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Image / Four girls and their water containers, San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, 1977

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Title
Four girls and their water containers, San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, 1977
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1977-04
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
Four girls hold their containers of water on their heads while standing atop a hill in San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia. Girls from a very young accompany their mothers and other women to the well (or casimba), which are the holes in the stream bed from which water is drawn for daily life in homes. Piped water arrived in 1978 and until then the creek was the village's drinking supply and the place to do laundry and bathing. A section of the river was closed and off limits for all adult males. The girls stand between two mounds of dirt with tree branches hanging over the containers. San Basilio de 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 communities in the María Mountains. Local authorities, however, did not sign a treaty with the communities of free slaves until January of 1714 acknowledging their freedom and ordering the establishment of the town of Palenque San Basilio Magno. People in San Basilio de 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 de Palenque since 1973 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’ anthropological category: Inventory of male–female work roles.
Cuatro niñas sostienen sus recipientes de agua sobre sus cabezas mientras están paradas en lo alto de una colina en San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia. Las niñas desde muy jóvenes acompañan a sus madres y a otras mujeres al pozo (o casimba), que son los agujeros en el lecho del arroyo del que se extrae el agua para el uso diario en los hogares. El agua entubada llegó en 1978 y hasta entonces el arroyo era el suministro de agua potable de la aldea y el lugar para lavar la ropa y bañarse. Una sección del río estaba cerrada y fuera de los límites para todos los machos adultos. Las chicas se paran entre dos montículos de tierra con ramas de árboles que cuelgan sobre los contenedores. San Basilio de Palenque, un pueblo ubicado a 50 kilómetros de Cartagena, es considerada la primera comunidad en liberar oficialmente a las personas esclavizadas en las Américas porque, el 23 de agosto de 1691, El rey español Carlos II firmó una carta real que reconoce las comunidades de libertad en las montañas de María. Las autoridades locales, sin embargo, no firmaron un tratado con las comunidades de esclavos libres hasta enero de 1714 reconociendo su libertad y ordenando el establecimiento de la ciudad de Palenque San Basilio Magno. La gente en San Basilio de Palenque habla una lengua criolla en español conocida como Palenquero. Según los registros públicos locales, en 1975 el pueblo tenía 2.400 residentes (en su mayoría agricultores o jornaleros) y 388 casas. La antropóloga colombiana Nina S. De Friedemann había estado estudiando la comunidad afrocolombiana de San Basilio de Palenque desde 1973 para el Instituto Colombiano de Antropología y Richard Cross se unió a ella para trabajar como antropóloga visual en junio de 1975. Esta imagen ilustra la categoría antropológica de Cross:Inventario de roles laborales masculino-femenino.
Type
image
Format
Photographs
image/jpeg
black-and-white negatives
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.N35.B5.100.29A
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/7427
Subject
Portraits, Group
Girls--Colombia--San Basilio del Palenque
Water carriers (Persons)
Place
San Basilio del Palenque (Colombia)
Relation
99.01.RCr.N35.B5.100.29A.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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