The Xíbaro Nation
xíbaro-ximarrón...
jíbaro
jíbaro, xíbaro, gíbaro, xívaro, gívaro, jívaro
xí.ba.ro, jí.ba.ro, gí.ba.ro, etc. n. 1. mountain folk of the island of Puerto Rico; a term used to describe a Puerto Rican peasant; anyone from the countryside. 2. word of indigenous origin; applied originally to one of the numerous groups or nations in which the caribes (Island Caribs) were divided; the Jíbaro nation was characterized by its mountainous habits. (Salvador Brau). 3. Indians (Natives) who escaped into the hills to avoid forced servitude under Spanish colonial rule. (Sued Badillo) 4. (Sp. orthography) jíbaro ‘forest man’, i.e. native, term with which Spanish sailors identified the natives, or ‘mountain people’ in Central and South America. 5. racial classification applied to crosses between Blacks and natives in Spanish Colonial System, (in Brazil) local term of Tupi origin applied to various crosses between Blacks and natives. 6. (in Ecuador & Peru) Jíbaro, Jívaro, Xívaro, Chíwaro: North West Amazonian ethno-linguistic family group (i.e., Shuara, Shuar) with long history of survival and defense against outsiders and a reputation as fierceness warriors in battle, who engage in guerilla tactics and headhunting.
cimarrón
cimarrón, ximarrón
xi.ma.rrón, ci.ma.rrón, n. 1. maroon: slaves of African origin who escaped seeking freedom away from the dominion of their masters. 2. escaped from domestication 3. applied to domestic animals, which escape and turn wild. 4. fugitive, escaped, risen, brave.
jímaran
xímaran, jímaran
xí.ma.ran, jí.ma.ran, n. 1. word of indigenous origin, arrow fired from the bow. 2. escaped from the dominion of man. 3. fugitive, escaped, risen, brave. 4. applied to domestic animals, which escape and turn wild and also to men, first indigenous and later Africans who escaped seeking freedom away from the dominion of the master.
The word jíbaro (modern spelling in Puerto Rico) generally represents today the "true and genuine Puerto Rican." The Puerto Rican jíbaros were originally the "mountain folk" of Puerto Rico. The term jíbaro, does still refer to peasants or to anyone from the countryside, The term jíbaro, probably developed from an indigenous word (xímaran/jímaran); meaning, an arrow fired from the bow, which is no longer under the archer's control, or escaped from the dominion of man and an escaped fugitive. The word jíbaro has been applied to domestic animals, which escape and turn "wild", and also applied to men, first indigenous and later Africans who escaped seeking freedom away from the dominion of the colonial masters. The term jíbaro is also applied to plants in their wild, natural or undomesticated state, which suggests that jíbaro refers to the act of existing independently and not just to the act of escaping from dominion.
The word jíbaro is a term closely related to maroon, derived from the Spanish cimarrón The word cimarrón also derives from the same indigenous word (xímara/jímaran) and as jíbaro, was first used to identify fugitive “Indians” (natives) who had escaped from the encomiendas, which were grants of land and people given to ensure subordination of the conquered populations and the use of their labor by the Spanish colonizers and as a means to reward Spanish subjects for services rendered to the crown. The word jíbaro was later also used to Black slaves who escaped seeking freedom away from the dominion of their masters. It also means escaped from domestication or undomesticated. By 1530 rural slaves who escaped from plantations towards to the forest were called cimarrones, but domestic slaves who escaped from one village or another, were called "runaways". The term cimarrón was not only applied to the slaves that actually escaped, but also to their descendants who inhabited cimarrón communities. Like the word jíbaro, it was also applied to domestic animals, which escape and turn wild.
On June 2nd of 1820, the work titled "Coplas del Jíbaro", were published in the newspaper El Investigador. In 1835 "xíbaro" surfaces in French and American documents. In 1849, Dr. Manuel Alonzo, published his book, "El Gíbaro." For Puerto Ricans, the word jíbaro, generally refers to mountain folk of the island of Puerto Rico. It is a term used to describe a Puerto Rican peasant or anyone from the countryside. It is also a word, which was apparently originally applied to one of the numerous groups or "nations" in which the Caribes (Caribs) were divided; the Jíbaro nation was supposedly characterized by its “mountainous habits” (Salvador Brau). It was also applied to Indians who escaped into the hills to avoid forced servitude under Spanish colonial rule (Sued Badillo).
