Nagos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word Nagos derives from the word anago, a term that Fon-speaking people used to describe Yoruba-speaking people from the kingdom of Ketu,[1] refers to all Brazilian Yoruba, their African descendants, Yoruba myth, ritual, and cosmological patterns.

Toward the end of the slave trade in the 1880s[when?], the Nagos stood out as the African group most often shipped to Brazil. The Nagos were important to the slave trade at that particular time of the 19th century, as Brazil requested more enslaved persons as demand for products from this region grew and harsh conditions on plantations entailed a high turnover.[1]

This particular group of Africans currently comprise the largest ethnic group in Brazil, with much influence since it was the most recent group to immigrate to Brazil, and Brazilian-African enslaved persons have greatly helped the Brazilian economy.

High demand for labor in plantations led Brazil to import enslaved persons of the Nagos tribe. In colonial times, Brazilian enslaved persons, given their low status and bleak prospects, could expect only to work until they died.

However, African culture, passed on through religion and cultural practices have influenced Brazil's many races. The Nagos were forced to occupy the lowest status ranking in Latin America, yet they adapted. One of the most important cultural aspects to be discovered in Brazil is the religion called Yoruba. This African religion has survived over the years since slavery, so that today a large portion of Brazil's population still practices and upholds it.

Slavery in Brazil[]

Main article: Slavery in Brazil

Enslaved peoples from Africa were cheaper than those from Europe,[when?] which may explain why the Portuguese used Africans to fuel the new economies in Latin America.[2] The common enslaved person received minimal respect. The understanding between master and slave had far less cost in reciprocal obligations than any other labor group in society.[3] Unfortunately, this created a schism or struggle for resources in social exchange. Enslaved persons did not control their lives like the average higher-class citizen. Furthermore, what distinguished enslaved persons from all other classes throughout society was kinship, family, and community duties.[3]

Some 4.8 million enslaved persons were brought to Brazil.[4] African people spread across the world. Heavy labor by enslaved persons was the main source of growing wealth there. Throughout Latin America, African people brought there helped shape the plantations and industrial communities.[5] The African Slave Trade did not start in Latin America, but was adopted in Europe in 1455, by Pope Nicholas V who gave the right to reduce slavery, inhabitants of the southern coast of Africa who resisted Christianity. The Portuguese created a slave trade out of West Africa, exporting enslaved persons to Iberian cities such as Seville and Lisbon.[5] African slavery met a steady but limited demand in Europe.[6][dubious – discuss] Brazilian native people could not meet the plantation economy's demand for labor, so the labor force swelled with West African enslaved persons.

Enslaved persons were victims of the demand for their physical strength and endurance to perform tasks in extreme climates. An average slave had limited social mobility. enslaved persons fought their masters in many ways: through suicide, escape, sabotage, and defiance of laws and social or religious norms. Practicing their own culture in a self-preserving way helped them to adapt to the new social and cultural order.[7] Enslaved persons were not free to roam around in Latin America but enforcement of marriage and other laws depended on regional and local considerations.

As a means of combating the oppressions of slavery, Africans did what they could to preserve their native culture(s). For example, the Republic of Palmares stands as a testimony of Afro-Brazilians that escape from slavery to form a settlement of about 20,000 blacks governed by West African customs and cultural elements drawn from the Portuguese slave society from which they had fled.[7]

Mixing[]

African culture had to adapt to new challenges in the New World. As minorities with no social power, they needed help from any source. Miscegenation or commingling of races was a direct effect of colonization in Brazil and Latin America overall and created a mixed people a distinctly new culture of mestizaje culture. The Portuguese called the children of Africans and native people cafuzos.

Extensive mixing forced Spanish authority to create a legal category for this new racial group that now dominated many areas of Latin America, which they called Zambos. Mexico also saw the mixing of Africans and natives, and outlawed Interracial marriages. In addition, the Portuguese and Spanish authorities often promoted miscegenation as a population policy in underpopulated regions. The effect of slavery on Afro-Brazilian society is similar to that on blacks in post-slavery North America.

As a result, there was a caste system emerged based on color, with blacks occupying the lowest economic class. Africans experienced racism and oppression in their attempts to climb the social ladder in Latin America. Reforms and social movements for rights throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries paved the way for Africans in Latin America.

Social scientists, policymakers, and activists say it is Brazil's essential nature to be a mixed-race country.[8] In addition, black movements in Brazil during the 90s have resulted in great change in the 21st century through affirmative action policies in various governmental spheres throughout Brazil.[9]

Yoruba religion[]

Yoruba ritual practices include singing, dancing, drumming, spirit possession, ritual healing, respect for ancestors, and divination. Yoruba religion is a ritual negotiation with the spirits of the Dead. The Yoruba religion stems from southern Nigeria, which is where the Nagos people originated from and also where the Yoruba religion mixed with Christian practices. This religion has blossomed and was transmitted through the African diaspora to Brazil.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Matory, J. Lorand (2005). Black Atlantic religion: Tradition, transnationalism, and matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé (Princeton University Press ed.). p. 38.
  2. ^ Klein, Herbert S (2010). Slavery In Brazil. Cambridge. p. 15.
  3. ^ a b Klein, Herbert S (2010). Slavery In Brazil. Cambridge. p. 1.
  4. ^ Klein, Herbert S (2010). Slavery In Brazil. Cambridge. p. 14.
  5. ^ a b Davis, Darién J (2004). Black Atlantic religion: Tradition, transnationalism, and matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. Humanity Books. p. xi.
  6. ^ Davis, Darién J (2004). Black Atlantic religion: Tradition, transnationalism, and matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. Humanity Books. p. xii.
  7. ^ a b Davis, Darién J (2004). Black Atlantic religion: Tradition, transnationalism, and matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. Humanity Books. p. xiii.
  8. ^ Loveman, Mara (2012). "Brazil in black and white? Race categories, the census, and the study of inequality". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 35: 1466–1483. doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.607503.
  9. ^ Loveman, Mara (2012). "Brazil in black and white? Race categories, the census, and the study of inequality". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 35: 1466–1483. doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.607503.
Retrieved from ""