DOCTORAL DISSERTATION SERIES

Publication No.: 12,770

AUTHOR: Orlando Fals-Borda, Ph. D ., 1955

The University of Florida

TITLE: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MAN
AND THE LAND IN THE DE­
PARTMENT OF BOYACl( COLOMBIA

University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan

 Copyright by

Orlando Fals-Borda

1955
A Sociological Study o f the Relationships
Between Man and the Land
in the Department of Boyaca, Colombia

By

O R L A N D O FALS-BORDA

A DISSERTATION P R E S E N T E D T O T H E GRADUATE C O U N C IL O F
T H E UNIV ER SITY O F FLORIDA
IN PARTIAL F U L F IL M E N T O F T H E R E Q U IR E M E N T S FO R TH E
DEGREE O F DOCTOR O F PH ILO S O P H Y

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
June, 1955
 PREFACE

Any stature which this dissertation may have attained I owe to

the inspired teaching and experienced counseling of ny professors at

the University of Florida, T. Lynn Smith, John M. Maclachlan, Winston W.

Ehrmann, Iyle N. McAlister, Raymond E. Crist, Donald E. Worcester, and

Donald R. Dyer. Professor Smith, chairman of my doctoral committee,

guided me in the presentation and analysis of the materials gathered in

BoyacA. I am especially grateful to him for the use of books from his

library, for the reading of portions of his manuscript on Colombia:

People and Institutions. and for his personal friendship. It was

Professor Smith who first discovered the potential of BoyacA as a mine

of important sociological information. I hope that ay attempt in bring­

ing to realisation what was a suggestion on his part has measured up to

his expectations. It was, indeed, a most worthwhile and interesting ex­

perience to have gone into the intriguing world of this Colombian region.

If the unknown was tantalizing, direct contact with it brought to me

unforgettable experiences.

Many institutions and persons, apart from the members of ay doc­

toral committee, aided with the research. I would like to thank, first of

all, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which has honored me

with two consecutive Fellowships. The Foundations financial assistance

made it possible for me to achieve specialized training at the University

of Florida and to effect the field survey in BoyacA. The cooperation of

ii
 ill

the Colombian Government was essential and effective, especially that

given by the director and officials of the Instituto Colombiano de

Antropologia, the Servicio Tdcnico Agricola Colombiano-Americano (STACA),

the Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, the Comisidn de Planeamiento

de la Seguridad Social Campesina of the Ministry of Labor, the Instituto

de Colonizacidn e Inmigracidn, and the Instituto Geogrdfico Agustin Co-

dazzi. Special recognition is given to the many alcaldes, or mayors,

and other authorities in the municipios who fully cooperated with me

in the field research, as well as to the officials of the Catastro Na­

cional of the Ministry of Finance who permitted me to peruse and analyze

their valuable records. Likewise, I want to express my gratitude to the

notaries public of Tunja and Turmequd, the librarians of the Universidad

Pedagdgica de Tunja, and the director and employees of the Archivo Nacional

de Colombia at Bogotd, who kindly placed their services at my command.

And last, but not least, special recognition is due to the members of the

hierarchy of the Bishopric of Tunja who cooperated with enthusiasm in the

organization of a part of the survey.

To Boyacd1s noted scholars Ramdn C . Correa and Juan C . Hemdndez

I owe pleasant moments of comradeship and valuable suggestions and leads.

Other friends and colleagues helped in one way or another in Colombia and

in the United States. But I want to record here my appreciation to Messrs.

Arturo Gil of Bogotd, and Francisco Torres Quintero, Jolio Alvarez Cortds,

Rubdn Maldonado, Rafael Diaza, all native of Saucio (Cundinamarca), who

served as my field assistants. Being from a community which is culturally

related to Boyacd, these assistants were most helpful as liaison elements.

They eased the initial cultural clash of interviews with peasants. My

assistants' conments and observations were often illuminating, and I gave

to their opinions and reactions careful consideration. Among other chores,

they helped in driving the "jeep" which heroically took us, often on

nameless roads, to the most remote comers of Boyacd.

Finally, my appreciation goes to Mrs. Margot Preece De la Cruz

of Cambridge, Massachussets, and Mrs. Arthur G. Ivey of Gainesville,

Florida, who assisted in the English composition of this manuscript.

It is possible that, in spite of their excellent work, there still remains

some syntactical constructions which will indicate my linguistic origin.

For this, I ask the tolerance of the reader. It should be understood,

nevertheless, that any errors and omissions herein contained are my own

responsibility. And to the members of my ever-helping, morale-building

family in Bogotd and Barranquilla (Colombia), goes the gratitude of a

son and brother who left many years ago and who is eager to return.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

P R E F A C E ......................................................... ii

LIST OF TABLES.............................................. vi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS........................................... viii

PART I. INTRODUCTION

Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION......................................... 1

II. THE PHYSICAL AND THE HISTORICALBACKGROUNDS.......... 27

III. THE POPULATION OF BOYACA............................. 2*0

PART II. THE INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONSHIPSOF MAN TO THE LAND

IV. PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENT............................... 65

V, LAND DIVISION, SURVEYS, AND TITLES.................... 19

VI. LAND T E N U R E ......................................... 96

VII. FRAGMENTATION QF H O L D I N G S ........................... 152

VIII. THE SIZE QF THE HOLDINGS............................. 177

IX. SYSTEMS QF AGRICULTURE............................... 205

X. LOCALITY G R O U P S ..................................... 22l*

PART III. CONCLUSION

XI. CONCLUSION........................................... 2l*l

BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................... 21*8

v
 LIST CF TABLES

Table Page

I. Boyaca, Inhabitants by Regions and Municipios, 1951. . • • kk

II. Marital Status of the Population of BoyacA Aged 15 Tears
and Over, By Sex, 1951 .................................. 5k
III. Dwellings Outside the Seat of Municipios in Boyaca
According to Tenure Status of D w e l l e r s ......... . . . . 135
17. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Boavita According to
the Number of Lots in Their Farms, 1951*.................. 165
V. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Guateque According to
the Number of Lots in Their Fauns, 195k.................. 166
VI. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Moniquira According
to the Number of Lots in Their Farms, 1 9 5 k .............. 166

VII. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Puebloviejo According

to the Number of Lots in Their Farms, 195k . . . ........ 167
VIII. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Sora According to
the Number of Lots in Their Fauns, 195k. . . * .......... 168
IX. Number of Declarant Freeholders in Turmeque According
to the Number of Lots in Their Farms, 1 9 5 k .............. 168

X. Number of Farms in Covarachia According to Size in

Fanegadas, and Amount of Land in Farms, 195k * .......... 191
XI. Number of Farms in Cucaita According to Size in
Fanegadas, and Amount of Land in Farms, 1 9 5 k ............ 192
XU. Number of Farms in Motavita According to Size in
Fanegadas, and Amount of Land in Farms, 195k . . . . . . . 192

vi
 vxx

LIST OP TABLES— Continued

Table Page

HU. Number of Farms in San Jose de Pare According to Size

in Hectares, and Amount of Land in Farms, 1 9 .......... 193

XIV. Number of Farms in Sutatenza According to Size in

Fanegadas, and Amount of Land in Farms, 1 9 & .............. 193

XV. Number of Farms in Tuta According to Size in

Hectares, and Amount of Land in Farms, 1 9 5 U .............. 19U

XVI. Number of Farms Distributed Among Indians at the Time

of the Parcelling of Their Reservations in Boyaca,
Range of the Size of the Holdings in Fanegadas,
and Measures of Central Tendency, I836 -I8 J4. O .......... .. 200
I

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. Colombia and Boyacd....................................... 11

2. Boyaca, Political Divisions and Geographic Regions . . . . 12

3. Age-Sex Pyramid for the Population of Boyaca, 1951 . . . . 52

h* Guateque, The Fragmented Farm of Rogelio Carranza, 19 Bh- . 157

(
5. Motavita, Limits of Faitns in 1838 and Land Divisions
in 1951.................................................. 202

viii
 PART I

INTRODUCTION
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This dissertation is the result of an attempt to apply the

scientific method in the study of the institutional relationships between

man and the land in the department of Boyaca, Republic of Colombia. As

such it presents facts, descriptions, and analyses bearing on social

realities encountered in that department. Primary attention is given to

setting forth the nature of these man-land relationships as they prevail

at the present time, but every effort has been made to determine the

nature of the changes and trends that have taken place since the first

settlements of Europeans were made in the area.

Few aspects of human life approach in significance and import­

ance those implications which arise from man's relations to the land.

Land has always been one of man1s most important foci of attention. An

ecological theme first came to the mind of those primitive artists who

left indelible paintings on the walls of caves at Altamira and Tortosilla.

Land, or mother earth, has been consistently recognized as a source of

good and evil by most of the peoples who inhabit this planet. Legends

and myths reflect this basic concern. The myth of Antaeus is significant:

it was his contact with the land that gave Antaeus enough strength to

wrestle with Hercules. The control of land's potentialities was one of

the godly advantages enjoyed by Rama. Mencius and Zoroaster permeated

their teachings with ecological analogies. Christ's most effective par-

1
 2

ables hinge on man-land relations. Early legislators, such as Hammu­

rabi, paid close attention to the problems which result from man1s

relations to the land, and the same theme was foremost in the minds of

Solon and Licurgus, the Gracchi, and Licinius. The study of man-land

relations occupies a good portion of the writings of Herodotus and

Hippocrates, two of the first descriptive sociologists and anthropo-

geographers, and of Lucretius, an early student of social evolution.

Agriculture and the rural society have been primary objects of attention

for innumerable scholars, poets, novelists, and other writers, from

Virgil, Pliny and Columella, to More and Steinbeck.

Indeed, even the origins of society are to be found intertwined

with the relations between man and the land. Economic, religious,

political, and other systems have sprung largely from this ecological

equation. Moreover, man’s dependence on land for sustenance has been

a prime source of power for social change and an important determinant

of man's welfare. The stratification of society has been produced in a

great degree by the systems of landed property. The decay of empires

such as the Roman is often attributed to a mistaken, irrational system

of man-land relationships. Some of history's bloodiest pages describe

clashes over land. The relationships of man to the land have given rise

to conflicts and maladjustments, to social injustices and agrarian re­

volts. The peasants' movements in Europe during the sixteenth and seven­

teenth centuries were due to the farmers' unbearable conditions as serfs.

French peasants took advantage of the 1789 revolution to break the chains

which shackled them to a feudal world, and since then Europe and America

have been quite different in social outlook and social systems. However,
 3

it is a sad testimonial to man* s stubbornness and egoism that such an

age-old question as the enjoyment and use of land has not been solved.

The bloody quest for land still proceeds. Not very long ago, in 1910,

Mexico experienced a revolution such as never before occurred in that

land of bellicose caudillos. This was a social quake produced by the

landless peasants. More recently, Bolivia and Guatemala have experienced

unrest and revolutions which are likewise rooted in the phenomena of man-

land relations. This is not a situation peculiar to America— similar

processes go on in India, for example, where Gandhi's disciples are

trying to meet the same challenge, and in China, where the Comaunists

are overhauling the entire agrarian system. The Russian revolution also

had an undertone of agrarianism, and the farmers and their land still

have not lost their influence in matters of state.

The various agrarian movements recently unleashed should be a

motive of concern both for the governments and the governed in areas still

held "safe." No more disrupting virus has been discovered than so-called

"social injustice." And such a virus has found no better culture-medium

in which to multiply itself than that afforded by societies whose classes

are polarized on the basis of control of the land. Some Latin American

nations are slowly (perhaps too slowly) coming to this realization. Ar­

gentina and Colombia, for example, have been on the brink of wrestling

opally with this problem. Argentina tried "justicialism," i.e., a system

whereby the needs of the masses would be met. Colombia possesses legis­

lation which could eventually cope with the man-land problem, but recent

political upheavals have postponed a showdown. It is possible that, with

the return of peace, the complications which arise from the relationships

between the Colombian individual and his land will come again to the fore.

As has happened elsewhere, there is little question that the problems

springing from man-land relations will constitute Colombia's malady of

the century.

Human ecological situations in Colombia also involve the evolution

of society from an agrarian, homogeneous stage in which the mechanistic

solidarity is paramount, to one more complex in which there is an organic

solidarity. Man-land situations and rationalistic forces are intermixed

in many areas of Colombia today. It is highly important to make soundings

into this process of social change; by doing it objectively it may be

possible to devise ways and means to channel the process into constructive

outlets. It is the purpose of sociology as a science to furnish and to

apply the methods and tools whereby such objective analyses can be made.

Of course, it is desirable to have a study covering the whole Colombian

nation. But at the present stage of knowledge, it is deemed more prac­

tical— and in the long run it will prove to be more dependable— to select

a smaller, more homogeneous area in which significant observations on

man-land relations could be made. The department of Boyaca was chosen

for this purpose. As such, it is believed that the study of this area

is indicative of many of the realities which can be encountered on a

national scale.

Among the regions in the western hemisphere which can qualify for

important studies of man-land relationships, Boyaca stands out as an ideal

site. This department is the habitat of a society whose members have been
 5

almost solely agriculturists since the beginning of their known history*

For more than four hundred years the people of Boyaca have maintained

traditions and ways of life which have held social change to almost a

minimum. They have remained steadfast as tillers of the soil, and as men

with the hoe they are still characterised among the members of the Col­

ombian community. While western civilization developed to new heights

in Europe and North America, Boyaca preserved its colonial culture.

While other departments in Colombia were sensitive to foreign influences

and underwent rapid social changes, Boyacd farmers clutched their digging

sticks and wooden plows, so it seems, with firmer determination. The

result is a quaint setting of eighteenth and nineteenth century life in

the middle of the twentieth century. No better living documents can be

found testifying to bygone days in Colombia than those afforded by Boya­

ca and its cohorts of farmers. Their earthly possessions, tools and

techniques, speech, dress, housing patterns, religion, and many other

social aspects have the musty odor of antiquity. Little has been modified

in the course of the centuries. The bondage to the soil seems to have

served as a mortar which not only continues to hold the social structure

together but slows down the social change. An exclusive dependence on the

soil for sustenance has been and still is one of the main factors making

such a structure practically impervious to disturbing influences from the

outside. Not so impervious, however, as to avoid the suffering due to

the chronic struggle between the landless and the landed.

Inevitably, Boyaci began to lag behind the other Colombian depart­

ments in material culture as well as in educational achievement. Its

 6

dominance in national affairs waned somewhat during recent years. But

one day the discovery of iron in its mountains stirred the department

into action. Boyacd is now becoming aware of its shortcomings and it

appears to be moving toward material progress. Boyacd is at the cross­

roads of civilization. Unexpectedly and suddenly, the largest single

industrial enterprise in Colombia, the steel mills at Paz de Rio, is

growing in its center. No stiffer challenge, no more effective Trojan

horse, could have been found and brought to bear against the traditions,

the conservatism, the settled agrarianism of Boyaca. The changes which

this tremendous jump from wood to steel are bringing to Boyaca will do

much toward fostering a more harmonious development for the Colombian

nation as a whole in this atomic age. But it will put an end to one

of the most insular rural societies observed by social scientists in

the western hemisphere.

It is important to have a composite picture of this amazing world

— which well approaches the agrarian prototype— before it changes further

and is lost in the wave of '’progress.11 But the significance of the

present study as a contribution to the science of sociology does not

lie in the recording of these social phenomena alone. Recognition is

also given to the truism that situations of today will have much bearing

upon the realities of tomorrow. If conflicts arise for the control and

enjoyment of land, the present study may be able to furnish basic and

objective data which could supply a sound foundation for policies and

legislation. And likewise, if the people of Boyacd forget the occupation

of their forefathers and turn increasingly into industrialists and factory

 7

workers, the handling and consideration of the new situations will re­

quire an accurate knowledge of the agrarian base of the past and of the

present. Any adjustments will have to be made necessarily on the pattern

of agrarianism now predominating. In fact, except in the case of

drastic revolution, the expected changes will come about slowly— the

persistence of systems now in force may keep Boyaca within the realms

of agricultural-pastoral societies for some decades still. Thus system­

atic studies of man-land relations will continue to be of immediate

utility. Although there is economic unrest, a traditional ethos such

as Boyaca’s cannot be changed overnight. Therefore, by studying the

relationships of man to the land in Boyaca we come very close to making

an adequate analysis of the very foundations upon which the local society

now rests and will be built in the future.

Area, Scope, and Definitions

For purposes of the present study, the area of Boyaca is that

defined by the national government in 1950, after the territory of Casa-

nare was separated (see figures 1 and 2). This area was used as the basis

for the 1951 census of population and housing, and it includes 113 muni­

cipios , or counties, and one inspection. For the various analyses herein

contained, these municipios have been classified into twelve geographic

regions as follows:

1. Territorio V&squez (inspection).

2. Western Andean Slopes.

Briceno Chiquinquir£
Buenavista Maripi
 8

Caldas Muzo
Coper Pauna
Saboya

3. Leiva-Samaca.
Arcabuco Sichica
Cucaita Samaca
Chiquiza Santa Sofia
Gachantiva Sora
Leiva Sutamarchin
Riquira Tinjaci

A. Moniquira.
Chitaraque San Jose de Pare
Moniquira Santa Ana
Togiii

5. Tunja-Sogamoso.
Belen Paipa
Cerinza Santa Bosa de Viterbo
Combita Siachoque
Chivata Sogamoso
Duitama Soraci
Firavitoba Sotaquira
Floresta Tibasosa
Motavita Toca
Nobsa Tunja (capital of the department)
Oicati Tuta

6 . Tasco.
Beteitiva Paz de Bio
Busbanzi Tasco
Corrales Tutaza

7 . Soat4.
Boavita Sitivasur
Covarachia Soati
Jeric6 Socha
La Uvita Socota
Sitivanorte Susac6n

8 . El Cocuy.
Chiscas Guacamayas
Chita Guicin
El Cocuy Panqueba
El Espino San Mateo
 9

9. Puebloviejo.
Cuitiva Monguf
Gameza Pesca
Iza Puebloviejo
Mongua Tdpaga
Tota

10. Ramiriqui-Turmeque.
Boyaca Tibana
Cienega Turmeque'
Genezano Umbita
Nuevo Colon Ventaquemada
Ramiriqui Viracacha

U . Tenza.
Almeida La Capilla
Chinavita Macanal
Garagoa Pachavita
Guateque Somondoco
Guayata Sutatenza
Tenza

12. Eastern Andean Slopes.

Berbeo Pajarito
Campohermoso Paya
Chameza Pisva
Labranzagrande Recetor
La Salina Bonddn
Miraflores Zapatosa
Zetaquira

Although the llanos of Casanare have played an important part in

the history of Boyac&, they were necessarily eliminated, not without

regret, from the present study.

This analysis of man-land relationships in Boyaca is limited to

rural society. It excludes the observation of interesting phenomena which

take place in urban media. Furthermore, farm land and occupations have

received almost exclusive attention, and those institutional relationships

which arise from the exploitation of mines, brickkilns and other rural

industries, fishing, and hunting, have not been considered.

 10

Such institutional relationships between the individual from

Boyaca, or Boyacense, and his land, are classified and defined as follows:

(1) settlement patterns, or the manner in which the population is dis­

tributed on the land; (2 ) land division, or the manner in which the land

is divided for purposes of surveying and recording; (3 ) land tenure, or

the nature of property rights in the land; (4 ) fragmentation of holdings,

or the situation of farms which are divided into separate parcels; (5)

size of holdings, or the distribution of ownership and control of the

land; (6 ) systems of agriculture, or ways of extracting a living from

the soil; and (7) the nature and function of those locality groups in

which the territorial basis is the determining factor, namely, the com­

munity and the neighborhood. Individual chapters contain a detailed

treatment of each one of these institutional aspects of man-land relations.

Method, Procedure, and Sources of Information

The study of man-land relations is such a wide field that methods,

tools, and techniques devised for the purpose are of an impressive variety

— they cover from the statistical to the purely qualitative approaches.

Many of these methods and approaches have been used in the present work.

