page_title: Vaqueiros de alzada
section_title: Kinship
hierarchical_section_title: Vaqueiros de alzada / Culture / Kinship
caption_attribution_description: English: A wall of grave niches Español: Un muro de niches Asturianu: Un muriu de niches
context_page_description: The Vaqueiros de Alzada are a northern Spanish nomadic people in the mountains of Asturias and León, who traditionally practice transhumance, i.e. moving seasonally with cattle.
  Vaqueiros have a culture separate from their non-Vaqueiro Asturian and Leonese neighbors and can often be distinguished by their last names, many of which are unique to Vaqueiros including Acero, Alonso, Antón, Ardura, Arnaldo, Berdasco, Boto, Calzón, Cano, Feito, Gancedo, Garrido, Gavilán, Gayo, Parrondo, Redruello, Riesgo, Rubio, Sirgo, and Verdasco among others.
context_section_description: Vaqueiro society is largely patrilineal and patrilocal. It relies on the system of casa, or the house, as a system of inheritance and as a broader spiritual concept. The house includes its living members, deceased members, ancestors, the physical houses, the land associated with the physical houses, the animals of the house, and all the physical belongings of the house. The head of the house is responsible for making leadership and financial decisions for the house and leadership is passed down completely when the previous head dies or partially when the previous head is unable to carry out the responsibilities as the head of the house. The house can only be inherited by one person as not to divide the house and the head may choose anyone to pass the house on to, regardless of age or gender, though it is almost always passed down to the oldest son.
  Marriages were traditionally arranged and the goal of the family of the bride was to marry her into a house of greater prestige than their own. Marriages were arranged with a neutral intermediary and the bride's family gave a dowry, which often consisted of livestock or agricultural products, but never land. Vaqueiros are traditionally endogamous within their ethnic group, only marrying other Vaqueiros, and exogamous between houses, only marrying outside the house.
  Vaqueiro houses have names which are separate from their surnames. Outside the house, Vaqueiros are called by the name of their house, and at their death, the name of their house along with the name of their braña is listed on their grave alongside their given name and surnames.
caption: Vaqueiro graves with the family house and braña in Brañalonga
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