Gaucho Calchaquí - El Grito de la Tierra. (Gaucho Calchaquí - The Cry of the Land).

Thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy brow...to me it is true humanity and great poetry. (Jean-François Millet) This project is about Gauchos of the hills and the Calchaquí Valleys one of the sacred valleys of the American Continent at the Province of Salta, at the North West of the Argentina. To depict the gaucho life, not in those purely external aspects, but in its very essence, and from the point of view of the gaucho himself. These valleys and hills were once inhabited by a number of Indian tribes a region which was part of the Incas Route and the setting of the gauchos’ adventures during the independence wars. The features of the Calchaquí gaucho are a clear example of the mixture races of Spanish conquers and Indians. It’s a very closed and distrustful society (Those gauchos are a tribal society, united by blood ties and loyalties that generate lifelong commitments) and live respectful of their ancient customs and traditions and represent one of the last authentic Argentina subcultures. Skillful rider and cattle breeder, the gaucho performs almost all his farm work on horse, an animal that constitutes his best companion. Silent, honorable and courageous, the gaucho takes pride in being who he is. Are deeply catholic and also worship to the The Pachamama (Mother Earth) female goddess of the earth and fertility, is an agricultural deity. Their long standing traditions gradually disappear and slowly becoming extinct due to the economic difficulties and the migration of young people to big cities in search of a better future. The land is sterile, poor, and oppressive hot in summer and biting frost in winter and their way of life, forced them to earn their bread with the sweat of their brow. One day, Mario Choque, who is one of the valley’s most revered gauchos, told me: “We are the last indigenous people and there are fewer and fewer of us every time”.