Moreover, most of the material in this dissertation is first-hand, that is,

based on personal observation and primary sources. Likewise, most of the

information, including census materials, is up to date. In this regard

the writer was fortunate in having the cooperation of diverse Colombian

institutions and government officials, as well as a fellowship which per­

mitted him to make an intensive field trip in Boyaca,.

 11

GUAJHRA

ATLAN

\MAGDALE

C ' -V >
h. (BOLIVAR \ gAN IDER
•coRoo&i \ ;D |NORTE
/ r \ O .

^/SANTANOE
I ARAUCA
f DEL SU°^
^ANTIOQUIA
L
CASANARE
CH0C0\ /
C.^CALQASjcUNW VICHADA

s i
>->/
V
/TOLIM A :V
X
VALLE; / I META
./
')HU!LA<\
CAUCA S / VAUPES

. >• < /
NARINO ^ V > V
r W v
CAQUETA

'PU TU M A Y O ^

t AMAZONAS

Figure 1. Colombia and Boyacd.

 VIII

IX

Figure 2. BoyacA, Political

Divisions and Geographic Regions
1951.
 13

The personal observation of the writer has been basic in the

present study. He has travelled in Boyaca for many years, and he has

lived in areas which are culturally related to the department under con­

sideration. All the major regions were visited once more during the

intensive four-month trip from October 1954 to February 1955. Observation

while he was engaged in this field work was guided by a previously de­

vised frame of reference. Note-taking, personal interviews, picture-

taking, map-making, and the gathering of statistical information were

among the main activities during this survey.

Field observation often seemed devoid of meaning when it lacked

historical perspective. Therefore, the writer spent much of his time in

the national archives at Bogota, the Archivo Nacional de Colombia. as

well as in the offices of the notaries public of various municipios.

This effort proved to be most rewarding in spite of the chaos encountered

in some of the records, as the study of the natural history of institu­

tions enriched the understanding of them. Thus the cross-sectional

approach has been largely supplemented by the historical, or evolutionary

approach.

Certain information on locality group structure could not have

been secured by the writer alone within the span of a few months. There­

fore, he sent out to parish priests in Boyaca a carefully constructed

questionnaire on the subject. The cooperation of the hierarchy of the

Bishopric of Tunja was effective in this regard. On the other hand, the

use of formal schedules was not warranted, although the writer had defin­

ite questions in mind whenever he held interviews with peasants,officials,

 14

and scholars in Boyaca.

Demographic materials were obtained in typescript form from the

Departamento Nacional de Estadistica at Bogota because the results of

the 1951 census, although ready to be published, have not gone to press.

Tabular analysis has been utilized for the discussion of census results.

Likewise, the statistical method has been used for the study of data on

fragmentation of holdings and the size of the holdings. These data were

obtained from freeholders* declarations to municipal tax boards in 1954.

Maps are furnished for the portrayal of geographic regions,

political divisions, settlement patterns, land division, fragmentation

of holdings, and trends in the size of holdings. In this respect the

writer was handicapped by a lack of detailed and accurate maps of the

regions under study. However, some preliminary cadastral maps from the

Colombian government's Instituto Agustin Codazzi have been used. In one

case it was necessary to draw a map directly from an aerial photograph.

The qualitative and the quantitative approaches facilitated the

description of situations and the testing of hypotheses. Important in

this regard is the testing of the village-fragmentation hypothesis con­

tained in Chapter VII. Case studies are used for the documentation of

trends; this method is especially useful in describing the evolution of

settlement patterns and the origin of fragmentation. The comparative

method proved indispensable for a clearer understanding of observed

phenomena; for this purpose works of sociological significance written

on diverse areas of the world have been consulted.

 15

Finally, for purposes of mechanical presentation in this dis­

sertation, foreign terms have been italicized only when they are in­

troduced for the first time in each chapter; they are not italicized

thereafter. For the convenience of the reader, references to the Ar-

chivo Nacional de Colombia have the abbreviated form "ANC" when they

refer to the Sala Colonia, section Resguardos de Boyaca (Indian Res­

ervations in Boyaca); "ANC, Cund.," is used to refer to the same Sala

and the section Resguardos de Cundinamarca. Abbreviations for the

offices of the notaries at Tunja are "NP" for the Notarxa Primera, and

"NS” for the Notaria Segunda, and the abbreviation for the notary's

office at Turmeque is "NT." Another abbreviation used in this con­

nection is "Leg.,” which means Legajo, or a bundle of documents, an

unbound manuscript volume.

Review of the Literature

General Works on Man-Land Relationships.

Systematic studies of man-land relations, one of the principal

subjects included in rural sociology, are of very recent date. Rural

sociology itself did not take full form as a discipline until the 1930's.

The distinction of being the first in systematizing objective findings,

tested information, and reliable data on man-land relations belongs to

North American sociologists.

It is true that students of society all over the world have been

writing interesting works on this subject (see above), but as a rule they

have delved into literary presentations of it or have described some one

 16

aspect of man-land relations. Among the first subjects which have been

objectively treated, that on settlement patterns is foremost. Settle­

ment phenomena received individual recognition in such works as George

L. Gomne' s The Village Community in Britain (1890), and A. Meitzen1s

Siedelung und Agrarwesen der Westgermanen und Ostgermanen« der Kelten.

HBmer. Finnen, und Slawen (1895) • Gamme's and Meitzen's lead has been

aptly followed by Paul Vinogradoff, who in 1904 published his The Growth

of the Manor, Harold Peake, who wrote The English Village in 1922, and

Frederic Seebohm, whose The English Village Community (1926) is considered

a classic in its field. Walter A. Terpenning's Village and Open-Country

Neighborhoods (1931) is a well conceived comparative study of settlement

patterns and the community; Radhakamal Mukerjee's Man and his Habitation

(1940) widened the sociologists' scope in matters of forms of settlement.

In regard to this face of man-land relations, it was A. Demangeon who

advanced with clarity the two-fold definition of settlement patterns

(the grouped and the dispersed habitat). His definition is in an article

entitled "La Geographic de 1'Habitat Rural" published in 1927 in the

Annales de Geographic♦

Tenure has been another of the special aspects of man-land rel­

ations which have received a great deal of attention from students of

society. But apart from historical works on the subject, such as Fran­

cisco de Cardenas' Ensayo Sobre la Historia de la Propiedad Territorial

en Espana (1873-1875), and that of M. S. B. Gras and Ethel C. Gras,

The Economic and Social History of an English Village (1930), there have

been few attempts at systematizing the findings. And other man-land

 17

aspects have received hardly any recognition by European scholars.

The development of community studies was a prerequisite to

systematic analyses of the relationships of man to the land. Charles

J. Galpin's study of Walworth County, Wisconsin, in 1915 (The Social

Anatomy of an Agricultural Community) launched areal analyses which

strengthened and enriched the science of sociology. From the time in

1913 when J. M. Gillette published the first textbook on rural sociology,

man-land relations received increasing recognition from research workers.

The investigations of ecologists, especially those of the Chicago

school (Robert E. Park, E. W. Burgess, and others), and of regionalists

such as Howard W. Odum created an increasing awareness of this subject.

Rural sociology texts continued to present and to synthesize the find­

ings from field research. Galpin and Gillette incorporated new inform­

ation in their books, the former in the 1924 edition of his Rural Social

Problems, and the latter in the 1925 edition of Rural Sociology. Stud­

ents of society were then almost exclusively concerned with the subjects

of the ecological community and neighborhood, settlement patterns, and

land tenure. Important contributions in this regard came from N. L.

Sims, who as early as 1920 examined objectively the scattered farmsteads

pattern of settlement in the central prairie of the United States, com­

paring it with the remains of the village form in the New England area

(The Rural Canmunity, Ancient and Modem). The lead of Galpin, Sims, and

the ecologists was aptly followed by Dwight Sanderson, who in 1932 pub­

lished his The Rural Community, and by Lowry Nelson, who studied the Mormon

village in various monographs.

 18

Tenurial situations received special attention from Carl C.

Taylor, who presented his findings in Rural Sociology, a textbook which

appeared in 1926. Subsequent works such as A. W. Hayes’ Rural Sociology

(1929) and E. T. Hiller’s Principles of Sociology (1933), devoted atten­

tion to this highly important aspect of man-land relations. Mew leads

and syntheses were furnished by Pitirim Sorokin and Carl C. Zimmerman in

their joint work Principles of Rural-Urban Sociology (1929). A cul­

minating opus was A Systematic Source Book of Rural Sociology, edited in

1930 by Sorokin, Zimmerman, and Galpin, which gathered in three volumes

most of the significant data accumulated by rural sociologists up to

that time.

Other important works followed, such as Frederick E. Lumley's

Principles of Sociology (1935). With the appearance in 1940 of T. Iynn

Smith's The Sociology of Rural Life, the original emphasis on settlement

patterns and land tenure was broadened to include systems of land division

and a consideration of the size of the holdings. More elaborations came

from Paul H. Landis' Rural Life in Process, and from the successive edi­

tions of J. H. Kolb and Edmund de S. Brunner's A Study of Rural Society.

It was Professor Smith, however, who developed a more complete and

functional frame of reference for the study of man-land relations. Re­

cently, another contribution by him enriched the subject matter of this

aspect of rural sociology: a chapter dealing with systems of agriculture

appeared in the third (1953) edition of his The Sociology of Rural Life.

As new field research is completed and current hypotheses and theories

are put to the test, the study of man-land relations is coming of age.
 19

This field Is proving to be one of the most fruitful and important

areas of sociological inquiry.

Works on Man-Land Relations in Latin America.

The most effective and popular studies of man-land relations in

Latin America have always bean realistic novels written by such men as

Sarmiento (Facundo), Gallegos (Dona Barbara), Ciro Alegrxa (El Mundo es

Ancho x A.jeno), and Jorge Icaza (Huasipungo). Until very recent times,

there were no systematic works on this subject. Special studies have

appeared, however, such as J. P. PodestA1s La Pequena Propiedad Rural en

la Republics Argentina (1923), and Moises Poblete Troncoso's El Problems

de la Produccion Agrloola (1929), studies which are interesting and

useful.

The first systematic studies of man-land relations in Latin

America were written by geographers. In this regard, the work of George

M. McBride i3 pioneering. His Land Systems of Mexico (1923) and Chile?

Land and Society (1936) mark the beginning of a new era in the development

of sociology south of the border. Eyler Simpson's EL Ejido: Mexico's Way

Out is another important contribution. The real impetus, however, did not

come until the late 1940's, when five North American sociologists were

commissioned by the United States Government to study rural society

abroad. They were Lowry Nelson, T. Iynn Smith, Carl C. Taylor, Nathan L.

Whetten, and Olen E. Leonard, who worked in Cuba, Brazil, Argentina,

Mexico, and Bolivia, respectively. They were able to transplant their

frames of references successfully, and to write highly significant and

 20

interesting works: Smith's Brazil: People and Institutions appeared in

1946; Taylor's Rural Life in Argentina and Whetten's Rural Mexico came

out in 1946; Nelson's Rural Cuba (1950) and Leonard’s Bolivia: Land,

People and Institutions (1952) completed this unique series on Latin

American rural society. Each one of these works treats the subject of

man-land relations extensively and intensively. They constitute the

most basic contribution available to date toward a systematic codific­

ation of sociological data for the countries concerned. Leonard also

wrote monographs on Bolivian and Ecuadorean communities: Pichilingue

(1947)i Santa Cruz, and Canton Chullpas (1948)* which were published in

Washington by the office of Foreign Agriculture Relations.

More recently, an analysis of Land Tenure Patterns in Latin

America was completed in 1954 by Sam Schulman as his doctoral dissert­

ation at the University of Florida. This is a cross-sectional study

with background information on land tenure in Spain and among aboriginal

groups.

Works on Man-Land Relations in Colombia.

Colombian literature is rich with eloquent descriptions of the

peasant, his ways of life, his cvistoms, his beliefs. But nearly all of

these descriptions have romanticized him so much that it becomes difficult

sometimes to tell where fancy ends and reality begins. Exceptional in

this regard, however, are the novels by TomAs Carrasquilla and Eduardo

Caballero Calder&i, which are very informative documents.

Nevertheless, objective descriptions of rural life have not been

missing entirely. Outstanding is Manuel AncXzar's Peregrinacidn de Alpha

 21

written in 1853• Ancxzar was an alert observer of life in the central

provinces of Colombia; he travelled with a geographic commission which

was attempting to map the republic and to study its different regions.

There have been good statements on special subjects such as tenure.

For instance, Diego Mendoza Pirez' "Ensayo Sobre la Evoluci6n de la

Propiedad en Colombia" published in 1897 in the Repertorio Colombiano

is a scholarly resumi of the evolution of tenure rights in Colombia.

Other powerful essays have been written on man-land relations, such as

Alejandro Lopez' Problems Colombianos (1927) and Otto Morales Benitez'

Testlmonio de un Pueblo (1951), although these works suffer from the

authors' value judgments. Valuable contributions are Guillermo Hemindez

Rodriguez' De los Chibchas a la Colonia y a la Republics (1949), Juan

Friede's El Indio en Lucha por la Tierra (1944), and Jose Maria Arboleda

Llorente's El Indio en la Colonia (1948), books in which the authors

attempt to set forth the natural history of various rural institutions.

A general book on the subject, however feebly connected, is Luis Lipez

de Mesa's De C6mo se ha Formado la Nacidn Colombiana (1934) • And Ramin

Franco's Antropogeografia Colombiana (1941) touches upon subjects which

are of interest to rural sociologists.

Two monographs by North American geographers are important land­

marks in the development of objective man-land studies in Colombia. They

are James J. Parsons' Antioqueflo Colonization in Western Colombia (1949)

and Raymond E. Crist's The Cauca Valley, Colombia: Land Tenure and Land

Use (1952). The former deals with interesting phenomena regarding the

settlement of the central Andean cordillera. The latter study is a frank

 22

and highly important statement on the implications of land tenure upon

the use of land in the rich Cauca valley.

The first overall, though somewhat schematic treatment of man-

land relations in a Colombian community was made by Professors T. lynn

Smith, Justo Diaz Rodriguez, and Luis Roberto Garcia in their study of

Tabio; Estudio de la Organizacidn Social Rural (1944)* This monograph

is a turning point in the development of sociology in Colombia, because

it brought attention to the empirical side of this science, an aspect

which had been largely neglected by Colombian scholars. The Tabio

study was the basis for another contribution six years later, a study

made by the present writer of a neighborhood called Sauc£o, in Cundina-

marca. Materials gathered in this locality were presented in the form

of a Master's Thesis at the University of Minnesota in 1952} an enlarged

and revised version of this thesis is in press. Antonio J. Posada's

Economics of Colombian Agriculture. a doctoral dissertation presented

in 1952 at the University of Wisconsin, also should be mentioned as a

significant contribution.

Pertinent Literature on Boyaca.

Contributions to the scientific study of man-land relationships

in Boyaca have been almost entirely lacking. No thorough analysis has

been written on the subject, and this lack is one of the reasons which

forced the present writer to use archival material. There are bits of

sociological information on Boyaca scattered in works which range from

medicine to music. But there has been no book which can be justifiably
 23
“" x

included in a review of sociological literature (and especially on man-

land relationships) for this political subdivision.

However, certain works have proved useful in the composition of

the present dissertation. Indispensable are the works of Bqyaca's

historian Ramdn C. Correa, who since the late 1920's has been writing

Monograflas upon each of the department's municipios. Correa has worked

in archives and he supplies much useful information. However, he

stresses documents of secondary importance from the sociological view­

point, and never attempts to analyze and systematize his findings. Lack

of coherence makes his works a compilation of data rather than the

original masterpiece which they have the potential of being. Correa

also edited Historia de Tun.la (1944-194#) which contains interesting

information.

The compilation of colonial documents published by Jos4 Mojica

Silva in 194# entitled Relacion de Visitas Coloniales. is equally useful.

Mojica transcribed important portions of documents from the National

Archives at Bogota, digested some of them for the reader, and supplied

a reference to the manuscript volumes in which such documents are found.

This work covers the period from 1560 to 1#06.

The volume on Boyaca written in 1936 by Juan Medina R. for the

Contralorla General de la Republica entitled Geograf£a Economica de

Colombia: Boyaca (part of a series which covered all the major political

divisions) is important for a general knowledge about the department.

This monograph includes a variety of topics: geography, history, demo­

graphy, agricultural economics. There are qualitative descriptions of

 21*

each municipio, and good pictures and maps illustrate the text. Another

general monograph on Boyaca is Presencia de Boyaca, which came from the

government presses in 1954* The main purpose of this publication is

propaganda, but it contains useful infonnation and excellent pictures.

No study of Boyaca should ignore the work of its most noted

scholars, Cayo Leonidas Penuela and Juan C. Hernandez. Penuela, who

wrote Album de Boyaca (1919), specialized in studies of the war of

independence and the civil conflicts. Hernandez, author of Hunza (1939),

is an indigenist interested in the Chibcha culture. Of lesser magnitude

are Ozlas Rubio and Manuel Briceno, who collaborated in Tun.ja Desde su

Fundacidn Hasta la Epoca Presente in 1909-

There have been certain regional studies which contain pertinent

information. Among these, Villa de Leiva (n.d.), by Humberto Plazas, can

be cited as an example. Most of these authors, usually native to the

places which they describe, occupy themselves mostly with a literary,

often poetic, presentation of the subject. The Territorio Vasquez has

been the object of attention in two good works, one published by the Tunja

government in 1922, entitled Territorio VAsquez: Mensura de Baldios, and

another by Rafael Humberto Bernal, entitled El Territorio Vasquez (1938).

The Bank of the Republic published in 1948 an excellent monograph on the

Muzo and Coscuez region, entitled Esmeraldas de Colombia; the historical

part of this work was written by Gustavo Otero Munoz, and the technical

section by A. M. Barriga Villalba. Luis A. Rojas M. wrote interesting

Monografias in 1940 which cover Saboya, Maripi, and San Jose de Pare.
 25

Among sources in periodical publications, Eduardo Acevedo Latorre's

essay on Boyaca which appeared in Anales de Econonna ^ Estadistica in

1952 is an apt summary of socio-geographic information.

Primary and secondary sources for Colombia have been useful also

for the present study of Boyaca. These works have been properly ident­

ified and accredited in the appropriate places during the course of the

dissertation.

Order of Presentation

Chapters II and III, which also form a part of the introductory

section, furnish background information on geography, history, and demo­

graphy. These are aspects which are indispensable to study in order to

achieve a proper understanding of man-land relationships in Boyac^.

The core of the dissertation is contained in Part II, The Instit­

utional Relationships of Man to the Land. This Part follows a logical

order in the presentation of the material. First is a discussion on

settlement patterns, which are identified, described, and classified;

the evolution of these patterns is given due consideration. A study of

land division, surveys, and titles follows, in which the metes and bounds

system is especially described. Next is an examination of man-to-man and

man-to-land tenurial situations; the nature of the property rights in the

land and their evolution are described, as well as the distribution of

tenure situations and tenure terms at the present time. The fragmentation

of holdings, a subject which has been neglected by most rural sociologists,

is treated both from the cross-sectional and the historical standpoints.

 26

A chapter on the size of holdings and its trends follows, in which such

concepts as latifundia, minifundla, hacienda, and finca are discussed.

Techniques and tools used in agriculture are presented in a chapter

which is largely descriptive of the systems involved. The Part closes

with a discussion of the community and the neighborhood as they appear

in Boyaca, and of the trends in the structural formation of locality

groups.

Concluding remarks are in Part III. Here the writer has attempted

to set forth what, in his mind appear to be some of the most important

aspects discussed in the text. The dissertation closes with a biblio­

graphy including most of the works consulted for its composition.

 CHAPTER II

THE PHYSICAL AND THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS

The habitat in which man-land relations take place should be

studied with care— in no other way can one appreciate in all fairness the

nature of the daily interchange which takes place between man aid his en­

vironment. Without such a study, important characteristics and situations

encountered in the rural world would be relatively meaningless. Likewise,

the present can hardly be understood in its full implications if cue is

ignorant of the past events which shaped it. Thus this introductory

chapter is devoted to the subjects of the physical environment and the

history of Boyaca. Both are treated here in summary form.

