History of the word - Gambuesa

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

The word Gambuesa, in itself makes a journey of high etymological value, and although in our days we have it closely related to the "large stone corral, in which the goats are enclosed once gathered", or at least that is what the RAE affirms, in the historical evolution, which is when we have references, it has an interesting strength as a term, always accompanying the farmer, the cattle and as we will see, the islands.

 

If it seems clear, and in that the authors agree, that it is a pre-Hispanic voice that repeats in several of the islands of the archipelago and that have no explanation from the Berber, which is striking and is one of those unknowns, with which the ancient settlers of the Canary Islands remind us that there are great gaps in knowledge.

 

The first reference to the term collected in writings in the archipelago arrives very early in the conquest, in the year 1501, in the document of the Agreements of the Cabildo of Tenerife that first contains it and also with a form, gamabuesa, that could be closer to the true pre-Hispanic nature than the Gambuesa form that has prevailed. It prohibits all the people who have thrown their cattle into the Anaga pasture so that they can then take them out if it is not with the agreement of the Cabildo. That ordinance reads as follows:

 

"Others and ordered and commanded that this pasture oversaid [of Anaga], which is to raise goats and all other any cattle that are thrown there, ecebto pigs and cows, and all these said neighbors that there put their cattle that none can kill or take out or shoeing sy not with the agreement of the Cabildo, and asye they can not put syn agreement of said Cabildo so that it is known what kills, because they become their gamabuesas at the same time that it is concerted"

 

Fuerteventura, managed versus gambuesas

 

In the first historical references to the term on the island of Fuerteventura the apañada is confused with the gambuesa, or perhaps it is not a confusion and in that context, with the social value of the livestock act by autonomy, separating both meanings was more complicated ...

 

"These two islands [Lanzarote and Fuerteventura] are abundant with herbs and very fragrant flowers; and so there is a lot of cattle of goats and sheep and cows1... The cattle of this island of Fuerteventura is the tastiest of all the islands; which is loose all over the island; and when they wanted to take some cattle, they got together and made arrangements that they called gambuesas" Abreu Galindo 1632.

 

On the island of Fuerteventura the loose goats were raised by the cliffs, and when they made slaughter, they beat them and locked them in a place. These Apañadas are called Gambuezas. Viera and Clavijo 1772

 

From these documents we interpret what we say, that at some time the word gambuesa came to mean both things, but today the use of the term gambuesa is limited to the initial definition provided by the RAE.

 

In this way the later chroniclers relate the concept with this last meaning and relate it to the fold where the cattle end after the rigging, the place where it is taken to separate the farmers and mark them. Guanche vocabulary. Gambuesa, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, "Large corral to gather cattle in the apañadas". 1912 Bethencourt Alfonso History.

 

Another later definition that already includes the concept of "Coastal Cattle", is provided by Navarro Artiles in his edition of the work of the majorero Ramón Castañeyra: "corral to enclose the coastal cattle caught in the apañadas"

 

Gambuesa as an aphorism

 

In this sense the term Gambuesa is, possibly, one of the best testimonies, one of the richest words in content, both etymological and semantic, that we have left of one of the most characteristic manifestations of the culture of the Mahos, the Coastal Cattle.

 

This initial approach to the Gambuesa concept wants to raise the strength of a word that accompanied the aboriginal culture and the social practices produced by the Coastal Cattle as the spearhead of the survival of a people.

 

The gambuesas are today and for a long time, large and communal corrals; they are made of dry stone, between one and two meters high, always in a more or less circular way and with certain interior dependencies to perform the different tasks of marking the cattle, castrating the baifos, separating the goats from the same owner, etc.; and they are usually on the slopes of the ends of the ravines, to better drive there the goats and sheep guaniles. (University of Las Palmas)

 

In successive entries we will try to complete the image, the route and the current state of the different gambuesas that continue to fulfill an ancient function on the island of Fuerteventura.

link to original article for pic

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Tamara: if you don't want to read it all, at least have a look at the last paragraph! 

Tamara: I think I have placed this and the next post in the wrong order, sorry if it confuses! You may wish to read today's second post first!



