The cowboys of Argentina: GAUCHOS | Coordinating Accessories » The cowboys of Argentina: GAUCHOS The word gaucho could be described as a loose equivalent to the North American “cowboy”. Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina. The term often connotes the 19th century more than the present day, when gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cattle on the vast estancias, and practicing hunting as their main economic activities. The gaucho plays an important symbolic role in the nationalist feelings of this region. The epic poem Martín Fierro by José Hernández used the gaucho as a symbol against corruption and of Argentine national tradition, pitted against Europeanizing tendencies. Martín Fierro, the hero of the poem, is drafted into the Argentine military for a border war, deserts, and becomes an outlaw and fugitive. The image of the free gaucho is often contrasted to the slaves who worked the northern Brazilian lands.

Clothing of the gauchos: LAS PILCHAS All gaucho clothing is usually called pilcha. The typical gaucho dress has the imprint of the Andalusian horse rider with a poncho (large cloak or cape cut like a blanket with a slit in the center for the head), a facón (large knife), a whip and baggy pants called bombachas, held with a belt with a strip of woven wool usually with a decoration called guarda pampa for everyday use and a wide leather belt adorned with silver coins for special occasions, and a chiripá (cloth tied around his waist like a diaper). One of the functions of the chiripá was to protect the gaucho from the cold (the cold was called many times with the Quechua word: “chiri). According to their economics or labor, this ornament used to have luxury features, including coins or inlaid with silver and gold figures. Their torsos were covered with the poncho, which originated in northern Argentina and is also common in other parts of the Americas, and was often made of vicuña or from the hair of the guanaco belly.

The gaucho used to ride with botas de potro (horse boots) that had no heels and were open at the ends, so that the toes were uncovered. Leather boots with heels (botas fuertes or strong boots) were expensive, although most of the Gauchos saved money for them and show them off in the Patron Festivities, holidays and in the dances. They were called “patriotic boots” because they were the same ones used by the soldiers. The northern Argentine gaucho boots often have folds that resemble bellows, i.e. leather legs “cordoned off” as a way of defending the forest and possible snake bites. These boots often have espuelas (spurs) attached to them, highlighting the large silver spurs called “Nazarene” (so called because their huge pricks remotely reminiscent to the crown of thorns with which, according to the Gospels, Jesus from Nazareth was tortured).

A strong Basque immigration occurred in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century which spread the use of a black beret and the chambergo (a dark hat of medium wings) and “alpargatas” (the originals “TOMS”) among the gauchos. I designed an outfit for a women inspired by the gaucho’s clothing. – The poncho is made out of vicuña, loosely woven and dyed in a rich red. It has a wide stripe of raw leather at one of the ends adorned with chains and a horse shoe with a horse head in the middle, all made out of alpaca, a white metal traditional of Argentina. – The loose pants are knee length and have a woven cuff with “guarda pampa” design, as well as a high and wide belted waist. – The raw leather boots are knee length with details of “fuelle” (bellows) at the top, uncovered toes and chain detail interlacing from the top to the vamp, inspired by the “botas de potro”. – I also designed a necklace out of a silver “espuela” (spurs).

– A simple vest completes the outfit, inspired by the evolution of the garment at the beginning of the century. Gauchos of Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil Gauchos of Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil Wanderers of the Pampas Updated January 29, 2016. Gauchos of Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil: Wherever you have cattle, and cattle ranches, you have people on horseback tending to them. They're called by many names: cowboy in the US; gaucho in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil; vaqueiro in northern Brazil; huaso in Chile and llanero in Colombia and Venezuela. In the great wide plains areas, called pampas , ( photo ) of Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, cattle raising is a primary way of life. The men who work the cattle are called gauchos, from the Quechua huachu, which means orphan or vagabond. Spanish settlers distinguished the two by calling orphans gauchos and vagabonds gauchos, but over time the usage melded into gaucho. Much has been written, fact and fiction, about the legendary Gauchos , the wanderers of the Pampas.

The early horsemen were skilled horsemen, loners, scrabbling out a life on the sun-baked pampas, living off the land and tracking down lost cattle for ranchers, their patrons for whom they also provided protection, and in times of battle, military service. continue reading below our video Tipping Etiquette Around the World Their nomadic life meant little time spent at home, which they might have shared with a common-law wife who raised their children. Sons follwed their father's traditions. Their clothing reflected their life on horseback: a wide hat, a woolen poncho, long pleated trousers, or loose baggy pants called bombachas and knee-high leather boots. They made their boots by wrapping the hide of a freshly killed calf around their legs and feet. As the hide dried, it took on the form of the foot and leg. They owned nothing of value but their horse and the long knife, the facon, that they kept sharp, and handy. The facon and the boleadora , stones bound in leather strips and used as a lariat to trip cattle or other animals by looping it around their legs.

They had no way of preserving meat, and after butchering a cow, would cook it immediately over an open fire. This was the beginning of the asado, still popular today. Meat and maté, were the mainstays of their diets and the brewing and consumption of this herb called yerba maté was a several times a day ritual. Yerba Mate: How to Use It describes the preparation of the maté infusion, the cup, either a dried gourd or wooden cup, and the filtered straw called a bombilla. It wasn't always so. In the beginning, they were looked down on as lower-class, mestizos, but when the wars of independence against Spain began, and commanders looked for able-bodied men, the gauchos were called into service and commanded the respect of the military. Today, in Argentina, June 16 is a holiday, celebrating the gaucho contribution to the War of Independence. Back then, as settlements grew in the interior of the country, the gauchos resisted encroaching civilization. Over time, however, the early gaucho lost his solitary existence and became employed on the great ranches. They settled down, rounded up cattle, mended fences, branded animals and tended sheep.

