Afro-Bolivian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
( Bolivia Estimated at, at least, 25,000 (Afro population in the Yungas)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Yungas | |
| Languages | |
| Bolivian Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| West Africans, Central Africans, Afro-Latin Americans, and Bolivians |
Afro-Bolivians are Bolivian people of Sub-Saharan African heritage, and therefore the descriptive "Afro-Bolivian" may refer to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from their community. It can also refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Bolivian society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class culture. The Afro-Bolivians are recognized as one of the constituent ethnic groups of Bolivia by the country's government, and are ceremonially led by a king who traces his descent back to a line of monarchs that reigned in Africa during the medieval period.
In 1544, the Spanish Conquistadors discovered the silver mines in a city now called Potosí, which is on the base of Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) in Bolivia. Almost immediately, they began enslaving the natives as workers in the mines. However, the health of the natives working in the mines became very poor, which is why the Spanish began to look towards a new group for labor. By the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, the Spanish mine owners and barons began bringing in African slaves in high numbers to help work the mines with the natives who were still able.
Slaves were put to work in difficult conditions. Some slaves working in the mines survived no more than a few months. Initially, the slaves were not used to working at such a high altitude. Also many of the lives of these Native and African workers fell short because of the toxic smelter fumes and the mercury vapors that they were inhaling while working the mines. Slaves worked in the mines for 4 months on average. As such they had to be blindfolded upon leaving the mines to protect their eyes, which were adapted to darkness.
Although it was a requirement for the Natives and Africans over 18 years of age to work in the mines for 12 hours, younger children were still reputed to be put to work in the mines. These children worked fewer hours; however, they were still exposed to the extremely harsh conditions of all the miners: including asbestos, toxic gases, cave-ins, and explosions. It is estimated that as many as eight million Africans and Natives died from working in the harsh conditions of the mines from a time span of 1545, when the Spaniards first put the Natives to work, until 1825, the end of the colonial period.
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Wikipedia