Noticias:

Fixes, rest of the cattle and set aside / Apañadas, descanso del ganado y apartar

The course of the rigging continues when the cattle enter the gambuesa, the time has come to stop, set aside and value.
Following the path that we have maintained in the last entries in this section, in which we try to explain the logic and the phases of the fixes, the time has come when the cattle, once in the gambuesa has to be observed to value it, let it rest and begin to think about the recognition of them.

 

In this step, El Descanso is fundamental. As we say the cattle have already entered the gambuesa and have to take some time to calm down, "moment in which the shepherds take the opportunity to rest and observe the cattle that have gathered, before continuing with the task"

 

"We let people take a break, that almost always for those days you have refreshments, you have beers, you have water and, perhaps, the one who wants to eat can make a sandwich, a soft drink a little in what the food is made because then the food comes to be given at three or four in the afternoon, at the time the cattle are finished. You lock the cattle there, you see people just watching. 'Ah! yes that's my goat.' 'Well, my goat is born, it has a Moorish baifito' (...)." (Nicolás Herrera Cabrera, 1937, commissioner Antigua Sur).

 

After this phase of tranquility that is also pleasantly contemplative, the cattle relax after the long walk and harassment to which they have been subjected by shepherds and dogs for the entry into the gambuesa. It is at this point where a new phase of the process of great importance begins, it is called Apartar

 
"The next phase of the scheme is to 'set aside' the cattle that have entered the gambuesa. It is about separating on the one hand all the calved goats and the offspring, the goats that need to be milked and all those cattle that the owners want to remove from the coast for different reasons. The 'secluded' cattle are introduced into a smaller pen that is for this purpose inside the gambuesa, while the rest of the cattle are released again. (Allende and Edgar, La Cabra de Costa de Fuerteventura).
"And then, inside the gambuesa to set aside. Let's see what not, those who are not who do not have offspring are thrown out. We have an apartment, a small corral, those that have offspring and the young are thrown there and those that have milk to milk them, the ones that we are going to remove or things like that, we throw them there." (Vicente Hernández Santana, 1946, commissioner of Betancuria).

 

"(...) those that are paridas we are throwing there in the corrals those. There are two corralillos, one to throw the ones that are given birth to ahijarlas and another is to throw the ones that we are going to take, the males and that or some goat that is sold or baifos. " (Tomás Acosta Cabrera, 1943, commissioner of Antigua Norte).

 

The action of Apartar requires skill and physical condition, since the cattle can be numerous and must be taken properly. The commissioner, in this sense, "appoints two people in charge of carrying out the task of setting aside the cattle, these people being appointed because they are considered the most prepared to perform this function, since it is necessary to have sufficient practice and skill to take the cattle in the appropriate way. On occasions when the cattle are very numerous, these people are receiving the relief of other companions when they are tired. The rest of the comrades, forming a fence, are bringing 'batches' of cattle to help those who are in charge of 'setting aside', while they are choosing the cattle that remain and the one that is 'given door' putting them back in freedom" (Allende M. Gutiérrez and Edgar A. Freivalds).

 
"The commissioner, the one who commanded there, (...) he named two men of his taste, the one who was rigged to catch the goats, the goats have... they are taken by the back legs and you have to take them by the left leg it seems to me, do not go there and take it by any leg, today they take it even by the cogote, by the horns, by wherever. Before, the commissioner knew, so-and-so, mengano, there to set aside the cattle there were two men nothing else and the other people were making a playpen next to the door of the corral. Me here, another here, another here, another here and the cattle were brought here and everyone here cutting, cutting and two men there taking them by the paws that belonged to them (...) One by one, those were finished, the staff was here doing the corral and two others were going to play here and until it was finished" (Agustín de León Soler, 1932, cattle rancher of Casillas del Ángel).
To recognize the goats that are calved, it is observed if they have the udders loaded with milk and if the calf is suckling from it, in order to rule out that they have lost it.

