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Indigenous
Groups in Colombia
 This
is a picture from Tierradentro, one of the many legacies left behind by
Colombia's indigenous groups.
Universidad de los Andes -
Dirección de Tecnologías de Información
Table of Contents: Click on a Topic Area
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Note: All sources are in Spanish unless
otherwise noted.
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INDIO
Silencioso perdedor de la hecatombe.
Víctima de la desidia humana.
Incas, Mayas, Apaches, Iroqueses,
Chibchas, Caribes, Aztecas, Patagones,
Motilones, Cheyenes, Taironas, Paeces,
Guanes, Sinúes, Comanches, Guambianos,
Nazcas, Mochicas, Tolimas, Calimas,
Quimbayas, Chimues.......
¡Los indios no se mueren, los matamos!.
Y
Cuando muere un indio:
Muere un pensamiento milenario.
Cuando muere un indio:
Muere el jardín de un continente.
.....Cuando muere un indio.....
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Historia de Colombia,
Ministerio de Educación,
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Park/5262/historia.htm, accessed June 29,
2001.
The indigenous groups in Colombia predate the
voyage of Columbus; therefore, they are often referred to as pre-Columbian.
When the Spaniards arrived in the 15th century, there were three large family
groups already populating much of what we now know as Colombia: The Chibchas in
the center of the country and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria; the Caribe,
located on the Atlantic coast; and the Arwac, located in the Amazon river
valley, Putumayo y Caquetá. Within the Chibcha family are the specific
tribes of the Muiscas and Tairona.
For this specific Pathfinder, I have focused
on Internet resources mainly with some information on local print sources,
as well. We do have a number of books and reference
sources in the library which will also help your search, and a list of these
will be given out at the beginning of your project (or they will be put on
reserve). Most of our local sources will be found in the Secondary
Reference Room and in the stacks (some keywords for searching will be given out
below). Nevertheless, the Internet will offer you more current
information, as well as materials not available in our local collection.
For each source given below, I have also included a brief explanation of what
the source offers, as well as whether it links to other sources which you may
find useful.
Finally, this Pathfinder covers the
pre-Columbian history of these indigenous groups rather than their current state
of affairs.
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Background information on the indigenous
groups in Colombia can generally be found in general histories of Colombia.
As with many of the sources below, this information can also be obtained in the
encyclopedias and specialized volume sin the Reference Room.
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Finding information on the web for this type of topic can
be difficult. There are relatively very few sites that have any
information, and most of these have been covered here. Nevertheless, I
have outlined a few key search engines and key terms below which you may want to
try on your own. I have already done this, but as search engines are
continually updated and new pages created, you may be able to find information
which I did not.
 | In Yahoo!,
http://www.yahoo.com, you should check first under the Yahoo! categories,
 | Society and Culture > Cultures and Groups > |
| Regional > Regions > South America > Society and
Culture > Cultures and Groups > |
| Regional > Regions > Latin America > Society and
Culture > Cultures and Groups > |
| Anthropology and Archaeology > Archaeology > South
America@ |
| Anthropology and Archaeology > Archaeology >
Mesoamerica@
 | Note: The first three links seem to focus more on
current indigenous groups rather than history. |
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| I would recommend using Google,
http://www.google.com, or NorthernLight,
http://www.northernlight.com, as
alternate search engines using the words and terms below.
| "indigenous AND Colombia" |
| "indigenous + Colombia" |
| "pre-Columbian AND Colombia" |
| OR any one of the specific groups defined above with
the "AND Colombia" attached (Note: Tairona may be spelled Tayrona,
too). |
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| Finally, please check our list of reference sources,
including our CD-Rom sources (Encyclopedia Britannica, World Book, Asi es
Colombia, and Domine) and locations in the CB library for further information. |
| Note: Check Yahoo! first and then go to
the Colombian search engines before moving into the generalized search engines
such as NorthernLight or Google. Also, don't forget the print resources!
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Note: This part will be filled in later when I get
access to our OPAC and collection.
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The following sources, some of which are available through
the general gateways listed above, are pages which highlight a specific
indigenous group.
| From Culturas Indigenas En La Sierra Nevada De Santa
Marta,
http://santamarta.freeservers.com/kogi.html, this site offers relevant
information from the Instituto Colombiano de Antropología gives both
precolumbian as well as current information on the Chibcha family, including
the Tairona, Muiscas, Coguis, Ijcas and Sancás. The site also includes
some photographs of the remains of these civilizations. |
| From the Banco de la Republica in Colombia, this site,
http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/,
offers pictures of many of the museum's pre-Columbian figures, most of which
are in pure gold. These are what is left from these great cultures and
each piece shows both the detail of the work and hints at the mythology of the
people who carved it. |
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Many of the pages above include additional links to other
resources, but other than that there are not other web pages with long lists of
links. As already mentioned, this topic is not very well represented on
the web. In terms of other bibliographies, the following bibliography of
journal artciles on precolumbian culture may be of interest to advanced students
working on this topic.
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| In SIRS Researcher or SIRS Discoverer, you may want to
try some of the search terms described above, but I do not think there will be
many, if any, articles found. The magazines from Colombia are not
available in a central index, so you will need to go through the photocopied
tables of contents at the front desk to search for information. Some of
these may be put on reserve with the other print sources. Finally, you
may want to check the National Geographic for the following articles:
| Recent Archaeological Discoveries in the San
Agustín Area, Colombia NG Research Journal dept. 1986 Autumn. |
| Colombia, from Amazon to Spanish Main,
National Geographic Magazine, 1970 Aug. |
| Stone Idols of the Andes Reveal a Vanished People:
Remarkable Relics of One of the Oldest Aboriginal Cultures of America are
Unearthed in Colombia's San Agustín Region, National Geographic
Magazine, 1940 May |
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| In the Reference Room , you may also want to consult
the following:
| The map collection, which includes historical maps of
Colombia both before and after the conquest. These show the indigenous
groups and their specific territories both today and before Columbus. |
| The specific encyclopedias and dictionaries we have
from Colombian perspectives and publishers. These include the Historia
de Colombia and Enciclopedia de Colombia |
| Finally, please check the yearbooks and annuals from
Colombian publishers for specific information relating to current
discoveries or interpretations. |
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| We have many of our own experts on indigenous cultures in Colombia, both
at school and in the community. You may want to check on the following, as
well:
| Nelly Guerra, Secondary |
| Maria del Pilar Aguirre, Secondary |
| Banco de la Republica in Cali |
| Museo Cultural de Colombia in Cali |
| Departamento Histórico de Universidad del Valle |
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