The Physical Background1

After the territory of Casanare was detached from the department

in 1950, Boyaca was left with 26,989 square kilometers (10,1*20 square

miles). This area stretches from the banks of the Magdalena River,

7U° 32' W, to a part of the llanos on the east, 71° 1*0' W, and from the

Venezuelan border, 7° 09* N, to the Meta plains, 1*° 17f N. BoyacA includes

the most impressive and varied section of the eastern Cordillera of the

This section follows the descriptions contained in Contralozua

General de la Republics, Geografia Econdmica de Colombia: BoyacA (BogotA:
Imprenta Nacional, 1936) j Eduardo Acevedo lLaiorre, “Panorama Geo-Econ6mico
del Departamento de BoyacA,* Anales de Bconamia y Estadistica, V U I (Oc-
tober-December 1952), 21-58j and Ram6n £. Correa, Guia Hist6rico-Geogrifica
de los 126 Municipios de BoyaoA (Tunjat Imprenta Gficiail, 1938) •

27
 28

Andes in Colombia— the terrain features tropical jungles, torrid plains,

cool plateaus and valleys, frigid paramos, and peaks that are covered with

perpetual snow. Due to these tremendous variations, it is misleading to

make generalizations on climate and other characteristics for the depart­

ment as a whole. Rather, the description should be framed by those regions

which in the concept of experts make up the complicated topography of

Bpyaca (see Chapter I).

It should be noted, however, that of the lilt seats of municipios,

or counties, in Boyaca, 65, or 57 percent, are located at between 1,900

and 2,800 meters (6,230 to 9,21*0 feet) above sea level, and that they have

average temperatures ranging from 55° F to 65° F. The other municipios

encompass the mountains up to 3*138 meters (10,350 feet) at the county

seat in Jerico and down the slopes to 800 meters (2,600 feet) at the county

seat in Mari pi. The climate indeed differs so sharply from one section

to another, tint it may be possible to think of each fragment as possessing

a microclimate. It is frequent to find in Boyaca two neighboring places,

apparently within the same geographic zone, which because of natural

factors have very different climates#

Data for precipitation are incomplete• From the available infor­

mation it can be gathered that Buenavista, a munidpio on the western

slopes of the Andes, is one of the wettest locations in Boyaca, with an

average annual rainfall of 85 inches. Ventaquesnada has an annual average

rainfall of 28 inches. Other municipios for which data are available show

variations of from 31* inches in Samaca to 38 inches in Tunja and to 57

inches in Miraflores.
 29

Descriptions -with more particular details follow for each one of

the physiographic regions in Boyaca (see Figure 2).

Territorio Vasquez.

This region extends frcei the Magdalena RLver to the western ex­

tremities of the Andean cordillera locally referred to as the Quinchas

range. This is a low and level land covered with the heavy rain forest

of the Magdalena Valley. The average annual temperature is 85° F. The

population is very scarce; settlers live for the most part in line villages

along the rivers. The importance of this region increased when oil was

discovered on its western section.

The Western Slopes of the Andes.

The main topographical feature of this regicn is the basin of the

Mnero River between the Quinchas and the Santuario ranges, a zone rich

in emeralds. At a somewhat higher elevation is the Chiquinquird Valley

formed by the ranges of Santuario, Fandino, and Mazamorral. This magnifi­

cent alluvial valley is crossed by the Sudrez RLver; it has an average

temperature of 65° F. In this region, too, the Andes rise to peaks such

as the Pena de Saboya, at U,003 meters (13,210 feet) above sea level.

Leiva-Samaca.

The regions of Leiva-Samaca and Moniquira form a distinct longi­

tudinal inter-Andean valley. Leiva-Samaca, the southern section, is a

collection of little valleys which are separated by small ranges; the

average temperature of this region is about 62° F. Leiva, Sachica,

Sutamarchan, and Arcabuco each are located in one of these valley bottoms.
 30

Biis region includes the famed Candelaria Desert, where erosion has carved

one of its most impressive manifestations.

Moniquira.

The basin of the Moniquira River expands considerably after one

leaves the Leiva-Samaca, Valley, making for pronounced variations in to­

pography, climate, and agriculture. This region enjoys a mild climate

which ranges from 72° F in the low veredas of Moniquira to S>5° F on the

hills of Covarachla. This region is physically and economically related

to the neighboring department of Santander. The soil is fertilej the sub­

soil is rich in copper.

Tunja-Sogamoso.

Tunja and Sogamoso are built on two of the central Andean plateaus.

The differences between than are noted. The Tunja Valley is on a higher

elevation (12,600 feet), and has an average temperature of 50° F; it does

not have a rich soil and the slopes of its hills are much eroded. The

valleys around Sogamoso, otherwise called Tundama and Belen, are the oppo­

site. These plateaus are fertile, well watered, and they enjoy a milder

climate of about 63° F. The valley at Cerinza is one of the most beautiful

in Boyaca.

Tasco.

The Tasco region includes the northern section of the central

Andean plateaus, where the two main ranges tend to converge. The high

mountains of Consuelo frame this region on the west and the foothills of

the Pisva chain separate it from the llanos on the east. The Chicamocha
 31

River crosses this area from south to north on its way toward Soata and

Santander. The fabulous iron ore and coal deposits of Paz de r £o are

located in this area. The average temperature at populated centers is

about 55° F.

Soata.

The Chicamocha River descends to the Soata Valley north of the

Tasco region, where there is a definite transition from the cold climate

to temperatures ranging from 60° F ,to 75° F. However, this region includes

Jerico, which is the highest populated center in Boyaca, at 10,3f>0 feet

above sea level, and which has an average temperature of liS° F, Tobacco

and fique are crops which are well adapted to the lower section of this

region? the land is dry and rocky, and the terrain is rugged.

El Coouy.

The northern section of the Andean cordillera in Boyaca has the

most dramatic variations from the green and fertile valley of Panqueba to

the snow-capped mountains of Quican. The populated centers are at long

distances from the snow and the p4ramos, but the veredas of these muni­

cipios enjoy temperatures ranging from 1^0° F to 75° F. The highest peak

of the eastern Andean range in Colombia is in the Quican sierra, 5*360

meters (17*690 feet) above sea level. Other important peaks and paramos

are those of Rechiniga and ELsva. The Nevado is the largest local river?

it foims from the melted snows of Guican, runs through the valley of

Panqueba and Guacamayas, and joins the Chicamocha RLver near Capitanejo.
 32

Puebloviejo.

The region of Puebloviejo includes the highest portions of the

Cordillera except GiiLcan. Almost all the peaks pass the 3,000 meter mark.

Most of the populated canters are not too far below Mils mark; Puebloviejo

itself is at an altitude of 3,060 meters (10,100 feet), and it has an

average temperature of S>2° F. The most impressive topographical feature

of this region is the beautiful Lake Tota, at an altitude of 3,015 meters

(9,950 feet), covering an area of 55 square kilometers (21 square miles).

This region presents small valleys which are intensively cultivated. They

are especially adapted to tuber and grain crops.

^ ^ q ^ - T ^ e g u e.
This region has a somewhat irregular shape because of the diverging

course taken by the Lengupa and Garagoa Bivers which cross it. The paramos

of Rabanal separate it from the Leiva-Samaca region. From the geographic

standpoint, the region of Ramiriqui-Turmeque is the continuation of the

Villapinzon region of Cundinamarca. The local temperature averages about

60° F.

Tenza.

The Tenza Valley is a huge depression formed by the Sunuba and

the Garagoa Rivers, undoubtedly the most picturesque in Boyaca. Various

populated oenters can be seen at one time from different vantage points.

Agriculture is here highly diversified and intensive, as the nature of the

terrain favors the cultivation of many different crops. The average

temperature is about 70° F at the populated centers.

 33

The Eastern Slopes of the Andes.

The eastern slopes of the Andes are less steep than the western,

and they are crossed by larger rivers. Among these rivers, the Casanare,

the Payero, the Cravo Sur, the Cusiana, and the Upia are most important;

they are all tributaries of the Meta River. Important towns have sprung

up in this region during the last fifty years (Miraflores, Berbeo, Campo-

hermoso), but economic development has been handicapped by lack of good

roads. Agriculture becomes more and more of the extensive type as one

goes down the slopes toward the llanos; cattle ranching is practically

the only local occupation. Humid and warm climates predominate, with

temperatures of from 75° F to 85° F. The llanos suffer from an alternation

of a rainy season and one of intense drought.

The Historical Background^

Boyaca has witnessed the passing of an Indian kingdom, the building

of a colonial empire, and the formation of a democratic state. Our at­

tention will be directed toward these basic historical sequences.

2 /
There are no comprehensive treatments for the history of Boyaca.
Useful information can be gathered from the following works: Juan C.
Hernandez, Hunza: Tunja Antes de lfj>37 (Bogota* Cooperativa Nacional de
Aries Graficas, 1939); Ozlas 3. Rubio and Manuel Briceno, Tunja Desde su
Fundaci&a hasta la Bpoca Presente (Bogota: Imprenta Electrica, i909);
Ram&i C. Correa, editor, Historia de Tunja (Tunja: Imprenta Departamental,
19bl*-19l*8); Cayo Leonidas Penuela, Album ae Boyaca (Bogota: Arboleda y
Valencia, 1919); and from standard textbooks of Colombian history such as
Jesls Maria Hemao and Gerardo Arrubla, Historia de, Colombia (Bogota:
librerla Voluntad, 1952); Josd Alejandro Bermridez, Coropendxo de Historia
de Colombia (Bogota: Editorial Cramos, 1937). First-hand information can
be obtained from Pedro de Aguado, Recopilacion Historial (Bogota: Imprenta
Nacional, 1906); Juan de Castellanos, Historia del Nuevo Reino de Granada
(Madrid: A. Perez Dubrull, 1886); Juan Flbrez de Ociriz, Genealogies del
Nuevo BedLno de Granada (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 19U3); Lucas FernAndez
de Piedrahita, rfistoria General de las Conquistas del Nuevo Reino de
The Pre-Colonial Era.

The Chibcha Indians occupied the largest and best portions of

Boyaca during pre-conquest times. They settled the inter-Andean plateaus,

where they formed three principalities: the zaque1s, the iraca’s, and the

tundama1s. The zaque was, by far, the most powerful of the local lords.

His capital was at Hunza (today, Tunja), where he had built large en­

closures and palaces. An alleged descendant of the gods, the zaque was

in almost constant warfare with his more earthly neighbor to the south,

the zipa of Bacata. The Chibcha seemed to have been on the way to forming

a political state not much different from that of the Inca or the Aztec,

The arrival of the Spaniards put an end to this process of amalgamation

of little principalities into a kingdom.

The iraca, who was more of a religious potentate, was elected among

the chiefs of Firavitoba and Tobaza. His capital was at Sugamuxi (today,

Sogamoso) where the Chibchas* largest and most important temple was lo­

cated. The tundama appears to have been a somewhat independent minor

chief* His domains were in the north-central portion of Boyaca.

The early known events of the history of the Chibcha refer to the

wars between the zaques and the zipas. Battles took place in the bordering

territories, especially in the Choconta area. Quemenchatocha, zaque of

Granada (Bogota: Editorial ABC, 191*2)3 Joaquin Posada Gutierrez, Memorias

Hlsi6rxco-Politica5 (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1929)3 Jos4 Manuel
Reetrepo, Historia de la Revolucion de la Republics de Colombia (Besanzon:
Jos6 Jacquln, lfrffi); Juan Rodriguez Fresle, Conquista i DescuErimiento del
Nuevo Reino de Qranada (Bogotd: Fizano i Perez, )3 Pedro 3im6n, r '
tfoticTas tiisiorlale's (BogotA: Editorial Kelly, 1953)3 Alonso de Zamora,
rilaioria" de la l*rovincia de San Antonino del Nuevo Reino de Granada
(Bogoti: Editorial ABC, l9h5); and Jfosd Manuel Groot, Historia Eclesidstica
y Civil de Nueva Granada (Bogota: M. Rivas y da., 18897*
 3?

Hunza, and Tisquesuza, zipa of Bacata, had negotiated a truce when the

Spaniards arrived. These Indians had developed a sedentary agriculture,

and had succeeded in domesticating tubers such as the potato. Although

the society was eminently agricultural, there were other industries such

as metallurgy and blanket-weaving.

The Colonial Period.

Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada and his men arrived at Bacata (a lo­

cation near Bogotlt) early in 1537. After they were informed of the emerald

mines at Somondoco, the conquerors proceeded north to TurmequA, where they

arrived in June. The Indians did not disclose to Quesada where their king

was. However, after the trip to Somondoco was completed, one of the vas­

sals of the zaque, the cacique (chieftain) of Ramiriqua, came to Quesada

and offered to guide the Spaniards to Hunza. The conquerors hoped to

surprise Quemenchatocha in order to take his treasure, and they hurried

north. The zaque, who was informed of the arrival of the strange bearded

people and their horses, apparently thought that the Spaniards would not

dare approach his sacred capital. Thus he was caught at Hunza, and the

Spaniards were able to fulfill their wishes.

The riches of the temple of Sugamuxi, and of another temple called

"of the Sun" which was situated further north, took the conquerors to

battle against the iraca and the tundama. After having subdued the Chibcha

nation with no apparent difficulty, Quesada founded Santa Fe de Bogota in

1538, and Captain Gonzalo SuArez Rend<5n founded the city of Tunja at the

site of the zaque’s capital on August 6, 1539.

Other settlements followed, such as Villa de Leiva and Velez.

 36

These were parroquias de espanoles, settlements in which the Spaniards

were supposed to reside. The Indians were also organized into communities

called pueblos and given land in the form of resguardos, or reservations.

Most of the municipios of Boyaca today have their antecedent in these

Indian communities. They seem to have blanketed the mountainous section

of Boyaca.

Life during the colonial period waslargely uneventful. The

Indians worked their lands under the system of resguardos, or went tolabor

in Spanish haciendas under the system of concierta. The intermixing of

races and the dwindling of the Indian culture promoted the decay of the

reservations and the growth of a new type of society, the mestizo. The

economy was largely agriculture and, from a certain standpoint, paternal­

istic. The continental wars of the mother country, however, soon caused

taxes and tributes to be increased. This trend reached such proportions

that there were scattered uprisings in protest during the latter part of

the eighteenth century. One which started in the province of El Socorro

in 1781, referred to as the Comuneros revolt, nearly succeeded in over­

turning the government at Santa Fe. Many Indian communities in Boyac£

adhered to this movement and their delegations marched south under Captains

Juan Francisco Berbeo, Ambrosio Pisco, and others. Although the motive

for the uprising was taxes, this was mainly a nativistic movement forthe

Indians. Pisco, a descendant of the zipa, was proclaimed prince of Bogot&.

But the movement failed through treacheiy on the part of the rulers, while

the archbishop-viceroy, Antonio Caballero y Gongora, kept the reins of

power.
 37

Thirty years later events in the Spanish peninsula again caused a

revolution on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The American colonies rose

to defend Ferdinand VII from the Bonapartes. However, what started as a

movement of solidarity soon transformed itself into a movement for inde­

pendence. Following the example set by Santa Fe and Cartagena, Tunja

proclaimed its independence from Spain on December 9, 1811. Its provinces

formally joined the separatist movement in 1813.

The Struggle for Independence.

Tunja and its provinces adhered to the Junta Supreana established

for the government of the New Kingdom of Granada on July 20, 1810. These

provinces favored the federalist form of government, and they opposed the

centralist plans of President Antonio Narino. Narino went to war against

Tunja, but, having failed to assure victory, he negotiated with Governor

Juan Nepomuceno Nino. One result of this agreement was the installation

of the first congress of the new nation at the Villa de Leiva, on Oc­

tober ii, 1812.

The opposition between Narino and the congress converted Boyaci

into a battlefield for the first of Colombia's civil wars. The chaos did

not terminate until the Spaniards returned and reestablished their rule

in 1816. Three years later, however, the army of Bolivar and Santander

crossed the paramo of PLsva in a surprise move against the forces of

General Barrel 1*0 . The culminating battle of the war for independence in

Colombia took place on August 7, 1819, in the little valley of Boyaca

seven miles south of Tunja. The provinces of Tunja, Sogamoso, and Leiva

were renamed after the site of this battle by an act of congress in 1821.
The Republican Period*

Boyaca continued to be a principal theater for the nineteenth

century struggle between centralists and federalists, clericals and anti­

clericals, Conservatives and Liberals. The radical measures of Jose

Hilario Lopez in the 1850's caused protests and uprisings on the part of

the largely conservative and clerically-minded inhabitants of the provinces

of Boyaci. When Jos I Antonio Kelo deposed Jose M b it a Obando in 185U, these

provinces raised an army which enabled Vice-President Tom&s Herrera (aided

by strong men Mosquera and Herran) to return to Bogota. Civil strife

always had a bloody echo in Boyacl.

When the federalist forces triumphed and Boyaca was made a sover­

eign state in 1857, civil wars took on a more provincial nature. Then the

cantons rebelled not against the naticnal government at Bogota but against

the state capital at Tunja. Often the national government was an inter­

ested party in these internal struggles, such, for instance, as the

rebellion of General Jesus Marla Chaparro against the government of Felipe

Perez in 1871.

The wars of 185U, i860, 1876, and 1885 brought death and destruc­

tion to this department, but the issues at stake never appeared to be

solved. Although Rafael Nunez was able to reduce the chaos greatly in

1886 (when the present Colombian constitution was enacted) new wars were

waged in 1895 and from 1899 to 1902. Then cauriillos, or political chiefs,

such as Pedro Marla Pinz6n, Jose Marla Ruiz, Gabriel Vargas Santos, Rafael

Uribe Uribe, Benjamin Herrera, and Focidn Soto for the Liberals, and Rafael

Reyes, Prdspero PLnzon, Manuel Casabianca, and Ram6n Gonzalez Valencia for
 39

the Conservatives led Boyaeenses— and other Colombians— to fight for the

triumph of their ideals or for the constitutional principles they advo­

cated.

Fifty years of internal peace, an almost unrivaled feat among the

Latin American nations, healed the wounds which were opened during the

nineteenth century. Roads and railways were started in Boyaca, especially

the central highway which connects Tunja with Bogota (1906). The central

railroad began functioning in 1929. Although Boyaeenses continued to be

militantly political, especially at the time of elections, the trend during

this period was definitely one of peace and progress.

When in 191*8 the struggle for power between the traditional parties

passed from the orderly and democratic plane to one of intimidation and

force, Boyaca became once more the site of civil warfare. The llanos

practically declared their independence frcm the central government during

the Gdmez-Urdaneta regime (195>0~19S>3)» Special legislation called for the

separation of the llanos from the rest of the department in order to cope

with the military situation. The war was especially bloody in EL Cocuy,

Miraflores, Zapatosa, and other regions • Such a struggle ended on June 13,

1953, when General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla came Into power. The pacification

of the llanos permitted President Rojas PLnilla to restore them to Boyaca

in 1951*.
 CHAPTER III

THE POPULATION OF BOIA.CA

When as a discipline it declares its independence from armchair

speculation, the study of population is one of the most useful tools for

social planning. In fact, policies and programs devised without the im­

plementation of empirical analyses may suffer from their blindness to

local realities. A revision of the school system, an appraisal of health

services, the understanding of the labor problem, the improvement of

transportation and communication facilities, all need precise population

data. Plans for the development of agriculture and for improvements in

rural life would be deficient and, perhaps, a source of tragic errors, if

they are drawn without an accurate understanding of the population affected

by such plans. The study of the demographic base is necessary for an ap­

praisal of the relationships between man and his land, and for the projects

designed to solve the intricate and important problems which arise from

these relationships. A skilfull study of population then beccmes a factor

sine qua non for the success of such policies. Otherwise, social planning

comes to resemble a game of pinata; just as when, with eyes blindfolded,

the a m seldom hits the candy pot, so will campaigns miss the goal for

lack of some empirical awareness of facts.

The rule and the compass of the population student are the enumer­

ation of the people and the registration of vital data. Without these, no

analysis is possible. Furthermore, the results of the analyses are in

ko
 m

direct proportion to the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of enumer­

ations and registrations. If these are faulty, the studies will suffer

also from practical shortcomings. But if the rule and the compass are in

good working condition, then the resulting structure will have few in­

terstices through which the wind of criticism may cut its way.

