Uruguay Bicentennial celebration in Punta del Este

17 October 2011

On Saturday afternoon, October 15th,  the people in Uruguay’s department of Maldonado gathered to celebrate Uruguay’s bicentennial on the Punta del Este Peninsula. The celebration included a narration of the events that led to Uruguay’s national identity and independence that was broadcast over speakers along Gorlero Street, as well as a parade, and a folk dancing exhibition.

The parade commemorated the Oriental Exodus, an historic event when 16,000 people living in present day Uruguay left Montevideo to avoid an overwhelming conflict with Spanish military forces. The parade included Uruguayans of all ages wearing period costumes, with some on horseback and in horse drawn wagons.

Children in their costumes before the start of the parade

Members of the parade had started putting together their costumes and preparing for the event three months prior to the celebration. Their preparation included learning traditional folk dances, which were performed at the end of the parade in front of the Punta del Este Artisan’s Plaza.

The event was well attended with an enthusiastic crowd of onlookers who lined both sides of Gorlero Street.

Dancing on the parade route

Regional folk dancing exhibition

The beginning of Uruguay’s road to  independence
It was General José Artigas who first articulated a vision of an independent Uruguay as part of a united federation of states for the region, modeled after the United States of America. On October 10th, 1811 Artigas was nominated by the people as the Chief of the Orientals. (Orientals were the people who lived in the Province East of the Uruguay River - what is now Uruguay.)

The Oriental Exodus occurred when Spanish troops from Buenos Aires came to put down the rebellion. Artigas and his 3,000 soldiers, who were greatly outnumbered, made a decision to retreat - accompanied by a proclamation to stay armed and to come back and fight when they could. They left Montevideo and followed the Uruguay River north, and then crossed it to take refuge in an area of Argentina, which is present day Concordia. In addition to his solders, Artigas led a group of 13,000 civilians with him to safety.

After years of battles from 1811 to 1828, with both Spanish controlled Buenos Aires and Portuguese controlled Brazil, the vision of an independent State of Uruguay finally became a reality.

Offerings made to African Goddess on the Beaches of Punta del Este

Some friends told me that each year on the night of February 2nd people gathered on the beach in Punta del Este (as well as other beaches in Uruguay) to make offerings to an African goddess known as Yemanjá. Punta has a large variety of special events held on the beach including runway modeling, concerts, and sporting events, but for some reason this bit of information about making offerings to an African goddess bent my paradigm about Uruguay. So, I went to the beach to investigate.

What I saw on the beach were lots of candles set in shallow holes in the sand or covered by plastic drink bottles with the bottoms cut off to shield their flame from the wind. Besides the candles, there were a few people performing rituals, playing drums, and making offerings of flowers and food. (In addition to flowers and food the goddess is said to like offerings of jewelry, make up, and mirrors.)

So my question to Yemanjá - “what’s an African goddess like you doing in a Catholic country like this?” As it turns out, Yemanjá is one of seven deities of an African pantheon who came to America via the African slave trade and became incorporated in the spiritual practices of African Americans in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, and New Orleans. From there the Brazilian tradtion migrated to Uruguay.

Yemanjá is the Queen of the ocean and represents the feminine aspects of creation and motherhood, as well as being a patron deity who has the ability to watch over fishermen and shipwreck survivors.

Uruguayans I spoke with told me that Yemanjá can grant wishes to those who give her an offering. I was told that you could ask for anything you wanted, but that it was not advisable for young women to ask for love, because Yemanjá has a reputation of keeping men of interest for herself.


According to Wikipedia, Yemanjá is also known as,Iemanjá or Janaína in Brazil, where she is observed by the Candomblé and Umbanda religions. (In New Orleans Voodoo the goddess is known as Yemalla or Yemana.)