Somos Jíbaros

A "Jíbaro" (pronounced with an "h" sound instead of the "j" and accented on the first syllable) is a Puerto Rican who carries the same spirit as those who originally settled the mountains in the interior of the island. 

The term offers some very interesting connections that I would like to further investigate between the Sephardic Jews, Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands (where many Sephards lived and emigrated through), Puerto Rico, and the term "Jíbaro".

According to Wikipedia:

In Puerto Rico, the Jíbaro culture has its origins primarily in Canarian culture, with minor influences from the native Taíno culture. The term jíbaro usually refers to "La Gente de la Montaña" (the people of the interior mountainous regions of Puerto Rico) and emerged in the 16th century with the blending of the Pre-Columbian Taíno and Spanish European cultures in the central mountains of the island. 

Royal Spanish Academy of Language or "Real Academia Española" says that the word originates from mountain people of central castile. Many of these early Spanish settlers preferred to settle in mountainous terrain that they were accustomed to back on the Spanish mainland and later from the Canary Islands. Some elements of the jíbaro culture are still visible today. 

Since at least the 1920s the term "jíbaro" has a more positive connotation in Puerto Rican culture, proudly associated with a cultural ideology as tough pioneers of Puerto Rico.

However, the term occasionally also has a negative connotation. A jíbaro can mean someone who is considered ignorant or impressionable due to a lack of a more European style of education as are many country or "hill billy" people of many other cultures. Despite this negative connotation, the image of the jíbaro represents an ideology of a traditional Puerto Rican: hard-working, simple, independent, and prudently wise.

Colloquially, the jíbaro imagery serves as a representation of the roots of the modern day Puerto Rican people and symbolizes the strength of such traditional values as living simply and properly caring for homeland and family.