According to a theory presented by
Ramón Rocha Monroy, some of the
Bantu languages spoken by
Angolans who were sold in
America as
slaves, were recorded in a book published by a
Jesuit missionary named Pedro Dias in 1697, called
Arte da Lengua de Angola (The art of the Angola language). This publication had recorded the word
camba (Friend of the color black), among other words, and its plural form
macamba. During that time, Angola, which was a
Portuguese Colony, was responsible for more than a third of the slave trade on the Atlantic directed toward
Brazil From there the slaves went to the
Spanish colonies, from the
Río de la Plata (Plata River) to Eastern Bolivia.
Kamba has become part of several Indigenous languages of the region, like
Guaraní, as a
demonym (nickname) for black persons (different than
hũ, which means 'the color black'), as well as to refer to the King
Mago Baltasar. In several local Liturgies he was called
el Santo Cambá, or the Camba Saint. Today, the term camba is used as a demonym for the mestizo
cruceños, or people with indigenous and European (mainly Creole) ancestry from
Santa Cruz,
Pando and
Beni. African slaves got all the way to modern day
Potosí, Bolivia, however, they were able to settle mostly in the
yungas. The term could have begun as a demonym ther. e, and then spread to the rest of
eastern Bolivia. Another hypothesis states that the word
camba comes from a town in Galicia, called
Cambados. Some dispute this theory considering it to be improbable, insulting or politically incorrect to have a nickname for "cruceños" (persons from Santa Cruz) with an African origin. They support this based on the chronicles written by the Jesuits, which describe many traditions of Spaniards and
Creoles in America, but don't make any mention that they would use African vocabulary to describe themselves. == Symbols ==