Black History in NICARAGUA (In 60 Seconds!) 

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Focus: *Afro-Nicaraguans* *Afro-Nicaraguans* are Nicaraguans of African descent. The first African slaves transported to *Nicaragua* were taken by *Gil González Dávila*, a Spanish conquistador who purchased them for *300 pesos* in Panama from *Pedro Arias Dávila*, a colonial administrator. From there they took *11 enslaved individuals* to the newly founded Nicaragua. They were already baptized before being taken to Nicaragua. In 1531, the *Council of Leon* asked the King of Spain for authorization to extract a *1000 slaves*, tax-free, to give to the neighbors. The *Council of Granada*, Spain in November 24, 1544 asked the same authorization to import *50* people to enslave them in the opening of the *"rapids of the drain".* Also, Spanish colonists, who could no longer *enslave the Native Americans* following the New Laws of 1542, required workers in their newly formed haciendas (Estates) so, from 1558, Bishop *Lazaro Carrasco,* meeting with the Native Americans *"almost all consumed"* and less than a hundred Spanish neighbors without enough real entries, asked for the King's license to import *600 people of African descent* to enslave them. The number of *enslaved African people* imported to Nicaragua was in the thousands. Most Spanish who emigrated to America were men, soldiers and colonists and they took *indigenous and African women* as partners and concubines. As early as the 18th century, most people who were enslaved born in the territory were *mulattoes*. According to colonial documents, *people of African descent* who had been enslaved came from such ethnic groups such as Arara, mainly the *Eʋe and Fon* from Ghana, Togo, Benin, *the Yoruba people* from Yorubaland, now located in Nigeria, Togo and Benin; *the Asante* (Ghana), those from what is now known as "Angola", the Congo region, the *"mina" and "Mandinga"* of the Gambia. *Miscegenation* caused a large release of enslaved people. Thus emerged middle classes formed by *Zambo, mulatto and quadroon* (those with a quarter African blood) and other mixtures. By 1820, persons of some African descent made up *84%* of the population. But many of them were kept as slaves. Thus, during the first half of the 17th century, many of the slaves were used in the *indigo mills*. Since the 17th century, *several groups of slaves rebelled against their enslavers* and migrated to other places and settled in small clandestine colonies, free from Spanish rule. These free slaves the "Cimarrons" *(maroons)* were affected by several royal orders issued against them. One of them agreed to raise an *army* against those colonies and return enslaved people to their enslavers. This law was fulfilled in Nicaragua. *The Spanish* were not the only people to import people to make them slaves in Nicaragua. *The English,* who were colonists on the coast of Nicaragua since 1633, also *imported groups of people to enslave* since the late 17th century. The English began cultivating *sugar cane and indigo* around Bluefields and on the banks of the Rio Coco, which were labor-intensive crops. The slaves were also used for *cotton plantations and for cutting mahogany*. As in the case of slaves imported by the Spanish, the African slaves of the English mixed with the *Miskito, Sumu, and Rama* indigenous peoples of the area. Most Afro-Nicaraguans reside on the *Caribbean coast of Nicaragua,* which is also the vast and sparsely populated region, that had British occupation from 1635 to 1860. Although *Afro-Nicaraguans* represent a significant portion of the population, the vast majority live in two particular regions of the country, the *Región Autónoma del Caribe Sur* (RACS), and the *Región Autónoma Caribe Norte*. The two regions combined, are two times bigger than Maryland and they are known for their *large rivers, white beaches and their 9 month-long raining season*. Such geographic characteristics have resulted in years of *isolation and underpopulation* in comparison to the major cities in the Central and Pacific regions where most of the colonization efforts by the Spanish were made. Despite the fact that these regions represent more than half of the Country in terms of area, they are also among the *poorest regions, and their unemployment rates* are also higher than in the rest of the country. The struggle of *Afro-Nicaraguans* persists even when they leave the precarious situation of their home regions for economic opportunities elsewhere, and they face *discrimination* when they move to the Pacific or the Central part of the country. *Bluefields* is home to Nicaragua’s largest African settlement and Creole culture. Located at the mouth of the Escondido River and the Caribbean Sea, its history sits bursting with documentation of movement, settlement and a regathering of culture. Bluefields’ *African-dense history* dates back to the 1630s, when the British started to settle in the region, bringing with them captured Africans. *Enslaved Africans* from Jamaica later sought freedom in and around Bluefields in the 1700s and after British emancipation in 1834, the area became a destination for *free Blacks* from across the British-controlled Caribbean. *Palo de Mayo* (Maypole; or ¡Mayo Ya!) is a type of Afro-Caribbean dance that forms part of the *culture of Afro-Nicaraguans.* It is also the name given to the month long *May Day festival* celebrated on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Both the festival and dance are an *Afro-Nicaraguan tradition* which originated in Bluefields, Nicaragua inthe 17th century. *Gallo pinto* is Nicaragua‘s national dish. It consists of rice, beans, coriander, peppers and spices. Beyond the taste, it has an important historic background where *enslaved Africans* played a remarkable role. It all started on *banana plantations* off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in the 17th century, with the flood of *enslaved Africans* who were brought from West Africa (mainly from *Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and Benin)* to the Caribbean Sea. Other historians say *gallo pinto* came from the *Ghanaian Waakye*, a dish of rice and beans, usually black eyed peas or cow beans cooked together, along with red dried sorghum leaf sheaths or stalks *Source/References:* • travelnoire.com/gallo-pinto-costa-rica-nicaraguas-national-dish • joshuaproject.net/people_groups/19417/NU • cisneros.columbian.gwu.edu/afro-nicaraguans-persistent-struggle-equality

The most important thing to understand is Ortega and the FSLN will never, ever, ever, ever ever put a black in a position of power.

Do Costa Rica next 🇨🇷🇨🇷

This is my country! Tell the truth , we were not slaves. We are indigenous and other groups mixed with us.

The Miskito are the original people, they did not arrive there w the Spaniards. Sorry, but thats false.

Garifunas are the Arawaks, they are not descendants of Africans.

NIcaragua does NOT have black people.

MAY POLE DANCING