A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of '' mestiço''. The term, also pronounced "caboco", is from

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

, and perhaps ultimately from the Tupi ''kaa'boc'', meaning "the one who comes from the forest". A person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and sub-Saharan black ancestry is known as a "'' cafuzo''." In the 1872 and 1890 censuses, 3.9% and 9.04% of the population self-identified as caboclos, respectively. Since then, caboclos are counted as pardos, along with mulattoes (mixed Black-White) and cafuzos (mixed Amerindian-Black). A survey performed in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

showed that 14% of Whites and 6% of Pardos reported Amerindian and White ancestry. According to some estimations, caboclos would be around 12% of Brazilian population.

Etymology

The term ''caboclo'' (which in the Amazon Basin and in Candomblé is usually pronounced without the ''l'', as ''caboco'') is said to come from the Tupi word ''kari'boka'', meaning "deriving from the white". Its primary meaning is ''mestizo'', "a person of part Amerindian and part European descent." But it may also be used to refer to any Indigenous Brazilian who is assimilated.Wafer, James William. ''The Taste of Blood: Spirit Possession in Brazilian Candomblé''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991, p. 55. The term Indian should not be confused with people originating from India in South Asia. The king of Portugal, Joseph I, encouraged marriages between European colonists and Indians in the 18th century; this enabled the European men to settle into families, and resulted in the birth of the first ''caboclo'' children. Similarly, in the 19th century during the time of rubber soldiers, the government kidnapped young, primarily white and ''mestiço'' Brazilian men from Northeastern Brazil and transported them into the Amazonian interior to harvest

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

. The men were never granted permission to leave, and married local native women, fathering more generations of mestiços . The ''caboclo'' populations in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

region of Brazil are noted as voracious eaters of the '' açaí'' palm fruit, which is basic to the traditional diet of the natives. In one study, ''açaí'' palm was described as the most important plant species because the fruit makes up such a major component of diet (up to 42% of the total food intake by weight) and is economically valuable in the region (Murrieta et al., 1999). The term ''caboclo'' is also used as the term for a spirit of Indigenous origin (an ancestor or a spirit of nature) in the Afro-Brazilian religions Candomblé and

Umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

. In these religions, they are considered different from the Orishas but are nonetheless revered.

Days celebrating racial groups in Brazil

*In Brazil, the "Day of the Caboclo" (''Dia do Caboclo''), observed annually on June 24, in celebration of the contributions and identity of the original caboclos and their descendants. This date is an official public holiday in the State of Amazonas. *" Mixed Race Day" (''Dia do Mestiço'') is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all mixed-race Brazilians, including the caboclos. The date is an official public holiday in three Brazilian states. *" Indigenous Peoples Day" (''Dia dos Povos Indígenas''), observed annually on April 19, recognizes and honours the indigenous peoples of Brazil.

References

Citations

Books

* Adams, C., Murrieta, R., & Neves, W. A. (2006). ''Sociedades caboclas amazônicas: modernidade e invisibilidade'' (1a ed.). Sâo Paulo: Annablume. and * Nugent, S. (1993). ''Amazonian Caboclo Society: An Essay on Invisibility and Peasant Economy''. Providence, RI: Berg.

Journal articles

* Murrieta, R. S. S., Dufour, D. L., & Siqueira, A. D. (1999). "Food consumption and subsistence in three Caboclo populations on Marajo Island, Amazonia, Brazil," ''Human Ecology, 27''(3), 455–475.

External links

Brazil 'rubber soldiers' fight for recognition
{{Multiethnicity Multiracial affairs in Brazil Métis Race in Brazil Traditional peoples in Brazil