SEMANA RURAL, Nov. 8, 2017
Google translate from Spanish to English
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This pancocojams post showcases the Colombia, South American village of "San Basilio de Palenque". That village is known as the first "free town" in the Americas.
The content of this post is presented historical, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are working to preserve the culture of San Basilio de Palenque and thanks to all those who are asociated with this showcased video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATION OF COLOMBIA
"Colombia ..., officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: About this soundRepública de Colombia (help·info)),[Note 1] is a country in South America with territories in North America. Colombia is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, the northwest by Panama, the south by Ecuador and Peru, the east by Venezuela, the southeast by Brazil, and the west by the Pacific Ocean. It comprises 32 departments and the Capital District of Bogotá, the country's largest city.
With over 50 million inhabitants Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world, with its rich cultural heritage reflecting influences by various Amerindian civilizations, European settlement, forced African labor, and immigration from Europe and the greater Middle East. Urban centres are concentrated in the Andean highlands and the Caribbean coast."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT PALENQUE DE SAN BASILIO, COLOMBIA
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Basilio_de_Palenque
"San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African town in the Americas, and in 2005 was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.[1]
History
Spaniards introduced kidnapped African slaves in South America through the Magdalena River Valley. Its mouth is close to the important port of Cartagena de Indias where ships full of Africans arrived. Some Africans escaped and set up Palenque de San Basilio, a town close to Cartagena. They tried to free all African slaves arriving at Cartagena and were quite successful. Therefore, the Spanish Crown issued a Royal Decree (1691), guaranteeing freedom to the Palenque de San Basilio Africans if they stopped welcoming New escapees.
The Village
The village of Palenque de San Basilio has a population of about 3,500 inhabitants and is located in the foothills of the Montes de María, southeast of the regional capital, Cartagena.[2] The word "palenque" means "walled city" and the Palenque de San Basilio is only one of many walled communities that were founded by escaped slaves as a refuge in the seventeenth century.[2] Of the many palenques of escaped slaves that existed previously San Basilio is the only one that survives.[2] Many of the oral and musical traditions have roots in Palenque's African past.[2] Africans were dispatched to Spanish America under the asiento system.[3]
The village of San Basilio is inhabited mainly by Afro-Colombians which are direct descendants of African slaves brought by the Europeans during the Colonization of the Americas and have preserved their ancestral traditions and have developed also their own language; Palenquero. In 2005 the Palenque de San Basilio village was proclaimed Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.”…
Excerpt #2
From
...."San Basilio de Palenque
The free lands of San Basilio de Palenque were founded more than two hundred years before Colombia achieved independence from Spain. A ‘capitulation of peace’ was signed between the Spaniards and the former slaves in 1603 and, in 1713, the Spanish crown issued a Royal Decree that officially freed the people of the palenque from slavery. Their culture and traditions have survived intact, which is why UNESCO declared San Basilio de Palenque a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. It’s a unique place, where gastronomy, language, music, culture, medicine and societal organization have a rare and special significance.
Tantalize your tastebuds
Thousands of tourists wander Cartagena de Indias’ colonial streets each year and among them stroll a striking group of women, dressed in colorful skirts and turbans with shawls draped around their shoulders. These women are the city’s famous palenqueras, experts at selling goods and making deals with vast baskets of traditional treats and tropical fruit balanced on their heads. The palenqueras sell irresistible sweets, such as coconut cake, cereal balls, syrups, tamarind balls, peanut balls, sugared papaya, traditional cheeses, aniseed and more.
The palenqueras travel across the region too, sharing recipes that have been passed down through the generations for more than three centuries. Some of their best loved dishes include the catfish mote (a cheese and tuber soup) the traditional Caribbean cheese mote, seafood rice, and smoked catfish in a creamy sauce, all of them based on ingredients such as cassava, cane sugar, pigeon peas and coconut milk. The history behind these recipes infuses them with flavor and anyone who enjoys a typical palenque meal will find their mouth watering at the local phrase, “Minino a Palengue a kumé,” which means: “Come and eat in Palenque”.
