﻿THE 
  HIGHLAND 
  TRIBES 
  OF 
  SOUTHERN 
  COLOMBIA 
  1 
  

  

  By 
  Gregorio 
  Hernandez 
  de 
  Alba 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  Between 
  the 
  Esmeralda 
  and 
  Car 
  a 
  in 
  Ecuador 
  and 
  the 
  Quimbaya 
  in 
  

   the 
  modern 
  Department 
  of 
  Caldas 
  to 
  the 
  north, 
  the 
  conquistadors, 
  

   especially 
  Governor 
  Don 
  Sebastian 
  de 
  Belalcazar, 
  found 
  a 
  large 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  tribes 
  of 
  different 
  languages 
  and 
  cultures 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  24; 
  map 
  7). 
  

   These 
  tribes 
  occupied 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  complicated 
  Andean 
  

   system, 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  many 
  rivers, 
  and 
  the 
  slopes 
  toward 
  the 
  low, 
  

   jungle 
  lands 
  of 
  southeastern 
  Colombia. 
  Because 
  of 
  the 
  fertility 
  of 
  the 
  

   soils, 
  the 
  mild 
  climate, 
  which 
  was 
  largely 
  cool 
  and 
  healthy, 
  the 
  rich 
  

   gold 
  and 
  silver 
  mines, 
  and 
  the 
  situation 
  of 
  the 
  lands 
  between 
  the 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  Colonial 
  centers 
  of 
  Santa 
  Fe 
  (now 
  Bogota) 
  and 
  Quito, 
  which 
  

   they 
  were 
  founding, 
  the 
  conquistadors 
  greatly 
  desired 
  to 
  conquer 
  and 
  

   pacify 
  the 
  tribes, 
  as 
  the 
  Spanish 
  chroniclers 
  and 
  historians 
  call 
  the 
  

   extermination 
  of 
  the 
  Indians. 
  Some 
  peoples, 
  like 
  the 
  Pasto 
  living 
  in 
  

   the 
  present 
  Department 
  of 
  Nariiio, 
  north 
  of 
  Ecuador, 
  readily 
  sub- 
  

   mitted 
  to 
  the 
  overlordship 
  of 
  the 
  encomenderos 
  and 
  hacendados, 
  and 
  

   adopted 
  their 
  customs 
  and 
  beliefs. 
  Others, 
  like 
  the 
  Andaqui, 
  changed 
  

   their 
  habitat, 
  and 
  moved 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  San 
  Agustin 
  and 
  the 
  

   headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Magdalena 
  River 
  eastward 
  to 
  the 
  hot 
  jungles, 
  

   where 
  they 
  were 
  safe 
  from 
  enslavement. 
  Some, 
  like 
  the 
  Pdez 
  and 
  

   Moguex, 
  protected 
  by 
  the 
  ruggedness 
  of 
  the 
  Sierras 
  of 
  their 
  territory, 
  

   resisted 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  and 
  succeeded 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  in 
  perpetuating 
  

   their 
  traditions. 
  Others, 
  however, 
  like 
  the 
  Pijao, 
  who 
  were 
  seasoned 
  

   warriors, 
  fought 
  bloodily 
  against 
  the 
  White 
  invaders 
  until 
  they 
  were 
  

   totally 
  exterminated. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  historians 
  of 
  the 
  conquest 
  of 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  America 
  2 
  held 
  

   different 
  opinions 
  on 
  the 
  cultural 
  and 
  linguistic 
  relationships 
  between 
  

   these 
  tribes. 
  Some 
  claimed 
  that 
  the 
  dialects 
  differed 
  so 
  greatly 
  from 
  

   one 
  tribe 
  to 
  another 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  mutually 
  unintelligible; 
  others 
  maintained 
  

   that 
  all 
  the 
  peoples 
  of 
  the 
  Andean 
  area 
  of 
  Colombia 
  had 
  the 
  same 
  cul- 
  

  

  1 
  This 
  study 
  was 
  prepared 
  in 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  where 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology, 
  of 
  the 
  Smith 
  

   sonian 
  Institution, 
  the 
  Library 
  of 
  Congress, 
  and 
  the 
  Library 
  of 
  the 
  Pan 
  American 
  Union 
  facilitated 
  my 
  

   investigation 
  as 
  previously 
  the 
  Government 
  of 
  Colombia, 
  my 
  wife 
  (who 
  was 
  also 
  my 
  companion 
  in 
  field 
  

   work), 
  and 
  my 
  friends, 
  the 
  Pdez 
  Indians 
  of 
  Tierradentro, 
  had 
  furthered 
  it. 
  

  

  » 
  Cieza 
  de 
  Leon, 
  1932; 
  Aguado, 
  1916; 
  Simon, 
  1882-92; 
  Oviedo 
  y 
  Valdes, 
  1851-55; 
  Velasco, 
  1841-44. 
  

  

  915 
  

  

  