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Image / Man and woman loading a mule, San Basilio del Palenque, ca. 1978

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Title
Man and woman loading a mule, San Basilio del Palenque, ca. 1978
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1978
Publication Information
California State University, Northridge
Contributing Institution
California State University, Northridge
Collection
Richard Cross Photographs (Bradley Center)
Rights Information
Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user.
The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
A man and a woman help each other loading a mule with milk containers. It was the men's and boys' job to get up early in the morning, around 5:00 am, walk up in the hills, and milk the cows. The boys would attend to this task before going to school. The women and the girls would then take care of selling the milk to people coming from Cartagena. San Basilio del Palenque, a town located 31 miles from Cartagena, is considered the first community to officially free enslaved people in the Americas because, on August 23, 1691, the Spanish King Charles II signed a royal charter recognizing the freedom of the runaway communities in the María Mountains. Local authorities, however, did not sign a treaty with these communities until January of 1714 acknowledging their freedom and ordering the establishment of the town of Palenque San Basilio Magno. People in San Basilio del Palenque speak a Spanish-based creole language known as Palenquero. According to local public records, in 1975 the village had 2,400 residents (mostly farmers or day laborers) and 388 houses. Colombian anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann had been studying the Afro-Colombian community of San Basilio del Palenque for the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and Richard Cross joined her to do work as a visual anthropologist in June 1975. This image illustrates Cross's anthropological category: Social organization, Inventory of male-female work roles.
Un hombre y una mujer se ayudan mutuamente a cargar una mula con recipientes de leche. Era trabajo de hombres y niños levantarse temprano por la mañana, alrededor de las 5:00 am, caminar por las colinas y ordeñar las vacas. Los niños atenderían esta tarea antes de ir a la escuela. Las mujeres y las niñas se encargarían de vender la leche a las personas procedentes de Cartagena. San Basilio del Palenque, a town located 31 miles from Cartagena, is considered the first community to officially free enslaved people in the Americas because, on August 23, 1691, the Spanish King Charles II signed a royal charter recognizing the freedom of the runaway communities in the María Mountains. Local authorities, however, did not sign a treaty with these communities until January of 1714 acknowledging their freedom and ordering the establishment of the town of Palenque San Basilio Magno. People in San Basilio del Palenque speak a Spanish-based creole language known as Palenquero. According to local public records, in 1975 the village had 2,400 residents (mostly farmers or day laborers) and 388 houses. Colombian anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann had been studying the Afro-Colombian community of San Basilio del Palenque for the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and Richard Cross joined her to do work as a visual anthropologist in June 1975. This image illustrates Cross's anthropological category: Social organization, Inventario de roles de trabajo entre hombres y mujeres.
Type
image
Format
Photographs
image/jpeg
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.P.B6.120.10
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/10678
Subject
Pack animals (Transportation)
Delivery of goods
Milk trade
Blacks--Colombia--San Basilio del Palenque
Place
San Basilio del Palenque (Colombia)
Relation
99.01.RCr.P.B6.120.10.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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