SabaneraA

SabaneraA

The sabanero’s shout was heard again

(Infocom) — Just like every Nov. 10 in Guanacaste, the traditional figure of the sabanero (Costa Rican cowboy) was paid homage through a series of celebrations throughout the province.

National Sabanero Day was instituted in 2003 as a way of recognizing the hard-working, range-riding folks who gave shape to the Guanacaste way of being. Since then, two culture commissions from Guanacaste municipalities coordinate celebrations surrounding this special day in their respective canton.

Additionally, the Ministry of Education is given the chance to include the celebration in its school calendar and K-6 curriculum, so that all schools throughout the country — not just those in Guanacaste — can learn about this historical character.

The main reason that gave birth to this celebration is the fact that the Guanacaste cattle haciendas became a source of culture and customs that constituted the backbone of Guanacaste’s idiosyncrasy.

“In addition to economic goods and resources, the hacienda provides traditions, legends, dances, songs and characters,” reads the text of the law that creaed the National Sabanero Day. “ It’s there where the man typical of the pampas (flatlands), the sabanero, emerges, in addition to other figures such as the sobrestante, the cocinera, the pipero, the montador, the vaquetero and the cuajadero; plus oral poetry such as bombas, tallas and retahilas; the regional lanaguage, with all of its guanacastequisms; activities such as the vaquiada and the fierra; and the recognizable shout of the sabanero challenging the bulls. It’s a lifestyle that impreganates the entire province, from the corral to the city.”

Adds the document: “This is the sabanero, a cattle workers, courageous to the extreme, who had to carry out multiple tasks concerning cattle and the horse, the latter his faithful companion. It’s a legendary character of the Guanacaste pampa. Together with the female cook and the peon, he completes the basic trilogy o the hacienda. His presence has given birth to the ‘sabanero culture,’ a key element of the guanastequidad, or unique way of being in Guanacaste. He is, consequently, a symbol of the eternal Guanacaste. Liberia is the cradle of the sabanero. A man of the Guanacaste plains. Legend of the pampa. A mix of man, plain and centaur.”

The executive decree that created the National Sabanero Day is also a larger recognition of the historical and cultural legacy of the cattle ranching activity in Costa Rica, and which has become the foundation of the Liberian identity — the hard work that went on in the cattle ranches of the Dry Pacific region of the country.

Throughout the years, the figure of the sabanero has been described by poets and folkloric writers, and even by foreign chroniclers who have traveled through Guanacaste.

The sabanero has inspired poets such as Rodolfo Salazar, as well as musicians such as Jesus Bonilla and Medardo Guido Acevedo. The latter, in its song “Amor Sabanero” (Sabanero Love), captures the Guanacaste spirit when saying:

“…Emotion is a burning flame in the soul of the sabanero, who along with his horse, travels the dusty and swampy roads, golden from sunshine or silver from moonlight; sun of burning gold and humid, or clear and peaceful moon… Ranger, who runs after the cimarrons in the forest or through the plain, and that next to his courage and bravery, loves the country and nature all.

“He is happy and emotional and sings his songs and shouts free and impassioned as if he were the king of the revered pampa. He is a straight talker and dreams of the beautiful dark-skinned girl with long, braided hair, black and gracious eyes, who gives flirting looks that gnaw at the soul. And then, a manly smile escapes the lips of this good ranger, as inspiration felt in the middle of his noble uneasiness…”