Creative Media

Tea is from young leaves of an evergreen small tree, native to the higher lands of Asia's S.E. monsoon region. In 1752, Linnaeus described the tea tree as a single species, Thea sinensis. Later, however, he recognized two species, Thea Bohea and Thea viridis, as cultivated in China, and it was long thought that these were the origin of black and green tea respectively. Most botanists now agree that there is only one species and that the various forms are varieties of the Tea Sinensis.

When left to its natural habit of growth and not subjected to the repeated pruning necessary for the production of a size and shape convenient for plucking, the tea plant may attain the dimensions of a tree, 20 or 30 feet in height. Its leaves are elliptical-oblong or pointed, toothed along the margin except at the base, smooth on both sides, green, shining, and supported on short stalks. Oil glands present in the substance of the leaf contain an essential or volatile oil. The flowers, resembling those of the mock orange, are slightly fragrant, white or cream-colored, and appear solitary or in clusters of two or three in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a 3-celled capsule, usually with one large spherical seed in each rounded compartment.

The tea plant thrives best in humid tropical or subtropical regions with high temperatures, a long growing season, and a heavy, well-distributed rainfall to ensure a continuous, rapid growth of new and tender shoots. It favors rocky, undulating tracts where water flows freely, yet without washing away the light, friable soil.

News of the French Revolution and the American Revolutionary War fostered liberal ideas among Latin American intellectuals and politicians. The Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, created in 1776 and encompassing what is now Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and part of Bolivia, fell apart when Napoleon invaded Spain and deposed the monarch, Ferdinand VII. The propsering port city of Buenos Aires presented an attractive target to the British, now engaged in the Peninsular Wars in Europe. The British invaded in 1806 and again in 1807 and were repulsed. Repelling a superior world force gave confidence to the colonial forces who turned their attention to their own political situation.

After the French seized power in Spain, wealthy merchants in Buenos Aires were the driving force behind a revolutionary movement. On 25 May 1810, the cabildo of Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy and announced that it would govern on behalf of king Fernando VII. The city formed its own junta and invited the other provinces to join. However, disagrement among the political factions delayed a formal declaration of independence.

While discussions ensued, military campaigns led by General Jose de San Martin in Argentina and other South American countries between 1814 and 1817 made independence from Spain increasingly a reality.

It wasn’t until March of 1816, following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, that representatives of the various provinces met in Tucumán to discuss the future of their country. On July 9 the delegates met in the Bazán family home, now the Casa Histórica de la Independencia museum, to proclaim their independence from Spanish rule and the formation of the United Provinces of South America later the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata.

The Acta de la Declaración de la Independencia Argentina signed, the newly formed congress couldn’t reach agreement on a form of government. They appointed a supreme director, but many delegates preferred a constitutional monarchy. Others wanted a centralized republican system, still others a federal system. Unable to reach consensus, the opposing beliefs eventually led to a civil war in 1819.

Taking power, Juan Manuel de Rosas, ruled from 1829 to 1852 while acting as a caretaker of the external relations of the whole country, who lacked any other form of federal government. Acknowledged as a tyrant, Rosas was overthrown by a revolution led by General Justo José de Urquiza under whom Argentine national unity was established, and a constitution promulgated in 1853.

At the beginning of the 16th century around 1520 A.D. (After Death), the indigenous groups of Northwestern Argentina had put a stop to the Incas coming through the Andie's from Bolivia. One of the routes was through the Puente De Las Incas. This being essentially a land bridge crossing a tributary of the Mendoza River.

The Spaniard Juan de Solís landed on the shores of the Rio de la Plata in 1516. Just around the same time as Cortes landed in Veracruz, Mexico. Solis's crew sailed away and in 1520, Ferdinand de Magellan stopped on his voyage around the world but did not stay. Following Solis and Magellan both Sebastian Cabot and Diego Garcia sailed up the Rio de La Paraná and Paraguay rivers in 1527 to form a small settlement they called Sancti Spiritus. Noting along the way wild plants among one being yerba maté. Later Local natives destroyed this settlement and both explorers returned to Spain.

Not giving up, the Spaniards tried again. This time, Pedro de Mendoza arrived in 1536, with large force well supplied with equipment and horses. Choosing his site well, he founded a settlement called Santa María del Buen Aire, today known as Buenos Aires. However, the natives were no more pleased with him than his compatriots and Mendoza returned to Spain, leaving behind Juan de Ayolas and Domingo Martínez de Irala. The latter went up river to found Asuncíon in Paraguay and later brought the survivors from Buenos Aires to Asuncíon. Ayolas set off for Peru, already conquered by Pizarro, and is lost to history.

In the late 1570’s forces from Paraguay established Santa Fé in Argentina. On 11 June 1580 Juan de Garay re-founded the settlement at Buenos Aires. Under Garay’s successor, Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Buenos Aires took root and began to prosper.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, expeditions from Peru and Chile, some as early as 1543, followed the old Inca roads into Argentina and created settlements on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Cordoba, Salta, La Rioja and San Salvador de Jujuy are the oldest towns in Argentina.

1592 - The native indigenous tribes drank the yerba maté beverage for 1000s of years with a small cane (Bombilla or Bom-bee-u) placed inside a small hollow gourd which they used as a cup. Soon this beverage spread out, so quickly that it gained reputation as a stimulant, an aphrodisiac and even a drug among the Spaniards. Jesuit missionaries were the first to start cultivating yerba maté among the new Europeans.

1645 - The Jesuits started cultivating yerba maté near their missions after gaining permission in 1645 from His Catholic Majesty. It became one of their most important source of revenue in South America.

1767 - The expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish colonies in 1767 ended the cultivation of yerba maté on the mission plantations. When they were expelled from all Spanish dominions their missions on the Parana-Paraguay were abandoned. This caused huge changes in yerba maté production, as the missions were transferred into royal and private hands. Massive exploitation and slavery of the local Guarani population proceeded.

1514 - The knowledge of yerba maté goes back to the beginning of the indigenous Guarani people. When the Spanish conquistadors came to Argentina in 1514, they found this indigenous group using yerba maté for food, drink, and medicine. Yerba maté is nutritious, but for the Guarani people it also played a social role. It was used as part a of their culture and as a currency of exchange with other pre-Hispanic cultures including the Incas and many indigenous groups in the northern Amazon basin.

Yerba Maté has a long and traditional history steeped in legend and story telling. We have collected key dates and documented the plant throughout the years from verbal oral traditions all the way up until today.

Due to the traditional method of sharing the gourd or maté as in Argentina it is easy to see how an oral story telling history would develop behind this powerful stimulant.