Zoratama, also spelled as Soratama, was a Muisca woman and the lover of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

Lázaro Fonte. Her story reminds of the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

n indigenous

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

who married

John Rolfe John Rolfe (1585 – March 1622) was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia in 1611. Biography John Rolfe is believed ...

after saving the life of John Smith. Together with Lázaro Fonte, Zoratama was forced in exile and settled in

Pasca Pasca is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia located in the Andes. It belongs to the Sumapaz Province. Pasca is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. It borders F ...

, Cundinamarca, in the south of the Muisca territory. After informing conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada of the arrival of new conquistadors, they were taken back to the newly founded capital Bogotá of the

New Kingdom of Granada The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...

. According to legend, Zoratama committed suicide and infanticide by drowning herself and her son in

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

Lake Guatavita.

Background

In the times before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

of present-day

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

, the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

was inhabited by the

Muisca people The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan ...

. They were organised in a loose confederation of

rulers A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...

(''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a S ...

s'') and had a total population according to

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

between 300,000 and two million people. The Muisca were an indigenous group of traders and

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

. The southern part of the Muisca Confederation was ruled by the ''

zipa When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

'', based in

Bacatá Bacatá is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referring to the modern settlement of ...

, the present-day capital of Colombia Bogotá. The ''zipa'' who reigned at the arrival of the Spanish was

Tisquesusa Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...

. His rule extended over the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ran ...

and neighbouring mountains of the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

with southernmost village

, bordered to the south by the territories of the

Sutagao people The Sutagao are the Chibcha-speaking indigenous people from the region of Fusagasugá, Bogotá savanna, Cundinamarca, Colombia. Knowledge about the Sutagao has been provided by scholar Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita. Etymology The name ...

. In

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

, 1536, conquistador

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

, triggered by the

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

of ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

'', set foot with an army of around 800 men towards the interior of Colombia. One of his captains was Lázaro Fonte.

Biography

Zoratama was born in the town of

Guatavita Guatavita is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Guavio Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Guatavita is located 75 km northeast of the capital Bogotá. It borders Sesquilé and Machetá in the north, Gachetá and Junín in ...

in the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. T ...

. She moved to the capital of the southern Muisca,

before the Spanish conquest. When the Spanish conquerors arrived in Bacatá, they found the town almost deserted as Tisquesusa, informed about the arrival of the European invaders, had fled with his

guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and ...

s to Nemocón. Zoratama stayed in Bacatá and was found by the troops of De Quesada. She fell in love with his captain Lázaro Fonte.Zoratama
/ref> Soldiers in the army of De Quesada spread rumours about Fonte; that he had hidden

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

s from him. In an improvised lawsuit, Fonte would be convicted and punished with the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, but thanks to his "lawyer"; captain Gonzalo Suárez Rendón he escaped that fate. Instead, he was forced to

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

to the terrain of the Panche to the west of the Muisca territories. In January 1539, Fonte managed to change his location of exile to Pasca, Cundinamarca and took Zoratama with him.Ocampo López, 1996, p.102 The centre of Pasca was deserted as well, as the inhabitants feared the Spanish conquerors, and Fonte and Zoratama were left in one of the '' bohíos'' of the village. Some of the indigenous people remained in Pasca and took care of Zoratama and her lover. When in Pasca, news reached Fonte that new Spanish conquistadores were entering Muisca terrain; from later

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Nicolás de Federmann and from the south

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...

. Fonte wrote on a piece of deer skin the news and sent Zoratama back to Bacatá to inform De Quesada of the arrival of the other conquistadores. De Quesada pardoned Fonte and via Gonzalo Suárez Rendón gave him back his weapons.Ocampo López, 1996, p.103 Zoratama and Fonte got one son together; a

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

child of the Spanish and indigenous. Fonte was sent on expedition to search for ''El Dorado'' in Putumayo and Amazonas in the south of present-day Colombia. He formed part of the army of Hernán Pérez de Quesada, brother of Gonzalo. Due to fever and hunger in the inhospitable jungle of the area, Fonte died. Governor Alonso Luís de Lugo expelled Zoratama from the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

she was guarding and with her son she went to

Cáqueza Cáqueza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town, located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, is from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Fosca in the south, Ubaque in the north, Une and Chip ...

and

Choachí Choachí is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality borders La Calera in the north, Ubaque in the south, in the east Fómeque and westward of Choachí is the Colombian cap ...

, trying to gain income by selling firewood. Zoratama went further north to her hometown Guatavita and according to legend she drowned herself and her son in Lake Guatavita, like the cacica Guatavita had done centuries before.

Named after Zoratama

* Zoratama, a rural school in Pasca * Soratama, a neighbourhood, creek (''quebrada'') and quarry in the locality of Bogotá

Usaquén Usaquén is the 1st locality of Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capit ...

Trivia

* Zoratama is named in the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

of the town of Pasca, Cundinamarca * Choreographer Fernando Gónzalez Cajiao composed a street dance about the Muisca, including ZoratamaPopón, el brujo y el sueño de Tisquesusa - baile callejero de la conquista
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* {{Portal bar, Biography, Colombia Colombian women History of the Muisca Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 1500s deaths Muysccubun