﻿898 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  reworked 
  the 
  sole 
  source 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Chibcha 
  language, 
  

   Bernardo 
  de 
  Lugo's 
  rare 
  "Gramatica" 
  of 
  1619. 
  Still 
  another 
  Colom- 
  

   bian, 
  Vicente 
  Kestrepo, 
  published 
  in 
  1895 
  "Los 
  Chibchas 
  antes 
  de 
  la 
  

   Conquista 
  Espanola." 
  This 
  is 
  marked 
  by 
  excellent 
  judgment 
  and 
  is 
  

   easily 
  the 
  most 
  useful 
  modern 
  work; 
  with 
  E. 
  Restrepo 
  Tirado's 
  "Los 
  

   Quimbayas," 
  1912, 
  as 
  a 
  supplement, 
  it 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  convenient 
  intro- 
  

   duction 
  to 
  the 
  major 
  Colombian 
  cultures 
  which 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  obliter- 
  

   ated. 
  M. 
  Triana's 
  "La 
  Civilizaci6n 
  Chibcha," 
  1922, 
  is 
  useful 
  though 
  

   speculative 
  in 
  parts. 
  Clements 
  Markham's 
  "The 
  Conquest 
  of 
  New 
  

   Granada," 
  1912, 
  is 
  readable 
  but 
  external 
  in 
  its 
  understanding 
  of 
  native 
  

   culture 
  and 
  evidently 
  sloppy 
  as 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  historical 
  composition: 
  

   compare 
  the 
  events 
  attributed 
  to 
  April 
  6 
  on 
  pages 
  115 
  and 
  117 
  and 
  to 
  

   August 
  6 
  on 
  pages 
  141 
  and 
  149. 
  

  

  All 
  in 
  all, 
  the 
  sources 
  on 
  the 
  Chibcha 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  limited 
  but 
  poor 
  

   in 
  quality. 
  There 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  document 
  purporting 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  

   native 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  in 
  the 
  native's 
  form 
  of 
  statement; 
  nothing 
  even 
  

   approaching 
  a 
  Garcilaso 
  or 
  Cieza, 
  let 
  alone 
  a 
  Sahagun 
  or 
  Landa. 
  The 
  

   original 
  conquistadors 
  were 
  adventurers, 
  often 
  keenly 
  perceptive 
  of 
  

   what 
  they 
  saw, 
  but 
  interested 
  chiefly 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  adventures, 
  against 
  

   which 
  native 
  life 
  served 
  only 
  as 
  a 
  foil. 
  One 
  is 
  left 
  with 
  a 
  constant 
  

   sense 
  of 
  inaccuracy 
  in 
  reading 
  their 
  statements 
  of 
  Chibcha 
  beliefs 
  and 
  

   standardized 
  institutions; 
  what 
  seem 
  most 
  authentic 
  are 
  the 
  minor 
  

   incidental 
  remarks 
  and 
  the 
  inferences 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  were 
  not 
  

   conscious, 
  as 
  of 
  the 
  role 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  six. 
  A 
  great 
  desideratum 
  is 
  a 
  

   monographic 
  treatment 
  of 
  the 
  Chibcha 
  by 
  a 
  trained 
  modern 
  ethnolo- 
  

   gist 
  expert 
  in 
  interpreting 
  historic 
  documents 
  and 
  conversant 
  with 
  

   the 
  terrain 
  and 
  archeology. 
  

  

  CULTURE 
  

  

  SUBSISTENCE 
  ACTIVITIES 
  

  

  Chibcha 
  agriculture 
  was 
  by 
  rainfall, 
  except 
  for 
  some 
  irrigation 
  by 
  the 
  

   Guane 
  in 
  the 
  north, 
  where 
  the 
  elevation 
  was 
  less. 
  Women 
  worked 
  the 
  

   fields 
  with 
  the 
  men. 
  Farm 
  tools 
  were 
  of 
  wood. 
  Lands, 
  which 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  means 
  farm 
  plots, 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  individually 
  owned 
  and 
  

   passed 
  on 
  to 
  wives 
  and 
  sons, 
  i. 
  e., 
  not 
  to 
  nephews. 
  If 
  correct, 
  this 
  sug- 
  

   gests 
  absence 
  of 
  matrilineal 
  clans, 
  at 
  least 
  of 
  landholding 
  clans, 
  as 
  a 
  

   functioning 
  principle 
  in 
  the 
  society 
  at 
  large, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  uncle-sister's 
  

   son 
  succession 
  in 
  rule 
  and 
  priesthood. 
  

  

  Potatoes 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  as 
  important 
  a 
  staple 
  as 
  maize, 
  and 
  more 
  so 
  

   at 
  higher 
  altitudes. 
  They 
  came 
  of 
  different 
  shapes 
  and 
  sizes, 
  and 
  

   white, 
  yellow, 
  or 
  dark 
  (morada). 
  Maize, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  lands, 
  

   was 
  a 
  single 
  crop, 
  harvested 
  in 
  September. 
  Its 
  colors 
  were 
  white, 
  

   yellow, 
  pink, 
  red, 
  black, 
  and 
  "rice-maize." 
  It 
  was 
  ground 
  on 
  slightly 
  

   concave 
  metates, 
  made 
  into 
  mazamorra, 
  and 
  boiled 
  or 
  toasted 
  in 
  balls 
  

   wrapped 
  in 
  leaves. 
  

  

  