As their way of living changed, the legend of the gaucho grew. They were studied, as in Some Notes on Argentine Gauchos in the 19th Century and the Question of "Class" and honored, as in the classic epic poem, El Gaucho Martín Fierro by José Hernández. Gauchos still are an integral part of the ranching areas of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, as glimpses of gauchos and the countryside in Uruguay attest. Today,musical groups and sports teams call themselves gauchos, clothiers sell hats, and the gaucho is a prime attraction on tours and often photographed. In Brazil, the southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul is a cattle-raising area famous for its rough-riding cowboys, and its 10 million inhabitants are even known as gauchos. They do the same work as other gauchos, including curing and dyeing hides using tree bark ( photo .) Zona Arara Azul, (sul) is an account of a trip to the Pantanal with some close-up experiences with Brazilian gauchos.

Surprising to some, "Brazil also boasts a year-round circuit of more than 1,200 other rodeos, according to the National Rodeo Federation." (Quoted from Brazil's Redeo Boom .) Barretos International Rodeo is the largest international rodeo. Competitors come from many countries and celebrity country and western music stars from the US make regular appearances there. The Festa do Peão de Boiadeiro is held in conjunction with the rodeo, and in addition to awards for rodeo performance, music, and exhibition rounds. Cowboys of Color in South America | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed Cowboys of Color in South America Gaucho of the Argentine Republic, 1868 Image Courtesy of the Library of Congress In the following account North Carolina State University historian Richard Slatta explores the little known history and heritage of South American cowboys of African and mixed race background. Many students of frontier societies, most notably Frederick Jackson Turner, have depicted the frontier as a place of relatively greater democracy and social leveling. Unfettered by the social conventions and constraints of settled society, the frontier supposedly offered greater opportunity and equality to all.

In reality, ethnic minorities faced discrimination in ranching frontiers throughout the Americas. A parallel myth, especially strong in Argentina and the United States, depicts cowboys , the quintessential frontier heroes, as white. A look at frontier demographics reveals the vast majority of Latin American cowboys to have been any color except white. Thus myth and social reality diverged in both North and South America. Horsemen throughout South America exhibited a similar ethnic makeup, but local differences altered the relative proportions. In Venezuela , the greater number of slaves and runaways who escaped from coastal plantations increased the black influence among the cowboy or llanero population. Estimates for Venezuela in the early nineteenth century place the white population ( Spaniards and creoles, or American-born Spaniards) at no more than 20 to 25 percent of the total, with castas (nonwhite lower classes) comprising the balance. Slavery figured less prominently in the economies of colonial Uruguay and Argentina, so mestizos outnumbered black gauchos (cowboys of the pampas or plains). Brazil developed two distinctive cowboy cultures.

Vaqueiros worked in the sertão, the poor, dry, dusty backlands of the country's northeastern "hump." Often beset by long droughts, the region required hardy cattle capable of surviving the desert conditions. In the early colonial era, poor Portuguese immigrants worked as cowboys, but over time, miscegenation created a multiethnic society throughout most of Brazil. By the eighteenth century, most vaqueiros were mestizos, Indians, or blacks. Writing in 1902, Brazilian intellectual Euclides da Cunha described the northeasterner. "Glued to his horse's back, with his knees dug into its flanks until horse and rider appear to be one, he gives the bizarre impression of a crude sort of centaur: emerging unexpectedly into a clearing, plunging into the tall weeds, leaping ditches and swamps, taking the small hills in his stride, crashing swiftly through the prickly briar patches, and galloping at full speed over the expanse of tablelands." Some Brazilian intellectuals depicted their northeastern cattle frontier as a place of racial and social democracy. However, lines and class and race divided people on the frontier as elsewhere in Brazil.

The grim reality of cowboy life in the desolate northeast was far less heroic than latter-day mythmakers would have us belief. In Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost province, gaúchos, cultural cousins to the gauchos of Argentina, rode the vast, lush rolling plains, the campahna. Fiercely independent like all horsemen, the gaúcho resisted the constraints of law, but owing to his superb horsemanship and cavalry skills, he often faced military conscription as did cowboys elsewhere in Latin America. Hides and dried beef to feed slaves remained major exports from southern Brazil well into the nineteenth century. Auguste Saint-Hilaire visited Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the early 1820s: "The cattle are left completely to the laws of nature. They are not cared for in any way. They are not even given salt," he noted. Across the Andes Mountains from Argentina, huasos tended cattle in the valley and mountain pastures of Chile . Thomas Sutcliffe described huasos at work during a rodeo (cattle roundup) in the early nineteenth century.

He watched them "scouring the woods, and riding at full gallop up and down the steep hills, and almost impervious thickets of thorns, "algaroba" [algarroba, a variety of vetch], and patches of cardoon [perennial thistle related to the artichoke], where a stranger could scarcely find a passage. . . .. I have often seen them throw their lasso at full speed, and entangle and secure the wildest animal in situations that have surprised me." As in other countries, Chilean romanticizers created an image of their cowboy as a creole gentleman (American-born Spaniard), dressed in fine silks, trimmed with silver or gold braid, and sporting huge silver spurs. The huaso of reality was an ill-dressed, hard-working lower-class mestizo cowhand. Horsemen everywhere tried their best to avoid working on foot. Huasos sometimes failed on that score and had to perform agricultural and well as ranch work. Often faced with labor shortages, Latin American ranchers availed themselves to both wage laborers and slaves. The ranching elites used debt peonage and various types of passports and working papers to limit the economic options of free workers.

Slaves worked throughout the llanos of Venezuela and Colombia as well. In 1791 some 180 slaves lived on or near sixteen ranches in the province of Tucupido. The same records listed only ten resident free peons. In 1799, geographer Alexander von Humboldt accurately recorded "these Mulattoes, who are known by the name of Peones Llaneros, are partly freed men and partly slaves." Despite abolition, slaves remained in the llanos after independence came to Venezuela. Slaves remained in bondage through legal subterfuge for decades after abolition in Argentina. Llaneros worked cattle in another difficult terrain, the llanos of interior Venezuela and Colombia. Flooded during the rainy season and parched during the dry season, this difficult environment required workers of great stamina. Richard Vowell described llaneros at work in 1818.

