Montevideo: Thousands of followers of various African-based religions flocked to the coast of the Uruguayan capital on February 2 as part of annual ceremonies dedicated to Yemanja, the Yoruba goddess of fertility and prosperity.
“Water symbolizes freedom, a return to the African homeland,” my mother said. Susanna AndradeKnown as “Mae Susana de Oxum”, President of the Afro-Umbandista Federation of Uruguay. “It was a way to humanize the natural world, free from the horrors of slavery.”
Followers of African-based religions are increasing. South America New data reflects how the region's African heritage is gaining a louder voice beyond Brazil, where these traditions are widely recognized.
Surveys of religious beliefs in Argentina and Uruguay show that the number of people who practice African-inspired faiths is increasing.
Sasha Curti grew up in a predominantly Catholic Uruguayan family. Ramirez Expressing gratitude to Yemanza with members of the Umbanda Temple on the beach in Montevideo.
“We are no longer hidden,” says Kirti, who works as a hairstylist specializing in Afro hair. This, she said, is thanks to more education about their history. “There is still discrimination and a lot of work to be done.”
Along Ramirez Beach, groups dug shallow altars in the sand and placed candles, watermelons and corn as offerings to Yemanza, often called the Queen of the Sea, for good luck.
Like its Afro-Brazilian sister religion, Candomble, Umbanda was first popularized in northeastern Brazil and has its roots in the transatlantic slave trade. According to researchers, worshipers blended the indigenous African Yoruba faith with elements of Catholicism and local indigenous traditions to create a syncretic religion that kept them out of the sight of Europeans.
More than 2% of Uruguayans identify as followers of African-inspired faiths such as Umbanda. This small South American country is home to more believers than neighboring Brazil. In Brazil, the annual New Year's Eve Yemanza festival brought the religion greater international recognition.
Research by a Uruguayan sociologist Victoria Sotelo The number of people practicing African-based religions in the country has more than doubled in 12 years, from 0.7% in 2008 to 2.1% in 2020, according to a study by the University of the Republic.
In Argentina, the cult is growing, albeit from a low base. Non-profit pollster Latinobarometro found that in 2023, 0.3% of Argentina's population had practiced an African-American religion for at least six years, up from 0.1% in 2008.
One possible contributing factor is the growing awareness of long-silenced African cultural identities in Argentina and Uruguay.
In a sign of changing perceptions of racial identity, Argentina has officially included a question about people of African descent in its 2022 national census, a move seen as a significant victory by activists.
That same year, Paraguay passed an anti-discrimination law to protect people of African descent. This year, the Children of the Diaspora Collective of Uruguay, a group dedicated to awareness of African-based cultures, expects the proportion of people who identify as black or of African descent to far exceed the 8 percent figure recorded in the 2008 census. I'm doing it. The 2023 results have been announced.
“Because of our historical processes, a significant portion of Argentina’s (black) population does not identify themselves as people of African descent,” he said. Greta Peña, former Director of the Argentine Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). She said there is a “founding myth” about Argentina that is strictly European, which has helped erase black culture from the nation's consciousness.
While adherents of these faiths are not limited to African heritage, greater adherence to traditional spiritual practices helps increase racial awareness more broadly.
Religion has gained traction through its relatively free social practices and community focus, but more work is needed to combat stigma, Andrade warned. Oral histories and traditions associated with African-based religions have long been misunderstood or demonized as “magic,” she said.
“We have made progress in terms of laws related to religious practice that theoretically protect against discrimination,” she said. “But we don’t get the tax exemptions that churches do and we don’t get the same treatment.”
“Water symbolizes freedom, a return to the African homeland,” my mother said. Susanna AndradeKnown as “Mae Susana de Oxum”, President of the Afro-Umbandista Federation of Uruguay. “It was a way to humanize the natural world, free from the horrors of slavery.”
Followers of African-based religions are increasing. South America New data reflects how the region's African heritage is gaining a louder voice beyond Brazil, where these traditions are widely recognized.
Surveys of religious beliefs in Argentina and Uruguay show that the number of people who practice African-inspired faiths is increasing.
Sasha Curti grew up in a predominantly Catholic Uruguayan family. Ramirez Expressing gratitude to Yemanza with members of the Umbanda Temple on the beach in Montevideo.
“We are no longer hidden,” says Kirti, who works as a hairstylist specializing in Afro hair. This, she said, is thanks to more education about their history. “There is still discrimination and a lot of work to be done.”
Along Ramirez Beach, groups dug shallow altars in the sand and placed candles, watermelons and corn as offerings to Yemanza, often called the Queen of the Sea, for good luck.
Like its Afro-Brazilian sister religion, Candomble, Umbanda was first popularized in northeastern Brazil and has its roots in the transatlantic slave trade. According to researchers, worshipers blended the indigenous African Yoruba faith with elements of Catholicism and local indigenous traditions to create a syncretic religion that kept them out of the sight of Europeans.
More than 2% of Uruguayans identify as followers of African-inspired faiths such as Umbanda. This small South American country is home to more believers than neighboring Brazil. In Brazil, the annual New Year's Eve Yemanza festival brought the religion greater international recognition.
Research by a Uruguayan sociologist Victoria Sotelo The number of people practicing African-based religions in the country has more than doubled in 12 years, from 0.7% in 2008 to 2.1% in 2020, according to a study by the University of the Republic.
In Argentina, the cult is growing, albeit from a low base. Non-profit pollster Latinobarometro found that in 2023, 0.3% of Argentina's population had practiced an African-American religion for at least six years, up from 0.1% in 2008.
One possible contributing factor is the growing awareness of long-silenced African cultural identities in Argentina and Uruguay.
In a sign of changing perceptions of racial identity, Argentina has officially included a question about people of African descent in its 2022 national census, a move seen as a significant victory by activists.
That same year, Paraguay passed an anti-discrimination law to protect people of African descent. This year, the Children of the Diaspora Collective of Uruguay, a group dedicated to awareness of African-based cultures, expects the proportion of people who identify as black or of African descent to far exceed the 8 percent figure recorded in the 2008 census. I'm doing it. The 2023 results have been announced.
“Because of our historical processes, a significant portion of Argentina’s (black) population does not identify themselves as people of African descent,” he said. Greta Peña, former Director of the Argentine Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). She said there is a “founding myth” about Argentina that is strictly European, which has helped erase black culture from the nation's consciousness.
While adherents of these faiths are not limited to African heritage, greater adherence to traditional spiritual practices helps increase racial awareness more broadly.
Religion has gained traction through its relatively free social practices and community focus, but more work is needed to combat stigma, Andrade warned. Oral histories and traditions associated with African-based religions have long been misunderstood or demonized as “magic,” she said.
“We have made progress in terms of laws related to religious practice that theoretically protect against discrimination,” she said. “But we don’t get the tax exemptions that churches do and we don’t get the same treatment.”