Changador
Changador
In the River Plate region in the eighteenth century, the role of the changador was to slaughter livestock and to collect skins and tallow for illicit sale to the Spaniards, Portuguese, or anyone who wanted them. The word changador was associated with the term gaucho. Although there is still no agreement on the origin of the word, its derivation may have to do with the fact that the contraband skins and tallow sold to Portuguese territories were transported in canoes or light boats known as jangadas in Portuguese; the boats' owners were called jangadoiros or jangadeiros.
Around the middle of the nineteenth century the word was applied to day laborers hired for seasonal agricultural work (changa). On the docks, it was used for porters.
See alsoGaucho; Gaúcho; Livestock.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Assunçao, Fernando. "El Gaucho." Revista del Instituto Histórico y Geográfico del Uruguay 24 (1958–1959): 369-918.
Bouton, Roberto J. "La vida rural en el Uruguay." Revista Histórica 29, no. 85-87 (July 1959): 1-200.
Ana Frega