Palenque’s world-beating culinary skills
The excellence of palenque cooking was recognized on the global stage at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2014, held in Beijing, China. More than 15,000 cookbooks written by culinary stars from 184 countries were entered into the awards, including a cookbook written in San Basilio de Palenque called Kumina ri Palenge pa tó paraje. Thirty-eight people from the palenque shared their ancestral secrets and wrote recipes for the book, which was published in the palenque language. The book won the top prize at the awards, nicknamed the ‘Oscar for Gastronomy’.
A unique language
The captives on those European slave ships came from different parts of Africa, with different cultures and languages. They were mixed together deliberately, part of a colonization strategy that was determined to ensure those confined to its boats and workplaces couldn’t communicate and plan mutinies and escape. Despite this, the ex-slaves came together and mixed Castilian, Portuguese, English, French, Bantu and Pingui to create their own language.
An irresistible beat
Music and dance are the soul of San Basilio de Palenque. Drums rumble and energetic dancers make the floor vibrate. Spectators’ hearts beat faster, swelling with the sound of song, and the influence of Africa is evident all around. Percussion instruments in the palenque thrum to beats such as puya, son, pava and mapalé and every occasion, even death, is marked with the beat of a drum.
Joy is contagious in San Basilio de Palenque. The costumes are vibrant and the stamina for dancing unparalleled and exhibited in styles such as the entrompao, pa raito or paseo, palenquero son, chalusonga and, of course, champeta. Visitors will hear artists such as Sexteto Tabalá, Kombilesa Mi, Radio Matuna, Las Alegres Ambulancias and Son Palenque and hear the magic and charm of songs such as Bullerengue Sentado, Son del Negro and Son Palenquero de Sexteto. One of the best times of the year to visit is in October, when the Drums and Cultural Expressions Festival is held, a complete overview of San Basilio de Palenque’s musical culture.”….
Palenque was spoken in all of the palenques that formed at the time and is native to African communities in the Americas. Today it is spoken only in San Basilio de Palenque and is one of Colombia’s 69 native languages. Even in Cartagena, the palenqueras who sell their traditional products speak in their original palenque, which carries incalculable cultural value for Colombia."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE PALENQUERO LANGUAGE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palenquero
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX1oSxiZnuQ&t=401s&ab_channel=DcodedTVShow
These comments are given in relative chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first, except for replies.
Unless otherwise noted, the translations are from Spanish to English from Google translate.
Dairo Castro, 2018
"En Cartagena tenemos un profundo respeto y admiración a los Palenqueros. Y como dijo la sra. Evelina: "las palenqueras son las flores de las murallas de Cartagena". Sin el colorido de sus vestimentas, la blancura de la sonrisa de esa gente bella y buena, la dulzura de sus productos y lo rico se su gastronomía Cartagena no hubiese sido conocida. Nuestra cultura como cartageneros se perdió; pero la cultura del palenquero sigue intacta. Dios bendiga Palenque."
-snip-
"In Cartagena we have a deep respect and admiration for the Palenqueros. And as mrs. Evelina: "the palenqueras are the flowers of the walls of Cartagena". Without the color of their clothes, the whiteness of the smile of those beautiful and good people, the sweetness of their products and the richness of its gastronomy, Cartagena would not have been known. Our culture as Cartagena was lost; but the culture of the palenquero is still intact. God bless Palenque."
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Y. Baa973, 2018
"The Palenqueros should go met the Saramaka maroons, their
brother in Suriname. Because during slavery their ancestors came from the same
african countries (Kongo, Loango, Angola, Ghana, Nigeria ...)"
-snip-
"The Palenqueros should go met the Saramaka maroons, their
brother in Suriname. Because during slavery their ancestors came from the same
african countries (Kongo, Loango, Angola, Ghana, Nigeria ...)"
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Reply
Nichole Rojas, 2019
"Aunque la esclavitud en la esfera hispana era muy diferente a la francesa y anglosajona."
-snip-
"Although slavery in the Hispanic sphere was very different from the French and Anglo-Saxon."
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Denis Jean Garry, 2018
"Yo soy haitiano y muy interesado a la historia de los afro en America, para mi un placer descubrir San basilio de Palenque,, sobre todo su historia. Me parece similar a la historia haitiana. El tambor y los demas elementos de la cultura palenquera constituyen les vestigios de los simbolos de resistencia en contra de la esclavitud y del imperialismo cultural. Que siguen vivos la identidad palenquera
-snip-
"I am Haitian and very interested in the history of Afro-Americans in America, for me a pleasure to discover San Basilio de Palenque, especially its history. It seems similar to Haitian history. The drum and the other elements of the Palenquera culture they constitute the vestiges of the symbols of resistance against slavery and cultural imperialism, which are still alive the Palenquera identity"
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Y. Baa973, 2018
"The Palenqueros should go met the Saramaka maroons, their
brother in Suriname. Because during slavery their ancestors came from the same
african countries (Kongo, Loango, Angola, Ghana, Nigeria ...)"
