Muisca: Difference between revisions

{{short description|EthnicIndigenous group,people of Colombia}}

| group = Muisca

| native_name = {{lang|cba|Muysca}}

| image = Gold Museum, Bogota (36145671394).jpg

| image_caption = [[Muisca raft]] (1200–1500 CE)<br>representation of the initiation of the new ''[[zipa]]'' at the [[Lake Guatavita|lake of Guatavita]]

| popplace = [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]], {{COL}}

| total = 14,051

| total_year = 2005

| total_source = census

| total_ref = <ref name=CensusMuisca>{{in lang|es}} [http://www.sdp.gov.co/portal/page/portal/PortalSDP/SeguimientoPoliticas/Politicas%20Poblacionales/pueblosIndigenas/Tab2/Informaci%F3n%20nacional%20sobre%20acciones%20y%20procesos%20para%20pueb.pdf Total population of Muisca in Colombia: 14,051]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – Ministry of Internal Affairs – accessed 21-04-2016</ref>

| relslangs = [[MuiscaChibcha religionlanguage|Chibcha]], [[CatholicismColombian Spanish]]

| rels = [[Muisca religion]], [[Catholicism]]
| related = [[Guane people|Guane]], [[Lache people|Lache]], [[U'wa people|U'wa]], [[Tegua people|Tegua]], [[Guayupe people|Guayupe]], [[Sutagao people|Sutagao]], [[Panche people|Panche]], [[Muzo people|Muzo]]

The '''Muisca''' (also called '''Chibcha''') are an [[indigenous peoples of Colombia|indigenous people]] and [[Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia|culture]] of the [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]], [[Colombia]], that formed the [[Muisca Confederation]] before the [[Spanish conquest of the Muisca|Spanish conquest]]. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the [[Chibchan languages|Chibchan language family]], also called ''Muysca'' and ''Mosca''.<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://muysca.cubun.org/muysccubun Muysccubun, the language of the Muisca] – Muysccubun dictionary online</ref> They were encountered by [[list of conquistadors in Colombia|conquistadors]] dispatched by the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1537 at the time of the [[Spanish conquest of the Muisca|conquest]].

Subgroupings of the Muisca were mostly identified chiefly by their allegiances to three great rulers: the ''[[zaque|hoa]]'', centered in [[Tunja|Hunza]], ruling a territory roughly covering modern southern and northeastern [[Boyacá Department|Boyacá]] and southern [[Santander Department|Santander]]; the ''[[zipa|psihipqua]]'', centered in [[Bacatá|Muyquytá]] and encompassing most of modern [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]], the western [[Llanos]]; and the ''[[iraca]]'', religious ruler of [[Sogamoso|Suamox]] and modern northeastern Boyacá and southwestern Santander.

At the time of the Spaniard invasion, the area had a large population, although the precise number of inhabitants is not known. Estimates vary from 500,0001 million to over 3 million inhabitants. Their [[Muisca economy|economy]] was based on [[Muisca agriculture|agriculture]], [[halite|salt]] mining, [[Muisca economy#Trade|trading]], [[metalworking]], and [[manufacturing]].

Important [[listMuch of Muiscathe scholars|contributors]] to thehistoric knowledge about the Muisca havecomes beenfrom theirthe maintestimonies conquistador,of [[list of Muisca scholars| conquistadors]] and colonists [[Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada]]; [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] [[poet]], [[soldier]], and [[priest]] [[Juan de Castellanos]] (16th century); [[bishop]] [[Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita]] and [[Franciscan]] [[Pedro Simón]] (17th century);. and

More recently, [[Javier Ocampo López]] and [[Gonzalo Correal Urrego]] (recent)have contributed notable scholarship.

Scholars agree that the group identified as Muisca migrated to the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the [[Formative stage|Formative era]] (between 1000 BCE and 500 CE), as shown by evidence found at [[Aguazuque]] and [[Soacha]]. Like the other formative-era cultures of America, the Muiscas were transitioning between being hunter-gatherers and becoming sedentary farmers. Around 1500 BCE, groups of agrarians with ceramic traditions came to the region from the lowlands. They had permanent housing and stationary camps, and worked the salty water to extract salt. In [[Zipacón]] there is evidence of agriculture and ceramics. The oldest settlement of the highlands dates to 1270 BCE. Between 800 BCE and 500 BCE, a second wave of migrants came to the highlands. Their presence is identified by multicolor ceramics, housing, and farms. These groups were still in residence upon the arrival of the Spanish invaders. They left abundant traces of their occupation that have been studied since the 16th century, and allow scientists to reconstruct their way of life. It is possible that the Muisca integrated with more ancient inhabitants, but the Muisca were the ones who molded the cultural profile and the social and political organization. Their language, a dialect of [[Chibcha language|Chibcha]], was very similar to those peoples of the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]] ([[Kogi people|Kogui]], Ijka, [[Wiwa people|Wiwa]], and [[Kankuamo people|Kankuamo]]) and the [[Sierra Nevada del Cocuy]] ([[U'wa people|U'wa]]).

