A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central cordilleras of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. Some regions of Valle del Cauca Department (north) and Tolima Department (west) culturally identify as paisas. The main cities of the Paisa region are Medellín, Pereira, Manizales and Armenia.
The name Paisa derives from the Spanish apocope of Paisano (fellow countryman), but they are also known as "Antioqueños" (those from the old Antioquia, which included the other Paisa provinces, which was a single administrative body until the creation of the Caldas State in 1905). Although many refer to Paisas as an ethnic group (raza antioqueña or raza paisa), they are a part of the Colombians and Latin American peoples.
Paisas can be found in other regions of Colombia and the Americas where they have migrated. They have a particular way of speaking Spanish that some writers refer to as español antioqueño.
Genetics The Paisas have been considered a genetically isolated population according to scientific studies. As evidenced by the analysis of direct-line mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA (inherited from mother-to-child) and Y-chromosomal DNA or Y-DNA (inherited from father-to-son), the initial founding of the Paisa population occurred primarily through the admixture of male Iberians (mostly from various Spaniard and Portuguese ethnic groups, and a smaller Sephardic Jewish element) and female Amerindians.
Ultimately, this led to the overall predominantly European ancestry of today's Paisa population according to testing of autosomal DNA or atDNA, despite the asymmetrical sex-specific genetic markers that they inherited from the founding population which indicates their Y-DNA as being predominantly from European male forebears and mtDNA as being predominantly from Amerindian female ancestors. Nevertheless, the average population does still carry a significant amount of Native American ancestry, ranging from 20% to 40%, and from 4% to 10% for African.
Extremadura The ancestors of the Paisa are primarily Spanish immigrants from Extremadura, Spain (sixteenth century). The first colonizers were Extremaduran like Gaspar de Rodas of Trujillo, who was the first colonial governor of the region. Several towns, cities and places in the Paisa Region are also Extremaduran: Medellín (see Medellín in Spain), Cáceres (see Cáceres in Spain), Valdivia (a small town near Badajoz).
Andalusia Some Andalusias, like Jorge Robledo of Jaén, also came with the Extremadurans during the sixteenth century. During the seventeenth century, a group of Andalusian migrants is said to have settled the region.
Basque people The presence of Basque ancestry in the Paisa Region is exhibited by the proliferation of Basque surnames.Basque Families of Antioquia, Buber's Basque, link retrieved on 4 April 2009. Some scholars point out that this may be one of the regions of Hispanic America with the greatest concentration of ancestry from the Iberian region.Etnias de Colombia: "Los vascos ", . Link retrieved on 4 April 2009. Cite: "la profusión en Antioquia está por encima del promedio estadístico atribuible a la simple distribución casual de apellidos asimilados" (tr.en. "The profusion in Antioquia is above the media of a simple and casual surname assimilation.") The Basques arrived in Antioquia during the seventeenth century.Etnias de Colombia: "Los vascos ", . Link retrieved on 4 April 2009. Cite: "a partir del siglo XVII aumentó el acceso vascuence a América y a la Nueva Granada." (tr.en. "since the seventeenth century grew the migration of Basque people to the Americas and the Nueva Granada.")
The use of Basque language (Euskera) terminology in the present territory of Colombia goes back to the early exploration which occurred in 1499, during the third voyage of Columbus. It is said that from that time the territory experienced a strong influx of Basques including prominent figures such as the pilot and geographer Juan de la Cosa, nicknamed "El Vizcaíno" (although some reputable sources claim that he was not a native of the Basque Country, but was instead born in Santoña, Cantabria).
Thereafter, the Basques began to come regularly and distributed throughout the country. Due to this presence, the Colombian department of Antioquia has been considered a major point of Basque-Navarre immigration. This occurred mainly during the colonial era, when thousands of Basques migrated to be linked to the Spanish colonization companies.
To people interested in investigating the presence of Euskal Herria in the department of Antioquia, one of the questions that troubles them relates to the use and retention of the Basque language in the department.
It is estimated that for Antioquia, a region where tens of thousands of Spaniards arrived, of which a good portion were Basque, limited aspects of the Basque language were brought over. It has been difficult to track the use of Euskera in Antioquia and Colombia because the Basque language was always an outcast, which apparently left no written evidence in Antioquia.
This is likely because the Spanish crown, to maintain the monopoly of its overseas companies and to restrict those people not belonging to Spanish rule, did not allow languages other than Castilian to be spoken. This meant that those invited to participate in the colonization of Indian companies, and foreigners in general, had to learn the official language, i.e., Castilian, hence the prevalence of Castilian-Basque-speaking bilinguals.
Despite these restrictions, it is still possible to trace the history of Colombia's ties to the ancient language of the Basques. A reference that has use of Euskera in Colombian territory occurred in relation to Lope de Aguirre, a native of Gipuzkoa nicknamed "The Madman". Aguirre's rebellion defied the Spanish empire, carrying out acts against the subjects of the Spanish crown. Pedro de Ursúa, a Navarrese faithful to the Spanish king, who was also the founder of Pamplona in eastern Colombia, said that he could persuade the soldiers to be part of Aguirre's revolt, if they spoke in Euskera.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Basque families from Northern Spain settled in the Aburrá Valley where Medellín and Envigado are located, as well as small towns in eastern Antioquia, such as Marinilla, El Retiro and El Santuario. This part of Antioquia reminded these families of northern Spain.
