative Americanancestry.

Zambo

16th-century painting of ZambocaciquesfromEsmeraldas,Ecuador
Total population
5,804,800 in South America, unknown number overall
Regions with significant populations
Latin America and theCaribbean
Languages
Spanish,PortugueseandEnglish
Religion
Christianity (predominantlyRoman Catholic,minority practicesProtestantism),African religions,tribal religions
Related ethnic groups
Garifuna,Africans,Afro-CaribbeansandAmerindians

The equivalent term in Brazil iscafuzo(Portuguese:[kɐˈfuzu]). However, in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa,cafuzois used to refer to someone born of an African person and a person of mixed African and European ancestry.

Background

The word is believed to have originated from one of theRomance languagesorLatinand its direct descendants. The feminine word iszamba(not to be confused with theArgentineZamba folk dance.)

In some parts of colonial Spanish America, the termzamboapplied to the children of one African and one Amerindian parent, or the children of two zambo parents. InNew Spain(colonial Mexico), the term for those of mixed African and indigenous ancestry waslobo( "wolf" ). This term of classification appears in official marriage registers and other official documentation.

During this period, many other terms denoted individuals of African-Amerindian ancestry in ratios smaller or greater than the 50:50 of zambos:cambujo(zambo-Amerindian mixture) for example. Today in parts of Spanish America,zamborefers to all people with significant or visible amounts of both African and Amerindian ancestry.

History

A representation of an infantzambo,in an 18th-century "Pintura de Castas" fromNew Spain.The painting illustrates "from an African and an Amerindian produces alobo",here a synonym forzambo.

Casta painting showing 16 hierarchically arranged, mixed-race groupings. Row 2, extreme right cell, shows thetorna atrásfather, Indian mother, andLoboorZambooffspring.Ignacio Maria Barreda,1777.Real Academia Española,Madrid.

The termzambowas not formally used in Spanish territories. Competing terms, such asmulato,were also used. From the beginning the early sixteenth century, when African slaves were first imported to Hispaniola, unions between them and indigenous peoples, and Spanish colonists, began to take place. The two non-European groups sometimes worked together in the mines or on the plantations of Hispaniola, and on other Spanish Caribbean islands following the introduction ofsugar caneproduction in the 1520s. In other cases, Africans took refuge in indigenous communities after escaping slavery.

The termzamboswas generally used to refer to persons who did not have European ancestry, but all sorts of unions took place through the centuries, of course. In the eighteenth century, the Spanish began making formal racial classifications, and definedzamboin what became its final, official meaning.

Somezambogroups became well known after being created by runaway or rebel Africans who mixed with or took over indigenous communities. In the unconquered regions of Esmeraldes, in what would becomeEcuador,for example, a small group of shipwrecked former slaves gained control of some indigenous communities, eventually representing them before Spanish authorities in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

TheMisquito Zambosdeveloped as the descendants of a group of African slaves who revolted in 1640 on a slave ship. They wrecked it at CapeGracias a Dioson the border betweenHondurasandNicaragua,to escape into the interior. There they united with the indigenousMiskito people.By the early eighteenth century, Afro-Miskito people came to dominate the kingdom. They led warriors on many extensiveslave raidsto capture slaves for sale to Europeans. Their alliance and protection of English-speaking merchants and settlers in the area helped Great Britain found the colony ofBritish Honduras(present dayBelize).

Today

"From a black man with amulataproduces aSambo,"Indian school, 1770.

"Zamba ofMezquititlán",c. 1908

Officially, zambos represent sizeable minorities in the northwestern South American countries of Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, and Ecuador, as well as in the Central American country ofPanama.A small, but noticeable number of zambos, resulting from recent unions of Amerindian men toAfro-Ecuadorianwomen, and they are common in major coastal cities of Ecuador and in Imbabura province. Prior to rural-to-urban migration in Ecuador, Afro-Ecuadorians were mostly confined to theEsmeraldas Provinceand theChota ValleyinImbabura Province.A genetic study of Afro-Ecuadorians throughout the country revealed that today, the average Afro-Ecuadorian carries significantly higher amounts of Amerindian ancestry than all other Afro-latino groups to the north of the country, with an average of 35.86% Amerindian heritage.In this sense, the Afro-Ecuadorian people maintain a "Zambo" legacy both culturally and genetically.

In Central America, two indigenous-African mixed groups have developed: the Miskito and theGarifuna.The Garifuna originated from the combination of Africans who were shipwrecked or fled from neighboring islands toSt. Vincentduring the 17th and the 19l8th centuries. In 1797, they were deported by the British for supporting France during theFrench Revolutionary Warsto the island ofRoatan,off the coast ofHonduras.From there, they reached the mainland and developed communities along the coast of Central America fromNicaraguatoBelize.

In Mexico, where zambos were sometimes known aslobos(literally meaningwolves), they form a sizeable minority. According to the 2015 Intercensus Estimate, 896,829 people identified as bothAfro-MexicanandIndigenous Mexican.The vast majority of the country's Afro-descended population has been absorbed into the widermestizopopulation. Greater concentrations can be found only in communities scattered around the southern coastal states, includingMichoacán,Guerrero,Oaxaca,Campeche,Quintana Roo,Yucatán,andVeracruz,where many of the country's Afro-Mexicans reside.

Culturally, Mexicanlobosfollowed Amerindian traditions, rather than African influences, as they often had Amerindian mothers and were brought up in her culture. Such acculturation also took place inBolivia,where theAfro-Boliviancommunity absorbed and retained many aspects of Amerindian cultural influences, such as dress and the use of theAymara language.Those communities of Afro-Bolivians reside in theYungasregion of the Bolivian department ofLa Paz.

Under the old-fashioned term "zambo," the Garifuna are "zambos" (mixed-race Amerindians and Africans).

Racism and discrimination

The populations of African andAmerindianancestry have generally been marginalized and discriminated against.

In March 2008, the then US SenatorBarack Obamareflected in a speech the difficult situation faced by the populations of African and Amerindianancestors,thereby demonstrating his concern for the Zamba population of his country.

See also

• Afro-Latin Americans
• Black Indians
• Black Seminoles
• Casta
• Cholo
• Garifuna people
• Lobo (racial category)
• Marabou
• Mestee
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Mestizo
• Miskito
• Miscegenation
• Mulatto
• List of topics related to the African diaspora
• Miskito Sambu

External links

• Stranded in Paradise: Shipwrecked Hundreds of Years Ago, the Garifuna Are Still Trying to Find Their Wayby Teresa Wiltz, The Washington Post.