The Muis Are characterized by a lifestyle based on agriculture and water, as well as certain rituals such as religion, marriage and sexuality somewhat peculiar.
They are an indigenous culture settled in the territory that today belongs to the department of the South of Santander, Colombia, from century I SAW.
They have been maintained until now, with the existence of small Colombian indigenous groups and sanctuaries where muiscas descendants still live.
The muiscas were a society that knew how to maintain their culture even during the Spanish colonization . Like all American ethnicities, they were drivers of miscegenation.
Despite being of its settlement in Colombia, Muiscas theory is handled are a much older culture displaced from Central America.
The fact that they are also known as Chibchas (although it is considered not a correct statement), relates them to another culture of the same name coming from what is now Nicaragua.
Although the Muiscas lived in situations similar to those of other aboriginal American cultures, they are attributed some inventions and different behaviors to particular situations or aspects of life.
Main features of the Muiscas
1- Livelihood and feeding
The Muiscas were supported by what was one of the main Aboriginal activities in pre-Columbian America: agriculture.
They differentiated themselves by developing diverse farming systems, taking advantage of the advantages offered by the Colombian highlands.
This system allowed to have under control the harvests for the different stages and seasons, as well as to guarantee the distribution between settlements.
The main products of his diet were corn, potato, sweet potato, cassava, beans and auyama.
The inputs were distributed by special groups. However, in times of scarcity, this function was carried out by the authorities.
Even during the Spanish colonization, the muiscas never ceased to be a society that continued to be sustained by its own methods.
They also practiced fishing, in local lakes and rivers. The Muiscas did not know the iron in tools or arms until the arrival of the Spaniards.
2- Clothing
The Muiscas developed a master's degree in handling and confection of cotton. The climatic conditions of the lands they inhabited made them into a culture whose inhabitants were dressed most of the time.
The main material for Muiscas ornaments and accessories, as well as for the main forms of artistic expression, was gold.
The social stratification of the Muiscas was well determined by the material of the objects used to dress, which not only manifested a social position, but also the kinship with the family of greater power.
3- Ceremonies and rituals
The Muiscas counted on a diverse amount of small scale rituals and initiation; These were closely related to water.
In the rivers men, women and children were bathing at the same time, and here they performed ceremonies of different kinds as births, where mother and son were bathed by the waters of the river.
Menstruation in women, its beginning and end, was also an event worthy of fluvial accompaniment, as well as male initiation and coronation. The aquatic bodies were considered sacred for the Muiscas.
Those destined to priests had their own relation with the water, since during their formation they were prohibited to bathe other than the tip of their fingers; Once formalized their position, they were free to submerge completely.
The Muisca also carried out sacrifices as an offering to the gods. They had the peculiarity of sacrificing young people and children. The latter, under certain conditions, were considered a living deity.
The cacique Muisca bought children under 10 years of age with the conviction that they could talk to the Sun. As they grew up, these children were destined for a sacrificial ceremony, whose blood was offered to the gods to keep civilization in favor.
4- Marriage and sexuality
The Muiscas counted on courtship rituals to consummate the marriage. The suitors were to make a series of offerings to the family in charge of the intended woman, and certain conditions had to be met to be accepted.
The suitor could have up to three opportunities for his offer to be accepted; If not, he should give up.
Despite this, they had a rather liberal position against sexual encounters: virginity was despised and polygamy was allowed.
A muisca man was at liberty to have as many wives as he was able to maintain, although by ceremonial standards at the time of marriage, the first woman should be considered the main woman, and therefore be treated favorably in the face of the others.
It is presumed that the high sexual activity of the Muiscas was a relevant factor in the causes of the high population density presented by this civilization in its main spaces.
5- Confederation Muisca
The Muisca confederation was the name that received a first model of political organization that grouped and integrated the muiscas during the years prior to Spanish colonization.
The confederation impelled the social and economic reorganization between muiscas, as well as presenting them as a cohesive ethnic group before the imminent Spanish arrival.
It was maintained by independent governments that respected their own limits, under a system of collaboration and general exchange that prevented Muisco from taking resources.
The confederation muisca lasted little more than a century, when dissolving with the consolidation of the Spanish conquest.
6- Economics Muisca
In principle, the main Muisca commercial activity was the product of agriculture. With the expansion of territories and the creation of the Muisca confederation, exotic materials and minerals such as salt, coal, copper, emeralds and gold began to be known and traded.
The Muiscas are attributed a primitive system of numbering that allowed them to establish much more efficiently local markets where practices such as barter and buy-sell were carried out.
7- Spanish Impositions
The conquistadors, from their expeditions through the Colombian valleys and highlands, clashed from the beginning with the values of the Muisca culture due to their libertine and"obscene"position.
The Spaniards sought, violently, to impose their own system of values, based on religion, as well as prohibiting the Muiscas the continuity of their activities (ceremonies in rivers, for example).
8- Sports
It is important to emphasize that a muisca sport, such as yew (a game where a disc is thrown to some clay fields with the aim of blowing up a few powder wicks to accumulate points), has been decreed as the national sport of Colombia. It is estimated that it can have more than 500 years of practice.
References
- Cano, J.A. (1985). Myths, legends and chibcha gods. Plaza and Janes Editores Colombia s.a.
- Federación Colombiana de Tejo. (S.f.). Obtained from Colombia Olympic Committee: coc.org.co.
- Londoño, A.M. (2005). Muiscas: representations, cartographies and ethnopolitics of memory. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
- Londoño, E. (s.f.). Sanctuaries, Santillos, Tunjos: Votive objects of the muiscas in the sixteenth century.
- Londoño, E. (s.f.). A message from the time of the Muiscas.
- Rubio, F.C. (2004). The sun of power: symbology and politics among the muiscas of the north of the Andes. National University of Colombia.