The Arhuaco are an Indigenous people of Colombia. They are Chibchan-speaking people and descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

Name

The Arhuaco are also known as the Aruaco, Bintucua, Bintuk, Bíntukua, Ica, Ijca, Ijka, Ika, and Ike people.

Territory

The Arhuacos live in the upper valleys of the Piedras River, San Sebastian River, Chichicua River, Ariguani River, and Guatapuri River, in an Indigenous territory in the

Mountains. Their traditional territory before the Spanish colonization was larger than today's boundaries which exclude many of their sacred sites that they continue to visit today, to pay offerings. These lost territories are the lower parts by the steps of the mountains, lost to colonization and farming.

Communities

The Arhuacos are distributed into 22 sections. *Central Zone: Nabusimake (Capital of the Arhuaco nation), Yechikin and Busin. *Western Zone: Serankwa, Windiwameina, Singunei. *Southern Zone: Zigta, Yeurwa, Gumuke, Yeiwin, Seyarukwingumu pingumu, Buyuaguenka, and Simonorwa. *Southeast Zone: Wirwa, Yugaka, Karwa. *East Zone: Sogrome, Donachwi, Timaka, Aruamake, Seynimin and Izrwa. The population is dispersed, but gets together in these towns for reunions and ceremonies, with Nabusimake being the most important of them and with a special significance: it's composed of fifty squared shaped houses and circular temples named ''Kankurwa'', for men and women.

Economy

The Arhuacos' main economic activity is subsistence

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, which traditionally was practiced by every family in the community in their own parcel by their houses. Each family owned two houses, one in the high lands where the weather is cooler and another in the warmer, lower lands of the mountains. Nowadays they can only practice this on the higher lands due to expropriation of land during the Spanish colonization. In the higher lands, they cultivate

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

, tamarilloes,

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. In the mid-lands;

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

, yuca, arracacha, malanga,

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

, papaya,

guava Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...

, passion fruit, sweet granadilla, oranges and limes.

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

is cultivated for commercial purposes only along with Arhuaca mochilas (handmade bags, fashionable among both males and females in Bogota and other major Colombian cities), and other arts and crafts to exchange in the lower lands for products they don't get in the high lands. They also raise

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s. Men produce entirely the traditional clothing, but nowadays they also use modern clothing.

Cosmology and worldview

The Arhuacos are profoundly spiritual and follow their own unique philosophy that tends to globalize their surroundings. They believe in a creator or "father" named ''Kakü Serankua'', who engendered the first gods and material living things, other "fathers" like the sun and the snowy peaks and other "mothers" like the earth and the moon. They consider the

to be the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

of the world, and believe that the well-being of the rest of the world depends on it. Nature and society as a unity are ruled by a single sacred law, immutable, pre-existent, primitive and survivor to everyone and everything. The material world can exist or cease to exist but this law is believed to continue without being altered. This universal law ''Kunsamü'' is represented by a boy, ''Mamo Niankua''. This law of nature is an explanation of the origins of matter and its evolution, equilibrium, preservation and harmony, that constitutes the fundamental objectives and the reason being of the ''Mamo''; the spiritual authority of the Arhuaco society. Each ''Mamo'' or ''Mamü'' is selected among different candidates, boys ranging eight to ten years old that will receive training for a minimum of nine years to fifteen years on average and are free to determine if they want to continue with it beyond the training period. To become a Mamo, they stay in a cave for nine years while the elders teach them everything they need to know. They specialize in certain knowledge areas such as philosophy, sacerdotalism, medicine and practical community or individual counselors. Their influence is decisive in their society.

Political organization

The Arhuacos are politically organized as the "Confederación Indígena Tayrona" (Indigenous Confederation Tayrona) or "CIT", which was founded in 1978. Their main goals include the preservation of their culture and traditional territory.

Conflicts

In 1916 the Arhuacos asked the government of Colombia for teachers to learn to read and write and also learn about mathematics, but instead the government sent Capuchin Friars. The Friars prohibited the children from learning about their culture, and put them aside in an orphanage. They also established forced labor, ignoring the Arhuacos' plea to leave them alone. In 1943, politicians from Valledupar, missionaries and the Ministry of Agriculture, expropriated without compensation the best terrains of Nabusimake and built a State-owned, agricultural farm. The Arhuacos fought back and in 1944 created the ''Liga de Indios de la Serra Nevada'' (Sierra Nevada Amerindians League), but were outlawed later in 1956 by a military government. In 1962, the government imposed the construction of a communications tower for TV in Mount Alguacil, considered sacred by the Arhuacos. This outraged them because they believe mountain peaks to be sacred. The government also established a military post to intimidate them, and later ordered the construction of a highway from their territory to Valledupar. Ignoring the threats, the Arhuacos reestablished their league. In 1972 the Arhuacos created the ''cabildo Gobernador'', a better structured and adequate organization to defend their values and land. On August 7, 1982, they rebelled against the Capuchins and took over the mission's buildings. The Capuchins finally left in 1983. In 1990, three Arhuaco Indigenous leaders were kidnapped and murdered while travelling by bus to Bogota to register an official complaint about human rights violations by security forces against Indigenous people in Santa Marta. In 2012 an Arhuaco leader, Rogelio Mejía, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when his car was stopped at a roadblock by a group of armed men and riddled with bullets.

Prohibited cultivation

In 1975, Colombians started cultivating

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

in the Sierra Nevada. This brought more problems to the community, like forced recruitment for plantations, assimilation of the drug dealers' culture by some, and violence. Many poor peasants from other regions of Colombia came to work in the Marijuana ''bonanza'' of the 1980s. Different from the traditional, non-commercial

Coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

planting, the drug dealers produced

Cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

through chemical processes. The money later attracted the

Colombian Armed Conflict The Colombian conflict () began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates and far-left guerrilla groups fighting each other to increase their i ...

, and conflict among the different factions: mainly guerrillas and paramilitaries, who competed for the control of the area, and indiscriminately accused the Arhuacos and others of being collaborators of the rival party, assassinating and intimidating them, forcing many to leave. The government also started fumigations to eradicate illicit plantations, leaving the Arhuacos in the middle of a crossfire.

Government projects

The government of Colombia is trying to develop an irrigation system for the Valley of Cesar by constructing hydroelectric dams and

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

routes in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Arhuacos are strongly opposed to all these projects and organized the ''Confederación Indígena Tairona'' (Tairona Indigenous Confederation).

Notes

Bibliography

Arhuaco
Survival International
Etniasdecolombia.org
*Orozco, José Antonio 1990 ''Nabusímake, tierra de Arhuacos''. ESAP, Bogotá. *Botero Verswyvel, Silvia 1987: "Indígenas de la Sierra nevada de Santa marta"; ''Introducción a la Colombia Ameridia'':39-50. ICAN, Bogotá.
dismalworld.com

External links

Arhuaca material culture
National Museum of the American Indian {{DEFAULTSORT:Arhuaco People Valledupar Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean Indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples of the Guianas Santa Marta