Photo by margarita persico saving ancestral houses and the environment. Puerto rican bomba is the first native music of puerto rico, created in the sugar plantations by slaves more than 400 years ago. While bomba can be used as the generic name for a number of rhythms, it is truly about a creative, interactive relationship between dancers, percussionists and singers. Bomba is an african style of music and dance that flourished along the coastal region and sugar cane fields of puerto rico, where a lead singer chants short vocal calls to which the group sings fixed responses. From bomba to hiphop puerto rican culture and latino identity juan.
Puerto rico history and heritage travel smithsonian. It is generally believed to have started during the 17 th century in loiza, a town in the northeastern part of the island. The history of puerto rico has usually been envisioned as a sequence of colonizationsvarious indigenous peoples from archaic through taino were successively invaded, assimilated, or eliminated, followed by the spanish entrada, which was then modified by african traditions and, since. May 01, 2004 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. The story behind the vejigante masks from puerto rico and how. Puerto rico is the smallest and easternmost island of the greater antilles. The book traces the life of pedro albizu campos and the puerto rican independence movement, which continues on the island to this day. Teacher shows maps of puerto rico and the caribbean 5. Its origins are rooted in the islands history of african slavery but today has. The plena and bomba together occupy another sort of prominence in. Often mentioned together as though they were a single musical style, both reflect the african heritage of puerto rico, but there are basic distinctions between them in rhythm, instrumentation, and lyrics.
The bomba and plena explosion in puerto rico 19541966 on discogs. The cow bladder is inflated and dried in the sun, then filled with seeds or beans and the vejiga is used by the vejigante as a weapon during. Cultureseekers will be astounded at the 110by35mile islands rich heritage and history, from old san juans charms to folk art and festivals in the outlying towns. As i was working on this project i was asked many times why a book on puerto rico would be included in a series called the greenwood histories of modern nations puerto rico is not a nation, i was told triumphantly time and again though never by puerto ricans. The book features a special emphasis on aerial photography, and a thenandnow chapter is devoted to comparing historic and modern scenes of the island. Puerto rican culture is a representation of the diverse heritages of three main cultural groups.
Video documents bomba and plena, both traditional and modern. Puerto rican cultural center music, dance, and culture of puerto. Puerto rico began to produce cattle, sugar cane, coffee and tobacco, which led to the importation of slaves from africa. The history of puerto rico by lisa pierce flores, 2010.
The spaniards enslaved the tainos who were the native inhabitants of the island and many of them died as a result of the cruel treatment that they had received. It became known as puerto rico after 1521, when the city of san juan had been founded and given the islands original name. This lesson focuses on the african influences found in puerto rico s musical culture by studying bomba music. The book also offers solid supplemental reading for graduate or advanced. Students discuss puerto rico s statehood and listen to salsa. Bomba and plena are percussiondriven musical traditions from puerto rico that move people to dance.
Archiving bomba through diverse bomba genealogies oral history interviews etc. It is generally held in july but sometimes in november. The story behind the vejigante masks from puerto rico and. Popular puerto rico books meet your next favorite book. Bomba music is made for dance and is unique to puerto rico.
The mask itself is known as a mascara careta, which literally translates into grimace mask, and poignantly describes the scary look on its face. The book also offers solid supplemental reading for graduate or advanced undergraduate students in music history, puerto rican history, cultural studies, and sociology classes. In puerto rico, the taino culture is also a part of the festival, and the vejigantes are heavily influenced by music, more specifically bomba and plena. Flowers of puerto rico and the exotics serie puerto rico. The history of puerto rico from the spanish discovery to the american occupation language. They convey a story about events, address topical themes, often comment on political protest movements, and offer satirical commentaries. From the madonna incident in puerto rico, to the ties that puerto ricans have with hiphop, and the current status of puerto rico that he sadly calls a lite colony, flores book is one that should be read by anyone interested in the affairs of american culture. War against all puerto ricans tells an undiscovered story. Spanish version plena was born in the working class barrios of ponce, puerto rico about 100 years ago. Slide show in pdf format for a quick overview of puerto ricos history and culture.
In this puerto rico lesson, students find puerto rico on a map and find specific regions or cities. Students discuss puerto ricos statehood and listen to salsa. Hispanic outlook floress invaluable book establishes a new parameter for the field of latinoa studies. Van middledyks work was the first major historical study of puerto rico in english. Pdf on dec 1, 2014, melissa fuster and others published eating puerto rico.
As a result, puerto rican bloodlines and culture evolved through a. Pdf this article starts with an ethnographic snapshot of a bomba performance by the group son del batey and goes on to discuss the. Anyone wanting insight into puerto rican history and culture will find it enlightening. Although in theory you can drive round puerto rico in a day, with. Maricruz riveraclemente has shown pride in her african heritage ever since she was a child by dancing the puerto rican national folkloric dances, bomba and plena. The celebration lasts 10 days and it ends on a sunday. The following discussion focuses on puerto rican history from the time of european settlement. The national puerto rican day parade nprdp is the largest demonstration of cultural pride in the nation. This video shows a brief history of puerto rico on an animated map. Your browser doesnt seem to have a pdf viewer, please download the pdf. The first inhabitants of puerto rico were huntergatherers who reached the island more than 1,000 years before the arrival of the spanish. Plena developed from bomba music around the beginning of the 20th century in southern puerto rico. Bomba history and practice as an index for the intersections of colonial, racial and gendered power and the embodied enactments of resistance to such forms of power.