Sephardi Jews There is debate about Jewish ancestry in the Paisa people.Azriel Bibliowicz, «Intermitencia, ambivalencia y discrepancia: historia de la presencia judía en Colombia », Amérique Latine Histoire et Mémoire, Numéro 3-2001 - Migrations en Colombie (original in French, this link in Spanish.) Link retrieved on 6 April 2009. Note: "Este autor también analiza la hipótesis del origen judío de los antioqueños, sosteniendo que hay un fundamento para dicha aseveración." (tr.en. "This author also analyzes the hypothesis of the Jewish origin of the antioqueans, holding that there is a foundation for such statement")Horacio Calles: "How I discover my Jews background ", Saudades. Link retrieved on 4 April 2009.
It was known that some Spanish and Portuguese New Christians of Sephardic Jewish ancestry (some of whom continued to practice Judaism secretly, and were also known as marranos, Spanish for swine) fled the Cartagena de Indias Inquisition and took refuge in the Antioquian mountains during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Some Colombian authors like Jorge Isaacs and Miguel Ángel Osorio have claimed that it is indisputable that Paisas have Jewish ancestry. Several Paisa surnames are known to have been prevalent among New Christian conversos of Sephardic Jewish origin, for example Espinosa, Pérez, Mejía, and many others.
Some scholars state that the presence of Sephardic Jews among the ancestors of Paisas is a fact, but it does not mean that all Paisas descend from them, nor that it is the only or predominant element among those that do, as is proven by the Paisas' descent from other groups like Basques, Extremadurans, and Andalusians.Jorge Guillermo Angel R.: "Los sefardíes, pequeña historia de una minoría" . Conference for the Antioquean Academy of History, on "HaBait". https://www.habait.co.il/document/80,65,11.aspx Link retrieved on 6 April 2009. Cite: " Claro está que el hecho de que muchos sefardíes hayan venido a Antioquia no quiere decir que de ellos desciendan todos los antioqueños, como a veces se exagera. Es indiscutible que aquí llegaron castellanos con raíces vascas, andaluces y extremeñas, así como también alemanes e ingleses, franceses y portugueses, rusos (son rusos el apellido Sanín y el nombre Adelaida), turcos y griegos, de quienes desciende una buena cantidad de personas y de formas culturales que prevalecen en lo cotidiano." (tr.en. "It is obvious that the fact that several Sephardic persons have come to Antioquia, does not mean that all the Antioqueans descend from them, as people often exaggerate it. It is indisputable that others who arrived here were Castillians with Basque roots, Andalusian people and Extremadurans, as well as Germans and Britons, Frenchmen and Portuguese, Russians (the surname Sanín is Russian and the first name Adelaida,), Turks and Greeks, from which there are large numbers of descendants and their cultural backgrounds prevail in our daily lives")
Canarians
There are records also of presence of some Canarians and Canarian families, at least some of them known to be from Lanzarote, who settled in Cáceres, Antioquia, in the second half of the 16th century. Others emigrated in 1678 by the terms of the Tributo de Sangre to Santa Marta.Morales Padrón, Francisco. Canarias - América. Colección "Guagua", 1982. p. 49. In 1536, Pedro Fernández de Lugo led an expedition of 1,500 people, 400 of whom were Canarians from all the different islands that make up the archipelagoColombia se conquistó gracias a un pequeño contingente de 400 canarios (in Spanish) "Colombia is Conquered by a Small Contingent of 400 Canary Islanders").), for the conquest of the area around what became Santa Marta. This contingent pacified the warring tribes on the coast and penetrated into the interior (including Paisa region). On the way, they founded several cities, two which, Las Palmas and Tenerife, still exist. In addition, Pedro de Heredia led 100 men from the Canary Islands to Cartagena de Indias.
Etymology
The expression "Paisa" is of popular use as apocope of "Paisano" (person from one's own country; fellow countryman). Consequently, "Paisa Region" is the region where the Paisa people live. A more ancient expression is Antioqueño. All the region once made up the Province (later State) of Antioquia. In 1905, the Caldas Department was created from the southern part of Antioquia, limiting the use of the term Antioqueño only to those of Antioquia, while "Paisa" could refer to people from both the smaller Antioquia and the new department.
History
Although some sources argue that the American Indians that populated most of the Paisa Region were extinguished through European diseases and fights against the Spaniard conquerors, this has not been fully demonstrated.
Francisco César made an expedition in 1537 from Urabá to the Cauca River to the lands of Dabeiba, but his troops were rejected by the Nutibaras. In 1540 Marshall Jorge Robledo founded Cartago. In 1541 he founded Arma in what is today the south of Antioquia, near today Aguadas and Santa Fe de Antioquia, at the banks of the Cauca River. This last town would become the provincial capital in 1813.