A huaso () is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, the Mexican

charro Charro has several meanings, but it generally refers to Mexican horse riders, who maintain traditional dress, such as some form of sombrero, which in Mexican Spanish are called ''sombrero de charro'' (a charro's hat). The charros could also ...

(and its northern equivalent, the vaquero), the

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and Rio Grande Do Sul, and the Australian stockman. A female ''huaso'' is called a huasa, although the term china is far more commonly used for his wife or sweetheart, whose dress can be seen in cueca dancing. Huasos are found all over Central and

Southern Chile Southern Chile is an informal geographic term for any place south of the capital city, Santiago, or south of Biobío River, the mouth of which is Concepción, about {{convert, 200, mi, km, sigfig=1, order=flip south of Santiago. Generally cities ...

while the Aysén and

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

sheep raisers are gauchos. The major difference between the huaso and the gaucho is that huasos are involved in farming as well as cattle herding. Huasos are generally found in Chile's central valley. They ride horses and typically wear a straw hat called a ''

chupalla The chupalla () is a traditional Chilean horseman's hat made of straw. Many people in rural areas of Central Chile use it as well. In addition, it is often used when dancing the cueca (a Chilean folk dance) and during Chilean rodeos. The n ...

''. They also wear a poncho—called a ''manta'' or a '' chamanto'' (although this was originally reserved to land owners, as it is much more expensive)—over a short Andalusian waist jacket, as well as tooled leather legging over booties with raw hide leather spur holders that sustain a long-shanked spur with 4-inch rowels, and many other typical garments. Huasos are an important part of Chilean folkloric culture and are a vital part of parades, fiestas, holidays, and popular music.Mularski, Jedrek. ''Music, Politics, and Nationalism in Latin America: Chile During the Cold War Era''. Amherst: Cambria Press. . The dancing of the cueca in which the coy china is courted by the persistent huaso, both traditionally attired, is ''de rigueur'' on such occasions. In Chile, the term ''huaso'' or ''ahuasado'' (in a ''huaso'' way) is also used disparagingly to refer to people without manners or lacking the sophistication of an urbanite, akin to US English

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ' ...

.(This is not based on fact)

Etymology

Various theories are commonly advanced: from the

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''wakcha'' (hispanicized as ''huacho'') meaning ''orphan'', ''not belonging to a community'', hence free and homeless, an important aspect of the huaso/gaucho myth, or alternatively from the Quechua ''wasu'', meaning either the back of an animal, or rough and rustic. Moreover the word ''guaso/a'' is used in Andalusian and American Spanish with the last sense. It appears that a form of folk etymology has operated to conflate the contrasting identities of the huaso, viewed as both a free horseman (implying some wealth and nobility) and an unsophisticated country bumpkin. Both senses can be observed in Chilean usage.

References

External links

Southamerica.cl/Chile/Huasos.htm
{{Mounted stock herders Animal husbandry occupations Chilean culture Society of Chile National symbols of Chile Pastoralists Horse-related professions and professionals Transhumance

Etymology

See also

References

External links