Llanero
Encyclopedia
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n or Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n herder
Herder
A herder is a worker who lives a possibly semi-nomadic life, caring for various domestic animals, in places where these animals wander pasture lands....
. The name is taken from the Llanos
Llanos
The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the Flooded grasslands and savannas Biome....
grasslands occupying western Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The Llanero were originally part Spanish and Indian and have a strong culture including a distinctive form of music.
During the wars of independence, Llaneros served in both armies and provided the bulk of the cavalry during the war. In 1819, an army of Llaneros, led by Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
and José Antonio Páez
José Antonio Páez
José Antonio Páez Herrera was General in Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan Wars of Independence, in addition to becoming the President of Venezuela once it was independent of the Gran Colombia...
, defeated the Spanish with a surprise attack when they crossed over the Orinoco
Orinoco
The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...
plains and the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
mountains.
History
Prior to Spanish settlement in 1548, the Llanos were occupied by indigenous groups. AndalusianAndalusian people
The Andalusians are the people of the southern region in Spain approximated by what is now called Andalusia. They are generally not considered an ethnically distinct people because they lack two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed...
monks established settlements close to native American villages and accomplished conversion through a mixture of persuasion and force.
The Spaniards started to graze cattle on the grasslands of the llanos and the Llanero were originally a mixture of Spaniards and Indians. Indeed, Llaneros still use many terms dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. From 1640 to 1790, outlaw slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
lived in cumbes, or outlaw slave communities, and intermarried with the Llanero.
By the end of the 18th century, the region exported 30,000 mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s a year to the Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
and salted meat for the 1.5 million slaves there and in Cuba. There were 1.2 million cattle in the area by 1815.
When the Wars of Liberation started, the Spanish enlisted the Llaneros, playing on their dislike of the criollos of the independence movement. Bolívar realized that the plains were critical to success in the wars of liberation – they offered freedom of movement, as well as the capacity to feed his army.
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
" – for his endurance on horseback.
The Llaneros led by Páez proved crucial in Bolivar's campaign. After leading his forces including the Llanero troops over the eastern Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, Bolívar won a critical victory at the Battle of Boyacá
Battle of Boyacá
The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....
on August 7, 1819. Three days later, he captured Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
in what was the turning point of wars of liberation.
The Llaneros would also prove to be vital in future battles in the campaign. Páez's Bravos de Apure or lancers were again critical in the Battle of Carabobo
Battle of Carabobo
The Battle of Carabobo, 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuela....
on June 24, 1821, and allowed Bolivar to capture Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. Páez would become the first President of Venezuela.
During the 1850's, a hide boom stimulated the local economy. A boom in Great Egret
Great Egret
The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...
feathers in the early 1930's in Europe led to them being called white gold until the
trade was banned.
Llanero culture
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
, the Llaneros have to drive the cattle to higher ground as the poor drainage of the plains means that the annual floods are extensive. Conversely, they have to drive the cattle towards wet areas during the dry summer.
The Llaneros show their skills in coleo
Coleo
Coleo is a traditional Venezuelan and Colombian sport, very similar to a rodeo, where a small group of llaneros on horseback pursue cattle at high speeds through a narrow pathway in order to drop or tumble them....
competitions, similar to rodeos, where they compete to drag cattle to the ground.
Llanero music is distinctive for its use of the harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, the maracas and a small guitar called a cuatro
Cuatro (instrument)
The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
. The joropo
Joropo
The Joropo is a musical style resembling the waltz, and an accompanying dance, having African and European influences originated in Venezuela and performed in Colombia and Venezuela. It's a fundamental genre belonging to its typical music or música criolla...
, a Llanero dance, has become the national dance of Venezuela, and of the Llanos of Colombia. While Llanero music is relatively unknown outside of Venezuela and Colombia, the musical groups Los Llaneros and Cimarron have toured throughout the world.
Llanero cuisine is based on meat, fish, chicken, "chiguire" meat (also known as capybara
Capybara
The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...
), rice, arepas, and other starches, although wheat is not used. Llanero Ken, a doll dressed in the distinctive Llanero costume Liqui liqui
Liqui liqui
The Liqui liqui is the national costume for men in Venezuela and eastern Colombia.Traditionally white, beige, cream or ecru in colour, it is also available in other shades...
, including a customary starched hat, has become a popular doll in Venezuela.
North American usage
The Spanish also used the term to describe the nomadic tribes of the Llano EstacadoLlano Estacado
Llano Estacado , commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and was applied to the Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
in particular.
In Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
is known as El Llanero Solitario.
See also
- Vaquero and cowboyCowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
(Mexico and United States) - GauchoGauchoGaucho 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...
(Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil) - MorochucoMorochucoThe Morochucos are the cowboys of the plains of the Peruvian Andes, living mainly in the Region of Ayacucho. They raise cattle and tame horses for their livelihood, and they engage in other typical activities of a cattle-horseman cowboy...
(Peruvian Andean) - Piajeno (north coast mule rider of Peru: Piura and Lambayeque)
- CharroCharroCharro is a term referring to a traditional horseman from Mexico, originating in the central-western regions primarily in the state of Jalisco including: Zacatecas, Durango, Guanajuato, Morelos, Puebla...
(Mexican cowboy, nomad and bandolero) - GuajiroCampesinoCampesino may refer to:Peasant in Spanish.The arts* Los Campesinos!, an indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales* Teatro Campesino, a theater group founded by the United Farm WorkersPeople...
(Cuba) - HuasoHuasoA huaso is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the Argentinian, Rio Grande do Sul's or Uruguayan gaucho, the American cowboy, the Australian stockman, and Mexican vaquero and charro. A female huaso is called a huasa, although the term china is far more commonly used for his wife...
(Chile) - JíbaroJíbaroJíbaro is a term from the Taíno words "jiba" and "ro", that means forest people, commonly used in Puerto Rico to refer to mountain-dwelling peasants, but in modern times it has gained a broader cultural meaning.-History:...
(Puerto Rico) - Chagra (Ecuador)
- LanceroLanceroLancero is a military course and a denomination within the Colombian Army. The course takes place at the School of Lanceros of Colombia in Tolemaida, Department of Tolima in Colombia.-Overview:...
Further reading
- Richard Slatta, Cowboys of the Americas, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990
- Donald Mabry, Colonial Latin America, Llumina Press, 2002