Improvisation is regarded as the most sublime element in the jíbaro folk music tradition of Puerto Rico. This tradition originated by the jíbaro, the simple rural farmer of Puerto Rico's heartland, involves the complicated art of improvising in décima, a ten-line poetic form, as well as improvisation of melodic lines played on the cuatro, a small guitar-like instrument. Since jíbaro improvisation is an art that is transmitted orally and involves a seemingly spontaneous act, it might seem odd to talk about a theory of improvisation within this style of music. My ethnographic research however has revealed that improvisation in jíbaro music is actually a highly structured performance practice and involves an informal theory that is based on the knowledge of archetypal patterns that generate and organize jíbaro improvisations.Recent theories of music which establish parallels between music, language, and cognition (Lerdhal and Jackendoff; Clarke; Gjerdingen) have lead me to believe that improvisation in jíbaro music is generated by the combination of archetypal patterns that create a musical syntax. These patterns are stored in minds of jíbaro performers as cognitive schemas. My study is also based on the work of Puerto Rican scholars Luis M. Alvarez and Angel Quintero who have identified African rhythmic patterns as the generative musical source in many styles of Puerto Rican folk music. By combining theories of music and ethnographic methods, this paper will provide a greater understanding of orally transmitted cultural expressions, which utilize improvisation, as well as give insight to the cognitive processes that shape this performance practice.

En el marco del proceso de autodeterminación de ‘territorios integrales indígenas’ impulsado por la Coordinadora Regional de losPueblos Indígenas (CORPI), las organizaciones awajún y wampishan venido definiendo sus territorios en una serie de encuentros intra e interétnicos, objetivando de esta manera la relación que estospueblos, considerados como unidades sociopolíticas, mantienen consus respectivos espacios geográficos. En ese sentido, este proceso de autonomización indígena interactúa con los modelos y las instituciones políticas del Estado. En el presente artículo, a partir denuestra participación en la realización de informes antropológicos destinados a sustentar la demanda de reconocimiento de ‘territorios integrales’, intentaremos describir y analizar las dinámicas de autonomía local, alianzas supralocales y fronteras interétnicas que caracterizan la territorialidad de los awajún y wampis y cómo tales dinámicas se movilizan frente a la presión cada vez más constantede la sociedad nacional y el capitalismo global. / In the framework of the self-determination process of ‘indigenous integral territories’ led by the Coordinadora Regional de los Pueblos Indígenas (CORPI), the Awajún and Wampis organizations have been defining their territories in a series of intra- and inter-ethnic meetings, objectifying their relationship with their respective geographic areas. In this sense, such process of indigenous autonomization interacts with State models and political institutions. In this paper,on the basis of our participation in anthropological reports to support the demand for recognition of ‘integral territories’, we try todescribe and analyze the dynamics of local autonomy, supra-local alliances and inter-ethnic borders among the Awajún and Wampis and how such dynamics have mobilized them facing the increasing pressure by the national society and global capitalism.