Chibcha

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Statue of Chibcha
Distribution of the Chibcha languages

The Chibcha were an indigenous people in South America and belonged to the family of Chibcha languages . In the Andes, they mainly consisted of the Muisca, Guane , Lache and Chitarero and some of them lived on the Río Magdalena , near today's Colombian capital Bogotá . In the past they also lived in what is now Panama and on the eastern Andes cordillera of Colombia .

Today, a South American cultural area that divides the indigenous peoples is called "Chibcha".

history

Culturally, the Chibcha were similar to the Inca. They maintained the agriculture with a good irrigation system . Their costume was woven from cotton . They were known to be good goldsmiths ; the jewelry of the Chibcha consisted of gold leaf and were decorated with the finest strands and anthropomorphic figures. After the Inca era, the Chibcha formed states controlled by caciks (chiefs), which were culturally very well developed until the Conquista . It is known that emeralds were used as a medium of exchange.

The Spanish conquerors met this people around 1536 , which subsequently led to the disintegration of their social and political structures. By the 18th century , the Chibcha culture was all but extinct.

Religion and organization

The Chibcha worshiped Bochica , a demigod descending from the sun. Their religion does not seem to be very different from other pre-Columbian cultures; human sacrifice was not uncommon. They gave emeralds to their gods .

They were organized in a kind of confederation of several tribes, these included the Muiscas , Guanes , Laches , Pijaos and Chitareros .

The Muiscas, located north of Zipaquirá , were so distinguished by their mastery of goldsmithing that they became the main suppliers of the Inca Empire.

The ruler in Zipaquira, the capital of today's Colombia , ruled over the various provinces with some difficulties, as these were largely autonomous, but received taxes that were adapted to the resources of the respective province. The absence of a common defense explains the fragility of the empire, which was easily collapsed by the Spanish.

The Eldorado myth arose from a Chibcha tradition, which drove the Spanish to explore and conquer South America. The Chibcha had the custom of covering their new king with gold dust during the enthronement. The new ruler was to shine in the sun like the son of the sun he was considered to be. This king then had to bathe in the sacred Guatavita Lake while the crowd threw valuable objects into the waters. As evidence of this ceremony, many of these objects are exhibited in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá , including the gold raft of Eldorado .

The houses of the Chibcha were circular, mostly communal and made of wood and straw.

See also: Indigenous peoples of South America

literature

  • Luis Pericot y García: America indígena . Vol. 1: El hombre americano - Los pueblos de América . Salvat, Barcelona 1936. pp. 595-602.

Fiction

  • Martin Selber : On the gold trail. Adventure novel from the Inca period . Rowohlt, 1982. Edited by the author of the historical novel published by the publishing house Das Neue Berlin in 1958 under the title Eldorado ( also published in 1985 by Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin under the title Im Tal des Bogotá ).

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