﻿872 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  HISTORY 
  

  

  The 
  impact 
  of 
  European 
  civilization 
  was 
  first 
  felt 
  by 
  the 
  Coastal 
  

   tribes, 
  and, 
  with 
  the 
  founding 
  of 
  Santa 
  Marta 
  in 
  1525, 
  the 
  pressure 
  

   on 
  them 
  to 
  give 
  up 
  their 
  gold 
  and 
  to 
  be 
  servants 
  to 
  the 
  conqueror 
  

   increased 
  steadily. 
  This 
  contact 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  extermination 
  of 
  

   the 
  Coastal 
  people, 
  but 
  the 
  upland 
  people 
  retreated 
  into 
  the 
  more 
  

   inaccessible 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  mountains. 
  10 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  precisely 
  

   how 
  long 
  the 
  cultures 
  of 
  the 
  Coastal 
  tribes 
  withstood 
  the 
  impact, 
  but 
  

   it 
  seems 
  likely 
  that 
  cultural 
  identity 
  was 
  destroyed 
  here 
  by 
  the 
  early 
  

   17 
  th 
  century. 
  

  

  The 
  continued 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  mountain 
  tribes 
  was, 
  of 
  course, 
  

   modified 
  by 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  Spaniards, 
  principally 
  through 
  priests 
  

   and 
  traders, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  powerful, 
  culturally 
  

   dominant 
  Coastal 
  people, 
  particularly 
  the 
  Tairona. 
  That 
  the 
  Cdgaba 
  

   were 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  dependent 
  upon, 
  even 
  subordinate 
  to, 
  the 
  Tairona 
  

   is 
  indicated 
  by 
  traditions, 
  mythological 
  material, 
  and 
  linguistic 
  evi- 
  

   dence. 
  (See 
  Preuss, 
  1919-26, 
  p. 
  40 
  ff.) 
  

  

  The 
  Cdgaba 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  have 
  been 
  ex- 
  

   posed 
  to 
  400 
  years 
  of 
  contact 
  with 
  European 
  civilization, 
  principally 
  

   through 
  the 
  intermittent 
  efforts 
  of 
  the 
  priests. 
  The 
  culture 
  here 
  

   has 
  been 
  modified 
  by 
  this 
  contact: 
  New 
  plants 
  have 
  been 
  introduced, 
  

   a 
  rectangular 
  house 
  threatened 
  to 
  replace 
  the 
  circular 
  dwelling, 
  

   clothing 
  has 
  been 
  modified, 
  domesticated 
  animals 
  have 
  been 
  accepted, 
  

   simple 
  iron 
  tools 
  have 
  replaced 
  aboriginal 
  devices, 
  and 
  European 
  

   themes 
  appear 
  frequently 
  in 
  the 
  mythology. 
  Many 
  more 
  individual 
  

   items 
  have 
  been 
  added 
  or 
  have 
  superseded 
  old 
  ways, 
  but 
  the 
  form, 
  

   the 
  outlook, 
  the 
  interpretation, 
  and 
  the 
  evaluations 
  are 
  not 
  European 
  

   but 
  Indian. 
  Perhaps 
  they 
  are 
  largely 
  pre-Columbian 
  Cdgaba, 
  

  

  The 
  aboriginal 
  fife 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  has 
  not 
  sur- 
  

   vived 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  degree 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  with 
  the 
  Cdgaba. 
  There 
  has 
  been 
  

   substantially 
  more 
  intermarriage 
  and 
  assimilation 
  with 
  aliens 
  and 
  

   non-Indian 
  Colombians 
  on 
  the 
  southern 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra. 
  The 
  fate 
  

   of 
  such 
  former 
  Indian 
  villages 
  as 
  Atanquez 
  has 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  

   Bolinder 
  (1925, 
  p. 
  186 
  ff.). 
  These 
  changes 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  ascribed 
  to 
  the 
  

   greater 
  frequency 
  and 
  effectiveness 
  of 
  commercial 
  and 
  missionary 
  

   contact 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  contrast 
  to 
  the 
  relative 
  isolation 
  of 
  the 
  

   Cdgaba 
  living 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  slopes. 
  

  

  CULTURE 
  

  

  SUBSISTENCE 
  ACTIVITIES 
  

  

  Agriculture. 
  — 
  The 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  depend 
  principally 
  

   upon 
  agriculture 
  for 
  their 
  subsistence. 
  The 
  pre-Columbian 
  agricul- 
  

  

  10 
  See, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  comments 
  of 
  Father 
  de 
  la 
  Rosa 
  (Nicholas, 
  1901, 
  p. 
  615) 
  on 
  the 
  tactics 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   when 
  the 
  priests 
  attempted 
  to 
  destroy 
  aboriginal 
  religious 
  paraphernalia 
  and 
  to 
  force 
  them 
  to 
  become 
  con- 
  

   verts. 
  The 
  Indians 
  made 
  no 
  effort 
  to 
  resist 
  by 
  force; 
  they 
  simply 
  moved 
  to 
  regions 
  difficult 
  to 
  reach. 
  The 
  

   lea 
  have 
  followed 
  this 
  pattern 
  in 
  the 
  period 
  1920-40 
  (Khowlton, 
  1944, 
  pp. 
  263-66) 
  

  

  