"Although usually styled and considered herdsmen, their habits and mode of life were in reality those of hunters; for the cattle, which constituted their sole wealth, being perfectly wild, the exertions requisite to collect a herd, and to keep it together in the neighbourhood of a farm-house, were necessarily violent and incessant." Latin American racial distinctions and prejudice paralleled attitudes in the United States. A clear racial divide emerged in Venezuela during the independence wars. Llaneros, led by regional caudillos (local strongmen), battled the patriot forces of the white creole elite in Caracas. José Tomás Boves, a wily and vicious Spanish Army officer, ably manipulated racial hatreds to rally llaneros behind the royalist standard. It took the death of Boves and the prowess and charisma of llanero caudillo José Antonio Páez to swing the fierce cavalrymen of the llanos to the patriot cause. Cowboys of color in Venezuela and Colombia proved central in many patriot victories, such as the famous battles at Boyacá in 1819 and Carabobo in 1821. In the eyes of some, the horsemen became symbols of patriotism.

In the 1860s, José María Samper described the llanero as a national archetype for Colombia. Manuel Tejera presented similar images of the Venezuelan llanero during the 1870s. In Argentina, gauchos, overwhelmingly cowboys of color, felt little motivation to battle Indians or foreign enemies on behalf of white landowners and politicians. As a result, chronic manpower shortages plagued military commanders and rendered inoperative strategies that required large numbers of troops. In terms of class, culture, and economic interests, gauchos had more in common with the Indians of the pampas (plains) than with the elite leaders giving the orders. Only regional caudillos, who rewarded gauchos with an opportunity for plunder, found willing recruits (montoneros). Observers marveled at the equestrian skills of all South American horsemen. In the 1860s, Wilfred Latham recorded a typical view."Born to the horse, as it were, the gaucho is a splendid horseman, dexterous with the lasso.

In full career after a wild bull or cow, he swings the lasso and throws it unerringly over the animal's horns; then on his checking the horse, the lasso, which is fastened to a ring in the broad hide girth of the saddle, is drawn taut, and the animal swung round or thrown." Despite their importance in war and to the ranch economy, Argentina's elite leadership in Buenos Aires despised and feared the provincial masses, calling them cabecitas negras (little black heads). Cowboys of the pampas, mounted and armed as montoneros, provided the basis of popular and military support for disruptive caudillos. Racism pervaded and shaped elite policies on labor, immigration, and other matters throughout the nineteenth century. The one bright spot for Afro-Argentine gauchos took a musical form. Wandering troubadours, called payadores, entertained throughout the country. Many of the more famous singers were black. Overall, South American cowboys attracted a curious blend of positive and negative commentary. Outsiders, whether Latin American or European, lauded the cowboys' stamina and skill on horseback. Nationalists praised their warrior virtues as cavalrymen.

Yet racism and ethnocentrism colored many views which held these horsemen to be savage, violent, and barely human. Naturalist Charles Darwin well expressed this ambivalence about gauchos during his visit to the pampas in the early 1830s. "Their politeness is excessive: they never drink their spirits without expecting you to taste it; but whilst making their exceedingly graceful bow, they seem quite as ready, if occasion offered, to cut your throat." As the twentieth century dawned, Argentina's ruling elite encouraged the creation of a new, mythical gaucho--loyal, patriotic, and white. Fearful of the disruptions of Italian immigrants, some radical labor leaders, the Argentine elite created an idealized white gaucho to serve as a model of citizenship, a figure that bore no resemblance to the actual gauchos of history. Thus in North and South America, cowboys of color remained suppressed and hidden from the historical record until recent times. Today we recognize the multiethnic composition of the ranch labor force and the fallacy of invented white heroes of horseback. Sources: Richard W. Slatta, The Cowboy Encyclopedia (New York: W. W.

Norton, 1996); Richard W.Slatta, Cowboys of the Americas (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990); Richard W. Slatta, Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992). Contributor(s): Gaucho | Define Gaucho at Dictionary.com gaucho [gou-choh; Spanish gou-chaw] /ˈgaʊ tʃoʊ; Spanish ˈgaʊ tʃɔ/ Spell [gou-chohz; Spanish gou-chaws] /ˈgaʊ tʃoʊz; Spanish ˈgaʊ tʃɔs/ (Show IPA) 1. a native cowboy of the South American pampas, usually of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry. 2. gauchos, Also called gaucho pants. wide, calf-length trousers for men or women modeled after the trousers worn by South American gauchos.

Origin of gaucho 1815-25; < American Spanish < Arawak cachu comrade Dictionary.com Unabridged Examples from the Web for gaucho Expand Historical Examples Another mounted gaucho is near by to "ride off," which he does by galloping between the colt and any dangerous ground or object. British Dictionary definitions for gaucho Expand a cowboy of the South American pampas, usually one of mixed Spanish and Indian descent Word Origin C19: from American Spanish, probably from Quechuan wáhcha orphan, vagabond Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for gaucho Expand 1824, from Spanish, probably from a native South American language, cf.

Araucanian cauchu "wanderer." Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper The Gauchos Home By Kelsey Orlando WHO ARE THE GAUCHOS? Gauchos are South American cattlemen, much like the cowboys of North America. They live in the pampas, hills, and mountains of South America. They roam the pampas as horsemen and cowhands. They have become romantic figures just as our cowboys. The classic gauchos were mostly mestizos which are people of mixed European and Indian culture. There are as many different gauchos as the many different terrains there are in South America. THE PAMPAS The Pampas is the region of Argentina where the gauchos are most abundant. The Pampas cover one-fifth of the country. The Pampas was named from the Quechum Indian word that means "level land". The Pampas is a large flat plain that covers approximately 403,000 square miles. The Pampa's landscape contains mostly grass, with some small bushes, and few trees. The western Pampa is cattle country.