Puerto rican music and cultural identity cuny academic works. Puerto rico has won the miss universe pageant a record five times. Through fiery drum rhythms and improvised dance, the cane workers released feelings of anger, resistance, and sadness about their condition. San antons bomba and plena festival, is an annual celebration held in ponce, puerto rico, as an extravaganza celebration of bomba and plena music genres and the traditions of ponces barrio san anton. Puerto rico offers an enriching experience, stemming from 500 years of history and an authentic latin culture. The history of puerto rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of puerto rico by the ortoiroid people between 3,000 and 2,000 bc. Puerto rico is a large caribbean island of roughly 3,500 square miles located in the west indies. Its origins are rooted in the islands history of african slavery but today has evolved into a community expression of afropuerto rican culture. Puerto rican music has evolved in many forms, from classical folk music to salsa, bomba, and plena. Bomba is a musical expression created in puerto rico at the end of the 17th century, by west africans and their descendants who worked the colonial sugar plantations along the coast of puerto rico.
A brief history of the afroborincano by tony the marine santiago black history in puerto rico initially began with the african freeman who arrived with the spanish conquistadors. Slide show in pdf format focuses mostly on the taino history in order to help students comprehend why many people say they are boricuas instead of puerto ricans. Puerto rican cultural center music, dance, and culture. I used windows paint, windows movie maker, and paint. Race, gender and the bomba imaginary in puerto rico. This lesson focuses on the african influences found in puerto ricos musical culture by studying bomba music.
By cruz miguel ortiz cuadra find, read and cite all the research you need. For treatment of the island in its regional context, see latin america, history of, and west indies, history of. Bomba is an afropuerto rican musical celebration thats created by dancers. This is my first video, and im really excited to try more of these videos.
The music has its roots in western africa where slaves were taken and brought to the island. Reborn in 2014, our programs and events focus on promoting culture. Its origins are rooted in the islands history of african slavery but today has evolved into a community expression of afro puerto rican culture. Teacher says and writes the name of the musical genre on the board. Puerto rico ranks 6th in the world when it comes to college graduates. Joel katz, pfz properties president, saw a great opportunity in an area with such natural beauty. Puerto rico is the 3rd country in the world with more physicians per capita. At the centre of bomba history are the anonymous afropuerto rican. When i was puerto rican by esmeralda santiago, conquistadora by esmeralda santiago, the rum diary by hunter s. This book is especially strong in offering detailed analysis of the amerindian foundations of the caribbean island, the devastating impact of the european takeover, the contributions of various immigrant groups to the island, and the sad reality of the slave trade.
Students research the history of puerto rico, its culture, and geography. A pointed, relentless chronicle of a despicable part of past american foreign policy. Virgin islands, guam, american samoa, and the northern mariarna islands rice recipes from puerto rico puerto rico. Facts about puerto rico amador island tours puerto rico. This book is especially strong in offering detailed analysis of the amerindian foundations of the caribbean island, the devastating impact of the european takeover, the contributions of various immigrant groups to. Fernando pico wrote an informative history of puerto rico. Van middledyk advanced puerto rican historiography by building on the works of brau, coll y toste, and acosta, and by consulting early spanish chronicles. Grand cuisine of the caribbean recipes from puerto rico. Popular puerto rico history books meet your next favorite book. The metropolitan community of isla verde and the luis munoz marin international airport surround pinones, which includes two lagoons and puerto ricos largest mangrove forest. Information on puerto rican dance, music, history and culture can sometimes be hard to. Its the easternmost island of the greater antilles chain.
When julia danced bomba cuando julia bailaba arte publico. Ethnologists opinions differ as to whether the tribes were eradicated by new invasions from south america, succumbed to starvation or plague, or simply evolved into the next culture that dominated puerto rico the ostionoids. The nook book ebook of the the history of puerto rico by r. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Now in its 61 st year, the parade takes place from 44th street to 79th street along fifth avenue in manhattan, in honor of the 3. Other tribes, such as the saladoid and arawak native puerto ricans, populated the island between 430 bc and ad. A librarian at the free public library of san juan, van middledyk possessed knowledge of and access to considerable primary source material.
History of puerto rico christopher columbus reached the island and claimed it for spain on november 19, 1493. Plena music, dance, culture, history of puerto rico. The bomba,the plena and the african culture in general, play a. The vejigante is the person in costume who carries a vejiga cow bladder gigante giant. Bomba is both a traditional dance and musical style of puerto rico.
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