The word jíbaro and its many variations (xíbaro, gíbaro, xívaro, gívaro, jívaro, etc.) can be said to mean "forest man". It was the term with which Spanish sailors identified the natives, or "mountain people" in Central and South America, those they had not yet conquered. It was also a racial classification applied to crosses between Blacks and Natives in the Spanish colonial system. In Brazil it is still a local term of Tupi origin applied to various crosses between Africans and Natives. The terms Jíbaro, Jívaro, Xívaro and Chíwaro (in Ecuador & Peru) are applied to a North West Amazonian language family group (i.e., Shuara, Shuar) with a long history of survival and defense against outsiders and a reputation as fierceness warriors who engage in guerilla tactics and headhunting.
To say jíbaro in Puerto Rico is to refer to the most "native" or "national" identity of the Puerto Rican people, that which is genuinely Puerto Rican. From the late sixteenth century until present times, "native" or "national" culture in Puerto Rico has carried the imprint of, not only the European culture imposed by Spanish and US colonization, but also strong and significant traces of Native and African cultural elements. Most "native" or "national" cultural manifestations of Puerto Ricans have fallen within the wider framework of Criollo or in specific, Jíbaro civilization, without disregarding the influences of the non-Hispanic Caribbean.
Up to about the second half of the 19th century, the mountainous central range of the island, known as the Cordillera Central, was an agricultural settlement. Its settlers, pioneers of the indigenous population and a strong and significant presence of numerous imported Africans, along with the those of Mediterranean and Peninsular descent, slowly developed the foundations of what is recognizable today as the distinct culture and folklore of the region. The traits of the "native" population, the Africans, and later that of the European settlers and immigrants during the mid-19th century greatly influenced Puerto Rican customs and traditions to eventually form what can be described as the jíbaro (mountain folk) culture characteristic of the region.
Some of the most important aspects of these people's way of life were projected directly on the daily lives and the social and cultural expressions of the population of this area. For various circumstances, the inhabitants of this area were until quite recently, subjected to an extreme geographical and social isolation. This allowed for the preservation and development of cultural traditions with respective regional peculiarities. The Puerto Rican Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range) was once a thick wooded area with few and far between roads. In the past, it was actually easier to travel from one side of the island to the other by boat than to travel across the mountains. This isolated the jíbaros as they developed their distinct identity.
Traditionally a jíbaro was a "mountain folk" (like the American hillbilly), someone from the mountains, el campo (the countryside) or la altura (the hights) in Puerto Rico. A jíbaro was the campesino, with a strong oral tradition of knowledge and wisdom. Some traits traditionally associated to jíbaros are honesty, bravery, hospitality, self-sufficiency, stubbornness, and pride. A jíbaro also knows how to live of the land. A jíbaro, is a jíbaro, regardless of where he is. Whether living in the mountains of Puerto Rico, in Old San Juan or in El Barrio, NYC. The important thing is that he lives in a "jíbaro" state of mind and existence, uncompromised to that, which is not to his/her community's best interest.
The "jíbaro" isn't limited to any of the particular racial or ethnic roots, which make up the Puerto Rican; it is the jíbaro's beliefs, philosophy and way of life, which make him a true "jíbaro". Yes, the jíbaros originated or developed as a particular identity generally associated with the central mountain range of the island of Puerto Rico, but you can take the jíbaro out of the monte, but you cannot take the monte out of the jíbaro.
