Capoeira: A Cultural Phenomenon Of Brazil

1429 Words6 Pages
During the time period of circa 1500 to present day, Capoeira started as a traditional West African fight technique, then changed to a dance to entertain slave masters in Brazil, and lastly to commonly practiced fight technique; however, throughout this period, Capoeira’s practice and the importance of a purpose have remained the same because of Capoeira’s tie to West African heritage and the African Diaspora. The origins of Capoeira have been lost in written language, but many anthropologists believe it began in West Africa. In Africa, before slave trade and European explorers, people performed a ritual called N’golo. N’golo involved two African warriors fighting; they represented Zebras battling each other. The purpose of N’golo was to win the right to choose a virgin woman for marriage (Origins of the fight). The custom of N’golo was to play music during the ceremony (Moura 15). These traditions where embedded in the lives of Africans. By the 1500’s Europe had laid their hand on Africa and had started exporting Africans into slavery (Austen 127). Portugal needed labor to work sugar fields in Brazil, during the 1530s. Portugal tried to use the natives at first, but they had struggles with disease and natives escaping proved it too difficult to enlist them. As a result, Portugal turned to slavery (Bentley 536). The slaves, Portugal imported from Africa, were an essential component to their work force (Almeida 13). As is true in most cases of slavery, these Africans where brutally treated with whipping and clubbing. Europeans viewed Africans as heathens; this justified abuse to slaves in their eyes (Almeida 15). The enslavement of these people helped power European economy, while it ruined Africa’s The treatment inflicted on African slaves drove an inner desire to revolt (Almeida 12). The importance of their heritage and customs thrived within them and as time
Open Document