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Denis Jean Garry, 2018
"Yo soy haitiano y muy interesado a la historia de los afro en America, para mi un placer descubrir San basilio de Palenque,, sobre todo su historia. Me parece similar a la historia haitiana. El tambor y los demas elementos de la cultura palenquera constituyen les vestigios de los simbolos de resistencia en contra de la esclavitud y del imperialismo cultural. Que siguen vivos la identidad palenquera"
-snip-
"I am Haitian and very interested in the history of Afro-Americans in America, for me a pleasure to discover San Basilio de Palenque, especially his history. It seems similar to the Haitian story to me. The drum and the other elements of the Palenquera culture constitute the vestiges of the symbols of resistance against slavery and cultural imperialism. That the Palenquera identity is still alive"
Reply
"Que bien tengo un poema sobre nuestra relación, Ayiti y AfroColombia por que Petion ayudo a Bolivar con querer la libertad de los Africanos en la región"
-snip-
"How well I have a poem about our relationship, Ayiti and AfroColombia because Petion helped Bolivar with wanting the freedom of Africans in the region"
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Bena Biamo, 2019
"KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO
KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO KONGO"
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DJingMinds, 2019
"Miré en el mapa que se toma mas de una hora en carro desde cartagena hasta palenque.
Me imagino cuanto tiempo le tomaba a los esclavos de la epoca para alcanzar la libertad en este pueblito.
Un sitio que merece pelicula de nivel mundial."
-snip-
"I looked at the map that it takes more than an hour by car from Cartagena to Palenque.
I imagine how long it took for the slaves of the time to achieve freedom in this little town.
A site that deserves a world-class movie."
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Ana Moom, 2019
"Soy africana de Guinea Ecuatorial y me siento orgullosa de ver que nuestras raíces no se hayan perdido, hermoso festival😍"
-snip-
"I am an African from Equatorial Guinea and I am proud to see that our roots have not been lost, beautiful festival😍"
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Cell User, 2020
"El Palenquero es sinonimo de coraje y rechazo a la esclavitud, es grito de libertad y ha sido llevado por la musica a todos lados en nombre de lo que ahora es Colombia. Te recomiendo ver los videos del gran Joe Arroyo, musico de claras racies afro que se alimentó mucho a nivel musical en el Palenque, asi como otras expresiones culturales con Toto la Momposina y otras cantadoras de bullerengue y cumbia..."
-snip-
"El Palenquero is synonymous with courage and rejection of slavery, it is a cry of freedom and has been carried by music everywhere in the name of what is now Colombia. I recommend you to watch the videos of the great Joe Arroyo, a musician of clear Afro races who fed a lot on a musical level in Palenque, as well as other cultural expressions with Toto la Momposina and other bullerengue and cumbia singers ...
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ana, 2020
"La historia afrocolombiana es lo más fascinante que he visto👏 excelente video"
-snip-
"Afro-Colombian history is the most fascinating thing I have ever seen👏 excellent video"
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Nefertari Baidy, 2020
"Soy africana del Senegal y me da mucho gusto saber que mi raice en colombia no se han olvidado a su verdad pais que es Africa. ..soy muy orgulloso de los afro colombianos . quiero ir a visitar colombia un dia para ver a mis hermanos negros.
-snip-
"I am an African from Senegal and I am very happy to know that my roots in Colombia have not forgotten their true country which is Africa. ..I am very proud of Afro-Colombians. I want to go visit Colombia one day to see my black brothers."
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juan gomez, 2021
"En Memoria y solidaridad con Benkos Bioho. ¡un hombre muere pero las ideas son eternas! Somos hombres libres, dueños de nuestra vida, esclavos de nadie."
-snip-
"In Memory and solidarity with Benkos Bioho. A man dies but ideas are eternal! We are free men, owners of our lives, slaves of no one."
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