The Chitarero were an indigenous

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

-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 conces ...

in 1533 by means of poisoned arrows. At the time of the

Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations The Spanish conquest of New Granada refers to the conquest between 1525 and 1540 by the Spanish monarchy of the Chibcha language-speaking nations of modern-day Colombia and Panama, mainly the Muisca and Tairona that inhabited present-day Col ...

, their territory ranged from present-day

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

(Venezuela) to the northwest and south of

Norte de Santander Department Norte de Santander (Spanish for Northern Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, 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. Norte ...

and the northeast of

Santander Department Santander () is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, borders the Magdalena River to the east, Bo ...

(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 Chinácota is a small town and municipality located in the Departments of Colombia, Department of Norte de Santander in Colombia, South America. This department is located in the north-eastern region of the country, near the border with Venezuel ...

; they were primarily known in the area of

Pamplona, Colombia Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is the fifth most populated city and the sixth most populated municipality in the department. History Colonization The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as N ...

. 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, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

gourds) with maize wine or ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

'' 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 the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

, the

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The wards of the municipality include Punta de La Sierra, Portales, Guane 1, Guane 2, Combate la Teneria, Isabel Rubio, Sabalo, and Moll ...

and

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chitarero people Indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples in Venezuela Andean civilizations Extinct Indigenous peoples of the Americas