Painting of a Gaucho Click to visit Obkouna Art Works

You may have noticed that these posts on Darwin are (so far) in alphabetical order. So this means, if I’m doing Gauchos, I must not be doing Fuegians. Maybe I’m saving Fuegians for 2009!?

But I will mention them. The Fuegians live in Tierra del Fuego (no surprise there) way down at the southern tip of South America. Most people know that, but did you also know that when the Beagle departed Portsmouth Harbor in 1831, it was carrying three Fuegians previously captured by Fitzroy and brought to England?

The Gauchos are the cowboys of the so-called Southern Cone and Pampas. The Gauchos are a Latin American version the horse mounted pastoralists that emerged wherever four things are found together: Grasslands, horses, people and cattle. Like all horse-mounted pastoralists, they have been known to have certain cultural tendencies or traits. These include being incredibly good horse riders. It includes a disdain for any sort of locomotion that does not involve a horse. The Gauchos are held in high esteem as a symbol of trustworthiness and strength, this symbol commonly exploited in regional politics in Argentina and Brazil, or by sports teams (in a mascot-like fashion), even in North America.

The Gauchos are beings with four hooved-legs and two heads because a Gaucho is nothing without his horse. Most wars in the region required Gaucho calvary.

Darwin spent a fair amount of time among the Gauchos, and both Darwin and Fitzroy Continue reading Charles Darwin Bicentennial – Gauchos →