The early stigma attached to the enumeration of a people in the

times of David still hampers the accuracy, the reliability, and the com­

pleteness of censuses in many areas of the world today. Due to religious

and military reasons, most people are mistrustful of enumerations. Boyaca

is not an exception, even though there have been censuses taken there since

1825, some even during colonial times. The latest attempt, that of 1951,

was a step forward from many standpoints, in spite of the fact that this

census suffered from the civil disturbances then upsetting national life.

At the time of writing only preliminary reports have been published."*"

And as regards the registration of vital data, Boyaca— as well as

Colombia as a whole— still is in its beginnings. Lack of public interest

prevents the recording of births and deaths with any degree of complete-

ness, although some progress has been achieved recently.

For all of these reasons the analysis of the population of Boyaca

will staffer from defects. Yet it is desirable to vise such data as are

available, simply because they indicate certain tangible trends, and

"*"The Departamento Nacional de Estadistica furnished the writer,

in typescript foim, seme definitive results from the 1951 census for the
department of Boyac£. These have been utilized in the present chapter.
p ^
See, for instance, Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Boletin
Mensual de Estadistica, VIII (November, 1953), 28, for vital data classi­
fied by age, something seldom done before.
because they constitute feelers for Boyaca's demographic reality. Thus an

attempt is made here to study the available facts about the population of

Boyaca by using the methods and techniques of the m o d e m demographer. Data

from enumeration and registration records are analyzed up to the point

where it is scientifically desirable. Sometimes the results of the in­

vestigation achieve certain soundness and consistency. At other times it

is necessary simply to state the case, hoping that future improvements

will enable us to proceed.

Number and Distribution of the Population

The size of the population is the most elemental demographic fact.

It is determined by means of a census, which can be defined as "a periodic

count of population expedited through direct visitation of the people."^

Because this number is necessarily related to a given area, the distri­

bution of the population becomes a corollary to its actual size.^

3
T. Iynn Smith, Population Analysis (New York* McGraw-Hill Book
Co., 191*8), p. 7.

^A census was required in Colombia early after independence with

the purpose of determining the representation of the individual districts
to the national congress. The first census was taken in 1825 for Greater
Colombia, and other enumerations were made in 1835, 181*3, and 1851 for
New Granada. It was not until 1871 that data on age and occupational
composition were first obtained. For the 1912 census, each individual
filled out his own questionnaire; an analysis of race was included in the
printed volume. The census of 1918 covered additional information on edu­
cation and occupations. See, in this regard, U.S. Department of Commerce
and Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Colombia, Summary
of Biostatistics (Washingtons U.S. Department of Commerce, 19i*l*), p. 5.
Considerable care was given to the census of 1938. A special
office was organized, and data-gathering techniques were patterned after
the recommendations of a London committee of statisticians and the League
of Nations. The schedule of the 1938 census included name, sex, age,
marital status, degree of education, nationality, occupation, religion,
and physical and mental defects. See Contralorua General de la RepiSblica,
 1*3

According to the census taken on May 9, 1951, Boyaca has 768,859

inhabitants. They are distributed, by municipios and regions, as shown
in Table I.
There i s great unevenness in the distribution of the population
of Boyaca. Most of the people, 81 percent, liv e in the nine mountainous
regions, while the eastern and western Andean slopes and the Territorio
Vasquez are inhabited by 19 percent of the population. The largest con­
centration is in the Tunja-Sogamoso region, where 21 percent of the
population liv e . The most populous municipios are those of Sogamoso,
Tunja, and Chiquinquira, which are above the 20,000 markj but their service
centers do not yet approach the category of such minor c itie s as Pereira
and Armenia*
Taking the area of Boyaca as 26,989 square kilometers (10,1*20
square m iles),^ the density of population i s 28.5 per square kilometer.
£
This i s somewhat higher than the density for the national departments*

Censo General de Poblaci<Sn, 5 de Julio de 1938 (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional,

191*2), I,
xvii.
The census of 1951 was quite an improvement over the 1938 census.
It was implemented as a result of international agreements for the Census
of the Americas. The 1951 enumeration was complete for many areas, but
defective for others in which there were civil disturbances. The data
for Boyaca suffered in this regard, but even so in general terms, the
census results can be used with profit*

^Eduardo Acevedo Latorre, "Panorama Geoeconomico del Departamento

de Boyaca,” Anales de Econamia y Estadistica, VIII (October-December 1952),
23.
°The population density for Colombia in 1951 is 10,lj in the de­
partments such density is 23.5, see Departamento Nacional de Estadistica,
Censo de Poblaci6n de 1951: Departamento del Cauca (Bogota, 195U), p. 9«
 TABLE I

BOYACA, INHABITANTS BY REGIONS AND MUNICIPIOS, 1951

Regions and Population of Population of Regions

Munldpios Municipios Number Percent

Total 768,859 100.0

Territorio VAsquez 5,798 .8

Western Andean Slopes 83,735 10.9

Bricefio 5,329
Buenavista 5,825
Caldas 5,775
Coper 5,365
ChiquinquirA 22,537
Maripl 8,050
Muzo 5,049
Fauna 10,626
SaboyA 14,679

Leiva-SamacA 45,695 5.9

Arcabuco 3,473
Cucaita 1,875
Chlquiza 2,428
Gachantiva 3,702
Leiva 4,H5
RAquira 7,932
SAchica 1,144
SamacA 7,297
Santa Sofia 4,366
Sora 1,747
SutamarchAn 4,807
TinjacA 2,809

MoniqulrA 37,309 4.9

Chitaraque 4,956
MoniqulrA 16,608
San Jos6 de Pare 5,403
Santa Ana 5,108
Togtti 5,234
 U5

TABLES I— Continued

Regions and Population of Population of Regions

Municipios Municipios Number Percent

Tunja-Sogamoso 165,932 21.6

Beldn 6,101
Cerinza 4,277
Cfimbita 5,395
Chivatd 2,431
Duitama 18,468
Firavitoba 6,583
Floresta 5,018
Motavita 2,610
Nobsa 3,551
Oicatd 2,363
Paipa 11,857
Santa Sosa de Viterbo 6,443
Siachoque 6,217
Sogamoso 29,077
Soracd 3,394
Sotaquird 6,595
Tibasosa 5,016
Toca 6,213
Tunja 27,402
Tuta 5,901

Tasco 23,186 3.0

Betditiva 3,838
Busbanzd 1,072
Corrales 3,415
Faz de Rio 5,390
Tasoo 7,516
Tutazd 1,955

Soatd 83,444 10.8

Boavita 11,071
Covarachla 5,265
Jeric6 7,154
La Ifvita 9,399
Sdtivanorte 5,956
Sdtivasur 2,552
Soatd 15,641
Socha 7,513
Socotd 13,303
Susacdn 5,590
 TABLE I— Continued

Regions and Population of Population of Regions

Municipios Municipios Number Percent

El Cocuy 58,706 7.6

Chiscas 9,656
Chita 15,055
El Cocuy 11,031
El Espino 5,517
Guacamayas 4,806
GUicAn 8,342
Panqueba 3,753
San Mateo 546

Puebloviejo 58,639 7.6

Cultiva 2,337
GAmeza 5,982
Iza 2,857
Mongua 6,374
Mongui 3,613
Pesca 15,390
Puebloviejo 12,201
T6paga 3,452
Tota 6,433

Rasdriqul-TurmequA 74,470 9.7

BoyacA 7,517
Ci&iega 4,674
Genezano 8,026 t
Nuevo Col6n 4,326
Ramjriqui 8,242
TibanA 11,597
TurmequA 7,453
Umbita 8,372
Ventaquemada 9,542
ViracachA 4,721

Tenza 79,192 10.3

Almeida 6,209
Chinavita 5,050
 TABLE I— Continued

Regions and Population of Population of Regions

Municipios Municipios Number Percent

Garagoa 10,007
Guateque 8,542
Guayatd 8,401
La Capilla 4,330
Macanal 12,098
Fachavita 5,590
Somondoco 5,917
Sutatenza 6,898
Tenza 6,150

Eastern Andean Slopes 52,753 6.9

Berbeo 5,892
Campohexmoso . 10,416
Chdmeza -
Labranzagrande 5,729
La Salina 1,393
Miraflores 10,764
Pajarito 2,226
Faya 1,820
Fisva 785
Recetor 1,911
Ronddn 4,550
Zapatosa 884
Zetaquira 6,383

Source: Compiled and computed from Departamento Nacional de Estadistica,

Departamento de Boraci: Poblacifim de loa Municipios por Grupos de Edad y
Sexo. Censo de 1951 (Typescript^. (Bogotd. 1954J, Cuadro No. 6-P.
 U8

The Composition of the Population

Residence.

Of the many determinants for the behavior of man, few are as im­

portant as those conditioned by the city and the countryside. Rural folk

are "different" from urban people. Their respective societies conform an

individual either to cultural homogeneity or to heterogeneity. Primary re­

lationships predominate in rural areas while secondary groups are of prime

importance in urban areas; social stability moves in a diminishing continuum

from rural communities to urban centers; occupations tend to follow mainly

along agricult viral lines in the countryside, while there is a wide variety

of enterprises in the cities; density of population is low in rural, high

in urban environments. For all of these and other dissimilarities, it

becomes necessary to classify the population on a residential basis.

The criterion used to distinguish the rural population from the

urban varies from nation to nation. It is perforce a dichotomy rather than

a continuum. It was arbitrarily decided in Colombia to take communities

7
of 1,500 inhabitants as the point for separating the two categories.' After

applying this criterion to the population by classifying as urban those

centers of 1,500 or more inhabitants, it appears that 9«7 percent of the

people of Boyac^ live in such urban centers, while an overwhelming 90.3 are
D
classified as rural,

Boyaca was the most rural of the Colombian departments in 1938*

^Contralorxa, o£. cit., I, xv. The same definition applied to both

the 1938 and the 1951 censuses.

Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaca: Dato

del Censo de 1951 (Typescript), (Bogota, 19Sh).
 U9

o
with a proportion rural of 93*6 percent. This proportion has decreased

in 1951, but in view of the lead which Boyaca had in this regard at the

time of the previous census, it is safe to infer that this department has

continued to be the most rural in Colombia."*"^ While other departments

such as Antioquia, Valle, Atlantico, and Cundinamarca are making strides

toward the achievement of an urban culture, Boyaca has changed relatively

little in this regard during the last twenty years.

Race.

Due to the extent of miscegenation in Boyaca, it is not possible

to use a simple dichotomy (such as white and non-white) in order to de­

scribe the racial composition of the population. At least three elements

have furnished their blood to the present blend— the white, the Indian,

and, to a minor degree, the Negro— with the resulting intermediate shades.

The census of 195l> like its immediate predecessor, did not inquire

about racial characteristics. Because of this lack of quantitative data

on race, no soundings can be made on the inner relationships that exist

between race and habitat or between race and fertility, for example, as

has been possible in the United States. It can be established, however,

that the white and the mestizo races predominate in Boyacii. The pure

Indian elements have retreated to the north, while the Negro migration

O /
'Contralorxa, oj>. cit., XVI, 39.

■^No analysis for the nation is available at present. The pro­

portion of the rural population of Colombia in 1938 was 70.9 (ibid.).
 50

11
into Boyaca has never been a sizable one.

Nativity.

Of the 768,859 inhabitants enumerated in 1951, only 336 are foreign

born. (Nationalities are not yet reported.) The rest of the people are

95.6 percent Boyacenses by birth, and about h percent migrants from

Cundinamarca, Santander, Bolivar, Tolima, Norte de Santander, Valle,

Caldas, Antioquia, Cauca, Huila, Narino, Magdalena, Atlantico, and Choco.

There are 15,600 Cundinamarcans in Boyaca, many of them in the Territorio

Vasquez as settlers. Santander accounts for 9,lt90, Bolivar, for l,05ii, and

Tolima, for 1,031. None of the other departments have supplied as many as
12
1,000. The overwhelming exclusiveness of the Boyacense has been tra­

ditional. This fact should be considered of great social significance.

By closing doors to the bearers of foreign cultures, Boyaca— as well as

Colombia— has kept a largely provincial civilization, in many ways back­

ward.

Jose Rafael Arboleda, "Nuevas Investigaciones Afro-Colombianas,®

Revista Javeriana (May, 1952). There are some generalizations available
as to the distribution of the races. Luis Lopez de Mesa, for instance,
believes that Colombia may be divided geographically into two halves, one
mestizo and the other mulatto, by drawing a slightly undulating line from
RLohacha on the Atlantic coast to Ipiales on the Ecuadorean border. The
mestizo lives on the eastern section, while the mulatto is settled on the
western side, Lopez de Mesa makes an exception of the central portion of
Bolivar, where ’’the three races coexist." See Luis L<Spez de Mesa, De C6mo
se ha Formado la Naci^n Colombiana (Bogota: IAbreria Colombiana, 193^),
p. U8.

^"^Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaci:

Poblaciin Nacida en el Pais por Lugar de Nacimiento ('Typescript), (Bogota,
195h), Cuadro No. ll.
 51

Age Composition*

Age data are among the most useful in the field of demography.

Age conditions practically every aspect of social phenomena, and for this

reason it is important to measure it with exactness and completeness.

The age and sex pyramid, frequently referred to as “the tree of

ages," has become one of the most useful tools in the hands of demo­

graphers. The population pyramid of Boyaca in 1951 can be seen in

Figure 3» There is a high percentage of children aged 0. to 9, 16 percent,

and the proportion of old people aged 55 and over is small, k percent.

Considering that in-migration has been of little demographic importance,

this "tree of ages" is largely the result of the inner workings of mor­

tality and fertility. When fertility and mortality are both high, as is

the case in Boyaca, the age and sex pyramid tends to become broad at the

base, and it narrows rapidly as the age scale is ascended.

On the other hand, long-range migration within Colombia, which is

largely male, has left definite sculpturing effects on the population

pyramid of Boyaca. (For detailed comments on this migration see below.)

Note that there is a considerable decrease of male population in the most

13
productive ages, 15 to 3k*

The Balance Between the Sexes.

The censuses of all nations give proper attention to the distri­

bution of the sexes. This is, indeed, another very important demographic

13
The same effects are observed in the 1938 pyramid, which seems
to indicate that migration from Boyaca is a phenomenon which has been
taking place at least since the late 1920's. Cf. Contraloria, op. cit.,
IV, 20.
 B O Y A C A -1951
AGE

75

70

65

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

25

20
15

10
5

T “ 0 ”1—
d 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 I T 3 4 5 8
Percent Male Percent Female

Figure 3. Age-Sex Pyramid for the Population of BoyacA, 1951.

 53

factor which exerts influence on such varied phenomena as the magnitude

and direction of migration, the birth rate, and the death rate. Among the

indexes utilized to study sex composition in a population, the sex ratio

is the most useful. This ratio is the nunfoer of males per 100 females.

The sex ratio for Boyaca in 1951 was 93, slightly higher than

it was in 1938, when the ratio was 9 1 . ^ This low sex ratio is indicative

of the male migration which has taken place from Boyaca, especially toward

the departments on the central Andean cordillera— Caldas, Valle, and

Tolima.^ Boyaci was the department with the lowest sex ratio in Colombia

in 1938. It is probable that this position has not been altered during
17
the last thirteen years.

Marital Status.

The 1951 census improved over its predecessor in regard to the

analysis of the marital condition of the population. While the 1933 census

distinguished only three categories— single, married, and widowed— and

piously ignored the common law unions and the separated condition, the

^departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaca;

Poblaci6n por Grupos de Edad, Estado Civil y Sexo (Typescript), (Bogoti,
195k)t Cuadro No. 8-B. (Computed.)

■^Contralorra, op. cit., XVI, 58. (Computed.)

"^These three departments, which are at the receiving end of long-

range migrants, had a high sex ratio in 1938— Caldas, 105, Valle, 106, and
Tolima, 103 (ibid.).

1 ^The sex ratio for Colombia in 1951 was 9 8 .8 , higher by .3 than

the 1938 ratio. Computed from Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Eco-
ncmxa y Estadistica, X (January-June 195k), 6 3 .

l8Contraloiaa, 0£. cit., XVI, 95-97, 123.

 5fc

latest census tabulated results according to all five classes mentioned.

(Divorce is not allowed in Colombia.) After the children aged lit years

and less are eliminated, the results are summarized in Table II.

TABLE II

MARITAL STATUS OF THE POPULATION OF BOYACA

AGED 15 YEARS AND OVER, BY SEX, 1951

Males Females
Marital Status
Number Percent Number Percent

Total 196,5^8 100.0 232,512 100.0

Single 71,967 36.7 90,258 38.S

Married 105,231 53.5 107,ii09 U6.2
Widowed 7,290 3.7 27,589 11.9
Common Law 10,221 5.2 3,909 1.7
Separated 1,839 .9 3,3ii7 i.U

Source: Compiled and computed from Departamento Nacional de Estadistica,

Departamento de Boyaca: Poblacion por Grupos de Edad, Estado Civil y Sexo
(Typescript), (Bogota, 1951|), Cuadro No. o-B.

The married state is the noimal condition for the adult Boyacense.

Note, however, that there is a good amount of error in the census results,

especially in regard to the common law unions reported. Males constitute

more than twice the number of females in the common law union category.

Perhaps men had less inhibitions in manifesting their real condition than

women, although it could be that many women in common law unions declared

themselves to be single and were counted as such. This requires further

investigation. Nevertheless, the proportion of those who reported to be

in common law unions is low, 7 percent of adults.^ There are U widowers

^ I n Peru in 19k0, this categoiy made up 18 percent of the popu­

lation 15 years of age and over, see Smith, o£. cit., p. 133.
 55

per 100 males in Boyaca, and 12 widows in every 100 females aged 15 years

and over. The number of separated persons is comparatively small— in 1951

they made up only about 2 percent of the adult population.

Educational Status.

Educational status is one of the best indicators of the quality of

a population. By gauging it, it is possible to determine the extent to

which a community is succeeding in improving the lot of future generations.

There are two indexes which may be used for this purpose: (l) the per­

centage of illiteracy; and (2) the amount of schooling received. Only the

percentage of illiteracy is available for Boyaca; for the population aged

20
10 years and over, it was 5i;.U in 1951. ' This proportion is reduced from

6 0 .JU in 1938, when the population of Boyaca was the most illiterate of

21
that in any of the Colombian departments. No up to date comparisons can
2?
yet be made with the other civil divisions.

Occupational Status.

The 1951 census classified the active population of Boyaca into

the following categories: (1) professionals, technicians, and other related

workers; (2) managers, administrators, and directors; (3) office workers;

20 t
Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaca:
Alfabetos y Analfabetos de Siete Anos y M^s por Grupos de Edad y Sexo
(Typescript), (Bogota, 1 9 ), Cuadro No. 20-1). (Computed.)

Contraloma, op. cit., IV, 153. In 1938, Boyaca was closely

followed by Bolivar, Santander, Cauca, and Huila in the proportion of il­
literates 10 years of age and over.

The percentage of illiteracy in Colombia in 1938 was 1|U.2 (ibid.,

XVI, 126-127).
 56

(1;) vendors and traders; (5) fanners, fishermen, hunters, and lumbermen;

(6) miners; (7) transporters; (8) artisans and factory workers; (9) manual

laborers; (10) workers in service occupations; and (11) other workers.

Each category was subdivided by age groups and sex. ^

Farming, fishing, hunting, and lumbering are occupations for

72 percent of the active population of Boyaca. Next in importance are

workers in service occupations, mainly domestic servants, with 10 percent,

and artisans and factory workers, with 8 percent. Boyaca is, indeed, a

land of agriculturists par excellence. Social differentiation and special­

ization has hardly started in this section of Colombia.

Religious Composition.

