The Chitarero were an indigenous
Chibcha-speaking people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela. They were responsible for the death of the German ''conquistador''
Ambrosius Ehinger
Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser concess ...
in 1533 by means of
poisoned arrows.
At the time of the
Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations, their territory ranged from present-day
Táchira
Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal.
Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...
(Venezuela) to the northwest and south of
Norte de Santander Department
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.
North Santander is bordered by Vene ...
and the northeast of
Santander Department (Colombia). The
Chicamocha River formed a southern boundary, the Valegra a southwestern, and the Surata a southeastern. One of their settlements became the Colombian town of
Chinácota; they were primarily known in the area of
Pamplona, Colombia
Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is also the fifth most populated municipality in the department.
History Colonization
The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as Nueva Pamplona del Valle del ...
. At the refoundation of Pamplona in 1549 there were said to be 200,000 in the area.
[Simón, 1560, p.21-22]
They were called "Chitareros" by the Spanish, because of the general custom that the men had to carry hanging from the waist a ''calabazo'' or ''totumo'' (
calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
gourds) with maize wine or ''
chicha
''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...
'' as the Spanish called it. Asking what the thing they carried was called, the natives responded that it was a ''chitarero''.
They traded with other peoples in the region, including the
Muisca
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 l ...
, the
Guane and
Lache.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitarero people
Indigenous peoples in Colombia
Indigenous peoples in Venezuela
Andean civilizations