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 group of children play in a cemetery in San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia. Some are sitting on the tombstones or on the ground while others are standing. 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 of the runaway 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: Social organization. Un grupo de niños juega en un cementerio en San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia. Varios se observan sentados sobre las lápidas o sobre el suelo mientras que otros se observan parados. San Basilio de Palenque, un pueblo ubicado a 50 kilómetros de Cartagena, es considerada la primera comunidad de esclavos libres de América porque el 23 de agosto de 1691, el rey español Carlos II firmó una cédula real que reconocía la libertad de de las comunidades de personas fugitivas en las Montañas de María. Sin embargo, las autoridades locales no firmaron un tratado con estas comunidades sino hasta enero de 1714, reconociendo su libertad y ordenando el establecimiento del poblado de Palenque San Basilio Magno. La gente en San Basilio de Palenque habla una lengua criolla con base en el 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: organización social.
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