L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano T o many Italians, especially those who grew up on a diet of bread- a n d - w e s t e r n - movies, there is nothing m o r e q u i n t e s s e n t i a l l y American than cowboys. Anyone wearing a Stetson hat and riding a horse was a hero to many children, back in the day: we used to play "cowboys," running around the garden or the backyard, with plastic pistols and a b r o o m s t i c k a s a h o r s e , dreaming of the lands of Texas and California. These iconic, legendary f i g u r e s w e r e n o t o n l y a symbol of America to us, they embodied freedom. They were guided by strong morals, they were just, they l i v e d i n h a r m o n y w i t h nature, they were free. Of course, this was the image w e , a s k i d s , h a d o f A m e r i c a n c o w b o y s , a n d y e s , i t w a s h i g h l y i n f l u - enced and shaped by the image Hollywood gave us of them. What many of us didn't really know back then was that Italy had – and has – its very own cowboys, fig- ures of, just like their US cousins, incredible charm and surrounded by a palpa- ble allure. Our cowboys are called butteri. The figure of the buttero is typical of one of Tuscany a n d L a z i o ' s w i l d e s t y e t m o s t b e a u t i f u l a r e a s , Maremma. Just like cow- boys, our butteri are horse- riding shepherds, mandri- ani caring for Maremmana cows, those beautiful ani- mals with long horns you m a y c o m e a c r o s s i n t h e marshy field of southern T u s c a n y a n d n o r t h e r n Lazio. The history of butteri dates back, very likely, to ancient times, just like their v e r y n a m e . L i n g u i s t s believe the word "buttero" c o m e s f r o m t h e a r c h a i c L a t i n b u t o r o s , s o m e o n e who "spurs the cows," liter- ally: this referred, very like- ly, to the way ancient shep- herds would train and con- trol their cattle. When the R o m a n s c o n q u e r e d t h e Etruscans, the latter had already a long running tra- dition of horse-riding herd- ing, something their con- querors were to inherit. The Etruscans already moved their cattle from one area to another, following the sea- sons and the availability of forage, in what could well be considered an ante lit- teram form of transuman- za, or transhumance. A n c i e n t b u t t e r i o f R o m a n t i m e s k e p t t h e i r w e a l t h o f t r a d i t i o n a n d know-how alive well after the end of the Empire itself, s o m e t i m e s – e s p e c i a l l y during the darkest hours of t h e M i d d l e A g e s – e v e n turning their knowledge of the territory into an essen- tial instrument to carry out illegal (but lucrative) activi- ties, such as poaching. T h e b u t t e r i w e k n o w today are much closer to their ancient Roman ances- t o r s t h a n t h e M e d i e v a l ones: figures profoundly c o n n e c t e d w i t h n a t u r e , with the land they inhabit and the animals they care for, butteri are by many considered the most signifi- cant symbol of Maremma, of its harsheness, yes, but also of its immense beauty. Think about what the Wild W e s t i s i n t h e p o p u l a r imagination of Americans: w e l l , t h a t ' s t h e w a y Maremma is for us in Italy. Butteri are men connect- e d w i t h n a t u r e a n d , o f course, with the famous Maremmana cow, beau- tiful and somehow elegant, with her long, curved horns and white coat, herself as typical of Maremma and its history as butteri them- selves. Just as iconic are butteri's horses, the famous Maremmano, strong, mus- cular and faithful. Just like American cow- boys have their own "uni- form" – the Stetson hat, the chaps, the boots – so do o u r b u t t e r i : w i t h t h e i r black, large brimmed hats, their corduroy jackets, their fustian pants, chaps and pastrano – a large type of cloak, also traditionally used by soldiers – they cut a charmingly wild figure, that expresses strength, rectitude and experience. Traditionally, and espe- cially in the 19 th and early 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , b u t t e r i would proudly sport long, thick moustaches: their allure was such that they are considered the initia- tors of the trend of keeping l o n g m o u s t a c h e s a m o n g Italian men. And while the 19 th century is, perhaps, the moment when butteri entered people's imagina- t i o n , p o s i t i o n i n g t h e m - selves in the realm of Italy's heritage icons, it was also, alas, the time when their presence across Maremma began to wane. In the sec- ond half of the '800s, the large estates (latifundia) where butteri would work began being transformed into smaller, intensively cultivated areas, as a result of the evolution of agricul- ture and farming. So, little by little, the number of but- teri diminished. Yet, they still exist today, symbol of a l i f e s t y l e a n d k n o w - h o w rooted into the very heart of t h e l a n d t h e y b e l o n g t o , Maremma. While their presence in the Pisa province is virtual extinct, you can still find them, riding their horses and minding their cattle, in the province of Grosseto, where the safeguarding on the ancient butteri tradi- tion has become an impor- tant marker of local identi- t y . I n 2 0 1 9 , a c o u r s e t o become a buttero has been c r e a t e d , i n a n a c t i v e attempt to pass on a tradi- tion that, as we saw, goes a l l t h e w a y b a c k t o t h e Etruscans and the Romans; the initiative goes hand in hand with the current effort brought about by Regione T o s c a n a a n d t h e F o n d o Sociale Europeo, to breed Maremmana cows in the wild again. And to conclude, a small h i s t o r i c a l c u r i o s i t y : i n 1890, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show had made its way to Italy. In that occa- sion, American cowboys and Italian butteri compet- ed against each other to w i n t h e c r o w n o f t h e w o r l d ' s b e s t c o w b o y s . Under the lead of Augusto Imperiali, our butteri won the competition and were declared, at least for that year, the best horse-riding shepherds in the world. Butteri at work, wearing their traditional gear (Photo: Damiano Buffo/Shutterstock) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE The fascinating world of butteri, Italy's own cowboys CHIARA D'ALESSIO

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