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Muzo people
The Muzo people are a Cariban-speaking Indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a highly war-like tribe who frequently clashed with their neighbouring Indigenous groups, especially the Muisca.
The Muzo inhabited the right banks of the Magdalena River in the lower elevations of western Boyacá and Cundinamarca and were known as the Emerald People, thanks to their exploitation of the gemstone in Muzo. During the time of conquest, they resisted heavily against the Spanish invaders taking twenty years to submit the Muzo.
Knowledge about the Muzo people has been provided by chroniclers Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and others.
The Muzo were inhabiting the lower-elevation northwestern areas of the Cundinamarca department and western portion of the Boyacá Department, closer to the Magdalena River. Their northern neighbours were the Naura people, the Panche in the south, and to the southeast the Muisca inhabited the higher-elevation Altiplano Cundiboyacense. Their western neighbours were the Colima people.
The Muzo people were considered the first inhabitants of Boyacá, originally from Saboyá. Their territory stretched from the thick forests surrounding the Carare River in the north at the border with Santander, the Río Negro in the south, in the east the Pacho River and the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley, and the Magdalena River in the west. Other sources limit the Muzo area with the Sogamoso, Suárez, Magdalena and Ermitaño rivers.
The Muzo were a people of healthy warriors with relatively short lifespans. Their health is attributed to the fact they were vegetarian, although other sources state they performed cannibalism. The living spaces were always constructed in the vicinity of waterfalls or springs. The hotter climate of the lower terrain made them sweat and they bathed often. Many Muzo children were born covered with bristle hair, which made the superstitious mothers kill their babies. The Muzo people lived naked and gave their children names of trees, animals and plants.
The Muzo people performed agriculture, wood-working and production of ceramics. The elaboration of cloths using cotton or pita was done by the prostitutes of the Muzo. They were most known for their exploitation of emeralds; until modern times Muzo was the world capital of the green gemstone.[citation needed] The Muzo society was divided into warriors, higher castes and chingamanas or chingamas; and slaves, commonly captured from other Indigenous tribes. The oldest and bravest members of the community were considered the most important but were not caciques of their tribe. A system of laws has not been noted. Warfare and hunting were executed using poisoned arrows, as was a common practice with Indigenous tribes in South America. The curare was obtained from poisonous plants and frogs.
The religion of the Muzo consisted of few gods. Their creator god was called Are (he had a Muiscan counterpart called Chiminigagua). Maquipa was the deity who cured illnesses, and the Muzo adored the Sun and the Moon. The Muzo people did not construct temples.
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Muzo people
The Muzo people are a Cariban-speaking Indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a highly war-like tribe who frequently clashed with their neighbouring Indigenous groups, especially the Muisca.
The Muzo inhabited the right banks of the Magdalena River in the lower elevations of western Boyacá and Cundinamarca and were known as the Emerald People, thanks to their exploitation of the gemstone in Muzo. During the time of conquest, they resisted heavily against the Spanish invaders taking twenty years to submit the Muzo.
Knowledge about the Muzo people has been provided by chroniclers Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and others.
The Muzo were inhabiting the lower-elevation northwestern areas of the Cundinamarca department and western portion of the Boyacá Department, closer to the Magdalena River. Their northern neighbours were the Naura people, the Panche in the south, and to the southeast the Muisca inhabited the higher-elevation Altiplano Cundiboyacense. Their western neighbours were the Colima people.
The Muzo people were considered the first inhabitants of Boyacá, originally from Saboyá. Their territory stretched from the thick forests surrounding the Carare River in the north at the border with Santander, the Río Negro in the south, in the east the Pacho River and the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley, and the Magdalena River in the west. Other sources limit the Muzo area with the Sogamoso, Suárez, Magdalena and Ermitaño rivers.
The Muzo were a people of healthy warriors with relatively short lifespans. Their health is attributed to the fact they were vegetarian, although other sources state they performed cannibalism. The living spaces were always constructed in the vicinity of waterfalls or springs. The hotter climate of the lower terrain made them sweat and they bathed often. Many Muzo children were born covered with bristle hair, which made the superstitious mothers kill their babies. The Muzo people lived naked and gave their children names of trees, animals and plants.
The Muzo people performed agriculture, wood-working and production of ceramics. The elaboration of cloths using cotton or pita was done by the prostitutes of the Muzo. They were most known for their exploitation of emeralds; until modern times Muzo was the world capital of the green gemstone.[citation needed] The Muzo society was divided into warriors, higher castes and chingamanas or chingamas; and slaves, commonly captured from other Indigenous tribes. The oldest and bravest members of the community were considered the most important but were not caciques of their tribe. A system of laws has not been noted. Warfare and hunting were executed using poisoned arrows, as was a common practice with Indigenous tribes in South America. The curare was obtained from poisonous plants and frogs.
The religion of the Muzo consisted of few gods. Their creator god was called Are (he had a Muiscan counterpart called Chiminigagua). Maquipa was the deity who cured illnesses, and the Muzo adored the Sun and the Moon. The Muzo people did not construct temples.