 
"We are looking at their tits, all those that are born because they are blowjobs, they have blowjobed tits, because we throw them all there and those that do not have baifo we throw them all out. There is a small corral there and we are throwing them all out there and the others we are throwing them all out." (Antonio Cabrera Morales, commissioner of Puerto del Rosario).

link to original article for pics

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Tamara: I think I have placed these last 2 posts in the wrong order, sorry if it confuses!

Noticias:

Apañadas, el Reparto y el Cerco / Apañadas, the Distribution and the Cerco

The scheme continues its course, the farmers and the commissioner divide the functions, shortly begins the Distribution.

After the Nombramiento and the subsequent Junta of the farmers who will participate in the fix that we explained in the previous post, the next step for the correct collection of the coastal cattle in the majoreras is the "Distribution".

 

In this way the commissioner is in charge in this phase "of choosing and distributing the most appropriate people to go to the different places, from which they will begin the arrangement, also taking the opportunity to give indications and advice to each of the farmers, for the optimal realization of the fix" (La Cabra de Costa de Fuerteventura).

 

The different difficulties presented by the terrain "and the qualities of each pastor" are arguments in which the commissioner treats his decisions. "On many occasions the commissioner has a second, which is in charge of distributing and controlling the people in the area to which they have been sent."

 

"(...) then there are twenty I say: 'Three cars go here through the Punta de Jandía, through Cofete and the others go, some here, through the peak of the Zarza and we go to the ravine of Los Canarios'. And from there I distribute them all. They know where they have to go because I already tell them where they are going and I always have another person who goes, who is not very such people, I say: 'Go with them in such a place.' (...) I cast them all from here, but then arriving at the key site there is a person who tells them: 'No, you have to go up here and you go up here.' See? And that organizing people for when we reach the fixed point of gathering the cattle, that you are not there in front and the other back there, you have to organize." (Juan Pérez Viera, 1951, commissioner of Pájara).

 
"(...) to each position more or less the person who is more prepared to go there. Well, the best we send for the most bad and the most bad because we send it for ... [laughs] that is already calculating or if it is an older person or if it is a person whatever it is we send it for the closest, an older person we are not going to send it for the farthest." (Tomás Acosta Cabrera, 1943, commissioner of Antigua Norte).

In the fantastic book by Allende M. Gutiérrez and Edgar A. Freivals, La Cabra de Costa en Fuerteventura, the next phase of the apañadas, the Cerco, is explained very clearly:

 

"Once the shepherds are in the place established by the commissioner, they begin to gather and direct the cattle that are in their area through the indicated places, until they reach the meeting point with the rest of the shepherds. Once all the shepherds have arrived at the point established to gather the goats, a fence is made with which the cattle are directed to the gambuesa. Along the way, if a goat deviates trying to flee the area surrounded by the shepherds, they use several strategies; they scream, whistle, throw the dog at them and/or throw stones at them in their path with the aim of getting them scared and returning to the rest of the flock. Nowadays the farmers use fabrics strategically placed at the entrance of the gambuesa forming a funnel that makes it easier for the shepherds to tackle the goats when they enter the gambuesa".

 

"So, from here we leave to enter from here below, through Ajui. We have to take from the top edge to go to have La Vega, others have to take the low tide there, to go to the part of Aguas Verdes for here, and then there we are combining with each other. We are making a fence, some from there and others from here, and they are already getting together, they are gathering in a place that they call the Tarajalito and they are already gathering there. Then there they are more open, they come here, there are people already on the sides and jilas come to the gambuesa." (Vicente Hernández Santana, 1946, commissioner of Betancuria)

 

"We are cutting them, some in one place and others in another, and the goats in between, wherever the way, arranged the people there are, some go down on one back others on the other and others touching back until they take them to the place you are going to take them." (Maximino Robaina Torres, 1937, cattle rancher and butcher of Betancuria).

 

"(...) almost always it is lowered by the same place, that is, if we manage everything that is a mountain, because the cattle are almost always taken to what is the tip of a mountain and then, from there, it goes down to the corral. But everything comes together in one place and then from there it is played and they are touched, they are touched and they are taken to the corral, to the gambuesa. You have to look at the terrain because rather they go down if there is a mountain, it is taken to a point and it is surrounded. People get on the top of the mountain and they go down, they go down and then they take the gambuesa, because the gambuesas are usually at the bottom, where the cars arrive. And then there's the gambuesa, which is put on a little mesh as well, a cone is made for the animals to enter there and go straight to the corral." (Martín Cano Clavijo, 1963, commissioner of Tuineje).

link to original article for pics

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

Rigging, milking and shoring.

