Yo Soy Negro: Blackness in Peru

Glossary

Glossary Alcatraz: An Afro-Peruvian dance form. Blanco/a: A white person; also a descriptor of any object that is white. Blanqueamiento: Whitening. Bozal: A slave who came directly from Africa to the New World. Cajón: A boxlike percussion instrument typical of Afro-Peruvian music. Campesinos: Peasants. Caporal: The overseer at a plantation. Chicha: A fermented beverage made with corn. Chichería: A place where chicha is brewed and sold. Cholo/a: An indigenous person. In Ingenio, cholo refers to indigenous people from the coast. In Lima, it is used to refer to indigenous people from the highlands who have acculturated to Lima society. Colonos: Workers on northern Peruvian haciendas. Corregimiento: A local administrative unit in the colonial era. Criollo/a: Describes a Spaniard or African born in Peru during the colonial era. In modern Peru it is also a general term used to refer to people from the coast. In Ingenio, it is used to refer to people who are from Ingenio. Cuadra: A unit of measure equal to about two hectares. Cumanana: A form of call-and-response poetry of Afro-Peruvian origin. Can be sung or recited. Cumananero: A person who recites or sings cumananas. Décima: A form of poetry of Afro-Peruvian origin. Djimbe: A kind of conga drum. 208 r Glossary Enganche: Literally “hooking.” A form of labor contracting where a contractor finds laborers who commit to working for a specific period,usually with an initial incentive—“the hook.” Festejo: An Afro-Peruvian dance and musical form derived from slave songs. Hacienda: An estate or large landholding, often including a plantation. Hacendado: The owner of an hacienda. Indio/a: A common term for a person of indigenous ancestry; an Indian. Indigenismo: An intellectual movement that valorizes indigenous contributions to society and culture. Indigenistas: People who promulgate indigenismo. Ingenieros: People from Ingenio; generically, ingeniero means“engineer.” Ladinos: Colonial term for acculturated slaves who spoke Spanish and had not been born in Africa. Libertos: Children of slaves who were supposed to gain their freedom at age twenty for females and twenty-four for males. Marinera: A coastal dance form in Peru. Mestizaje: Racial and cultural mixture, an emblem of Latin American race relations. Mestizo/a: A person who has a mix of white and indigenous ancestry. Mita: A system of forced labor in Peru. Mitayos: Laborers in the mita. Mondongo: A tripe stew. Moreno/a: An Afro-descended person with brown skin, typically lighter in color than negro. Morropano/a: A person or thing from Morropón. Moto-taxi: A motorcycle with attached seats, used for public transportation over short distances. Mulata/mulato: A woman/man of mixed African and European ancestry. Mulataje: Mixture between blacks and whites, the process of creating mulattos. Mulatez:A literary movement that celebrated mixture between blacks and whites. Música negra (or negroide): A descriptor for Afro-Peruvian music. Negro: A black person; also the color black applied to any object. Norteño/a: A person from northern Peru; northern Peruvian. Glossary r 209 Pardos: A colonial term used in Peru to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Peruanos/as: People from Peru. Poto: A gourd used for drinking chicha. Reducciones: Resettlement sites for indigenous people. San juanito: A typical indigenous musical and dance form. Serrano/a: A person from the Andes Mountains. Toma de tierras:“Taking of lands,” the colloquial term for land reform. Tondero: A barefoot dance similar to marinera, accompanied by the cajón. Trigueño: Literally, wheat colored. Used to refer to a near-white skin color. Zambo/a: In traditional colonial usage, a person of mixed black and Indian ancestry; in local usage in Ingenio, a person with curly hair, indicative of African descent. A Note on Terminology and Translation In this book,I have used the words I find to be most appropriate,in light of the usages I heard in Peru, instead of using what others might see as more politically correct terms, as I do not find it useful to change words in the hopes of making the conversation less messy. Talking about racial differences is complicated, and I have tried to be as straightforward as possible. At several junctures in the text, I explain my word usage. Here, I explain some more general decisions that apply throughout the text. The most relevant word choice has to do with Afro-Peruvian versus black. I use Afro...