The large farms and ranches are fenced in now, but the gauchos used to drive huge herds of cattle across unfenced land. ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY Argentina and Uruguay are the countries where the gauchos are most abundant. There are types of gauchos all over Latin America, but Argentina and Uruguay are the most known for having gauchos. Gauchos are an important part of Uruguay's and Argentina's folklore. Not only this, but the gauchos were important in herding cattle on the pampas for both of the countries. Some other countries where there are gauchos in South America are Chile , Venezuela , Colombia , and Peru . WAYS OF LIFE Many years ago gauchos lived on horseback and traveled widely. They survived on meat and yerba mate which is a tea-like herbal drink full of caffeine. The yerba mate was served in a gourd and sipped in through a silver straw called a bombilla. Their daily life consisted of caring for their herds of cattle, and catching wild cattle. The gaucho's weapons were a simple knife and a boleadora, which was stones bound with leather strips. The gaucho used the boleadora to trip animals by throwing it at their legs.

A gaucho's home, when he was rarely there, was a mud hut. It was covered with cowhides and contained a few horse skulls as stools to sit on. The gauchos were employed by a wealthy landowners called a "patron". When a gaucho worked for a patron, they also promised to fight as soldiers against his enemies. The gauchos often didn't marry the women they lived with even though she raised his family, cooked his food, milked the cows, made cheese and did other things for the gaucho. WHERE ARE THE GAUCHOS NOW? There are still Gauchos today, but their way of life has changed dramatically. These changes have been caused by the encroachment of civilization and technology. Their lifestyle was changed because the estancias (large ranches) they used to work on were fenced in. They can no longer ride as freely as before. They still work hard- mending fences, branding cattle, rounding up the herds and tending the sheep. There are not as many men becoming gauchos because they are moving to cities and working there, which is an easier way to make a living. COWBOYS AND GAUCHOS, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

The gauchos were the cowboys of South America, but they were very different from our cowboys of North America. They were also alike in some ways. They were both highly romanticized, and used widely in folklore. Their clothes were very different, but it was because of their different ways of life, and tasks that they performed. They were both skilled horsemen and both seemed to live outside the law without the restraints of living in a city. GAUCHO APPAREL Gauchos wore a unique style of clothing. They wore a fringed poncho which was a square of cloth with a hole for the head. They wore broad-brimmed hats. They wore long-sleeved cotton shirts and loose baggy pants called "bombachas". They wore a silver belt and for boots they used the hide from the hind leg of a newly killed colt. He pulled it over his foot and leg so it would dry in a boot shape. He wore spurs and had a long knife hanging at his side. Gaucho apparel has changed some, from the traditional dress. Sometimes now, gauchos wear jeans instead of the traditional bombachas. GAUCHOS IN LITERATURE Gauchos were very important in the folklore of Uruguay and Argentina.

They are used in literature and highly romanticized just as the cowboys of North America. The Gaucho Martin Fierro, by Jose Hernandez, is a famous epic poem that is still studied today. The following excerpt from the poem talks about the feeling of pride that the gauchos had. A son am I of the rolling plain A gaucho born and bred And this is my pride; to live as free As the bird that cleaves the sky. There are also many other stories about the gauchos. One story, called "The Old Chief and the Caudillo" is about an Indian chief and his grandson and how they were captured by gauchos. They got away and were never captured again. GAUCHO FESTIVALS On June 16th a festival in honor of the gauchos is held beause of the work they did in fighting against Spanish forces during Argentina's War for Independence. The gauchos of today recall the bravery of gauchos in the past. Fires are lit around the city of Salta's monument of General Martin Miguel de Guemes. He was the person who led the gauchos into battle against the Spanish.

At night, they sing songs and the next day, June 17th, which is the day that Guemes died, the gauchos have a parade in honor of him. Gauchos from Argentina. The Gauchos Rare facts about argentine cowboys They've been called the wanderers of the Pampas . Gauchos have been known to wander the countryside as early as the 1600's, time in which the 'flatlands' were overpopulated by 'cimarron' cattle, brought to South America by Pedro de Mendoza in 1538. At that time and through many centuries, cow leather was one of most traded goods between the old world and the colonies. The main importance of cattle was not the meat but the leather obtained from it. Since the commercial value of a cow was narrowed to such item once slaughtered, cows posed no interest except for gauchos who would use as much of it as possible feeding themselves. They would quickly cook the meat in an open fire before it turned bad. This habit of gauchos was considered rather unwelcomed and unhealthy and added a further negative note to their already low reputation.

Eventually, after many many decades the habit of grilling meat 'the gaucho way' -in an open fire-, turned into a national passtime: cooking asado. Gauchos belonged to the countryside. They would be the ones who were familiar with all intricacies of the land and their animals, as well as the life of the natives they would fight. Gauchos would gather together in "vaquerias" for hunting purposes. In hunting trips they would be armed with 'boleadoras' -a 3 hardrock leather balls tied to a rope- that they would use to stop animals from running away. Then, Gauchos would cut the tendons of their legs with a sharp half-moon shaped iron device. And thus, they would constantly struggle to survive. By 1620, gauchos were known to cause many troubles and were the subject of attention from the 'Cabildo', the Buenos Aires based government organization. The actual concern was not so much themselves, but the economic consequences of their behaviour. Slaughtering animals without consideration would soon put at risk a highly valued staple, the leather. Making matters worse, natives would also be involved in the slaughtering for the same reasons gauchos were doing it.