And what was the foundation of "jíbaro culture"? How did our ancestors, who became the symbolic representation of who we are as a people, "live" their lives? Jíbaros were jíbaros because they carried out their own independent way of life, away from the slavery of the colonial yoke. How did they do this? Well building their social organization on the foundations of what might be called organic collectivism or communalism inherited from the pre-industrial traditions of our Indigenous, African and European ancestors. And what is "organic communalism"?
organic
organic, n. 1. characteristic of, pertaining to living organisms. 2. growing and developing in the manner of living organisms.
collectivism
collectivism, n. 1. the political principle of centralized social and
economic control, esp. of all means of production.
communalism
communalism, n. 1. a system of government whereby each commune is virtually an independent state. 2. the principles or practices of communal ownership. 3. strong allegiance to one's own ethnic group rather than to a society as a whole.
commune
commune, n., v. 1. any community organized for local interests. 2. the government or citizens of a commune. 3. a close knit community of people who share common interests. 4. a place for group living and sharing of work and production. 5. to converse or talk together intimately. 6. interchange of ideas or sentiments. 7. to partake of the Eucharist [back formation from COMMUNION].
One of the crucial problems faced by Puerto Ricans is our ignorance of our own traditional (jíbaro) concepts of life and community. The lack of knowledge about the jíbaro way of life confronts our nation with the inability to act in its own interest since we generally ignore these traditional social patterns and value systems. The imposition of capitalist colonial systems has practically erased from our collective memory our original concepts of identity and community.
According to the old folks, an "original" jíbaro community could have been made up of anywhere from 50 up to maybe even 100 or more inhabitants. There was not a single policeman, no jail, no secret agents, and no law enforcement officials. Doors remained unlocked; strangers were always welcome and immediately noticed, and everyone felt responsible towards everybody else in the community. If a community member suffered, the whole community as a whole suffered.
These jíbaro communities were communalistic, i.e., each community self-determined their own social, political, economic and leadership organization. The leadership in these communities was organic; there was a minimum dependence between different community segments and no real private ownership of the land or the means of production. Each local community was relatively independent.
The social divisions of the jíbaro community were basically as follows; the immediate family first, then the community, and finally the association of communities, habitually scattered, but uniting or collaborating in case of need. The immediate family was the smallest but most important institution in jíbaro social and organizational structure. It was within the family where basic cultural education was carried out: language, social relationships, general knowledge of the environment, community history and social values in general.
These communities were democratically run by a process in which decisions were made collectively by the members of the community. They stood together to defend their community against common threats and any quarrel among them was considered as a community affair.
Jíbaros acquired the means of their livelihood collectively. The inhabitants worked together to grow food on land that was used by all but "owned" by none. They worked hand in hand with other members of their community to ensure their own welfare and prosperity. They all worked for one another and piled up the outcomes of their activities. That is to say, each person worked to provide some of the means and made them available for all. Then all individuals gathered the outcome of their activities in proportion with their activity and social status, in accordance with their positions and the extent of their endeavor. All the members of the society got their share of the means and use it to manage their own personal lives.
My father often uses a popular saying, which he learned from his father:
"Cumple con tus deberes y disfrutaras de tus derechos". 'Comply with your duties, and you will enjoy your privileges' (Eugenio María de Hostos).
A productive community or society is an organization, a structured system, or closely integrated group of human beings living in companionship with each other within a community. This community provides them with protection, continuity, security, and collective identity. It is held together by mutual dependence and exhibits division of tasks. This is the way in which the jíbaro communities functioned up until the 19th century or so.
If you ask any elder about the foundation of the jíbaro way of life, they will tell you that it was "asistencia-mutua" (mutual-assistance/mutual-aid). Mutual-aid is a feature of the greatest importance for the maintenance of life, the preservation of any group, and its further evolution. Mutual aid (which leads to mutual confidence, the first condition for courage) combined with individual initiative (the first condition for intellectual progress) is infinitely more important and productive than mutual struggle.
Throughout history, mutual-aid societies have emerged from humanity's struggle for survival, but as a social and even biological expression of a universal pattern of organization. These values were reflected in the village society, which was the predominant form of jíbaro social organization up through the 19th century. Jíbaros where people of common origins or with mutual social bonds, grouped together to provide for they're collective needs and for their mutual defense, support and justice without imposing on the individual or family.
A mutual-aid society can be described as a tribe, a clan, a community, a nation, etc., which provides protection, continuity, security, and collective identity to its members. It is held together by mutual dependence and it exhibits delegation of labor or tasks. It is a beneficial association (at least to its members) in which human beings prosper collectively. At the same time it organizes and gives meaning to the life of the each individual member. It is the natural state and highest level of Human interaction. A mutual-aid society is a collective identity, which provides stability, and meaning within the context of a fragmented culture that has lost its sense of community.
community
community. n. 1. a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and have a common cultural and historical heritage. 2. a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests. 3. Ecol. a population of organisms occupying a given area. 4. joint possession, enjoyment, liability, etc.: community of property. 5. similar character; agreement: community of interests. 6. the community, the public; society.
