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Pardo


Pardo is a word used in the Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial descendants of Europeans, Native Americans, and West Africans. They are defined as neither exclusively mestizo (Native American-European descent) nor mulatto (West African-European descent). It is highly associated with the history of slavery and colonialism. From the 18th century, the term has been used more widely to identify a brown skin colour. But in general use, the physical characteristics may include brown skin ranging from dark brown to almost white. Similarly, the person's hair could be curly, straight, or other texture, and any colour.

In Brazil, the word pardo has had a general meaning, since the beginning of the colonization. In the famous letter by Pero Vaz de Caminha, for example, in which Brazil was first described by the Portuguese, the Native Americans were called "pardo": "Pardo, naked, without clothing".

The word was used to cover African/European mixes, Amerindian/European mixes, and Amerindian/European/African mixes and Native Americans themselves.

For example, Diogo de Vasconcelos, a widely known historian from Minas Gerais, mentions the story of Andresa de Castilhos. According to 18th-century accounts, Andresa de Castilhos was described by the following: "I declare that Andresa de Castilhos, pardo woman ... has been freed ... is a descendant of the natives of the land ... I declare that Andresa de Castilhos is the daughter of a white man and a native woman".

The historian Maria Leônia Chaves de Resende says that the word pardo was used to classify people with partial or full Amerindian ancestry. A Manoel, natural son of Ana carijó, was baptised as 'pardo'; in Campanha several Native Americans were classified as 'pardo'; the natives João Ferreira, Joana Rodriges and Andreza Pedrosa, for example, were described as 'freed pardo'; a Damaso identifies as a 'freed pardo' of the 'native of the land'; etc. According to Chaves de Resende, the growth of the pardo population in Brazil includes the descendants of natives and not only those of African descent: "the growth of the 'pardo' segment had not only to do with the descendants of Africans, but also with the descendants of the natives, in particular the carijós and bastards, included in the condition of 'pardo'".


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