By 1715 Europe's heavy demand of leather was taken a toll on 'cimarron' cattle head count, which was reaching a low point. Therefore, the government took action against gauchos, further underestimating their potential. The word 'gaucho' came into existence for the first time in 1790 to describe a very rough individual, with heavy manners, that would travel alone, sometimes with a woman, having as his only baggage, a knife called 'facon', boleadoras and a 'lazo' to hunt. The term in the begining was so derogatory that it wouldn't be part of public statements from the Federal Government, even when gauchos were fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Criollos against the domination of the Spanish Crown. By then, Gauchos' reputation seemed to have hit bottom... Very slowly, their image started a transformation. By joining the resistance movement against Spain they started to gain some respect. In particular in provinces like Salta, were their services were strongly needed. Gauchos would gather under a charismatic figure, a 'caudillo' , that would organize them in a military unit. A later development in the economy was of great help to further their image.

With the discovery of the salt and the development of 'saladeros' it was now possible to make better economic use of cattle in general. Meat had become now as valuable as leather. Gauchos were in a good position to put to work all they had learned by themselves in those lonely moments living in close contact with animals. Soon, commercial ranches dveloped that needed managers to control cattle production. Noone could do a better job than the gauchos. Thus, they were now being seen as a valuable element of the whole domestic scene. By the time the fiction story "Don Segundo Sombra", taking as a model for his 'gaucho' book real characters from the town San Antonio de Areco. Ironically, further developments in the economy, relegated gauchos once again to the backburner and were quickly becoming extinct. Strangely, their disappearance from the local scene coincided with their highest point in history. At the time the novel was published, gauchos had become a Myth...and nowhere to be seen. Today, Gauchos enjoy much recognition and perform valuable tasks. They do exist and can be seen in many villages or towns in the countryside carrying themselves with a well deserved pride.

There was a long period of darkness after the novel had been published but as much as Tango and other Argentine traditions, gauchos emerged as they usually did in the past, overcoming prejudices to consolidate their 'revival'. They are a definite symbol of argentine history and every citizen regards them highly. Regarding Gauchos' dance with "boleadoras": Typically, there are three or more Gauchos on stage where they bounce the boleadoras in a circular motion hitting the floor with one of them at a time. The "boleadoras" follow the beat of the music or the rhythm of the "bombo drum, and the "zapateo" (gauchos tap dance). The Gauchos hand clapping leads the compass of the tempo, the variations, and the accentuation of the beats on the floor. This creates a certain "rythm" and since there are several Gauchos hitting the floor, they combine the sounds to create something spectacular, that also looks very dangerous for they bounce the boleadores at high speed. All the while they continue to tap the floor with their feet (boots). This is called "malambo".

From the presentation of Gauchos' group dance " Sol Argentino" in Luna Park. Watch boleadoreas dance What are South American cowboys called? - Find Answers Here! What are South American cowboys called? We found this answers South American Cowboys Cook Up Bird-Friendly Beef. Share | South American Cowboys Cook Up Bird-Friendly Beef. Legendary gauchos are teaming up with grassland ... - Read more ... and often called a black snake along the east coast of the United States, though southward into Central and South America it ... of American Cowboy and my ... - Read more Discussion about this question South American Cowboys Cook Up Bird-Friendly Beef | Audubon November– December 2012 South American Cowboys Cook Up Bird-Friendly Beef Legendary gauchos are teaming up with grassland conservationists to maintain a way of life and help save millions of grassland birds. Take Action During the first week of August, as the full heat of summer ripples across North America, tens of thousands of upland sandpipers abandon their ground nests on U.S. prairies and begin the long flight south for winter. Their goal: survive a 4,000-mile journey to the land of the South American gaucho.

Traveling by night, the mottled cinnamon birds fly over Texas and Mexico, move down the crooked arm of Central America, and cross the Andes in Ecuador. In late September these terrestrial shorebirds finally reach their destination: the Southern Cone, a sea of grass sweeping 600 miles from the Atlantic coast to the Andean foothills. Known as las pampas, this vast green prairie covers an area about the size of Texas and California combined, and encompasses parts of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. If they’re fortunate, some of those birds will find their way to Jacques de Souza’s estancia in southern Brazil. Here the grasses take on a cricket-green hue in October, during the austral spring. The sandpipers’ bright-orange legs flash among the vegetation as they forage for insects in the same sprawling expanses that de Souza’s cattle graze. See this article's accompanying photo gallery During a visit last year, de Souza adjusted his beret and called out to two of his hired men watching over a herd of Hereford cattle. “Bring them over—we want a good look at them,” de Souza shouted.

With clicking sounds and soft Portuguese commands, they moved the cows toward the fence. Like a gaucho from central casting, de Souza wore bombachas (baggy trousers), high leather boots, and a white silk kerchief tied at the neck. His family has been ranching these 2,500 acres for nearly two centuries. “Like many other ranchers in this area, we’re breeding cattle nearly year-round in native grasslands, with the use of some cultivated [non-native grass] areas for wintertime feeding,” said de Souza. “It’s good for the health of the cattle and for the biodiversity of the grasslands as well.” A small crowd gathered around him. These were ranchers from across the Southern Cone attending a meeting of the Alianza del Pastizales (the Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance), a grand experiment involving strange bedfellows, mutual interests, and market forces. Ranchers and conservationists throughout the pampas are taking part. The idea is to establish a brand of bird-friendly, grass-fed beef that will command a premium price in South America, the way grass-fed beef or organic produce does in the United States.

The Alliance hopes that profit, rather than political pressure, will convince ranchers across the region to conserve their native grasslands. After inspecting de Souza’s thick, healthy cows, the ranchers followed him up a grassy knoll from which they could see his land stretch nearly to the horizon. The emerald fields fell away for miles, with no cars, roads, or buildings in sight. It looked like an early 19th century J.M.W. Turner painting of the English countryside. A visiting rancher spotted a brown field way off in the distance. “What’s happening over there?” he asked. “That is my neighbor’s field,” de Souza said. “He’s growing soybeans there.” The gauchos nodded their heads. Soybeans: the temptation and the competition. Soybeans fetch a good price right now, and many of de Souza’s neighbors are growing Monsanto’s genetically modified Roundup Ready soybeans. Thus, one of the powerful motivators of the Alliance: The ranchers here want to be ranchers. Gauchos traditionally don’t grow soybeans.