[[File:Mapa del Territorio MuiscaConfederaciónMuisca.svgpng|right|thumb|260px|Territory of the [[Muisca Confederation]]:;<br>''Showing the [[ZaqueZipa]]'' territory in, yellow<br>''[[ZipaZaque]]'', territoryand in[[Muisca greenConfederation#Independent caciques|Independent territories]]]]

The Muisca people were organized in a [[confederation]] that was a loose union of states that each retained sovereignty. The confederation was not a kingdom, as there was no absolute monarch, nor was it an [[empire]], because it did not dominate other ethnic groups or peoples. It is hard to compare the Muisca Confederation with other American civilizations, such as the [[Aztec]] or the [[Inca]] empires as it was more similar to a confederation of states, such as the [[Achaean League]]. The Muisca Confederation was one of the biggest and best-organized confederations of tribes on the South American continent.<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://www.historiacultural.com/2009/06/cultura-chibcha-muisca-ceramica-oro.html Muisca culture] – Historia Universal – accessed 20-04-2016</ref>

::-->→ <span style="color:red;">Priests ([[Iraca]])</span>

:::-->→ <span style="color:green;">Chiefdoms (Cacique)</span>

::::-->→ <span style="color:orange;">''Capitanía'' (Capitan)</span>

:::::-->→ <span style="color:blue;">Sybyn</span>

::::::-->→ <span style="color:violet;">Uta</span>

Pre-ColombianColumbian Muisca patterns appear in various seals of modern municipalities located on the [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]], for instance [[Sopó]] and [[Guatavita]], [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]].<ref name="websiteSopó">{{in lang|es}} [http://www.sopo-cundinamarca.gov.co/index.shtml Official website Sopó] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221203730/http://www.sopo-cundinamarca.gov.co/index.shtml |date=2016-02-21 }} – accessed 05-05-2016</ref><ref name=websiteGuatavita>{{in lang|es}} [http://www.guatavita-cundinamarca.gov.co/index.shtml#3 Official website Guatavita] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130073551/http://guatavita-cundinamarca.gov.co/index.shtml#3 |date=2016-01-30 }} – accessed 05-05-2016</ref> The remaining Muisca people in central Colombia also have their own seal.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Escudo_pueblo_muisca.JPG Seal of the Muisca people] – Commons</ref>

* [[Bochica]]: though not properly a god, he enjoyed the same status as one. He was a chief or hero eternized in the oral tradition. The land was flooded by a [[ a godess (goddess)| a godess]], a beautiful and sometimes mean woman, or by [[Chibchacum]], protector of the farmers. Bochica listened to the complaints of the Muisca about floods. With his stick, he broke two rocks at the edge of the [[Tequendama Falls]] and all the water came out, forming a waterfall. Bochica punished Huitaca and Chibchacum: He made Huitaca an owl and made her hold up the sky. Chibchacum was tasked with holding up the Earth.

When the Muisca structure disappeared under the Spanish Conquest, the territory of the Confederations of the ''zaque'' and ''zipa'' were included in a new political division within the Spanish colonies in America. The territory of the Muisca, located in a fertile plain of the Colombian Andes that contributed to make one of the most advanced South American civilizations, became part of the colonial region named [[Nuevo Reino de Granada]]. The priests and nobility of the Muisca were eliminated. Only the ''Capitanias'' remained. Much information about the Muisca culture was gathered by the Spanish administration and by authors such as [[Pedro de Aguado]] and [[Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita]]. The Spaniards created indigenous areas to keep the survivors, who were obligated to work the land for them under the quasi-genocidal [[encomienda system]]. The colonialviceregal era contributed to the importance of Bogotá, and people from the area would play an important role in the fights for independence and republican consolidation. The wars of independence of three nations ([[Colombia]] with [[Panamá]], [[Venezuela]], and [[Ecuador]]) were led by the descendants of aboriginals; Spaniard-affiliated elites were forcibly deported after independence.

After independence in 1810, the new state dissolved many of the indigenous reservations. The one in [[Tocancipá]] was dissolved in 1940.<ref>Decree of August 14, 1940, Republic of Colombia.</ref> The one in [[Sesquilé]] was reduced to 10% of its original size. [[Tenjo]] was reduced to 54% of its original size after 1934, and the indigenous lands in [[Suba, Bogotá|Suba]], a northern region in modern-day Bogotá, which had been recognized and protected by the crown, were taken away by the republican governments following a strategy of suppression of the native culture and ethnic presence in the country's largest urban centres. The Reservation of [[Cota, Cundinamarca|Cota]] was re-established on land bought by the community in 1916, and then recognized by the 1991 constitution; the recognition was withdrawn in 1998 by the state and restored in 2006.

* [[New Kingdom of Granada]], [[indigenousIndigenous peoples in Colombia]]

* {{cite journal |author1=Fernández-Alonso, José Luis |author2=Groenendijk, Jeroen P. |title=A new species of Zephyranthes herb. S.L. (Amaryllidaceae, Hippeastreae) with notes on the genus in Colombia |journal=Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cie. |volume=28 |date=20042023 |issue=107 |pages=177–186 |doi=10.18257/raccefyn.28(107).2004.1987 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/33396/1/2004_Fernandez-Alonso_Rev.Acad.Col.Cien.28%28107%29.pdf |issn=0370-3908}}