The question on relig io n in the 1951 census was optional, that i s ,

an answer was not required. The census bureau has not published the re­
su lts for those who answered such a question. However, i t i s generally
known that the people of Boyaca are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. This
religiou s homogeneity in Boyac£ i s one of i t s main, all-p ervasive charac­
t e r is t ic s . The study of th is r e lig io n , however, requires a separate
volume.^

^Departamento Nacional de E stad istica, Departamento de Boyacas

Poblaciin Econdmicamente Activa por Grupos de Edad, Sexo y Ocupacidn
(Typescript), (Bogota, 195h), Cuadro No. 35-D.
^ F o r a study of religion in a neighborhood which is culturally
related to Boyac& and which is located just across the border in
Cundinamarca, see the writer's Peasant Society in Transition: A Study of
a Colombian Neighborhood (Gainesville: University of Florida Press,
1955). (In press.)
 57

The Vital Processes

Fertility.

It is important to know the rapidity with which human populations

reproduce themselves. Three indexes are being used by demographers! the

birth rate, the fertility ratio, and the net reproduction rate. Due to

the faulty nature of the records on vital statistics in Colombia, it is

not possible to calculate the net reproduction at the present time, that

is, the number of daughters that would be bora during the course of their

lifetime to the survivors of 100 new-born females. The birth rate is

actually a "baptism rate," as it is calculated on the basis of baptisms

reported by parish priests. The fertility ratio is calculated on the basis

of a census, and it is the number of children aged less than five years
25
per 1000 females aged 15 to UU. This ratio was 759 for Boyac£ in 195l>
26
compared with 653 in 1938. These ratios are high, and they indicate

that the people of Boyaca are not yet subject to those urban and ration­

alistic influences which have reduced the reproduction rate in other areas

of the world.

The birth-baptism rate for Boyaca (number of live births or bap-

27
tisms recorded by parishes per 1000 population) in 1951 was 35* This

is a high rate, especially when compared with those of the United States,

^^Departamento Nacional de Esladistica. Departamento de Boyaca

Poblacidn de los Municipios por Grupos de Edad y Sexo (Typescript),
(Bogota, 19Sh)i Cuadro No. 6-t). (Computed.)

^Contraloria, og. cit., IV, 21-22. The fertility ratio for

Colombia in 1938 was 67o (ibid., XVI, 108).

^Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Anales de Bconomia y

Estadistica, VIII (April-June, 1952), 8 7 . For Colombia during the same
year it was 36.6.
 58

France, Sweden, England, Italy, or Germany. However, this figure is sub­

ject to the shortcomings of registration, and the actual rate may be still

higher. According to Professor Smith, "it is very unlikely . . • that the

actual crude birth rate is less than UO in any Latin American country

except Argentina. In most of the Republics it is probably above

pQ
J4.5 . . . After a comparison was made between the birth rate and the

fertility ratio of each country, Smith concluded that "in any Latin Ameri­

can country in which the birth rate is less than 60 percent as high as the

fertility ratio, it is likely that a significant proportion of the births

are not being registered. In some of the countries in which birth regis­

tration is more adequately handled the corresponding percentage may run

above 7 0 , " ^ Applying this criterion to Boyaca, we find that the 1951

birth rate is only I4.6 percent of the fertility ratio, which indicates that

there is a considerable amount of under-registration of births in Boyaca

every year.

Mortality.

The rate at which people die is one of the principal determinants

of the size of a population. It is important for a society to be aware

of its mortality rate in order to determine if the group is on the increase

or the decrease. In fact, longevity may be interpreted as another index

of the quality of the population. And according to Whipple, the infant

mortality rate is "the most sensitive index of social welfare and of

T. Lynn Smith, "The Reproduction Rate in Latin America,"

Eugenical News Quarterly (September, 1953)•

29Ibid.
 59

sanitary improvements which we possess.”-^

Unfortunately the available data on mortality in Boyaca (and in

Colombia) leave much to be desired. The death rate (number of deaths per

1000 persons in the population) for Boyaca in 1951 was calculated as lU,
31
obviously a figure which is unreal and misleading. likewise, there is

no accurate way of calculating the important infant mortality rate (number

of deaths under one year of age per 1000 live births). Death registration

is quite faulty. In general terms, it can be stated that mortality is

high; the Boyacenses suffer heavily from transmissible and controllable

3?
killers, while degenerative ailments do not yet rank high. c

Migration

Migration is highly significant in demographic studies. It is one

of the three factors that help account for the number and distribution of

inhabitants, the other two factors being the birth rate and the death rate.

Boyaca (and Colombia) has been largely self-sufficient as far as

population growth goes. Hot many foreigners have arrived there, and those

enumerated in 1951, as stated above, amounted to 336. It is evident that

foreign influences have been insignificant in this department. However,

the huge steel mills recently inaugurated at Paz de Rio and small indus-

•^George C. Whipple, Vital Statistics (New York: John Wiley and

Sons, 1923), p. 393 •

-^Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Anales de Sconomia y

Estadistica, V I H (April-June, 1952), 87.

-^The life expectancy for the Colombian individual has been calcu­
lated as U6.3 years at birth, according to International Bank for Recon­
struction and Development, The Basis of a Development Program for Colombia
(Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1950),
p. 171.
 60

tries which are beginning are attracting foreigners in increasing numbers.

Persons from other Colombian departments likewise have been attracted by

the Paz de Rio project; it is probable that migration into Boyaca is gain­

ing momentum every day.

Internal migratory movements are important to consider. One of

these trends is that of people moving from rural to urban areas. This

trend apparently is slow within the boundaries of Boyaca; during the last

thirteen years the proportion of the population living in centers of 1,500

inhabitants and over increased only 3 percent. There are no large cities

in Boyaca which exert such centripetal pull as the one that Bogota, for

instance, exerts over Cundinamarca. There is some interaction between

small communities and larger trade centers (see Chapter X), but these

cities are still far from being real urban centers. On the other hand,

trends of colonization have been somewhat prominent, especially toward the

Territorio Vasquez, Tunebia, and the llanos. The growth of settlements in

the Lengup£ River valley, such as Miraflores, Berbeo, Rond<5n, Zetaquira,

33
and Campohermoso, has been very rapid since 1905.

One of the most important migratory trends in Boyaca is not short-

range (which is largely female) but long-range. Boyacense males have been

migrating to other departments in significant numbers, especially to Tolima

and Caldas. This phenomenon was observed very plainly when the results

of the 1938 census were analyzed. The rate of population growth in Boyaca

33
The population of this area grew more than twice its size during
the period from 1905 to 1928, see Contraloria General de la Republica,
Geograffa Economica de Colombia: BoyacS. (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1936),
pp. 175-179.
 61

for period 1918-1938 was the lowest of all departments (0.6 percent per

annum, see below), yet the yearly rates of natural increase were high.

According to the census publication, "this discrepancy can be explained

by the migration of Boyacenses to other regions of the country. The

population pyramid of Boyaca, as stated above, disclosed a considerable

disproportion on the male side in 1938, especially in the productive ages,

and this characteristic remained unchanged in 195>1« The low sex ratio of

Boyaca is likewise indicative of the movement of males to other depart­

ments .

No intensive study has been made of this interesting phenomenon.

It appeal's that migration from Boyaca has two aspects: (1) families of

migrants which move to other places, accommodate themselves there, and do

not return to Boyaca; and (2) transient workers, mostly males, who spend

months, often a full year, away from their homes earning money. It is

possible that transient workers constitute a large proportion of the

migrants in any given year. These workers go to such towns as Giiepsa

(Santander) where they are hired by local entrepreneurs (see Chapter VI),

and to the northern municipios of Cundinamarca. There have been reports

of transient workers who go every year to Antioquia, Caldas, and Tolima.

Planters from these departments often go personally to the western regions

of Boyaca in search for farm hands for their coffee farms. These laborers

as a rule do not stay away— they return to their families in Boyaca with

•^Contraloria, Censo, XVI, 16

the cash which they have earned elsewhere.They are, of course, very

apt to become true migrants, and many of them finally take their families

along and move away permanently. It seems, however, that at the date when

censuses are taken the absence of transient workers is one of the main

causes for the sex ratio to be lowered; such absences could also account

in part for the sculpturing in the productive age categories on the male

side of the pyramid.

Population Change

A population grows or declines in numbers depending on the net

result of the interlocking play of fertility, mortality, and migration.

Having studied these primary demographic factors, we are now in a better

position to analyze the population changes in Boyac^.

First of all, it is well to remember the little importance that

in-migration has played in this department. The population growth of

Boyacl has been largely due to sheer natural increase, that is, the net

positive difference between fertility and mortality accumulated as years

have gone by. This natural increase appears to be large, as is also the

case for the nation as a whole. Yet Boyaca has been the department of

slowest growth in Colombia. One main cause, migration to other depart­

ments, was studied in the preceding section. High mortality is another

cause, but no accurate estimates of this vital process can be made.

Nevertheless, Boyacd has always been among the five most populous

This tendency is especially noticeable in Raquira, where many

farmers go to Tolima and Caldas leaving their wives and children tempo­
rarily in charge of the farms.
 63

departments of Colombia. It was the third one in population in 1918, when

it had 65^,562 inhabitants (including Casanare). It was the fifth one in

1938, with 737,368 inhabitants (including Casanare), having been displaced

from the third position by Caldas and Bolivar. Boyaca kept the fifth

place in 1951* The average annual rate of increase, however, is 0.6 per­

cent from 1918 to 1938j after adjustments are made for the Casanare

municipios separated from Boyaca in 1950, the average annual rate of in­

crease from 1938 to 1951 is 0.7 percent.^7

It is difficult to estimate how the population of Boyaca will

redistribute itself or will change in the future, although there are signs

which indicate a positive trend. There is now an influx of people from

other parts of Colombia which, if long continued, m a y ,counterbalance the

effects of migration from the department. If most Boyacenses find suitable

and well-remunerated work within the boundaries of the department, if

health facilities are improved so as to bring about a decrease in mor­

tality, and if the present rate of reproduction is maintained, Boyaca will

undoubtedly regain, and probably surpass, the rate of growth which it once

had. It should be noted, however, that such changes will come only as the

social systems of Boyaca are put to work to greater advantage than in the

past. Infant mortality, for instance, will not decrease greatly until

there are more hospitals and doctors, until there is an improvement in

maternal care and in the care and feeding of young children; migration to

^Contralorfa, Censo, XVI, 16.

37
The average annual rates of increase for the population of
Colombia during the same periods are 2.0 percent for 1918-1938, and 2.2
percent for 1938-1951*
 61*

other parts of Colombia will not stop until there are ample opportunities

in industry and other activities provided locally for young Boyacenses.

This requires progressive, far-sighted policies. It is possible that the

people of Boyaca will rise to the challenge of the new times and will

respond to it successfully. These hard-working farmers may prove that

they have no atavistic drawbacks in their blood.

 PART II

THE INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

OF MAN TO THE LAND
 CHAPTER IV

PATTERNS OF SETTlfiMENT

Settlement patterns refer to the spatial relationships of farm

dwellings to one another and to the cultivated land*"*" The arrangements,

limited to three types, are the true village, scattered farmsteads, and

the line village* In the true village the farmers' homes are clustered

together in a nucleus from which the dwellers commute to the outlying

fields. This is the type of settlement which is the oldest and the most

prevalent in the world, a type which since the days of Strabo has been

praised as the most conducive to social life and the development of civili­

zation, The second type, isolated farmsteads, has advantages over the

true village, especially from the farm management standpoint, because the

farmer lives in the midst of the fields which he works. The third, the

line village, is an intermediate type combining the advantages of the true

village in regard to social life, transportation, and distribution of farm

products, with the farm management advantages of scattered farmsteads;

settlers build their homes along a road or a river in proximity to one an­

other, and on the land which each settler works. This type requires

holdings that are considerably longer than they are wide.

The pattern of settlement is one of the most persistent cultural

traits, Chce established, a type of settlement becomes the ■natural"

■^T. Iynn Smith, The Sociology of Rural life (3rd ed.j New York:
Harper and Brothers, 195>3), P« 199*

6*
 66

pattern, and innovations are likely to meet with considerable resistance.^

The importance of a type of settlement can be measured in teams of its

functions— whether it responds to the changing needs of each community,

whether it assures efficient farm management practices and economic systems

of transportation, and whether it fosters constructive social life and con­

tacts. For the analysis of types of settlement two criteria must be used,

namely, the ecological position of farmstead to farmstead, and the spatial

relationship between the farmstead and the fields. As stated by

A. Demangeon:

The definition of the rural habitat will scarcely be a question of

statistics only, of the number of houses and inhabitantsj it chiefly
implies that one analyze the relationships between the dwelling and
its agricultural land; one should not separate these two aspects.3

It was the recognition of this two-fold criterion which led in­

vestigators such as T. Lynn Smith and Joseph Geddes to modify Demangeon1s

classification of two types only— the grouped and the dispersed habitat—

by adding the "line village," or"string t o w n . T h i s important contribu­

tion has led to the increasing recognition of line villages as the best

type to recommend for new settlement and planned colonization projects in

most areas, because it assures farm efficiency, sociability, and great

^Ibid., p. 200.
3
A. Demangeon, "La Geographie de l'Habitat Rural," in Pitirira A.
Sorokin, Carle C. Zimmeoman, and Charles J. Galpin, A Systematic Source
Book in Rural Sociology (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1930),
I, 302.

^Professor Smith called attention to the existence of this type

as early as 1933, see his Farm Trade Centers in Louisiana, 1901-1931,
Louisiana AES Bulletin 23U (Baton Rouge, 1933), P» 3* Cf. Joseph Geddes,
Farm Versus Village living in Utah: Plain City, Utah Agricultural Experi-
ment Sta!tion Bulletin 2U9 (Logan, 193^). This type is also known as
ribbon settlement.
 67

savings in road building and public services.

The fact that the settlement pattern of the central prairie of

the United States has come close to the realization of the ideal type of

the scattered farmstead, has led many scholars to believe that such a type
£
is peculiarly North American. Such ethnocentricity, which was caused

largely by faulty definitions, has been tempered by the study of other so­

cieties. Important in this regard are the enlightening essays of

Radhakamal Mukerjee^ and other ecologists. In reality, many of the socie­

ties in the world have had for many centuries or have at present the

scattered farmsteads type of settlement.

Contemporary Patterns in Boyaca

The people of Boyaca are settled predominantly according to the

scattered farmsteads type of settlementj the study of such a pattern in

this department and how it developed constitutes the lion's share of the

present chapter. Passing note is given to a few instances of line villages

which are found in Boyaca. It is important to note that the true farm

^The scattered farmstead is one of the main traits of the American

society as distinct from other societies of the world, according to
Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History (New Yorki
Henry Holt and Co., 1920), pp. 2-3, 23. The scattered settlement was
found only "in a few places, of which Norway and North America under
European occupancy are outstanding examples,® stated Amos H. Hawley in
his Human Ecology (New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1950), p. 239. The
investigators ofthe Columbia Basin, in their Joint Investigations Report
on Problem 10, The Pattern of Settlement in thie Columbia Basin (Washington:
USDA and Cooperating Agencies, 19140, wrote about the scattered farmsteads
pattern that "its growth is largely indigenous and can in a way be said to
be an American creation.®

^Radhakamal Mukerjee, Man and his Habitation (London: Longmans,

Green and Co., 19l*0).
 68

village which was the object of attention of Terperming in Europe? does

not exist in Boyaca. The clusters of population which do occur in the

countryside are "agricultural villages" which closely resemble their North

American counterparts and which are, in reality, one of the components of

the scattered farmsteads pattern.® Very few farmers live in these clusters

from which they have to commute to their fields. More appropriately such

clusters can be called service centers.^

The Line Village.

The line village is found, to a notable extent, alongside principal

rivers such as the Magdalena, the Ermitano, and the tributaries of the

Meta. Here the settler utilizes the rivers for communication and trans­

portation— "paths which move," Pascal once called them. The line village

is also the prevailing type in areas of new settlement now being opened

by the extension of roads throughout the department. This is the case at

Pajarlto, Miraflores, and Gampoheimoso, for example. In such areas the

formation of new settlements is wholly spontaneous. However, for lack of

an overall plan, as more settlers arrive the type which soon evolves has

more of the characteristics of the scattered faimsteads type. Short

^Walter A. Terpenning, Village and Open-Country Neighborhoods

(New York: The Century Co., 19317*
ft
°The concept of "agricultural village" in the United States, dis­
tinct from the "farm village" of Europe, was advanced by Edmund de S.
Brunner in his American Agricultural Villages (New York: George H. Doran
Co., 1927), p. vii. The idea was developed by Carle C. Zimmerman in his
Farm Trade Centers in Minnesota, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
Bulletin 269 (St. Paul, 1930). Cf. J. H. Kolb and Edmund de S. Brunner,
A Study of Rural Society (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 19l*0)> PP» U5-76.

% e e Chapter X for detailed descriptions of these service centers

and their relationships with the surrounding neighborhoods.
 69

stretches of line villages can be found in a few other places in Boyaca,

especially at the foot of high escarpments, along creeks, and along the

central highway which connects Bogota with El Cocuy.

Scattered Farmsteads.

As indicated above, by far the most prevalent foim of settlement

in Boyaca is that of the scattered faimsteads. (See Figures 1* and 5>.)

From the frigid paramos of GiiLcan to the torrid expanses of the Territorio

Vasquez, the settled territory is sprinkled with farm homes set on the

hills, in the valleys, on the prairies, and amid the jungles. This type

differs somewhat from that encountered in the United States. Dwellings

are closer to one another because of the small size of the holdings on

which they stand; and the irregular shape of the lots, the topography,

and the lack of straight highways and paths have produced a disorderly,

unsystanatic scattering. Otherwise, the social effects on the fanners*

personality (reserve, lack of maimers, and so forth) observed by

de Tocqueville, Lord Bryce, and Dwight in North America are duplicated

among the Boyaca peasants.

As a general rule, the Boyaca farmer has only one building on his

farm. In this building his family as well as some domestic animals eat

and sleep. Large implements, such as the plow, may be hung under the

eaves. The farmer may have an open space next to the habitation for sheep

or goats. Thus each of the houses dotting the landscape, if not empty or

merely a temporary refuge for laborers, is the well occupied fortress of

■^Alexis de Tocqueville, De la D&nocratie en Amerique (3rd ed.j

Paris, 1868); James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (London, 1888);
Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New York (London? W. Baynes
and Son, 1823)*
 70

a diligent agriculturist. No silos or barns disturb the view from peas­

ants' homes, as is the case in the United States.

Distance between faimsteads on the Boyaca mountains can be long

and short at the same time. In the Tenza valley one may be able to com­

municate with a farmer on the other side of a creek at a location which

would take about fifteen minutes to reach. Viewed from an airplane, the

houses in the Tuimeque valley appear in close proximity to one anotherj

in the field, however, the slopes of the hills, the precipices, the ra­

vines, the creeks, all conspire toward the separation of the homes.

Driving from one point to another on these winding mountain roads can take

almost as long as the time needed by a peasant to go on foot over the steep

shortcuts•

Field observation indicates that in these communities the farmers

live on scattered farmsteadsj the service carters are very small, and few

farmers dwell in them so that they have to commute daily to their fields.

This is clearly portrayed in cadastral maps of the area (see Figures U

and 5 ). Such observation is also fully supported by the results of the

1951 censuses of population and housing. These censuses distinguish be­

tween the settlement at the seat (cabecera) of the municipio and in the

area outside the seat of the municipio (otras localidades), a refinement

which is most pertinent in the present analysis. The proportion of the

population of Boyaca which live outside the seat of the municipios is

^ C f . Wilson Gee, The Social Economics of Agriculture (New York:

The Macmillan Co., 195h)f PP* £3-5>£«
8k percent;
T2 the proportion of dwellings which are built and occupied in

the area outside fche seat of the raunicipios is 87 percent.^

Evolution of Settlement Patterns

It is difficult to disentangle the mechanics by which the scattered

farmsteads type of settlement developed in Boyaca. No Colombian scholar

has laid the foundation for such a study by analyzing in detail community

life during colonial times. But it becomes of the utmost importance to

have an understanding of this process. The remainder of the chapter is

devoted to an investigation of this topic.

The Native Settlement.

