Chibcha
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Among the groups forming permanent settlements by Colombia's first inhabitants, who migrated from North and Central America, were the Chibchas (or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona. The Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the 3 most important sedentary indigenous groups in Pre-Columbian South America.
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[edit] Geographical Extension
The Chibchas linguistic communities were the most numerous, the most territorially extended and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombians. By the 3rd century, the Chibchas had established their civilization in the northern Andes. At one point, the Chibchas occupied part of what is now Panama the Venezuelan Andes, and the high plains of the Eastern Sierra of Colombia. The areas that they occupied were the Departments of Santander (North and South), Boyacá and Cundinamarca, which were also the areas where the first farms and first industries were developed, and where the independence movement originated. They are currently the richest areas in Colombia. They represented the most populous zone between the Mexican and Inca empires. Next to the Quechua of Peru and the Aymara in Bolivia, the Chibchas of the eastern and north-eastern Highlands of Colombia were the most striking of the sedentary indigenous peoples in South America.
[edit] Tribes
In the Oriental Andes, the Chibchas were composed of several tribes, who spoke the same language (Chibchan). Among them: Muiscas, Guanes, Laches, Pijaos and Chitareros.
[edit] Pre-Conquest History
The Mesoamericans (the original inhabitants of Central America), who arrived in approximately 1200 BCE, introduced the cultivation of corn. The humid and somewhat less hotter climate brought better conditions for the intensive agriculture of corn, sedentarism, demographic growth & the organization of villages. These people built lithic monuments in El Infiernito, Villa de Leyva. They also exploited salt mines in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa.
They were followed by a second wave of Mesoamericans in 500 BCE. Artifacts from a number of distinct cultures, such as those in the areas around San Agustín (in present-day Huila Department), Tierra Dentro (Cauca Department), and Tumaco (Nariño Department), are believed to date from this period.
Between 400 and 300 BCE, the Chibchas traveled from Nicaragua and Honduras and reached Colombia, shortly before the Arawaks arrived from other parts of South America, such as Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Near the end of the first millennium CE, the Caribs migrated from the Caribbean islands. These warlike newcomers supplanted the Chibchas in the lowlands and forced them to move to higher elevations.
[edit] Economy
The Chibchas farmed, mined for salt and emeralds, and traded with other groups. They were skilled artists who were known for their pottery, gold work and cotton fabrics. They used emeralds as currency for trading.
The Chibchas had advanced cultivation techniques, and the area they occupied was very fertile. This, coupled with a very disciplined, skilled and experienced pool of agricultural labor, was later used by the colonial farmers (encomenderos & haciendados).
[edit] "El Dorado" myth
In one of their rituals, the top priest or "cacique" covered his body with gold dust, rode a small boat to the center of Lake Guatavita and submerged himself. This ceremony might have been the origin of the myth of "El Dorado", which attracted many Spanish adventurers, who came looking for places where there was plenty of gold, but never existed in reality.
[edit] Culture
From the cultural point of view, the Chibchas were similar to the Inca. They practiced agriculture with the help of an extensive irrigation system. They made cotton fabrics and were experts with gold, making very fine laminates decorated with wire or strip motives and very stylized anthropomorphic figures.
[edit] Linguistics
The Chibcha language (Chibchan) was so important in the area that when the Spanish conquerors came they had a communication problem in their quest to evangelize and use native resources. At some point they thought of using it as a main language for the new Kingdom of New Granada, at the same level of the Quechua, Nahuatl and Tupi.
On May 10, 1783, through a decree called "Cédula Real," the Spanish colonialists prohibited the use of native languages.
[edit] Religion
The creed of the Chibchas was similar to the pantheistic fetishism of American aborigines in general. Human sacrifices were common, but most of the offerings consisted of goods such as gold, emeralds, and fruits of the field. Shamans, or Zeques, were numerous, and acted as medicine men, diviners and/or oracles.
Bochica was the main god, considered a solar god, a great master and civilizator. Among his rivals, there was Chia (the moon), which some considered married to Bochica, and Chibchacum. For some, Chiminigagua was the Chibcha's supreme god.
Chibchacum was protector of the people, the farmers, and the traders. According to a myth, Huitaca put a vengeance plan against the god Bochica. Huitaca spread bad teachings between the Chibchas, who then gave themselves to lust, partying and were unwilling to work. This behavior offended Chibchacum, who decided to punish them with torrential rains, which flooded the plains of Bacatá. Seeing that the rains would not stop, they asked for the intervention of the god Bochica to stop the malefice of Chibchacum, offering Bochica sacrifices and fasting. However, Bochica did not respond to their calls until a long time after they started asking him. One day, when the Chibchas already thought that their god had abandoned them, they finally saw the first ray of sunlight after Bochica, with a stick of gold, opened a trench where the Bacatá plains had flooded. Thus, Bochica created the "Salto del Tequendama". When everything got back to normal, the Chibchas started seeding again and continued their offerings and sacrifices to the god Bochica.
The god Bochica designated the god Chibchacum to carry the Earth on his shoulders. They called the earth Pachamama which means "Mother Earth". At that moment the Earth was sustained over 4 "Guayacanes". Because of this the Chibchas though that all earthquakes were due to the god Chibchacum, who when tired of carrying the earth on one shoulder, passed the earth to the other shoulder. That is why Chibchacum was considered the god of earthquakes. It was also the protector of the traders and the farmers because it would make sure that the Earth would always be guarded and nothing would interrupt its equilibrium.
The myth of the god Chibchacum is similar to some myths of other cultures, such as the Bible's universal deluge or the Greek Atlas designated to carry the Celestial Vault on his shoulders.
[edit] Housing
The Chibchas lived in villages, the houses being mostly circular, and of wood and thatch.
[edit] Politics
After the Inca, the chibchas constituted states under the strict personal control of the "caciques". They were a culturally developed civilization at the time they encountered the first Spanish conquistadores.
The Chibchas had a clan System. At the head of each clan stood a council, guided by the oracular utterances of the leading shamans, while an elective war-chief (Uzaque or Cacique) represented the executive.
According to tradition, the tribe of Tunja was the most powerful of the Chibcha tribes until the second half of the 15th century.
[edit] Spanish Conquest
The Spanish Conquistadores arrived between 1499 and 1536, looking for gold and emeralds. They [citation needed]dislocated the Chibchas' political and social structures. The first Spanish settlement was established on the Caribbean coast and was called Santa Marta. The capital city of Santa Fé de Bogotá was founded in 1538. It is said that the Chibcha were conquered by the Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada between 1536 and 1541, at which time they submitted to the Spanish conquest (almost peacefully). In 1550, military rule was replaced by a civil administration. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish brought in many thousands of slaves from Africa to work in mines and on farms. In 1571 the Chibcha population was comprised of approximately 150,000 people. By the 17th century the Chibcha culture was practically extinguished.
[edit] Present day
The Chibchas are [citation needed]one of the most studied populations in anthropologic historiography, having numerous publications dedicated to linguistics, etnohistory, archaeology & bioanthropology. The region has numerous radiocarbon dates and an extensive Pre-Columbian cemetery.
The museums of Santafé de Bogotá, Tunja, Sogamoso, Socorro, Bucaramanga, Floridablanca, Pasca and Pamplona offer permanent expositions, domestically and internationally, with many samples of jewelry making, pottery, textiles, mummies and human remains (bones).
It can be said that the image of the Pre-Hispanic development of Colombia is associated mostly with the Chibchas.
At present the Chibchas have ceased to form autonomous tribes but are not extinct. Some of their descendants currently live near the Magdalena River, close to Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. But they can be found in large cities or rural areas, leading lives of commoners.
