IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 115

Another way of creating knowledge
about Afro-Argentine music involves
analyzing public archives and thirdparty works through a revisionist lens to
looking for pertinent information. Yet,
it should not be presented thus (Cirio
2012b).

San Baltazar worship (Corrientes,
northeast Santa Fe and east of Chaco)
This worshiping is done on January 6th,
although its present iteration is tied less
to the Catholic Feast of the Epiphany of
Christ, or “Three Kings Day,” than it is
an avocation for the third member of
this trio of wisemen, Baltazar. This bifurcation began with the Cofradía de
San Balthazar y Ánimas [Brotherhood
of San Baltazar and Souls] (1772-1856),
at the Nuestra Señora de la Piedad del
Monte Calvario parish [Our Lady of
Piety of Mount Calvary parish, Buenos
Aires] (Cirio and Rey 1997; Cirio 2000,
2000-2002). The General Curia and the
Spanish Crown created it to instruct
blacks on Catholicism and to serve as a
tool for deculturation and domination.

Given this specter, I will focus on what
is already known with great certainty:
the present time in the City of Buenos
Aires and nearby communities, and in
diverse rural cities and areas in the
provinces of Chaco, Corrientes, Santa
Fe and Entre Ríos. The historical perspective for these is even more incomplete; it is limited to a small amount of
data from the 18th century (City of Buenos Aires and Corrientes) and a bit
more information from the 19th century,
particularly the second half (Buenos
Aires), and the early 20th century, in all
the aforementioned areas.

It is from their documents that we know
that members of the brotherhood did not
at all assimilate to white society; instead
they worshiped their own way, and music was a crucial element in this. This
caused them problems with the authorities, since officials saw in this noisy
behavior surviving elements of their
religions. Evidence that shows they
were successful in maintaining some of
their ancestral practices includes the
fact that these are still quite popular in
coastal practices (Quereilhac de Kussrow 190, Cirio 2000, 2002, 2011a). Little is known about these ancient practices in the northeast. Although I found
no relevant documentation in local archives, oral history tells us that the oldest data is from the early 18th century, in
Chavarría (Departament de San Roque,
Corrientes).

María de las Nieves Olguín, 99. Her
grandmother had been a washerwoman
for Justo José de Urquiza. During 2007’s
fieldwork, she was one of the few people
who still had an oral memory of AfroParanense music from the Tambor neighborhood.
Paraná, 2004 (Departament of Paraná,
Entre Ríos). © El Diario.

115