In a true jíbaro community, every elder was your father or mother, every peer was your brother or sister, and every child was your son or daughter.
The difference between modern society and others is community or lack there of. Industrialization, globalization and consumerism have utterly destroyed the natural tribal or communal environment and have isolated modern humans. Modern societies have turned away from the effective processes of initiation, from the importance of family, tribe and nation. We are an uprooted population without home, land or fellowship. Without a functional collective identity, our relationships to family and community have become disposable in the pursuit of a materialistic "higher standard of living".
Humans are social beings, it is in our human nature to coexist socially. It is an inherent drive or characteristic of human beings in their natural state of existence. Now, when was the last time you observed humans in their natural state of existence? Could you even if you wanted to?
Any organism, which is obligated to exist outside of its natural state, it is in captivity. It is either in a state of bondage, servitude, imprisonment, or incarceration, not a "jíbaro". And being in any of these states of existence one certainly cannot experience happiness (welfare and prosperity). These conditions also imply a forced isolation from other organisms. Isolation is not just being alone, it means being separated from others. The more isolated you are, the less power you have, and the more captive you become. As mutual-aid societies, jíbaro communities, promoted unity, they brought and kept individuals together. The modern ideal of individualism serves the opposite function.
As a jíbaro, I believe in organic collectivism or communalism, I reject the capitalist system for it is disconnected from the most basic necessities of the masses, it dehumanizes material property and lumps the people into uniform masses doomed to desperation. Consumerism and the obsession with money drives people away from all spiritual foundations of life, creating at the same time mayor differences between those who have and those who don't have.
On a national level, Capitalism is a system whereby the work of the majority of the people produces the wealth for a minority of individuals who own the means of production. On an international level, capitalism is a system by which the world's developing nations provide the work and raw materials for the benefit of the wealthy minority. In other words, the slavery of human by human is the basic foundation of capitalism and the cause of its expansion throughout the world.
I do not believe in a struggle between classes, for it is through mutual-aid and harmonious coexistence that a sovereign family, community, or nation is built. In the same way, I reject the Marxist concept of Communism, for it establishes a materialistic sense of human existence, which clashes, with a spiritual vision of Humanity. Communism is a system that tries to control the wealth and the land of a nation in the name of the "state," pretending equality among its citizens. I cannot accept a doctrine, which inherently rejects my deepest spiritual beliefs, such as the principle of individual freedom we are all created with.
We should strive instead for higher values, superior to material interests, and create a sense of collaboration with a common mission. Both Capitalism and Communism are equally imperialistic systems. But organic collectivism or communalism is a system whereby the material resources of terrestrial life, belong not only to individuals or to the state, but to the essential fundamental community and all of its members, be they poor, rich, scholars or simple, young and old. With all having full access to the material resources of the community. This is a system in which the "leaders" or heads of the community are symbols or representatives of the community and where the true authority belongs to the people of the society entirely.
It is not my intention to idealize the jíbaro way of life and portray it as a utopian world. In any society, as in all of life, the activities of individuals are linked with those of others, since everyone wants to benefit from the results of these activities; violence, inconvenience and conflict of interests are inevitable elements of this complex relationship of constant contact and interaction. It is needles to say that material benefits are normally the source of all kinds of differences, animosities, and loss of sincerity and respect.
I am not an Anarchist either, since I believe that in order to maintain harmony among people, a society requires a series of regulations, the observance of which prevents disturbance and chaos. But the effectiveness of these regulations is based on the social, moral and spiritual values they are founded upon. And it is the jíbaro values of self, family and community, which I want to bring to our attention as an alternative to the dysfunctional system of modern materialistic values, which has been imposed on us as a people.