The gaucho culture traces its lineage back to the 16th century, when horsemen from Spain’s Andalusia region emigrated to the Southern Cone. There they found an equestrian paradise of verdant rolling grasslands. The newcomers first survived by hunting wild cattle that had escaped from Jesuit missionaries’ farms or that had been left behind by explorers. Over time they established their own ranches and nurtured a rich culture of music, folklore, fashion, and pastoral stewardship. They called themselves gauchos, derived from huacha, the Quechua Indian word for orphans. The term codified their defiant, independent spirit. Gauchos were skilled horsemen, crafty and brave, libertines, dandies, inveterate gamblers, and deadly knife fighters. Today their cattle control the grasses, doing the job the region’s original herbivores—now long gone—once performed, somewhat like cattle grazing lands that bison once roamed in the United States. Gauchos know and love their land, relying on the grasslands as a fisherman relies on the sea. For these South American cowboys, every acre of grasslands lost to soybeans isn’t just bird habitat lost.

It’s gaucho culture lost. “We’re showing cattle producers that they can make profits while preserving biodiversity,” says Fernando Adauto, a rancher from southern Brazil and a founding member of the Alliance. “Both are imperative, because the most sensitive part of a rancher is his wallet. He won’t do anything if it doesn’t make money.” The endeavor is off to a promising start. Members are working to establish simple but strict rules: At least half of a rancher’s pastures must be natural grassland. Grass must constitute at least 70 percent of the cattle’s diet. The animals must be free ranging, with access to water and shade. As a result, birds enjoy intact grasslands, while ranchers are hoping to obtain a premium for their product, earning more per pound than regular beef. The assumption that the bird-friendly symbol will increase underlies the whole Alliance. If South American consumers begin to prefer branded bird-friendly beef over standard beef, it will drive demand and increase opportunities for natural grassland ranchers to the benefit of millions of birds. For the upland sandpiper and more than 400 other bird species, the Southern Cone grasslands are habitat heaven.

A natural North American tallgrass prairie like the Flint Hills of Kansas contains about 90 different grass species. The Southern Cone pampas comprise more than 500. They’re twisty, they’re curly, they’re straight, they’re bunched and they’re singular, they’re long and short and everything in between. Some of the grasses don’t even look like grasses. One species resembles a succulent cactus. Another grows so long and straight it’ll poke you in the eye as you walk past. That rich floral mixture nurtures a host of insects and seeds—hearty bird food—and provides a variety of grass types and heights, from low sparse clumps to thick reedy shoots, which offers opportunities for hiding, feeding, courting, and nesting to birds of all types and sizes. Charismatic South American birds like the greater rhea, a flightless relative of the ostrich, thrive alongside North American migrants like the buff-breasted sandpiper, the Swainson’s hawk, and the bobolink. Like other grasslands around the world, the prairies of the Southern Cone are losing acreage to the demands of industrial agriculture.

More than half the native grasslands in Brazil have been converted to food crops and tree farms over the past century, and the rate of conversion has sharply increased during the past decade. Between 1988 and 2002, more than 2.2 million acres of Argentinean grasslands were similarly lost. It’s no coincidence that birds dependent on grasslands represent the largest group of avian species on the decline in the Americas. The problem is especially acute in Brazil, the world’s leading beef exporter. High soy and sugarcane prices have led a number of ranchers to execute what might be called the Brazilian double-switch: selling their native grasslands to crop farmers and moving their cattle north onto cheap slash-and-burn acreage cleared from the Amazon rainforest. A study by Swedish researchers published last year in Environmental Science & Technology sounded alarms about the practice, noting that an acre of Southern Cone grassland sells for seven times the price of an acre of cleared Amazon forest. That could spell disaster for the hundreds of bird species that depend on this highly endangered ecosystem. Bird diversity collapses from hundreds of species to a handful when a crop like soybeans, or a single-pasture food like ryegrass, replaces the rich native grass varieties.

“People assume, ‘Grass is grass, what’s the difference?’ ” says Rob Clay, a Paraguay-based senior conservation manager for BirdLife International , National Audubon’s international partner. “It just doesn’t catch people’s attention the way the loss of a forest does.” Nearly all native grasslands everywhere are privately owned, and most have been given over to industrial agriculture. Only 1.6 percent of the United States’ 172 million acres of native grasslands are in protected areas. About 15 percent of Canada’s 21.4 million acres are protected. In South America, only an estimated 40 percent of the original native grasslands remain. Nearly all of the remaining acreage is privately owned. “In Brazil most of the pampa is held by ranchers,” says Pedro Develey, a biologist and director of conservation for SAVE Brasil. “It’s their land.

We can’t come in and say, ‘Look, you must do this because of the birds.’ Because they may say, ‘No, my land is to raise cattle, not birds.’ We had to find a system that would be good for both the ranchers and the birds.” In 2005 BirdLife and partners in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay launched the Alliance using early seed money from Audubon. The challenge was to bring the ranchers aboard. “We wanted to find a way,” says Clay, “to encourage the more sustainable beef producers and not lose that ecologically valuable grassland” to soybeans or monoculture grazing grass that overwhelms diverse native grasses. In those early days, the tough part was finding a gaucho willing to work with the Alliance. “Nobody in the conservation community had a contact,” says Develey. At a biodiversity conference in 2004, he overheard a Brazilian gaucho talking about trying to brand grass-fed beef. “We produce beef exclusively in natural grasslands,” the man said. “The quality of the meat is much better. It’s more tender and flavorful,” because natural grass is much higher-quality food than industrial feed.

