Talk:Gaucho culture

Gaucho culture in Brazil

There is a sentence in the beginning of the article that needs to be reviewed, for it relates to the gaucho culture in Brazil as being only in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, which is inaccurate. In fact, the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the southernmost region of Brazil, which borders both Uruguay and Argentina, was the last state to receive and absorb the gaucho culture in Brazil, which had previously flourished for some good 150 years in other States of Brazil such as Santa Catarina, and more historically relevant the State of Parana. In order to understand this historical development, it is important to understand the trade pathways that existed between Argentina and Brazil.

The wide-panted cattleman from Argentina, "troops-man" or "tropeiros", were travelers who transported herds of cattle and other products, such as spices and seasonings, with the purpose of marketing them in the South, Southwest and Midwest regions of Brazil. But most importantly it was the trade of cattle from the Pampa fields of Argentina to the markets and ports of both cities of Sorocaba and Sao Paulo.

The pathway, which came later to be known as "the pathway of matte", consisted initially of entering Brazil through its western border, in the region of Foz do Iguazu (Iguazu falls) in the State of Parana. It later became known as the "pathway of matte", because the State of Parana was primordially inhabited by indigenous tribes known as "Guarani", and the habit of drinking hot yerba-matte in the cold south Brazilian weather was introduced to the Argentine cattleman by the indigenous tribes of the State of Parana.

The the cattleman, in turn, taught the tribes how to eat the "assado" or the slow-cooking groundfire beef and lamb barbecue. This exchange of culture is what brought about the birth of the gaucho culture - a clear mixture of Spaniard herdsman culture (which influenced most of Latin America), with its Persian originated wide pants and guitars, while the guarani tribes taught them how to protect themselves form the cold through hot drinks and the best regions to travel and camp through the land.

This interaction between the Guaranis and Argentine cattleman in the early 1700s is the actual birth of the gaucho culture, a word that derives from the Araucaninan language word "kauchu", meaning "friend", which till today preserves the culture of drinking hot yerba-matte tea next to the slow cooked ground-fire barbecue, along with its typical music, clothing, dances and accent, which at times is so foreign to most Brazilians that it could perhaps be understood as a quasi-dialect. In fact, the gaucho culture is a very positive example of cultural amalgamation. It was not until the mid 1850s that the gaucho culture descended to the other southern States of Santa Catarina and eventually Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay.

It is important to understand that the trade pathway went on a virtually straight single line, from the Brazilian western border with Argentina in Foz do Iguazu, all the way to what is today the city of Curitiba, the capital of the State of Parana, which was the last stop, so to speak, to the troops-man before they arrived in the market towns in the Brazilian States more to the north, thus leaving the "gaucho area" and entering regions with a different cultural identity and weather. It is in fact above the State of Parana, that Brazil is technically understood as being tropical, different from the sub-tropical weather of Brazil's southernmost States.

In the 1850s, the crossing by ferry between Argentina and Uruguay was made possible, which created the possibility of expanding the trade pathways, and the "matte pathway" was then transformed into the "matte route", given its elliptical shape. Cattleman would continue their northern journey through Argentina all the way to Foz do Iguazu, but now on their way back, from Sao Paulo to Argentina, would prefer to go southwards, through the vast lands of southern Brazil, entering deep into the States of Santa Catarina and subsequently Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay.

Due to mass disseminations of the Brazilian media, only the State of Rio Grande do Sul ended up being identified as the "gaucho" region of Brazil - a historical inaccuracy, given the facts stated above and the other fact that, until today, the gaucho culture is widely found in all southern States of Brazil, from Parana to Santa Catarina to Rio Grande do Sul. It is interesting to notice that the yerba-matte grows naturally throughout the State of Parana, and it was one of Brazil's main commodity in the late 1700s.

Therefore, it is inaccurate to state in the main text that the gaucho culture exists only in Argentina and in Rio Grande do Sul, for as stated above, it is wide spread throughout the whole of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and today it has spread into regions of Paraguay, Chile and some other Northwest regions of Brazil. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.136.5.205 (talk) 00:36, 24 April 2021 (UTC)