As the morning passes, the final tasks are carried out and it is recognized who is the new cattle that have been managing.

As we explained in the previous entry of this series on the millenary tradition of the apañadas, the coastal cattle are already in the gambuensa, they have rested and the calved goats have been separated with the offspring and on the other hand the non-calved goats that must be milked, in addition to any cattle that you want to remove from the coast depending on what the owner decides.

 

At the moment the farmers, if they find goats with milk 'deshijadas' or "that the calf only suckles it from one side of the udder, they take advantage of the arrangement to milk them and thus avoid possible injuries", as stated by the authors of La Cabra de Costa in Fuerteventura, Allende and Edgar.

 

In this line, in statements to the authors of the wonderful book that serves as a guide, the commissioner of Antigua Sur, Nicolas Herrera Caberar and Agustín de León Soler, a cattle rancher from Casillas del Ángel, express themselves:

 
"The morning passes, we bring the cattle, we bring the cattle to milk the goats because there are many desahijadas, a lot of goat that the baifo does not take anything more than a, and you have to milk them to see if the baifo takes him ... it is difficult for the baifo, when it is big, to take the two tits but well, to milk it." (Nicolás Herrera Cabrera, 1937, commissioner Antigua Sur)

"(...) those who stayed were also milked, for example, if there was a goat with a milk teat, as we called it, the milk nipple was removed and it was left until it managed again." (Agustín de León Soler, 1932, cattle rancher of Casillas del Ángel)

 

When the problem of goats with "deshijadas" milk is solved, one of the purposes of the coastal arrangements on the island of Fuerteventura is carried out, we proceed to "Ahijar":

 

Once the calved goats and their offspring have been set aside to the small pen, the cattle that each farmer wants to take have been removed and the remaining cattle have been released, the calved goats with their offspring are transferred back to the large corral to 'ahijar' them. It is known as 'ahijar' the process by which it is observed that breeding belongs to each goat and therefore to each farmer. (Allende and Edgard).

 

"Then, when the cattle from here, from the large corral, from the cattle that are calved or the same cattle that they have with milk are finished, there is, perhaps, the corral is full of goats and baifos because both the calved goat has to be passed here, like the baifos, everyone has to pass them here (...). All the mothers, all the mothers and children are taken out, all the baifos there and then we get here, some out there in that corral, all separated, others here and nothing more than looking, to go watching to see the goat, because according to this time we all know that they have baifos but they stick to look for them, and they already settle the baifillo, and they are already getting around (...) that is called the ahijar the cattle, that is the practice." (Nicolás Herrera Cabrera, 1937, commissioner Antigua Sur).

 
"The goats are sponsored, that each one ... they then go to that, that same goat that's there has those two baifos. You put them there in the gambuesa until the goat does not join the baifo that is hers can not be marked, if there is a goat that does not get attached you have to leave it for another time. " (Tomás Acosta Cabrera, 1943, commissioner of Antigua Norte).

link for pics

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

Las Apañadas de Fuerteventura on its way to being an Asset of Intangible Cultural Interest.

The Ministry of Historical Heritage of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura has initiated the procedure to declare the cattle ranching of the coast of the Island as an Intangible Cultural Interest. The objective is to contribute to the preservation and protection of a millenary tradition that would be considered BIC within the category of 'knowledge and uses related to nature, sky and sea'.

 

The resolution of the Ministry of Historical Heritage will be published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) and notified to the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, municipalities of the Island and Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura. The farmers' associations and the Plenary of the Corporation will also be notified.

 

The president of the Insular Institution, Sergio Lloret, wanted to highlight "historical, patrimonial and cultural importance" that this livestock tradition has for the Island of Fuerteventura, "deserving of recognition and protection", he said, focusing on the benefits that the declaration will bring to the safeguarding of this activity as a fundamental part of the insular primary sector.