Our Consecrated Teacher (El Maestro), Don Pedro Albizu Campos (yes, I am a Nationalist) taught us that humans are free by their very nature. Which means we are subject to rights and, as individuals subject to rights, we are free to form families, and with other families develop a society. And that society constitutes a community; a Transpersonal Other or Collective Self. With other communities, we build a free nation, which has its own identity or personality within the world we inhabit. That is the Law of Nature, the living expression of the Truth!
All nations are ultimately the product of not just centuries, but millennia of tradition and evolution, a continuum of the legacy of their ancestors. Many of us have been disconnected from these traditions and societies through the process of enslavement. But the Light continues to shine attracting the lost members of our great family back home.
nation
na,tion, n. 1. a body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to process a government peculiarly its own. 2. the territory or country itself. 3. an aggregation of persons of the same ethnic family, often speaking the same language or cognate languages.
The Puerto Rican Nation may be in an embryonic stage, in it's earliest levels of development, but it is none-the-less a nation. As a nation, we are entitled to certain "unalienable rights." We have the right to a private identity of our own. The right to inhabit our own private physical space that will act as our protective shell, and in which we can remain as an uncompromised and absolute personality. Social orientation and the protection of others are essential in preserving these privileges. Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality are vital attributes of a sovereign nation, and without these, there is no security, no rest, no play, and no reward for one's efforts in life.
A free and sovereign nation is the result of solidarity for the needs of fellow community members, cooperation and mutual support to overcome mutual obstacles, defend against mutual adversaries and create a society in which all who cooperate mutually benefit.
solidarity
sol.i.dar.i.ty, n. union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group.
Unity is the most important element of a free and sovereign nation. Common history, traditions and regulations are the boundaries, which define a national society. They are the common denominators or the particular culture of a nation, its collective identity or consciousness. The various expressions of these are the indicators by which members of a society are identified. As boundaries and common denominators, they are the bonds that safely hold the society together. Every society has the need for a series of common traditions and regulations, which are at least respected and understood by most of its members. In the history of Humanity, never has a free and sovereign nation evolved without possessing common rites, traditions and regulations.
unity
u.ni.ty, n. 1. the state of being one single being; oneness. 2. the state of being combined with others to form a greater whole. 3. the state of being a complete or harmonious combination of elements. 4. complete accord among persons regarding attitudes, opinions, intentions, etc. 5. harmony among the parts or elements, producing a single major effect.
A nation has an organizing force or energy, which organizes or coordinates its existence based on a common or collective goal, its survival and prosperity so that in this manner it may carry out its mission in this world. By definition, this national organizing force is that of nationalism.
One of the key elements of nationalism is fraternity. "Fraternity is great and is capable of much." The Human drive to come together in groups, which give meaning and purpose to each individual as well as to the group as whole is a socio-biological urge which acts for the preservation of the individual, of the group and of the species.
fraternity
fra.ter.ni.ty, n. 1. a group of persons associated by or as by fraternal
ties. 2. any group of persons having common purposes, interests, etc. 3. an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes. 4. the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood: liberty, equality, and fraternity, brotherly union, as for mutual-aid. 5. the relation between brothers.
*If two make peace between them in the same house, they will say to the mountain: "move," and the mountain shall move.
This Human drive to come together in groups expresses itself as an automatic expression to protect the organism. It may be described as current or flow of energy, a subliminal up-rush to emphasize spiritual intent. It creates a sense of individual and collective identity and purpose, which reinforces and protects the social unit against submergence. It is the jíbaro's urge to survive in Liberty, Happiness and Prosperity. National Identity is a result of this force of Nature.
Soy Jíbaro Borinqueño
Y le puedo asegurar
que ni aquí nie en ningún lugar
yo tengo ni amo ni dueño
Yo trabajo con empeño
Señores ese es mi oficio
Es mi fín y mi inicio
De nadie yo seré esclavo
pues soy de clavo pasado
con Valor y Sacrificio
Tato
Luz y Progreso
Amor y Caridad
Paz y Justicia
*What thou shall hear in thy ear proclaim to other ears from your rooftops. For no one kindles a lamp and sets it under a bushel-basket nor puts it in a hidden place, but rather it is placed upon the lamp-stand so that everyone who comes in and goes out will see its light.
*-The Gospel According to Thomas