The first problem to consider is whether the Indians who occupied

the territory of Boyaca at the time of the conquest lived in village

settlements or not. The present status of research requires that the dis­

cussion be limited to the Chibcha (including the Guane and the Tunebo) and

the Muzo Indians who occupied the central and western regions of Boyaca.

This question of native settlement has not been solved. Neverthe­

less, there are indications which tend to favor the idea that the Chibcha

and the Muzo did not live in villages of the true type, but in scattered

f a r m s t e a d s . O n e such indication is the references to Chibcha settlements

Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaca8

Poblacion de los Municipios por Grupos de Edad y Sexo en las Cabeceras y
Otras Localidades, Censo de 1951 (Typescript), (Bogota, 195k). Cuadro No.

^Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Boyaca: Censo de Edificios

y Viviendas de 1951 (Bogoti, 195k), pp. Ikk-l6l.

^Although many primitive peoples live in villages, instances have

been noted showing that they may also live in scattered farmsteads. Among
 72

brought by chroniclers. Especially clear is Fray Pedro de Aguado's de­

scription of Guacheta, a settlement of the scattered farmsteads type.*^

The many Indian reservations organized between 1 $9$ and 161*2 (see Chapter

VI) are indicative of the high density of native population at the time

of the conquest. Had these Indians really lived in villages, nuclei of

large sizes should have developed. But no conqueror or chronicler was

able to observe any large concentration of houses and population over the

countryside. Archaeologists have not found any deep or sharply definable

stratified debris in Chibcha areas investigated, and their conclusion is

that such a shallow level of remains is due, among other things, to "the

dispersion of the living quarters of the rural population, and the possi­

bilities of frequent changes of houses.1' ^

If "the cultural heritage is a persistent thing, then some clue

should be found in archival materials for the early period of colonial

domination. The available information also tends to confirm that the

Chibcha and the Muzo lived in scattered farmsteads, and that the Spaniards

had difficulty in assembling the population into villages of the European

type. For instance, when Luis Enriquez visited the Indian community of

others, it is well to remember the Nordics of Scandia and the dwellers of

the early Tyddyns in the moorland communities of England; these people
built no villages. See Harold Peake, The English Village (Londons Benn
Brothers, Ltd., 1922), pp. 90, 112.

■^Pedro de Aguado, Recopilaci6n HLstorial (Bogota: Imprenta

Nacional, 1906), p. 120.

^finil W. Haury and Julio C^sar Cubillos, Investigaciones Arqueo-

logicas en la Sabana de Bogota, University of Arizona Social Science
Bulletin 22 (Tucson, 195>3), pp. 83-86.

•^Stoiith, og. cit., p. 230.

 73

Sora in 1599, he found that “the Indians of this pueblo do not live to-
1ft
gether; some of them live where they have their farms.® Officials had

ordered these Indians to move into the new pueblo many years before, but

they did not do it. likewise, there were scattered fanners in Soraca in
19 /
1600. In 1602 Antonio Beltran de Guevara explained about the Quelpa

Indians (Guane area) that “they are not settled in the manner of Spanish
20
pueblo, but they are scattered in the area.*" “The larger part of the

Indians of ^~Socota_7 live outside the pueblo on their own farms where they

have huts, and they are always scattered," was the report of Enriquez in
21
1602. The Muzo Indians of AhLpay “are not settled together but apart

one from the other in their own huts and houses," according to a descrip­

tion dated February 13, 1617. 22 The same situation was true at Revicha,

Chusvita, Quipama, Busbanza, and Vijua, between 1602 and 1626. It should

be noted that these were communities in which the Spaniards had attempted

to assemble the population into villages by means other than fire and war.

But, undoubtedly, the cultural heritage was difficult to eradicate.

According to the records, Indians in certain areas did move into

the new pueblos, or reducclones. Such was the case at Bonza, which in

1596 was settled “in the manner of a Spanish pueblo with its streets and
pi.
a square in which all of the Indians live, without any exception." u The

^Jose Mojica Silva, Relacion de Visitas Coloniales (Tunjas

Imprenta Qficial, 191*8), p. 1*3.

19Ibid., p. 50. 2QIbid., p. 77. 21Ibid., p. 88.

22Ibid., p. 133. 23Ibid., pp. 81*, 100, 115, 195, 223.

folbid., p. 1*2.
 71*

same was true at Pesca, Susacon, Toca, Cerinza, and Gicata-Nemusa.2^ Yet

this nucleation appeared to be a precarious one, and the case of GLcata-

Nemusa can be cited as an example. When Lids Enriquez visited these

Indians in 1600, the natives had moved into the new village and built

their houses around the church, and they were thus able to attend Mass

quite faithfully.2^ But 36 years later Juan de Valcarcel found that ”in

this town there are some houses and huts, but they are not inhabited by

Indians. These houses are abandoned and full of weeds because the Indians

live on farms where they ordinarily build their houses and huts, all apart

one from the other. £ These housesJ are distant one league or half a

league from the pueblo and they are scattered without forming any pattern

of pueblo. The Indians have their women and children with them, for which

reason it has been difficult for them to come to Mass.*27

Finally, some indication as to the native pattern of settlement

may be gathered from the type still in use among the Tunebo Indians at

Guicln and Chiscas. These Indians, who linguistically belong to the

Chibcha family and who have been displaced by the white man from their

previous habitat next to the Iraca’s kingdom of Sugamuxi, live in scattered

pO
faimsteads. They have not developed nucleated villages in their midst.

2^Ibid., pp. 56, 70, 73, 106, 188, 1*7.

26Ibid., p. 1*7. 27Ibid., p. 190.

pQ
See, in this regard, Revista Semana (Bogota), March ll*, 1955,
pp. 30-32. Wendell C. Bennett states that the Chibcha seemed to live in
scattered farmsteads, see his MA Cross-Cultural Survey of South American
Indian Tribes: Habitations,“ in Julian H. Steward, editor, Handbook of
South American Indians, Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 11*3 (Washington:
U. S. Government Printing Office, 191*6), V, 12-19. Miguel Triana states
that the Chibcha lived in scattered faimsteads, see his La Civilizacion
Chibcha (Bogota: Editorial ABC, 1951), p. 89.
 75

Village Versus Scattered Farmsteads During Colonial Times.

The struggle between the village which the Spanish authorities

tried to impose in Boyaca and the system of scattered farmsteads was a

constant one during colonial times. Each captain or viceroy who went to

the New Kingdom of Granada received specific orders for hastening the col­

lection of the native population into towns. That such an effort was

largely a waste of time can be seen by the fact that even as late as 1802

Charles IV was still requesting Viceroy Antonio Amar y Borbon to proceed

with the nucleation of Indians who were scattered in the countryside.^

To cite but one example, in Tasco in 1777 Visitador Jose Maria Campuzano

y Lanz found that "those natives who have a house in the pueblo are few,

because most of them live on their own farms.1'30 Such a situation was

quite general in the reservations of this area during the eighteenth

century.

The disintegration of Indian reservations, which had a slow but

early start in 161*2 (see Chapter VT), seems to have permanently established

the scattered farmsteads type of settlement. Newly arrived Spanish set­

tlers and displaced mestizos who could not live in Indian pueblos formed

a group of squatters exerting pressure upon Indian lands. Squatting as a

rule implies residence on the land in order to defend the property as the

need arises.3^ In fact, squatting under pioneer conditions was one of the

^Eduardo Posada, El Veinte de Julio (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional,

1911*), p. 109.

30ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 837.

3^0nly resident squatters could have defended themselves success­

fully from such orders as the one issued against than at El Cocuy in 1765.
Squatters had been invading the resguardo, or reservation, with their
 76

factors which fostered the creation of the type of scattered farmstead

prevalent in the United S t a t e s . B o y a c a does not seem to be an exception

to this. The real presence of Spanish or mestizo squatters who settled

in the peripheral areas of Indian reservations is manifested in the volumi­

nous record of conflicts over land in the colonial archives. The manner

of settlement of these colonizers was clearly described by Viceroy Manuel

Guirior, who in 1776 reported to his successor as follows:

The greater portion of middle-class peoples live dispersed in the

countryside in the nearness of Indian pueblos, using their reservations
and some piece of land that would permit them to live miserablyj the
laws which prescribe the separation /""of whites and Indians 7 cannot
be enforced.33

That the Spaniards failed to establish the village pattern is

also shown by the poor development of parroquias de espanoles, or settle­

ments for whites. For example, Tunja and Leiva, among the most important

Spanish towns in the New Kingdom during the early colonial period, were

administrative and residential centers for encomenderos and other Spanish

overlords; in 1610, however, Tunja was already on the decline, because

cattle, and the local Indians were authorized to kill "without any re­
sponsibility" any animal that invaded the reservation (ANC, Vol. V, fols.
532-538v). Nevertheless these invaders succeeded in dislodging the In­
dians from the EL Cocuy area; today the Tunebos have been relegated to
the higher paramos of the Guic^n cordillera.

^Turner, og. cit., pp. 2-3, et passim; Gee, og. cit., p. 1*6;
V. F. Calverton, The Making of Society (New York: Modem library, 1937),
p. 5; Charles A. ELlwood, Sociology: Principles and Problems (New York:
American Book Co., 19l*3)> p. 267, et passim; Frederick E. Lumley,
Principles of Sociology (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1935), pp. 211-
2l2; William F. Ogburn and Meyer F. NLmkoff, Sociology (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 191*6), p. 1*06.

^Eduardo Posada and Pedro M. Ibanez, editors, Belaciones de Mando

(Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1910), pp. Il*9-l50.
many resident vecinos had left the city and lived in the open countiy on

their haciendas and farms.^ And Leiva during the 1750’s was "not even

one half of what it was," according to Basilio Vicente de Oviedo.^

Apparently this decline of the village was for economic reasons, as implied

in the two sources cited. Not a little blame can be placed upon the compo-

siciones, or appraisals of land titles, during the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries, and those laws which required that a Spanish settler

prove economic exploitation of his land and a few years' residence in the

area in order to secure the confirmation of his title (see Chapter VI).

Such a tendency to live on scattered farmsteads was strengthened

by the wars of independence and the period of civil strife ensuing. The

insecurity of life produced by the sweeping pace of armies caused many to

flee to far away mountain fastnesses with families and livestock. This

was observed by foreign travelers during the 1820's.^ Posada Gutierrez

brings accounts of communities emptied by the inhabitants as they fled

07 ,
away to the mountains.-" In Boyaca, however, it seems that faimsteads in

most sections were pretty well scattered when the struggle for independence

and the civil wars started. Evidence for this early scattering is afforded

by those resguardos which were parcelled during the 1830's: Sora, Turmeque,

^Luie Torres de Mendoza, editor, Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos

(Madrid: Frias y Campania, 1868), IX, 1*22-U2h.

^Basilio Vicente de Oviedo, Cualidades y Riquezas del Nuevo Reino

de Granada (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1930), p. 156.

■^Gerard de Mollien, Travels in the Republic of Colombia in the

Years 1822 and 1823 (London: G. Knight, 18 2J4.),pp. 2^9-265.

37Joaquin Posada Gutierrez, Memorias HLstorico-Politicas (Bogota:

Imprenta Nacional, 1929), passim.
 78

Cucaita, Motavita, Samaca, and Tuta all had houses and farmsteads scattered
qO
in the areas of their respective resguardos.-3 This circumstance seemed

to be so general that the law which set forth the procedure to be followed

in parcelling reservations (Law of March 6, 1832) had a provision to cover

such cases. It reads: "For purposes of the adjudication of an allotment

£ of land_7, that family shall be preferred which at the time of the ad­

judication has a house or any other establishment on such an allotment,

Thus, on the basis of available materials, it is clear that the

Spaniards' attempts to implant the village type of settlement in Boyaca

were failures. From almost the very beginning of its transfer to the

zaque1s domain, the village lost the struggle to the scattered farmsteads

which the natives apparently already had. This native type persisted

through the colonial period in spite of constant orders of authoritiesto

curtail it. It was finally adopted by the white descendants of the

Spaniards who, under economic strain or under squatting or pioneering

conditions, abandoned the church-centered pueblos and parroquias and set­

tled out in the open country. Scattered farmsteads thus have predominated

in Boyaca at all times and in most of its geographic regions,

■jD

Particularly clear in this respect are the records of the Tuta

reservation (IB, Leg, Tuta, fols, 19-91),
39 t /
•"Republica de Colombia, Codificacion Nacional de Todas las Leyes
de Colombia (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1925), IV, 3k5*
 CHAPTER V

LAND DIVISION, SURVEYS, AND TITLES

One of the most all-pervasive determinants in rural life is the

system followed in dividing the land among the population. Practically

every aspect of the social system is conditioned by the mode of land

division employed; and notable in this regard is its effects on corrinuni-

cation and transportation. The transfer of property rights is not made

easy when a society does not possess a well-ordered, determinate, and

permanent system of surveying the lands. A lack of a systematic mode of

delineating properties fosters conflict and disputes, as can be observed

in most sections of Latin America and in a large part of the world. In­

accurate land surveys, imperfect boundary description, and overlapping

claims create a feeling of unrest among the rural people— a feeling which

often has led to bloodshed.

Professor Smith has categorized the systems of land division

according to three principal types: **(1) indiscriminate location with

metes and bounds as boundaries; (2) river-front patterns wherein the point

of departure is relatively stable; and (3) rectangular systems founded

upon astronomical observations. In addition, several other varieties of

land division may be placed together in a miscellaneous c a t e g o r y . T h e

system utilized in the department of Boyaci. is almost solely the type of

1T. Lynn Smith, The Sociology of Rural Life (3rd ed.; New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1953), p. 21*6.

79
division by using metes and bounds as boundaries. This is, indeed, the

acme of imperfection in land division. Land division by metes and bounds

has produced here the most indefinite deed descriptions, the most inde­

terminate and impermanent modes of property delineation, and much unrest

and litigation over boundaries. Our attention will be focused in this

chapter on such a highly important aspect of man-land relations.

The Metes and Bounds System

Characteristics of the System.

The people who settled in Boyaca have not evolved or adopted an

orderly system of land division. Individual settlements on new lands

allow almost complete freedom of location, and the settler is permitted

to locate his landmarks on any place which may appear strategic. The sur­

veyors who are supposed to delineate the boundaries and to set them forth

in the deeds in most cases simply recognize the de facto possession of

the settler. In areas of old settlement the same method still prevails;

but here it is supplemented by the presence of neighbors who take part in

the surveying proceeding, and who act as witnesses for the fixing of land­

marks.

This method is simply one of setting the boundaries by walking

around the premises and placing stones and rocks. The main instrument for

the delineation of these properties is a rope called cabuya, which is a

legacy from colonial times. At the present time the cabuya is used mainly

to set the landmarks on straight lines, while most farmers simply calculate

at sight the amount of land included in the surveys. These measures are

given in local units, mostly in fanegadas (one fanegada equals 1.6 acres),
 81

and they are, of course, approximate.2 In Figures 1* and 5, maps can be

seen of farms which have been surveyed according to raetes and bounds.

Stone landmarks, called linderos, are placed at each corner of

the surveyed area and at other strategic locations. Farmers often carve

on them their initials, a cross, or a number. All of these details, the

nature of the boundaries, and how the limits run from stone to stone,

tree to tree, peak to peak, or ravine to ravine, are set forth in the

deeds. Consider the following example:

Tunja, August 17, 195k» Mrs. Mercedes Pedraza de Avila, a resi­

dent of Siachoque, wishes to state, first, that by means of the
present public deed she transfers by sale to Eleuterio Avila . . .
her right of dominion over a property called Los Corrales and located
at the vereda of Puebloviejo in the municipio of Viracacha. Said
property has the following boundaries! The line starts at a stone
which is marked with a cross, and it goes straight to a stone marked
with an A, thence to another one marked with an R, thence to a land­
mark located next to the property of Ludovino Avila . . . thence the
line follows a wire fence until a stone marked with a cross is
reached.3

Once placed by the authorities, no one is supposed to remove these

stone landmarks. In many areas a code of honor has developed among faimers

whereby no one transfers a lindero, thus achieving for the community a

certain amount of security. Plowing is done with much care in order to

avoid uprooting the landmark. In the course of time, most linderos are

o
Only until recent times have farmers started to use metric tapes
for the delineation of properties. The metric system was adopted of­
ficially in Colombia on June 8, 1853, see Luis £. Paez Courvel, Historia
de las Medidas Agrarias Antiguas (Bogota: LLbreria Voluntad, 19Uo),p. 178.
But the old measures have not disappeared. The people of the northern
section of Boyaca, besides the fanegada, still use a dia de buey or dia de
arada reminiscent of the Spanish pariliata (see below)" ancT~the German
Lagemorgenj this is a measure based on the amount of land that can be
plowed in one day by a man and a team of oxen (about one acre).

% , Leg. 195U, No. 1029.

 82

covered by the vegetation -which has grown around them. Sometimes trees

located at a corner or on the edges of a property may be used as land­

marks— deeds often contain such references as "an ingrafted plum tree,"

or “two eucalyptuses."^ Large, ancient, or unusual trees are often given

a proper name or otiierwise identified, and these trees with personality

become important for the delineation of properties. One such venerable

tree, called "la mata de Suda," is one of the landmarks for the communal

lands on the Suse paramo in PueblovLejo.

A much used device is to make reference to neighboring freeholders,

This is shown in the example above. The following is an excerpt from an­

other deed in which such a device is the only one used to determine the

property:

Tunja, August 16, 195k* Manuel Alberto Fonseca, of legal age . . ,

wishes to state • . . that by means of the present public deed he
transfers to Carlos Sandoval Sandoval . . . the right of domain which
the seller has upon a farm which is a part old Belmonte, which farm is
located in the vereda of Soconsuca de Indios and Siatoca at Sotaquira.
The lot, called El Carmen, has the following limits: on the right
side it borders on the property of Refugio Bonilla and his partners,
and on that of Jose Antonio Suarez; a wall in poor condition divides
these properties. At the front, the lot borders on parcels of Josd
Antonio Sudrez which are separated by an adobe wall. On the left
side, the lot borders on property of the seller and the buyer, and
both properties are likewise separated by an adobe wall. And at the
back, the lot borders on the properties of the buyer and of Victoria
Fonseca de Sandoval. . . . This lot is of second class soil, and it
has an extension of four fanegadas approximately. 5

It is evident that the system of land division in Boyaca (and the

same is true elsewhere throughout Colombia) is highly unsatisfactory from

many standpoints. First of all, the system is indefinite; it is almost

^NS, Leg. 195k, Nos. 10kh, 10l*6, 101*9, 1058.

% , Leg. 195k, No. 1020.

 83

impossible for anyone to state precisely the area included in any given

tract of land, and the description must include, as shown in the example

above, such phrases as mas o menos (more or less) and aproximadamente

(approximately). Sometimes parts of the perimeter are never specified.

(
Then the surveys are impermanent; the surface phenomena on which the de­

scriptions are based are not fixed in time and space— creeks change course,

trees die, rocks may be moved. And the system is indeterminate— it is

true that the limits of properties are known with some exactitude at the

time of the surveys (this may be doubtful in many cases), but with the

lapse of time this ceases to be the case. Resurveys are rendered diffi­

cult, if not altogether impossible, especially in those cases where the

boundaries were not specified.^ And finally, reference to neighbors is

<
i
*- entirely inefficient and it verges on the ridiculous; when the limits of

property A are referred to those of property B, and simultaneously the

limits of B are based on those of A, nothing is attained. And when a

neighbor dies, the legal effectiveness of the deed is curtailed.

When properties are unrelated to one another, inaccurate entries

cause different and conflicting titles, foiming what has been termed

"shingle titles." They are the result of extreme vagueness in surveying

and in the description of properties. Conflicts arise easily on account

r
^Paez Courvel distinguishes three types of such incomplete de­
scriptions! (1) those having an "open perimeter," i.e., only part of a
geometric figure specified; (2) the ones in which the”description con­
sisted merely of an indication of the extension of the grant along a given
stream; and (3) those in which the name of the river on which a claim
fronted was given, and also the names of the creeks which marked its limits
on the two sides, but no indication of the boundary at the rear (op. cit.,
p. 206). Cf. Peregrino Ossa V., Medidas Agrarias Antiguas (BogotSt Voto
Nacional, 1939)•
 8h

of such overlapping and ill-defined claims. Offices of the notaries public

and circuit courts in Boyaca are much occupied with the settling of dis­

putes over limits. Such litigation involves the removal of fences or land­

marks (which is easy to do), or the giving of wrong references to linderos.