 

According to the Minister of Historical Heritage, Rayco León, the apañadas constitute an ethnographic and identifying element with great value for the majorera culture. Therefore, it is necessary to articulate strategies to protect this tradition and transmit it to future generations. "Its declaration as a BIC will serve to give this representation the momentum and recognition it deserves, as well as receiving greater protection."

 

León also highlights the support received by coastal livestock from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. The Minister of the primary sector area, David de Vera, explains that this year the Cabildo has allocated 86,000 euros to support the work carried out by a total of six associations on the island for the maintenance of an activity of which only one last stronghold is preserved in Fuerteventura.

 

From the primary sector area, traditional coastal livestock has also been approached to the young people of the Island, who have participated in arrangements to learn first-hand about this practice.

 

From the socioeconomic point of view, this activity constituted an essential means for the sustenance of the ancient inhabitants of the Island, providing food, skins and derivatives that were used for the exchange of products.

 

The apañadas constitute an ancestral tradition, inherited from the aborigines. A practice that consists of gathering coastal cattle scattered through valleys and mountains to gather them in pens with high dry stone walls that are called gambuesa and that are distributed throughout the island territory.

 

In 2022, Gambuesa Tablero Vega Vieja in Puerto del Rosario is in use. In the municipality of Antiguos the gambuesas Valle de La Cueva in Antigua, Llanos de Caleta Blanco and Pozo Negro; in the municipality of Pájara Gambuesa Rincón del Verodal and Morrito de los Descansaderos; in Betancuria Llanos del Sombrero and Valle de Janey; in Tuineje in Barranco de Majadas Prietas and Las Rositas.

 

Once in the gambuesa, the shepherds separate the calving goats and the young, the milking goats and all those whose owners want to remove from the coast for different reasons. Another of the tasks carried out in the gambuesa is that of 'godchild', which consists of observing which offspring belongs to each goat and therefore to which farmer to be marked later.

 

The activity of the apañadas generates around it a series of norms, customs and beliefs that have allowed the development of the activity since historical times. In addition to the aforementioned gambuesas, these elements include the figure of the coastal commissioner, who represents the highest authority of the areas destined for coastal livestock. There are commissioners in the municipalities of Pájara, Betancuria, Puerto del Rosario and Tuineje. Antigua has a large communal area—15.8% of its municipal territory—so it has two commissioners.

 

The coastal commissioner organizes the arrangements, summoning the shepherds before dawn to be located at the convenient points to begin this practice, which are usually headwaters of ravines and mountains that delimit the coast that is going to be managed. Once the arrangement has begun, the shepherds close the fence between shouts, whistles or dogs, and the goats are concentrated until they enter the gambuesa.

 

Also noteworthy as ethnographic elements are cattle marks, which are transmitted from generation to generation. Towards the middle of the eighteenth century there were 208 different brands in Fuerteventura, only in the so-called term of Guise, since there are no references to the brands used in the area of Ayose.

 

Traditionally, the marking consisted of a series of cuts on the ears and face of the animal, being replaced today by other systems and devices. The brand of each farmer is unique for the whole island, being documented and registered in each municipality through a record book that attests to the ownership of the same, called the book of trademarks.

 

Among the material elements used by the shepherd in the apañadas is the stick or club, also known as 'can', which allows to overcome the most abrupt terrain facilitating the descent. Another function of the can is to "tackle" the cattle and "catch" the baifos that try to flee. This tool was traditionally made with tarajal and is currently made with lighter synthetic materials.

 

It should also be noted the function of the hat, which apart from protecting from the sun, is also used by shepherds to tackle and scare away cattle trying to sneak away.

 

At present there are six goat associations of majorera coast, which continue to keep this activity alive: Association of Cattlemen of Antigua, Association of Cattlemen of Punta La Nao (Pájara), Association of Cattlemen of the Bad Name (Pájara), Mancomún of Puerto del Rosario Puipana, Association of Traditions and Livestock Customs of the Mancomún of Betancuria Gamabe and Association of Cattlemen of Coast of Tuineje La Cabra Morisca.
 
link to article for pic