That gaucho was Fernando Adauto. He ran 900 head of cattle on his 3,000-acre ranch the old-fashioned way: grazing livestock on the complex natural grasses that carpeted the soft folds of land near Lavras do Sul. His efforts to promote sustainable ranching methods, he said, were hitting dead ends. Few distributors were willing to differentiate his beef from the industrial-raised variety. Develey’s ears perked up. “I thought to myself, ‘He’s protecting the biodiversity of the pampa, and he doesn’t even know it,’” he recalls. Develey approached Adauto. “You are the man I’ve been looking for!” Adauto was underwhelmed. Among beef producers in the pampas he was a gran jefe, a rancher of importance and respect. He had no idea why this scientist was talking to him about birds. Develey called and emailed Adauto and other gauchos, who gave him a nickname: Pedro de las Passerines. “They thought I was kind of weird, but that was okay,” he recalls. His persistence paid off. Adauto’s group of ranchers met with the Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance.

Since its founding seven years ago the coalition has caught the attention of grassland conservationists all over the Americas. “Their idea captured me immediately,” says Justin Pepper, acting director of Audubon Chicago Region , who attended the meeting to learn from his South American colleagues. Pepper is part of a group of midwestern grassland bird specialists investigating the feasibility of a bird-friendly beef certification program in the United States. “If it works, this could be a way to make one of the largest uses of grasslands—as pasture—compatible with its highest ecological use. The prairies of North and South America share birds, plants, and threats. Hopefully we can share solutions, too.” Hundreds of ranchers and a handful of conservationists mingled at the Alliance’s annual meeting of natural-grassland ranchers of the Southern Cone last October in the small Brazilian farm town of Lavras do Sul, about 75 miles north of Uruguay. Here gauchos sipped yerba mate, a traditional herbal tea, and broke bread with their traditional sparring partners, environmental leaders, in this case from BirdLife, Audubon (represented by Justin Pepper), and South American conservation groups.

“Until we formed this alliance, conservationists and cattle producers had always been fighting, not understanding each other,” Alliance coordinator Anibal Parera told me. “But now we have found a common cause.” The extraordinary thing about the gathering wasn’t just the harmony between ranchers and conservationists—it was the gaucho-heavy flavor of the meeting itself. It was held at a rural livestock arena, not a hotel conference center. Bird advocates took part, but cattle talk dominated the hourly sessions. That didn’t happen by accident. “From the start, we knew the best way to succeed would be to put the beef producers up front, let them drive this, and have BirdLife and our partners play a backseat role,” Clay said during a break. The Alliance’s board of directors is deliberately skewed to give ranchers a majority stake. “This can’t be just about the birds,” he said. “It has to be about the producers. We need the people who know about cattle production to lead the initiative.” In addition to hammering out certification rules, other challenges lie ahead. Between the ranch and the butcher shop there are feedlots and packinghouses, and most are set up to handle only commodity beef.

To understand how that process works, I called up Stacy Davies, the general manager at Roaring Springs Ranch, one of the most environmentally progressive beef producers in the United States. Roaring Springs raises organic beef on the natural range grasses of eastern Oregon, and it’s one of Whole Foods’ top organic-beef suppliers. Davies wasn’t at the conference, but his ranch has achieved what the South American gauchos are aspiring to do. “It took us years to build a network of partners who would help us keep the unique identity of our beef while getting it to market at a reasonable cost,” says Davies. Though it’s a niche industry in the United States, demand for the product has increased during the past 15 years due to concerns about mad cow disease (caused by ingesting infected meat and bone meal), books like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and a growing awareness that pastured beef is healthier than conventional beef. As national chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s carry more grass-fed offerings, they’re likely feeding demand for the product.

The meat counter has become a venue for vote-with-your-dollar environmentalism: $3.50 a pound for grain-fed industrial hamburger or $6.49 for Trader Joe’s grass-fed Angus ground beef? Raising cattle on native grassland isn’t cheap. It requires ranchers to keep herd sizes small to prevent overgrazing, and to rotate pastures frequently to give the grasslands a chance to recover. The economies of scale are tough. An Angus or Here-ford cow raised after its first year on inexpensive corn, soy, and antibiotics in an industrial-scale feedlot can go to market in 14 months. On grass, it takes one and a half to two and a half years before a cow is fattened up and ready to sell. As in the United States, the South American grass-fed beef market remains tiny. The Alliance’s members are traditional gauchos—small producers—many of whom are planning to market their bird-friendly brand locally before taking it abroad. Meanwhile, Audubon is looking into creating a bird-friendly-beef label. The group has done staff exchanges with Alliance partners, and now has three pilot project sites, in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

“We have a pretty good idea of the habitat needs of North American grassland birds in those places,” says Pepper. “And we know that minor modifications in the grassland can provide major benefits to bird habitat. Now we’re looking for ways to make that work from a private rancher’s business perspective.” Without the cooperation of private landowners, grassland birds in the American Midwest will be limited to postage stamps of native grassland, separated by vast swaths of farmland and monoculture pastures. That means helping those natural-grassland ranchers stay profitable and remain in business. On my last day in Brazil, I strolled through the native grasslands north of Lavras do Sul with an Argentinean rancher named Marina Sanchez Elia. Her family owns large tracts of working land in Argentina’s Corrientes region. As we walked, a menagerie of oddly shaped grasses brushed our shins. Elia pointed out different species: carqueja, a grass sometimes steeped as a tea, and cardilla, a spike-bladed grass that resembles a tiny yucca. A white-rumped swallow perched on a fence post.

