﻿TRIBES 
  OF 
  THE 
  SIERRA 
  NEVADA 
  DE 
  SANTA 
  MARTA, 
  

  

  COLOMBIA 
  

  

  By 
  Willard 
  Z. 
  Park 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  The 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  de 
  Santa 
  Marta, 
  earlier 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Sierra 
  de 
  

   los 
  Taironas 
  or 
  Sierra 
  Tairona, 
  has 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  been 
  

   of 
  interest 
  to 
  geologists, 
  geographers, 
  zoologists, 
  botanists, 
  and 
  

   anthropologists 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  22; 
  map 
  7). 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  scientific 
  curi- 
  

   osity 
  about 
  the 
  problems 
  of 
  this 
  area, 
  little 
  systematic 
  research 
  has 
  

   been 
  done 
  in 
  the 
  region. 
  Intensive 
  zoological 
  investigations, 
  1 
  the 
  

   ethnographic 
  studies 
  of 
  Bolinder 
  among 
  the 
  lea 
  (1925), 
  the 
  linguistic 
  

   work 
  by 
  Preuss 
  on 
  the 
  Cdgaba 
  (1919-26), 
  and 
  Mason's 
  extensive 
  

   archeological 
  excavations 
  in 
  the 
  Tairona 
  area 
  (1931, 
  1939) 
  are 
  to 
  date 
  

   the 
  outstanding 
  examples 
  of 
  systematic 
  field 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  Sierra 
  

   Nevada. 
  

  

  Incomplete 
  anthropological 
  research, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  earlier 
  fragmentary 
  

   accounts 
  by 
  explorers, 
  travelers, 
  priests, 
  and 
  historians 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   of 
  this 
  region, 
  serves 
  to 
  raise 
  numerous 
  problems 
  that 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  

   solved 
  by 
  systematic 
  field 
  work. 
  Accordingly, 
  the 
  Cdgaba 
  were 
  

   selected 
  for 
  intensive 
  investigation, 
  and 
  preliminary 
  ethnographic 
  

   studies 
  were 
  undertaken 
  by 
  the 
  author 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1937. 
  2 
  Field 
  

   work 
  among 
  the 
  Cdgaba 
  was 
  resumed 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1941. 
  A 
  part 
  

   of 
  this 
  season 
  was 
  devoted 
  to 
  a 
  reconnaissance 
  of 
  the 
  linguistically 
  

   and 
  culturally 
  related 
  tribes 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada. 
  3 
  

  

  SOURCES 
  

  

  Complete 
  ethnographic 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  cultures 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Ne- 
  

   vada 
  de 
  Santa 
  Marta 
  are 
  lacking. 
  Bolinder's 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  lea 
  (1925) 
  

   is 
  based 
  on 
  field 
  work 
  done 
  in 
  1914-15, 
  supplemented 
  by 
  a 
  brief 
  visit 
  

   in 
  1920. 
  The 
  description 
  of 
  lea 
  material 
  culture 
  is 
  excellent; 
  the 
  

   data 
  on 
  religion 
  are 
  useful 
  but 
  incomplete; 
  and 
  the 
  material 
  on 
  the 
  

   social 
  organization 
  is 
  meager. 
  Bolinder 
  also 
  includes 
  some 
  notes 
  

  

  i 
  The 
  work 
  of 
  Todd 
  and 
  Carriker 
  (1922) 
  contains 
  an 
  extensive 
  bibliography 
  of 
  earlier 
  works 
  on 
  the 
  birds 
  

   of 
  the 
  Santa 
  Marta 
  region. 
  

  

  1 
  The 
  initial 
  field 
  work 
  was 
  made 
  possible 
  by 
  a 
  grant 
  from 
  the 
  Social 
  Science 
  Research 
  Council 
  of 
  North- 
  

   western 
  University. 
  

  

  s 
  Continuation 
  of 
  field 
  studies 
  in 
  1941 
  was 
  supported 
  by 
  grants 
  from 
  the 
  Carnegie 
  Corporation 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  

   and 
  the 
  American 
  Philosophical 
  Society. 
  

  

  865 
  

  

  