# Sertanejos (traditional people)

The Sertanejos are people linked to livestock farming and agriculture in the Sertão sub-region of Northeast Region of Brazil and in the Agreste areas of Caatinga. The emergence of the Sertanejos dates back to the 16th century in Bahia with the vaqueiros, driven by the advancement of livestock farming towards the interior.
The Sertanejo people were formed, mainly, by the admixture between Portuguese and Jê indigenous peoples, with the participation of black people as well, mostly free.
Many consider the Sertanejo to be the stereotype of the Northeastern Brazilian, comparable to the Caipiras or the Gauchos.

## Origin and way of life

Cattle were introduced into the Zona da Mata of Northeastern Brazil during the administration of Tomé de Sousa (1549-1553) and were initially directly linked to the sugar cycle, as these animals served as animal traction for the sugarcane fields and as food. Over the decades, the cattle herds multiplied and caused disruption to the sugarcane plantations. This factor, combined with the Dutch invasions of Northeast Brazil, in which many sugar mill pastures were destroyed and many opponents of Dutch rule had to take refuge in the interior, and the social rigidity of the sugar cycle, which required only a few free workers, caused whites, mamelucos, mulattos and blacks from the coastal areas of Bahia and Pernambuco to migrate and stabilish in the Caatinga, along with the cattle, as vaqueiros (cowboys) and assistants. The colonization of the semi-arid of Northeastern Brazil occurred between the 16th and 18th centuries and followed the course of its rivers, such as the São Francisco, Parnaíba, Itapicuru, Vaza-Barris, Apodi, Piranhas-Açu, Jaguaribe, Acaraú and Gurgueia, on whose banks many cattle ranches were formed. The vaqueiros and helpers came into conflict with the indigenous people, although there was continuous admixture with the indigenous people in the Caatingas and Amerindians became cowboys.
Cattle farming in the Caatinga was an activity that required little labor, which was predominantly free labor, although some regions, such as Piauí, used enslaved African labor on a large scale. The cattle were raised freely and horses were also bred to help the cowboys move around.
The Bahia's upper backlands and most of Chapada Diamantina, located in the center and center-south of Bahia, had a different historical and social formation from the rest of the Sertão, as they were occupied in the 18th and 19th centuries by the extraction of precious stones, with the massive use of enslaved African labour. Despite this, these Sertanejos of Bahia have a strong rural identity.
Originally, there were two large latifundia that dominated the Sertão: Casa da Torre ("House of the Tower"), owned by the Garcia d'Ávila family, and Casa da Ponte ("House of the Bridge" ), owned by the Guedes de Brito family. These latifundia were divided into smaller estates, which were rented to the vaqueiros.
Life for the Sertanejos was difficult, largely due to the droughts. There was only an abundance of milk and meat, and they used curdled milk and cheese only for their own consumption. They had small plots of land where, during the rainy season, they planted crops such as corn, cassava and beans. Cassava flour was mixed with meat to produce paçoca, a typical Sertanejo dish. Various everyday artifacts for the backwoodsmen were made from the cattle's leather, such as huts, canteens, backpacks, beds and clothing.
The Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro compared the Sertanejo cowboys and farmers to the peasants in serfdom of feudal Europe, as both lived their entire lives, from birth, in the region of origin of their parents and grandparents, were tied to land they did not own, and had to pay high taxes to the landowners.
Contacts between the Sertão and the coast were sporadic and occurred only at certain times of the year, through fairs where cattle ranchers and traders gathered, many of which gave rise to population centers, embryos of current cities such as Feira de Santana (Bahia), Campina Grande (Paraíba), Pastos Bons (Maranhão), Serra Talhada (Pernambuco), and Oeiras (Piauí).

## Culture

The main music genre of the Sertanejo people is the forró, which is also a dance style. Between forró's name, one of the most famous is Luiz Gonzaga.
The main manifestation of Sertanejos literature is cordel literature.
Other cultural characteristics of the Sertanejo people are the vaquejada and the strong Catholic religiosity.