COLOMBIA:
The Chibcha Culture -
Forgotten, But Still
Alive
By Gloria Helena Rey
BOGOTÁ, (IPS) - Use of
the sacred coca leaf,
respect for water and
nature, and other
practices of the
pre-Columbian Chibcha or
Muisca culture survive
in Colombia in spite of
five centuries under
attack. The culture was
as highly-developed as
those of the
better-known Inca, Maya
and Aztec people,
according to scholars.
"Many Chibcha traditions
and customs were
demonised by the Spanish
and other people, so we
were encouraged to
forget them," writer
Antonio Cruz Cárdenas
told IPS.
"However, Chibcha
culture has not
disappeared. We have
begun to prove that it
was not we who were the
ignorant ones,"
indigenous physicist and
biologist Alfonso
Fonseca, head of the
Chibcha town council of
Cota, half an hour north
of Bogotá by road,
commented to IPS.
Like the Maya and Aztecs
of Mexico, the Incas of
Peru and the Aymaras in
Bolivia, the Muisca at
the time of the
discovery had developed
beyond primitive
civilisation, and were
ruled by chieftains,
says the book "Culturas
indígenas colombianas"
(Indigenous Cultures of
Colombia) by Rafael
Martín and José Puentes.
The Muisca had the most
advanced pre-Columbian
civilisation, according
to scholar Miguel Triana
in his book "La
civilización chibcha"
(The Chibcha
Civilisation) in 1921.
Today Chibcha ways
survive in the central
departments (provinces)
of Cundinamarca, of
which Bogotá is the
capital, and Boyacá,
where they have
flourished since at
least the 7th century
BC.
In Cota, IPS visited "Jizcamox",
the only public school
in Colombia where Muisca
is taught. It is a
language older than
Aramaic, according to
researcher Mariana
Escribano.
A peaceful, organised,
farming people, the
Muisca spoke a language
related to the Chibcha
family of languages
which originated in
Central America.
That language spread and
split into several
variants in Honduras,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
Panama, and certain
regions of Colombia,
Venezuela and Ecuador,
according to Teresa
Arango’s "Precolombia:
Introducción al estudio
del indígena colombiano"
(Introduction to the
Study of Colombian
Indigenous People).
Nowadays few Colombians
speak Muisca, because
speaking indigenous
languages was forbidden
in 1770 by royal decree,
and Spanish became the
dominant language, for
social, religious,
economic and political
reasons.
At Jizcamox, which means
"healing with the
hands," Muisca is taught
to 150 children with
surnames like Tibaquichá,
Boarejo, Balsero or
Fiquitiva, who are
direct descendants of
the Muisca.
"The children receive
the usual primary
education, but the
language and traditions
of their ancestors are
emphasised," María
Yolanda Esquivel, the
head teacher, told IPS.
The pupils chorus their
greetings of "chisué"
(good day) and "anaxié"
(see you later).
In Cundinamarca and
Boyacá, Muisca
traditional customs are
still practised.
Grandfather Fernando,
for example, leads the
ancient rite of
spiritual cleansing,
which takes place at
night when managing the
energies is easier, as
"silence with its cold
murmurs is in constant
dialogue with the
Knower," said Ana
Tiquidimas, who attended
one of these rituals in
2005.
Chibcha words are still
used in Bogotá, too,
such as "curaba" (a
fruit), "toche" (a
bird), "guadua" (a
bamboo-like plant) and "tatacoa"
(a snake), although many
people are unaware of
their origin.
Some residents of Bogotá
think "ají" and "ajiaco",
the names of two
traditional local
dishes, are Chibcha
words, but according to
researchers they are of
Carib origin.
In modern shopping
centres in Bogotá one
can buy products made
from coca leaf, which
was used for centuries
by the Muisca and other
indigenous cultures for
rituals and healing.
Coca wine to cure
depression, biscuits
against fatigue or to
suppress appetite,
energising teas and
creams to dull arthritic
pain are all available.
A pain-relieving,
anti-inflammatory
lotion, Cocadol, a
revitalising,
rehydrating drink called
Coca Sek, and floral
remedies useful against
alcohol, tobacco and
cocaine addictions are
also manufactured and
marketed on the basis of
the coca leaf.
"The coca plant cures
practically anything.
Indigenous people knew
this centuries before
the pharmaceutical
laboratories,"
anthropologist Héctor
Bernal told IPS.
His shop, "Coca indígena"
(Indigenous Coca), is
the first in Colombia to
specialise in naturally
manufactured indigenous
products, particularly
those based on coca and
marijuana.
Until the mid-20th
century, coca leaves
were sold in pharmacies
in Bogotá and other
cities, and mothers used
them to get their
children to sleep more
calmly.
