﻿870 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  probably 
  Tairona 
  occupation 
  are 
  found 
  at 
  La 
  Cueva 
  above 
  Dibulla. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Pedro 
  Sim6n 
  (quoted 
  by 
  Preuss, 
  1919-26, 
  p. 
  41), 
  the 
  

   Tairona 
  also 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  and 
  south 
  of 
  Santa 
  Marta. 
  Sev- 
  

   eral 
  of 
  the 
  chroniclers 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  history 
  of 
  Santa 
  Marta 
  mention 
  

   expeditions 
  from 
  that 
  place 
  to 
  the 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  Tairona, 
  referring 
  

   also 
  to 
  other 
  groups, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Bonda, 
  Bondigna, 
  Taganga, 
  Gaira, 
  

   and 
  Dorsino, 
  as 
  tribes 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Santa 
  Marta. 
  

   Precise 
  location 
  of 
  Tairona 
  territorial 
  limits 
  and 
  their 
  relationships 
  to 
  

   other 
  tribes 
  mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  Santa 
  Marta 
  re- 
  

   gion 
  must 
  await 
  publication 
  of 
  J. 
  Alden 
  Mason's 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  Tairona 
  

   in 
  the 
  documentary 
  sources. 
  

  

  The 
  Chimila, 
  another 
  Chibchan 
  tribe 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  

   foothills 
  and 
  lowlands, 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  occupied 
  the 
  region 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  

   and 
  west 
  of 
  Santa 
  Marta. 
  Careful 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  references 
  

   to 
  this 
  tribe 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  justify 
  placing 
  its 
  habitat 
  provisionally 
  in 
  

   the 
  region 
  south 
  from 
  the 
  Rio 
  Frio 
  to 
  the 
  confluence 
  of 
  the 
  Rio 
  Cesar 
  

   and 
  the 
  Magdalena 
  River. 
  Bolinder, 
  who 
  has 
  summarized 
  the 
  prin- 
  

   cipal 
  historical 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  location 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  (1924, 
  pp. 
  203- 
  

   05), 
  places 
  the 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  surviving 
  Chimila 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  

   between 
  Fundacion 
  and 
  Valledupar 
  near 
  the 
  Rio 
  Ariguani. 
  Despite 
  

   several 
  early 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  Chimila 
  as 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Tairona, 
  this 
  

   group 
  certainly 
  maintained 
  a 
  distinct 
  tribal 
  identify 
  with 
  apparently 
  

   many 
  cultural 
  features 
  that 
  distinguished 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  Tairona* 
  

  

  POPULATION 
  

  

  No 
  precise 
  count 
  or 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  

   Nevada 
  has 
  been 
  made, 
  and 
  the 
  prevailing 
  custom 
  of 
  each 
  family 
  

   moving 
  frequently 
  from 
  one 
  to 
  another 
  of 
  its 
  isolated 
  clusters 
  of 
  

   houses 
  makes 
  it 
  extremely 
  doubtful 
  that 
  a 
  satisfactory 
  census 
  could 
  be 
  

   taken 
  of 
  the 
  upland 
  dwellers. 
  The 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  foothills 
  and 
  lowlands, 
  

   such 
  as 
  the 
  Tairona 
  and 
  Chimila, 
  have 
  been 
  entirely 
  destroyed; 
  hence 
  

   it 
  is 
  only 
  possible 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  roughest 
  estimates 
  of 
  their 
  numbers 
  at 
  

   the 
  time 
  of 
  discovery. 
  Sievers 
  (1886, 
  p. 
  338) 
  estimated 
  the 
  popula- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  remaining 
  mountain 
  tribes 
  at 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  about 
  3,000 
  per- 
  

   sons, 
  and 
  Seifriz 
  (1934, 
  p. 
  483) 
  placed 
  their 
  numbers 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   figure 
  in 
  1932. 
  

  

  Observations 
  made 
  in 
  1937 
  and 
  1941 
  suggest 
  that 
  the 
  number 
  

   3,000 
  was 
  approximately 
  correct 
  for 
  recent 
  years. 
  The 
  Cdgaba 
  are 
  

   the 
  more 
  numerous, 
  with 
  roughly 
  some 
  2,000 
  persons. 
  There 
  are 
  

   about 
  500 
  lea 
  living, 
  and 
  approximately 
  500 
  Buntigwa. 
  No 
  informa- 
  

   tion 
  is 
  available 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  any 
  Sanha 
  survive. 
  Contrary 
  to 
  the 
  

   belief 
  expressed 
  by 
  casual 
  observers 
  that 
  the 
  mountain 
  tribes 
  will 
  

   soon 
  be 
  extinct, 
  it 
  is 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  population 
  is 
  fairly 
  stable, 
  main- 
  

   taining 
  itself 
  in 
  recent 
  generations 
  without 
  significant 
  losses 
  or 
  gains. 
  

  

  