A noted case which had same international complications can be mentioned in

this regard. When the Texas Petroleum Company purchased two large ha­

ciendas in the Teriitorio Vdsquez for the purpose of prospecting for oil,

one of the comers was described as located on the peak of San Roque.

The company placed the peak on maps in such a way that its holdings were

greatly increased. A field survey and interviews with the local farmers

disclosed the true location of the San Roque summit, but only after many

years of bickering had elapsed.1 In a much smaller scale litigation goes

on among the farmers. The uprooting of bushes, the tearing down of balks,

the attempts to fence in areas greater than those stipulated, and many

other ways of trying to change the boundaries mar that tranquillity of

the countryside which Fray Luis de Leon once praised in his eclogues.

That Boyac£ has been plagued with these conflicts for centuries is

evident from archival investigation. For instance, after the Pauna Indians

were given their resguardos, the Royal Audiencia in 176i* adjudicated, per-
fi
haps unknowingly, part of their lands to the town’s priest. In Motavita,

one Bionisio Cardenas "obtained, I do not know with what title, superior

order to take possession £ of land in the reservation_7, which possession

^Rafael Humberto Bernal, El Territorio V^squez (Tunjas Imprenta

Oficial, 1938), pp. 66-68.

8ANC, Vol. Ill, fol. 611.

 85

was given by Don Jose Rojas, alcalde of Tunja, in spite of the protests

of the Indians arri the corregidor who attended £ the ceremony^•l,5> From

1761 to 1810 the Indians of Guateque were engaged in a feud with Francisco

Javier Castillo over a valley at Ubajuca which the Indians as well as

Castillo claimed as their property.10 These conflicts, often bloody, were

not only between Indians and Spaniards, but also among the Indians them­

selves11 and among Spaniards.12 A faulty system of land division thus

affected adversely the welfare of colonial society. The fact that the

methods of surveying and the ways of determining the property have not

improved since those early days (see below), has promoted and perpetuated

conflicts over land. Only lawyers— a thriving profession in Colombia—

have profited from this state of affairs.

Physical Expressions of the System.

As stated above, deeds in Boyaca contain references to the physi­

cal boundaries of the property. This is inevitable when surveys are based

on simple surface phenomena. The two examples already given describe the

type of fence that separates the lots from the property of neighbors,

namely, adobe walls and wire fences. Many other such physical expressions

^Miguel Ignacio de Padilla to Fiscal Protector de Naturales,

Motavita, July 12, 1796, ANC, Vol. IH, fol. 671.

10ANC, Vol. HI, fols. 522v-6lO.

11A typical conflict of this kind developed in 1688 between the

Indians of Siachoque and Cormechoque whose resguardos were adjacent (ANC,
Vol. I, fols. 137-151).

■^As an example, Agustin de Guevara and Fernando del Ferro fought

in 1763 for a part of Puebloviejo (now a vereda) in Moniquira (ANC, Vol.
IH, fols. 715-730).
 86

of the metes and bounds system of land division are used in Boyaca. They

are called divisiones, and their purpose is to make the claims to the land

more secure. Strategic points are marked with linderos, but farmers also

find it desirable to fill in the intervening space between landmarks with

seme sort of obstacle or visible division such as hedges, fences, wire,

balks, footpaths, and the like. For this purpose, the ingenuity of the

farmer, the local flora, and materials easily found in the neighborhood

play an important part. These divisiones can be classified as follows:

(1) hedges, of which the utilitarian and the decorative or defensive can

be distinguished; (2) fences and walls; and (3) balks and footpaths.

Undoubtedly, the most common inter-farm division in Boyaca is the

hedge or live fence. The utilitarian hedge is one which serves as a

physical boundary and at the same time is a source of income or a useful

asset in farm operations. As such, the fiber-producing fique is prominent,

especially in the Tenza valley, Boyaca, Turmeque, Soata, and Covarachxa.

Hedges of carrizos, a plant which is useful for house roofs, are found in

most parts of the mountainous area of Boyaca. Pasto guatemala, a cattle

fodder of a pale green color which easily contrasts with other grasses

and which grows to a good height, is employed as a division in the Tenza

valley. At San Jose de Pare laborers plant peas (guandul) and beans

(frijol) on the edges of their tracts. In Soata, a single row of corn

planted on the boundaries of workers1 tobacco lots serves to set off their

plots from the landlord's domain. Useful trees are used as live fences;

among them, the most noted are rows of willows and eucalyptuses found in

most of the department, acacias, and pines. Decorative or defensive

 87

hedges are those made up of plants such as cactus (found especially in

Sutamarchan), the thorny shrubs called espinos, and bushes called arrayanes.

Fences and walls are built with local materials. In certain areas

where stone is abundant, it is useful to make stone fences, if for no other

reason than to clear the area for cultivation. These stone fences are

rudely constructed by placing rocks one on top of the other without mortar.

They are especially prominent in QLcata (vereda Poravita), Combita, Cerinza,

Paz de Rfo, Covarachia, San Mateo, Soata, EL Cocuy, and Guican. The

rammed-earth wall (pared maestra) is important in Tuta, Belen, most of the

central region, and Ventaquemada to the south. Ditches called mediaruas

are found in EL Cocuy and Guican, where they separate large farms. Fences

of cut stalks of plants such as the gigantic bamboo called guadua and the

smaller one named chusque are rare. On the other hand, wire fences are

used, although in small stretches, in most of the department.

In areas where land is at a premium, the property is small, and

agriculture is intensive, such as in the municipios of Boyaca and Pueblo-

viejo, neither live fences nor those of stone or adobe are common. In

these localities, balks and narrow paths serving as distinct boundaries

have been formed between holdings.

Historical Background of the System.

Such an unsystematic manner of dividing the land in Boyaca has its

origins in Spain, In fact, land division in Colombia is a good example

of the crystallization of an institution— few more clear cases of a cul­

tural lag could be found.

When the Carolingians detained the Arabs' northward drive in 792

 88

and organized the Spanish Mark, the counts of Barcelona were given powers

to subdivide the new territories among settlers* This was done on the

basis of aprisiones, rural lots which were held under the right of

presuria, or military occupation. For this purpose surveyors walked

around the premises (apeo) and fixed landmarks (petras fictas) * ^ This

is the same system of metes and bounds which still prevails in Spain,

Portugal, and Latin America.

There were other ways of delineating or measuring a grant, such

as the pariliata, which was the amount of land that could be plowed by a

team of oxen in one day, and the modiata, which was the space sown with

an almud of seed. With the rise of the institution of knighthood, grants

of land were given with the purpose of maintaining a horse and assuring

the grantee*s livelihood according to his rank, and such a grant was

called caballeria. ^ Caballerxas were standardized as 60 fanegas of land

(about 95 acres), and they were delineated with metes and bounds like

aprisiones, pariliata, and modiata. In order to insure some clear demar­

cation of the fields, the boundaries of these holdings were planted with

hedges or trees (these were often mentioned in the deeds), or the property

^Eduardo de Hinojosa, EL Regimen Senorial y la Question Agraria

en Cataluna Durante la Edad Media (Madrid, 1905)*

■k^Luis Redonet y Lopez Doriga, Historia Jurxdica del Cultivo y de

la Industria Ganadera en Espana (Madrid, 1918); Francisco de CArdenas,
Ifrisayo Sobre la Historia de laPropiedad Territorial en Espana (Madrid:
J. Noguera, I87i*-1&75), l/ 218-2251 Cf* Antonio Ballesteros
y Beretta, Historia de Espana y su Influencia en la Historia Universal
(Barcelonat Salvat Editores, 1955)* II, 697, ^L6.

^•^Ballesteros y Beretta, o£. cit*, H , 896.

 89

was enclosed with stone fences

When metes and bounds surveys were transferred by the conquerors

from Spain to the New World, regional adaptations occurred. According to

Leon Pinelo, caballerias were defined in Hispaniola in terms of fanegas

of yucca.^ Peonxas (grants to foot soldiers, of about one-fifth the size

1o
of a caballerla) and estancias were delineated with metes and bounds.

There were units of measure for these grants, but they varied from place

to place (see below). The situation was chaotic considering that the

agricultural produce could be used as a defining standard. Where yucca

was not grown, for instance, wheat caballerias or wheat estancias were

granted (estancias de pan coger). These wheat estancias were of common

occurrence in the Tunja province.

Even though cabildos, or town councils, were watchful of the

grants which they made, the delineation and delimitation of the fields

were ineffective. To start with, descriptions of the location of the

property contained in the application for a grant were vague. Grants can

be found in Boyaca archives in which indications on the size of the hold­

ings are no more than "from such a place to the divide which one is able

•*~^Ibid., II, 895. Cf. J.^Corolau e Inglada, El Feudal!smo y la

Servidumbre de la Gleba en Cataluna (Gerona, 1878).

■^Antonio de Leon PLnelo, Tratado de las Confimaciones Reales

(Madrid, 1630), pp. 85-86.
1ft
It has been claimed that estancias have their origin in private
large dehesas in Extremadura, New Castile, and Andalusia, which were for
ganado~esiahte, i.e., cattle consigned to private lands. Even the curious
circular estancias of Cuba appear to have their precedents in the Spanish
peninsula. See Luciano Serrano, Cartulario de San Mill4n de la Cogolla
(Madrid, 1930), pp. 205, 2kO-2kl} cf. Charles Julian Bishko, "The Pen-
insular Background of Latin American Cattle Ranching," The Hispanic
American Historical Review, XXXII (1952), 512.
 90

to see,fl or “following the course of two creeks down the ridge toward the

Panche £ territory J." Applicants such as Luis Zapata Cabeza de Vaca were

free to ask for, and receive, "una estancia de pan mas o menosn (one wheat

estancia, more or less) in which the “m^s" was obviously the case.^ Left

to the discretion of the owner, limits of holdings could just as well be

on the crest of a hill as in the valley bottom.

The grants, or cedulas, were indefinite and the deeds, or escri-

turas, resulting therefrom, although descriptive of boundaries, were

scarcely more explicit. Witness, for instance, the following exceipts

from the deed entitling the Turmeque Indians to their reservation*

Following orders received, I, the alcalde, left this pueblo ac­

companied by the corregidor, the gobemador, the lieutenants and other
officials, and by a large number of Indians, Spanish vecinos, and
Francisco Gorraez £ owner of a property neighboring the reservation^/.
We arrived at the lands of Teguaneque and went to a hill called Custa
at the foot of which there is a large rock— this is a division point
between the lands of Teguaneque and those of said Gorraez. Then we
went down this hill skirting a large crevice and toward a big rock,
thence on the slopes toward a bigger rock with a cave underneath,
which rock is said to be called Piedra Gorda. We decreed that two
landmarks be built, and I dug with a spade on the locations where
these landmarks should be constructed. Next we went downhill to a
stony protrusion, thence to a ravine, and we passed near a house which
said Gorraez has built on said protrusion. We left said house on the
right and followed the ravine until we reached the heads of a dry
creek; thence we followed the creek to the Turmeque River.
All of the land which we have seen on the left forms the domains
of Teguaneque. I gave possession of this land to the gobemador. In
the name of all the Indians under his command, the gobemador peace­
fully and quietly took possession of said lands. And said gobemador
walked over the land and uprooted plants as a sign of possession, with
which act the lands of Teguaneque were formally united to those of the
reservation of this pueblo.^

•^Luis Zapata Cabeza de Vaca to the Cabildo, Tunja, July 31, 1597,
ANC, Vol. Ill, fol. 5W*v.

^Diligencias de Posesion de Teguaneque, Turmeque, November 28,

1777, ANC, Cund., Vol. I, fols. 16-17.
 91

Note the detailed and lengthy description of the boundaries, the

problems of syntax, and the confusing vise of "right*1 and "left." Linderos

are set forth, and there is the record of the presence of witnesses and a

neighboring freeholder as well as of the traditio, or formal ceremony per­

formed. The efficacy of this deed, however, depended on the stability of

creeks, rocks, divides, and houses, and on the life of one neighbor.

The indefiniteness of colonial deeds was due, in a large degree,

to the inexact nature of survey methods and instruments. The surveyor in

charge of delineating the property went about his business with the agave-

fiber cabuya and a rod called vara. These instruments were inaccurate and

had many local variations. For instance, the vara could be of the Burgos

variety, y~> inches long, or of the Santa Fe type, 33 inches long, ^ or of

OO
the Villa de Leiva kind, with exact length unknown at present.“ The ca­

buya was to have in length 76 varas of the Santa Fe variety, 67 varas of

the Villa de Leiva type, or even 100 varas at times, ^ and it had to be

stretched periodically on account of the damp weather. If it happened

that the surveyor forgot to mention in the deed the kind of taping instru­

ment he used, as often was the case, the resurveys made necessary by

conflicting claims were impaired. Even a variation as small as an inch

in the length of the tape used could be quite important when large land­

holdings were measured.

^Paez Courvel, op. cit., pp. 138-Ujl.

^The Moniquira reservation near Leiva was measured in 1595 by

Egas de Guzman with one such vara (ANC, Vol. Ill, fol. 31)«

^The Tuta reservation was measured in 1636 by Juan de Valcarcel

with a cabuya of 100 varas in length (ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 9v).
 92

After independence was achieved from Spain, the formal traditio

slowly gave way in Boyaca to the modern register. But far lack of a perma­

nent and determinate system of land division and surveys, the titles

remained indefinite. Complications arose in the description of small

properties, especially in connection with Indian parcels subdivided from

reservations. When the Indian resguardos were large units, it was not too

difficult to name the relatively few neighbors and to describe the limits

in terras of the surface features. But when hundreds of lots were plotted

and given to the Indians during the nineteenth century, the old custom be­

came a burden indeed. The problem was how to describe those small lots

when there were no readily distinguishable features, such as trees, or

fences, to which to refer. Surveyors tried to solve this impasse in dif­

ferent ways, but the majority agreed essentially on the following procedure:

they kept the custom of indicating the persons whose properties were

adjacent to the plot, stipulated the length of the boundary with each neigh­

boring lot, and ordered that landmarks be placed on each corner of the

plot. The following example of what became an actual description of the

land subdivided among Indians at Samaca will illustrate such cases:

Granted to Felipe Iglesias 8,750 square varas of land. This lot

is bounded thus: Its first side, of 100 varas in length, borders on
the land of Antonio Quinche; the second side, of 87 varas in length,
borders on the land of Antonio Pire; the third side, of 112 varas in
length, borders on the land of Alto Grande. Markers were placed on .
each angle of the triangle formed by the lot. Possession was given.

No more precarious limits could have been determined, and no more

defective titles devised, to say nothing of the completely irregular form

^Diligencias del Reparto de Samaca, March 29, 1837, NP, Leg.

Samaca y Sotaquird, folios not numbered.
 93

of the perimeter described in the deed. Such titles were the starting

point of countless transactions and inheritances among the people of

Boyacaj it can be imagined how new deeds based upon such original titles

were conceived. The indefiniteness of the colonial system multiplied a

thousand times with the passing of time, made the system of land division

a chaos and a shame. ^

Land Division on Parcellaiion Projects

Many haciendas have been recently subdivided either by the govern­

ment or by their owners, but the manner of laying off the plots for the

individual settlers has not shown any marked advance over the colonial

systems. These subdivisions have simply amounted to the breaking up of

some large holdings into smaller tracts which are delineated according to

the same faulty methods of the past. Perhaps the main advantage of these

subdivisions is the securing of an accurate map of the property. In sub­

divisions of government haciendas the new method calls for the establish­

ment of numbered landmarks (mojones). When deeds are given to the,

purchasers, boundaries are defined in teims of these landmarks. However,

the resulting description is a curious mixture of the old patterns and the

new. There is still little clarity, and lengthy references are made to

trees, rocks, neighbors, and paths. Consider the following example, which

can be regarded as the most advanced type of deed in Boyaca. at the present

time i

^-*For further comments on the subject, see Luis F. Latorre,

Registro y Matricula de la Propiedad (Bogotai Imprenta Nacional, 1933),
p. 39*
 91*

The boundaries of the lot are as follows: starting at landmark 3,

which is located near a guamuche tree, at ten meters from the Canaveral
creek, the boundary line goes straight to landmark 1* at the side of the
road to Isama. The line crosses said road and continues to landmark 5j
thence on a divide to landmark ll* . . . thence the line passes by a
pond which serves as a water reservoir for the buildings.2°

Surveys for Unpatented Lands

Most of the mountainous area of Boyaca— and of Colombia— has been

already settled according to the inefficient and expensive system of metes

and bounds described above. But there are large sections in this depart­

ment which are still virgin and for the settlement of which more modern

and rational systems of division could be profitably employed. However,

little has been done by the government in order to end this lack of system

and to close the cultural lag which exists. The national congress, which

in 1932 had revised the method of registration of deeds, had before it in

19i*L* a draft which could have done away with the feeble correspondence

between field reality and deed description and could have improved tremen­

dously the system of land division. After a plan was presented by Pro­

fessor T. Lynn Smith, the department of lands of the Minis try of National

Economy asked Congress to adopt a somewhat revised form of the astronomi­

cal survey and rectangles which has been in force in the United States

since 1785#^ A bill providing for this had passed the lower house of

^Archivo del Instituto de Colonizaci6n e Inraigraci6n, Bogotd,

Escritura C/T-3.967.85 (6-033), Bogota, March 8, 1951.

2?Cf. T. Lynn Smith, "Colonization and Settlement in Colombia,"

Rural Sociology, XII (June, 191*7) • In regard to the public domain accu­
rate maps were ordered according to Law 61* of 1915, see Manuel E.
Carvajalino and Luis E. Mart£nez, Compilaeion Sobre Baldfos (Bogota, 1937),
pp. 79-80. For the settlement of the Territorio VAsquez it was stipulated
in 1893 that the department of Boyaca had to survey the region and make
maps prior to adjudications, as a factor sine qua non for the acquisition
 95

Congress and was awaiting action by the Senate when the grave political

crisis took place which eventually led to virtual civil war throughout

the Republic, a long crisis from which the country is only now recovering.

The system recommended by Professor Smith provides for laying off

the entire country into square degrees by projecting all the degrees of

latitude and longitude across its territory. Some of the details of this

system are as follows:

Each of the squares formed in this manner is given a number on a

base map. The actual survey lines would be run as needed and only a
little in advance of actual settlement. In the surveys each square
degree would be divided into square sections and lots. . . . The lots,
including 100 hectares or 2li7 acres, would frequently be snail enough
for family farms without further subdivision, but the plan allows for
dividing each of them into 25-hectare tracts if it is deemed advisable.
To deed a given acreage of land according to this system, it is neces­
sary only to indicate the parcels, lot, section, square, and degree
involved. Far example, if degree No. 75 fell in the Amazon Valley
near Leticia, the title to 50 hectares might read "parcels a and b of
lot B, section 17, square 9, degree 75.

This advantageous system may in time be adopted in parts of

Colombia. It is necessary to have a stable frame of reference for such

important functions as the identification of holdings, the determination

of conveyances, and the clear establishment of chains of titles. Exact

land determination and security of title and domain for the farmers should

be foremost in the mind of social planners. Not until these essential

aspects of land division are successfully dealt with, will indefinite

titles and precarious holdings cease to plague rural life in BoyacA.

of full domain. See Departamento de Boyaca, Territorio Vasquez: Mensura

de Baldios (Tunja: Imprenta del Departaraento, 1922), p. 31.
28Smith, Sociology, pp. 270-272.
 CHAPTER VI

LAND TENURE

The subject of land tenure is as old as civilization itself.^-

The manner of holding land, which is closely related to the sustenance of

the rural population, is often at the root of vital dynamic processes in

society. For this reason the subject of land tenure in BoyacA deserves a

lengthy and detailed treatment.