"They gave me coca leaf
tea in my feeding bottle
as a baby. Coca didn’t
use to have the negative
cultural connotations it
has now," said
anthropologist Patricia
Clavijo, 55.
The Chibcha cultivated
and used coca centuries
before drug trafficking
existed. They also
respected and protected
their natural
surroundings long before
there were
environmentalists, and
practised natural
medicine centuries
before it was
rediscovered in the 20th
century.
Their violent subjection
to the colonial regime
gradually destroyed
their economic, social,
political and cultural
organisation, which led
to a demographic
catastrophe among their
people in the mid-17th
century, says researcher
Luis Eduardo Wiesner in
his book "Etnografía
muisca" (Muisca
Ethnography).
"The Spaniards
understood nothing about
this civilisation, and
as the Chibcha were not
warriors, they perished
as victims of the
conquerors’ violence,"
said Cruz Cárdenas.
OTHER CUSTOMS
Direct descendants of
the Chibcha live today
in Bogotá and nearby
towns such as Cota, Chía,
Tenjo, Sesquilé, Suba,
Engativá, Tocancipá,
Gachancipá and Ubaté.
Two Chibcha settlements
are located in Cota and
Suba. Chía means "moon",
and Cota is derived from
the Chibcha verb "cotansuca",
which means "to lift up
or uprise, to become
furious", according to
the chapter on the
Central Andean Region in
"Geografía Humana de
Colombia" (Human
Geography of Colombia).
Trade continues to be
one of the main
activities of Muisca
descendants, as it was
for their forefathers.
Maize, potatoes, cassava
and beans are their
staple diet. They
continue to trade in
salt, charcoal and
textiles, and make
handicrafts that are
richly decorated with
animal and human figures
and fantastical
creatures.
In the rural areas and
cities of Cundinamarca
and Boyacá, traditional
Muisca cultivation
methods continue to be
used, guided by rainfall
cycles and the phases of
the moon.
Muisca farmers say they
have no need of weather
forecasts. The song of
the blackbird announces
rain, while "the song
and flight of the plumed
‘copetón’ is a signal
that the rain is about
to stop," Arturo Muscué
from Chía, a 20-minute
drive north of Bogotá,
told IPS.
"When the potato and pea
plants close their
leaves and point
upwards, it’s also a
sign of coming rain," he
said.
A wide variety of lucky
charms and talismans are
used, such as river
pebbles or a pulpy aloe
leaf, to ward off bad
luck.
Like their ancestors,
the Muisca descendants
respect the lakes,
mountains and rocks.
They see the "spirits"
as associated with
physical phenomena, like
rivers, mountains and
lagoons, according to "Mitos
y leyendas populares de
Boyacá" (Popular Myths
and Legends of Boyacá).
Some rural people in
Boyacá believe that the
water spirits not only
travel under the earth,
but also take human
shape and walk, the book
says.
Historians state that
these surviving myths go
back to deep Chibcha
roots and are related to
myths like those of
Bachué, Bochica and
Huitaca.
Bachué was the mother of
the Muisca people. She
emerged from the Iguaque
lagoon (an hour’s drive
east of Bogotá), married
her son, peopled the
earth and returned to
the lagoon as a serpent,
along with her son.
Bochica was the
civilising god, and
Huitaca the rebel
goddess.
"That’s why the Chibcha
worshipped water, and
their adoration was
transmitted through the
myth to the small
farmers of Cundinamarca
and Boyacá," said Cruz
Cárdenas.
THEY ARE NOT LIKE THE
TIGER
The Chibcha lived in the
central region of
Colombia. When the
Spanish conquest began
in the 16th century,
they were organised in a
confederation of
chiefdoms, according to
Human Geography of
Colombia.
"The Muisca chiefdom of
Bogotá, presided over by
the Zipa (the great
chieftain), was the most
important of the five
chiefdoms," said Cruz
Cárdenas.
Muisca territory
included Andean valleys,
plateaus and slopes with
different temperatures,
humidity and rainfall,
mainly depending on
altitude, says historian
Álvaro Botiva in
"Colombia prehispánica"
(Pre-Hispanic Colombia).
Spanish philosopher José
Ortega y Gasset
(1883-1955) was not
mistaken when he said
that human beings are
not like tigers. Every
tiger is the first
tiger, and has to start
his life as a tiger from
the very beginning, he
wrote.
But human beings are
heirs to all the ways of
existence, ideas and
life experiences of
their ancestors, and
start life therefore
with the whole
accumulated human past
beneath the soles of
their feet, he wrote in
"El libro de las
misiones" (The Book of
Missions).
The more than eight
million people in Bogotá
and other towns who live
in the ancestral
territories of the
Chibcha did not start
life like the tiger.
When they were born, the
accumulated human
history beneath the
soles of their feet was
already thousands of
years old. |