“I’ve always loved the land and the cattle and the songs of birds,” she told me, as a trio of grassland sparrows kicked up at our feet. “My father used to rise at 4 a.m. and go manage the cattle. He loved the birds and he used to whistle very well. He taught my brothers and me their names and how to recognize their different songs.” Over time her family had gradually moved from native pastures to a more intensive rice farming operation. Two years ago she heard about the Alliance’s work. “I became more interested in their ideas,” she told me, “and this year I have decided that we won’t grow rice anymore. We’ve been growing rice for 20 years, but now we’re going to restore that acreage back to native grassland and bring cattle back to the land.” Elia believes more ranchers will follow suit. “We often assume that change only happens over many, many years,” she said, “but that’s not always the case. With the pressures of climate change and our increasing ability to communicate, change can happen quickly.

And that change is happening here in the grasslands.” As dusk fell on the pampas, a Correndera pipit lit on a fence post at the edge of the pasture. It held its head high and gave us a glimpse of its white throat and blonde-tipped coffee-brown feathers. Then it flew away, low over the grassland, past a handful of gauchos in high boots and wide-brimmed hats, murmuring about markets, cows, and pasture rotations. This story originally ran in the November-December 2012 issue as "Raising the Steaks." “The views expressed in user comments do not reflect the views of Audubon. Audubon does not participate in political campaigns, nor do we support or oppose candidates.” THE PAMPAS - INFOBA DMC ARGENTINA The Pampas The Pampas - Getting to know the domains of Gauchos The Pampas Flight time from Buenos Aires 0hr.

Sep 21st Dec 21st The Argentinean Pampas (from Quechua, meaning "plain") are the fertile South American lowlands, covering more than 750,000 km2 (289,577 sq mi), that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba. The climate is mild, with precipitation, making the soils appropriate for agriculture. These plains contain unique wildlife because of the different terrains around it. Some of this wildlife includes the rhea, the pampas deer, several species of armadillos, the pampas fox, the White-eared opossum, the Elegant Crested Tinamou, and several other species. Activities: • Rural Tourism In the immensity of the Pampas, more than 300 one-of-a-kind estancias (farmhouses and surrounding buildings) that are now over a hundred years old, constructed by landowners with different architectural styles —colonial, British or French— and hidden by old groves, have been refurbished into comfortable lodgings where warmhearted country people perform the art of being your host.

Most estancias are located less than 250 Km away from Buenos Aires and offer first-class services such as accommodation, Creole entertainment, local dishes and a great variety of activities. They give foreigners the opportunity to join typical tasks in Argentine farms, such as cattle herding and branding, breaking-in, playing sports on horseback —polo and pato, the latter being the national sport— or simply riding on horseback, riding carriages, or watching the flora and fauna. Once night has fallen, under the stars, you can certainly enjoy typical Creole barbecued meat, home-made jams, bonfires and guitar playing. From July to August, the country gets to Buenos Aires for an annual exhibition by the Sociedad Rural (Rural Association), with the best argentine cattle, modern machinery and a great number of different offers. Vegetation Frequent wildfires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish, and trees are rare. The dominant vegetation types are grassy prairie and grass steppe in which numerous species of the grass genus Stipa are particularly conspicuous. "Pampas Grass" (Cortaderia selloana) is an iconic species of the Pampas. Vegetation typically includes perennial grasses and herbs.

Different strata of grasses occur because of gradients of water availability. Estancias Estancia is a Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese word describing a large rural estate with similarities to the English term ranch. The term is used in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Chile. The equivalent in other Latin American countries would be hacienda, or fazenda (only in Brazil). Unlike an hacienda, which could be any type of agricultural venture, producing grain, coffee, vegetable, beef, etc., an estancia, most typically located in the southern South American grasslands, the pampas, has historically always been a livestock (cattle or sheep) estate. During the first centuries of Spanish colonial rule, cattle introduced by the Spanish roamed free and man undertook raids to catch and slaughter them. In the 19th century stationary ranching ventures started to form in the pampas, with permanent buildings and marked livestock with clearly defined ownership. They were called estancias, the term indicating the stationary, permanent character. The estancia's ranch worker on horseback, the gaucho, is of similar importance to national folklore and identity to the cowboy in North America.

In recent decades agriculture has intensified and often shifted from livestock to crop farming in the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, due to the region’s high soil fertility. A small number of estancias, particularly those with historic architecture have been converted into guest ranches, paradores, in Argentina and Uruguay as well as in Paraguay or Chile. They were called estancias, the term indicating the stationary, permanent character. The estancia's ranch worker on horseback, the gaucho, is of similar importance to national folklore and identity to the cowboy in North America. In recent decades agriculture has intensified and often shifted from livestock to crop farming in the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, due to the region’s high soil fertility. A small number of estancias, particularly those with historic architecture have been converted into guest ranches, paradores, in Argentina and Uruguay as well as in Paraguay or Chile. Gauchos Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil.

The word gaucho could be described as a loose equivalent to the North American "cowboy" (vaquero, in Spanish). The gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cattle on the vast estancias, and practising hunting as their main economic activities. The origin of Gauchos can be traced back to two civilizations, namely the European and the Native. Gauchos may have broken their ties to he past and retired to the solitude of huge Pampa plains where they could find water and pasture for the cattle the European settlers had introduced. This legendary figure, skillful at farm tasks, allows us to live a peculiar and centenarian rural tradition even today, in the 21st century. A Gaucho still wears his typical pants, a hat or a beret, a neckerchief, spurs and a large sharp knife in his belt— replaced by a decorative buckle with silver coins during festivities. He deftly rides along farmhouses and fields, usually plays songs and improvised musical dialogs in the light of a bonfire and enjoys delicious barbecued meat. On November 10th Tradition Day is celebrated all across the country, although in San Antonio de Areco celebrations are most remarkable.

During the entire week, they hold Creole campfires with folklore music, traditional dances, parades by different groups of Gauchos, and typical horseback riding games and competitions such as “jineteadas” and “pialadas” (local types of rodeos and lassoing) and “entrevero de tropillas” (a game with herds of horses).

Question: What are the cowboys of the South American pampas called
Answer: Gauchos