Vaqueiro sertanejo

Vaqueiros in Bahia

Vaqueiro sertanejo or vaqueiro da caatinga or vaqueiro nordestino are a traditional people and animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in the sertão of Northeast of Brazil. The first vaqueiros sertanejos emerged in state of Bahia, in the 16th centaury.

Sertanejos emerged in Bahia through vaqueiros (the first sertanejo men) in the 16th century. Today, the sertanejos mainly inhabit the sertão of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, in addition to the North of Minas Gerais.

This culture spread throughout in the sertão of northeastern through the livestock farming of Garcia D'Ávila Tower House, who advanced from Salvador to the sertão of Bahia in the 16th century. In that same century, the vaqueiro appeared, the first sertanejo man with his culture, with his typical leather hat and leather clothes. Vaqueiros dominated parts of the entire northeastern sertão from the 17th century onwards. Garcia D'Ávila's Tower House large estate extended from Bahia to eastern Maranhão.