Muiscas are flies??? The true meaning of the name Muisca.

Muiscas or Chibchas are a group of indegenous people located in Colobia. The proper name of this people should be Chibchas, but Muiscas became the name they are best known for. The reason as to why this name became so popular where the Spaniards. 

They heard the Chibchas use this word alot because it meant "people,". They also used this name a lot because they thought they were as numerous as th fly , or the "mosca" in spanish. None of the chroniclers of the time even used the proper name! They only called them Moscas or Moxcas (the last one sounds like a starbucks  drink).

The first one who called them by their proper name was Fray Bernando Lugo who stated that chibchan was their language, Father Simon really stated that since they speaked chibchan they would be called Chibchas. 

This days Chibcha is mostly used to refer to the linguistic family who speaks this way, meanwhile Muisca is used to specify this certain tribe in Colombia

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The Nukak the unknown tribe of Colombia

In 1988, just two decades ago, the nomadic hunting-gathering tribe of the Amazon became known to the world, but these days they are almost gone.

The Nukak are a small tribe of about five hundred individuals, living nomad lifes and moving from one place to another. The collonists sure were confused when the Nukak arrieved at the doorstep of a rural school! Loggers and cocaine farmers began taking their land making them come into contact more and more. This had many consecuences for the Nukak since more than half of the tribe died, diseases their body weren't accustomed to like malaria and flu caused many of the deaths.

They are great hunters, fishermen, and gatherers.Hunting and fishing is mostly done by the men, meanwhile children and women often gather. They hunt monkeys and birds with blowguns made of palm trees (pictured above) they use darts covered in curare, a natural poison. They fish with line and hook, sometimes theu also use clasic methods like like spears, bows and arrows, and traps. Women and childrean collect honey from about 20 different species of bees found in the jungle. They collect different types of fruits and vegetables.

When dressing tradionally they are naked wearing only bangles on their wrists, arms, ankles, and lower legs. The Nukak also painted red lines along their face and body.

As previously stated the Nukak are almost gone. We have destroyed their culture, their house, their history, and their future.Many organazations are trying to get them an area were they can live as they wish and we urge you to donate to the cause. We as humans need to learn to respect eachother ,and frankly just let the others express themselves in their own ways as long as there is no no harm done.

Sources: 

http://www.arbiternews.com/2015/03/21/nukak-maku-last-of-the-nomadic-tribes-of-south-america/

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/colombia/resettlement-nukak-indians-colombia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/05/colombia-nukak-maku-tribe-extinction

http://www.niels.com/nukak/

Bachue: The mother of all

The story of how Bachue gave birth to the Chibchas.

Greetings!

This is a blog made with the intention to teach everyone a bit of Colombia. We would, for now, be focusing mainly on Colombian indigenous groups, hopefully spreading our horizons to comon lore, traditions, and just plain fun facts of Colombia. I made this small entry as a welcoming for anyone interested in this blog or its contents. The first group that we are going to talk about is Chibchas, or as sometimes called, Muiscas. Please feel free to call us out if we write something wrong and/or offensive.