The present tenure status of the population of BoyacA is virtually

meaningless when, it is devoid of proper historical perspective. Thus the

chapter opens with a discussion of the evolution of property rights since

colonial times: the all-important establishment of estates through land

grants and the Indian resguardos, or reservations, the creation of the

system of resident labor, the decay of resguardos, and the rise of indi­

vidual ownership in land since independence from Spain was achieved.

There are great variations in BoyacA in the way lands are held

and in the length of time for which such lands are secure. Such vari­

ations range from ownership in fee simple— when an individual enjoys

absolute rights to use and dispose of the land as he wishes except for

the eminent domain retained by the government— to a serf-like condition

where the individual has but little rights over the land. There are many

degrees of difference between these two extremes, depending on the number

^T. Lynn Stadth, The Sociology of Rural Life (3rd ed.j New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1953), p. 274*
 97

of rights which may be obtained from the "package* or "bundle” of rights*

These subtle differences are examined, in so far as they are observable

in Boyaca, in the second secticn of this chapter.

The Conqueror's Domain, 1537-1595

The initial fifty-eight years of the colonial period in Boyaca

appear to have been a time of transition in which Spanish colonizers were

in practice the lords of all the lands. The Indians simply cultivated

lots in order to pay tributej they had no specific title to defend them­

selves from the encroachment of the white settlers* This early period of

settlement can be defined as seignorial (senorial)* Only two tenurial

positions were noticeable* (1) the Spanish settlers who had received

titulos de merced or who had usurped the land of the Indians entrusted to

them, as well as those caciques, or chiefs, who had secured individual

titles in land; and (2) the natives, who to all purposes were mere serfs*

It was to be expected that the Spanish conquerors would attempt

to transplant to the New World the only tenurial system with which they

were acquainted, namely, the seignorial. In this they were actually per­

petuating the principle of manu captere established by the Romans and

later practiced by the Visigoths in Spain. The baronial patrocinlum,

which may be considered as one of the sources of the feudal estate, can

be traced back to such military grants of the Romans in agri vectigales.

Likewise, the Visigoths' campos vacantes were the starting point for the

development of a pastoral economy in Spain, and, eventually, for the

 98

p
establishment of seignoiial estates.

However, in a c o m try governed by Christians, such as Spain in

the middle of the fifteenth century, the principle of raanu captere had

been tempered by the Church. God, as the sole possessor of the earth,

had to be recompensed for the enjoyment of the new lands. Thus one of

the first moves of Ferdinand and Isabella after the return of Columbus

was to settle the matter of sovereignty with God*s Vicar, Pope Alex­

ander VI. Pope Alexander, after due political considerations, issued

his bull Inter Caetera establishing the title of domain of the Castilian

kings over the newly discovered lands.^

There were dissenting opinions. First to rebel was Diego Col6n,

who claimed complete dominion; but he was quickly defeated. Then, among

others, came Fray Bartolome de las Casas, who believed that the Indians

were the legal and natural possessors of their lands. The debate pro­

ceeded for many years until Sollrzano explained that the Indies had

"united to the kingdoms of Castile by accession, without forming a sepa­

rate k i n g d o m . T h i s doctrine eventually triumphed. Even though most

conquerors and first settlers in America were private entrepreneurs, the

Castilian Crown became the actual repository of eminent domain and the

final arbiter on who was entitled to occupy the Indian Territories. The

2 /
Caspar Melchor de Jovellanos, "Infoxme de la Sociedad Economica
de Madrid . • • en el Expedients de la Ley Agraria," in Obras Bscogidas
de Jovellanos (Paris* Gamier Hermanos, 1887), pp. 329-3^1

%ario Congora, El Estado en el Derecho Indtano (Santiago de

Chile: Universidad de Chile, 1£51), p. 36.

^Tbid., p. 1|1.
 99

land of the New World became simply one of the many regalias of the

state.^

The Indians were declared subjects of the king of Castile, but

they did not lose the totality of their ancient organization. Comnunities

and customs were allowed to continue in so far as they were compatible

with the Christian religion, the natural law, and the pleasure of the

king. Indians could only be entrusted to a conqueror or settler for

religious training; their labor and tributes were to be fixed and super­

vised. Such a system, called enccroienda, proscribed the actual use by

the encomendero of the land occupied by Indians. If the enccmendero or

settler wished to have land of his own, he had to apply for it separately

and to have the title confirmed by the king.

Titles of enccmienda issued in Spain clearly differentiated the

possession of land from the enjoyment of Indian labor. The Indians con­

tinued to be the owners of their land, at least in principle. However,

those who applied the law in Boyaca, apparently still gazing at the

senorlos of the Spanish peninsula, took the liberty of disregarding the

royal orders. This was the time of **se obedece pero no se cumple,• an

amazing historical period brought into prominence by Cortes when he dis­

regarded the royal instructions in 1523. It was well to apply for

titulos de merced of caballer£as, peonias, and estancias, but the Indian

land was an ever-present temptation. The system of behetrxas, which was

closely related to that of encamiendas, as practiced originally in Castile

^Jose Maria Ots Capdequf, Nuevos Aspectos del Siglo XVTII Espanol
en America (Bogota: Editorial Centro, l£i*6), p. 132.
carried with it juridical rights over the land.^ The tendency was natu­

rally strong to do the same in the Indies without having to wait for

confirmation of titles. The result of this independent attitude was the

creation of an autochthonous law, the derecho indiano, built upon the

right of conquest and established through the initial autonony of the

town councils or cabildos.

One practical end of this pragmatic code was the giving of Indians

together with their land. The c6dulas, or royal orders, given to Gonzalo

Jimdnez de Quesada constitute a good example of this abuse. An original

title of encomienda issued to him by King Philip at Aranjuez, on

October 16,1560, stipulates that Don Gonzalo was to receive "a number of

vassals in perpetuity from some of the repartimientos that /"the King_/

has in that kingdom, together with the earnings which he is entitled to

receive.'1^ The Real Audiencia at Santa Fe dutifully adjudicated to

Quesada "some Indians in the jurisdiction of Tun ja, Chita, Chiscas, La Sal,

the Llanos, and Motavita," stating that Quesada would have the Indians

••without taking their lands.'1 But eight years later, during the process

of application of the royal cddula, President Venero de Leiva blandly

gave en encomienda to Quesada some Indians vacated in the llanos, "with

^Jos6 Marla Ots Capdequi, El Estado Espaflol en las Indias (Mexico:

Fondo de Culture Econdmica, 1946); Antonio Ballesteros y Beretta, Historia
de Espafla y su Influencia en la Historia Universal (Barcelona: Salvat
Editores, 1944)> II, ^89-
^Jos6 Mojica Silva, Relacidn de Visitas Coloniales (Tunja: Imprenta
Oficial, 1946), p. 13. Repartimiento was a distribution of Indians. See
Fray Pedro de Aguado, Recopilaci6n Historial (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1930),
I, 55-53*
 101

all chiefs, captives and subjects, Including with said four hundred

houses, all lands and farms, annexed or belonging to said Indians.11^

Likewise, the title of encomienda issued by President Antonio

GonzAlez to Pedro Daza for Indians at Pesca, on March 7, 1591, stated

that the natives were encomendados, ,fwith all the chiefs, principal

captains, Indians, and their lands and f a r m s T h e stipulation that the

Spaniards were to live in cities (parroquias) separated from the Indian

pueblos apparently curtailed the development of the time manor with a

mansion and resident serfs. The anomalous mixture of land and encomienda

terminated when the Indians involved were given reservations of land and

when the boundaries of their lands were delineated in the field, a legal

process which, as will be seen, did not start in full force in BoyacA

until 1595.

The origin of legal land property in BoyacA lies not in the titles

of encomienda but in the tltulos de mereed granted to Spanish settlers and

to some Indian caciques by the king, audiencias, royal representatives,

and cabildos. In order to obtain title in fee simple from the king, the

Spanish settler had to prove sooner or later that he had not displaced

any Indians from the land, that he had lived in the area for at least four

years, and that he was actually cultivating or putting the land to good

economic use.^® When new settlements were made under a capitulacidn. or

®This titulo de encomienda is dated February 21, 1568 (Mojica,

op. cit.. pp. 15-16). Italics are those of the present writer.
9Ibid.. pp. 37-38.
^Guillermo HernAndez Rodriguez, De los Chibchas a la Colonia y a
la Repdblica (BogotA: Universldad Nacional, 1949), p. 186; Ots Capdequi,
Rfegimen de Tierra, pp. 44-47.
 102

agreement, the leader was empowered to distribute caballerias and peonaas

in the countryside and solares, or lots, in the city. Such was the case

in Tunja and Villa de Leiva, where the land was thus adjudicated by

Gonzalo Suarez Rendon and Juan de Otalora.11 likewise, certain caciques

such as Diego Gacha of Tuta managed to obtain amparos, or protective

titles, frcm the Real Audiencia for the land occupied by them as chiefs,

titles which were confirmed by royal visitadores, or inspectors.12

In spite of provisions to the contrary,1^ the Church managed to

secure sizeable holdings frcm private individuals, in the form of

capellanlas. According to Castilian law, these lands could not be sold

without the consent of the capellan, and this virtually amounted to en­

cumbrance ab aetemo, Even though the lands of the Church did not attain

very large proportions until the eighteenth century, it is well to take

note of the beginning of this process of formation of entailed estates.

It appears that the first important capellanias were those bequeathed by

Suarez Renddn in different sections of his huge domains.1^ Many other

11arrique Ortega Ricaurte, editor, IAbro de Cabildos de la Cibdad

de Tunja, (BogotA: Imprenta Municipal, 19hl), pp. 22-25, It2-h5; Humberto
Plazas 0., Villa de Leiva (Tunja, n.d.), pp. 30-31.

12ANC, Vol. VI, fol. llv, also see "Cedula de Amparo" for Juan de
Mayorca, principal Indian at Sativa, dated April 23, l58u, in Mojica, op.
cit., p. 221.

1% e e Iibro IV, Titulo 12 of the Recopilacion de Leyes de las

Indias. There were laws against the accumulation of property by the
Church as early as the Cortes de Benavente and Ndjera; most fueros
municipales adopted such restrictions, which were confirmed between
1^32 and 1535. Cf. Jovellanos, og. cit., pp. 393-395.

■^NL colas Garcia Samudio, Crdnica de don Gonzalo Sudrez Renddn

(Bogotds Imprenta Nacional, 1939), pp. 110-112, 201,
 103

conquerors imitated their leader. By 1617, the Church not only had small

capellanias and land held by cofradias, but large estates in Boyacd,

such as the one called La Higuera at Paipa. This trend continued as

large entailed estates were formed around Cerinza,^ Chiquinquird,'*'7

Tiband,^* T6paga,^9 and Samacd.2®

Mayorazgos, or entailed private properties which are transmitted

to the first-born son, did not appear until the seventeenth century, when

the marquisate of Surba-Bonza was established near Paipa. There is no

known record of any other mayorazgo having been established in Boyacd.

The Establishment of Indian Reservations, 1595-1642

The effort of the colonial government to establish Indian reser­

vations in Boyacd was most successfully carried out from 1595 to 1642.

This was a period of triumph of the royal patron over the local power of

the encomenderos. Indian collective estates were delineated in the field

and bounded on the sides by the lands granted to private individuals.

From a serf-like status the Indian was technically lifted to the position

15ANC, Vol. II, fols. 449-827; Vol. VI, fol. 2.

16ANC, Vol. V, fols. 86-86v. 17ANC, Vol. V,fol. 320.
^ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 938-942. 19ANC, Vol. VII,fols. 304-359.
20ANC, Vol. VII, fols. 875-963.
^ h i s mayorazgo was held by the Castillo y Guevara family since
the early part of the seventeenth century. The marquisate was bestowed
upon Luis Ignacio Diego de Castillo Guevara y Caicedo by Charles III in
1771* A well known member of this family was Francisca, a nystic who is
among the first writers of the colonial period in Colombia. See Guillermo
Hemdndez de Alba and Alfonso Heraindez de Alba, Estudios Histdricos
(BogotA: Ediciones Colombia, 1926), pp. 305-330.
 101*

of a lessee of the Spanish king. The revision, of titles ordered by King

Philip in 1591 according to the first Cedula del Pardo upset the two-

layer pyramid referred to above with the inclusion of protected collective

holders.22 Moreover, it definitely curtailed the use of native labor in

such a manner that new tenurial situations arose. The definitive push for

this revolution came, not frcm the Cedula del Pardo (although this cedula

from the holder of eminent domain set forth his wish for a change), but

frcm the Ordenanzas promulgated on September 22, 1593, by Antonio Gonzalez,

Captain General of the New Kingdom of Granada and President of the Real

Audiencia.2^ Gonzalez ordered that a survey be made of the de facto situ­

ation created by the settlers and that the land be formally given to the

Indians.^

The oidor chosen by President Gonzalez to perform this work in

Boyaca was Andres Egas de Guzman, a senior member of the Royal Council.

The first Indian communities to be given back the land “which is theirs”

Cf. Hernandez Rodriguez, 0£. cit., p. 186; Ots Capdequi,

Regimen de la lierra, pp. 1*1-68. Distinct frcm the Spanish grants, the
Indian titles were given for collectivities rather than far individuals.
In this it has been claimed that the colonial authorities were preserv­
ing the indigenous system of social organization. Communal ownership,
however, does not necessarily go with primitive peoples. Studies of the
Algonquins of Canada, the Tolowa of California, and the Veddas of Ceylon,
among others, have disclosed that private ownership is possible in *non-
civilized" societies. As for the Chibcha Indians who occupied the
mountain area of Boyacd, it is suspected that they also knew the principles
of inheritance and private ownership, although no definitive study has been
made on the subject. See Juan de Castellanos, Historia del Nuevo Reino de
Granada (Madrid* A. Perez Dubrull, 1886), I, 38, 1*7, 190; and Iiborio
Zerda, El Dorado (Bogot£t Editorial Cahur, 191*8), pp. 11*2-114*.

23jos6 Manuel Groot, Historia Eclesi&stica y Civil de Nueva Granada

(Bogota* M. Rivas y Cia., 1889), I, $16-520.

2liIbid., p. 519
were those located in Chiquinquiri (September 6, 1 5 9 5 ) , Honquira (Oc­

tober 13, 1 5 9 5 ) , and Iguaque (October 29, 1595).27 These communities

had had their respective tribute-collecting encomenderos. In each case

Egas de Guzman made a census of Indians and went to the field to deline­

ate the boundaries. In Iguaque he also separated a comnunal-crop land

within the reservation area.

These reservations were not given in fee simple to the Indians.

The land could not be sold or rented to outsiders, and the limits were

fixed until an official revision was made* The fact that the Indian

land never really left the realms of the regalia may be seen in the ad­

justments made in the grants every time an inspection was made. If it

was found that the natives bad decreased in numbers, a part of the reser­

vation was separated and sold, the proceedings going to the king's

treasury. This prerogative of the king was exercised often during the

eighteenth century, when the wars with England required extraordinary

financial measures. Sometimes the titles to reservations came to be

nothing more than precaria, when -whole communities were displaced from

their resguardos after these were sold in toto for the king's benefit

(see below). Thus the situation of the Boyaca Indians in regard to the

tenure of reservation land approached the form of a lease, a sort of foro

by which tenure was allowed for a number of generations*

The visits of Egas de Guzman are not compie tely documented, but it

can be established that he delineated and issued the titles for the

2*ANC, Vol. V, fols. 311-321. 26ANC, Vol. HI, fols. 1-11*5.

27ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 1*31-1*62j cf. Mojica, o£. cit., pp. 3l*-36.
resguardos at Tinjaca,28 Moniquira,Cucaita (December 16, 1595),30

Turmeque (May 18, 1596), 3^" Pesca (June 8, 1596),32 Tuquecha-Moquecha

(June 21, 1596),33 Cultiva (July 9, 1596),3^ Sogamoso (August 31, 1596),3^

Bonza (September 25, 1596), 38 Ocusa (October 25, 1596),37 Sora (November 2,

1596),38 Samaca (November 27, 1596),3^ Sichaca (May, 1 5 9 6 ) , Bombaza

(June 28, 1596),1,1 Iza (July lit, 1 5 9 6 ) , Toca (March 20, 1596),**3 and

Guaquira (July 7, 1596).^

It has been correctly stated that the whole legislation for the

Indies "rested upon a basis of m i s t r u s t . T h e kings of Castile, vigi­

lant of their authority, devised a balance of powers among audiencias,

viceroys, oidores, inspectors, visitadores, and other officials and insti­

tutions, The mentality of the "fifth column1' seemed to be ever present

during colonial times. Once a government official was relieved of his job,

he was residenciado, that is, he had to be responsible for any prosecution

which may have resulted from his exercise of authority. Full investigations

were warranted. Thus when Egas de Guzman left, his successor, Luis Enriquez,

undertook to investigate the resguardos already granted. Enriquez not only

28ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 902-905. 25>Mojica, 0£. rit., p. 227.

30ANC, Vol. V, fols. 921-922. 31ANC, Cund., Vol. I, fols. 9-18.

32Mojica, og. cit., p. 37. 33Ibid., p. 39. 3^Ibid., pp. U2—U3•

3^ANC, Vol. I, fol 20l*v. 38Mojica, o£. cit., p. 1*1,

37Ibid., p. 38. 38Ibid., p. 1*2*. 39Ibid., p. 1*5.

k°ibid., p. 51*. ^ b i d . , p. 58. ^2Ibid., p. 63.

^3Ibid., p. 72 ^Ibid., p. 60.

^Ots Capdequi, Regimen de Tierra, p. 58.

 107

inspected the work done by Egas but he also adjudicated new lands. New

reservations were established either by Enriques or his deputy, Antonio

Beltran de Guevara, at Scmondoco (October 31, 1601), Cocuy-Panqueba

(January 30, 1602), Soata (February 7, 1602), Tapagua, Quelpa, Culagua,

Tempaquela, Pisquira, Ravicha-Chilagaula (February 2ht 1602), Guaca

(May 20, 1602), Arcabucazo (June 12, 1602), Socota (January 19, 1602),

Sumita (February 19, 1602), and Cerinza (January 8, 1602).^ Stipulations

were the same— -the Indians were to keep their land as lessees, and the

corregidores were to protect it from Spanish invaders.

Subsequent visitadores and oidores continued to inspect the previ­

ous work and to create new reservations, until the mountainous area of

Boyaca was well covered with organized Indian communities holding col­

lective titles to their land. One such visitador was Lesmes de Espinosa

Saravia, who, on June 28, 1617, granted a reservation at Pare.^ But

foremost was the work of LLcenciado Juan de Valcarcel, who in 1635 es­

tablished resguardos at the following localities* Tequia (August 25),^

Chiseas-Tunebos (September 2),^ Guican-Panaueba-El Cocuy (September 13),^

Chita (October 3),^ Beteitiva (October 31),^ Ccmbita (December 15>),^

^^Mojica, oj-)* ci>if«^ pp« [(6*1061 178j ANC, Cund*, VoX* X, foXs*
llv-12.

^Mojica, og. cit., p. 218.

^8Ibid., pp. 170-171. ^Ibid., p. 173.

^°ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 663v; Mojica, og. cit., p. 179*

^Mojica, og. cit., pp. I8ii-l85.

^?ANC, Vol. IV, fol. 206; Mojica, og. cit., p. 182.

^Mojica, og. cit., p. 186.

 108

and Motavita.^* In 1636, Valcarcel gave reservations to Indians at

Garagoa, Tenza (January 20),^ Tibana (February 2 1 ) , Remiriqui

(February 27),^ Boyaca (March 1 2 ) , Mongui (April 21),^° QLcata-Nerauza

(July 6),^* Tuta (July 1 2 ) , Suta (October S>)>^ and Tibasosa-Nobsa-

Chameza.^1

Valcarcel*s work differed somewhat from that of his predecessors

in the manner of distribution of land. While Egas de Guzman and Enriquez

merely set the boundaries of the resguardos and determined the communal-

crop lands, Valcarcel established also communal pastures or potreros.

These were usually located on the hills above the pueblos.

The intensive period of organization of legal resguardos closed

with the tour of Diego Carrasquilla Maldonado in 161*2. As was the case

with Valcarcel, Carrasquilla Maldonado inspected the previous work and

adjudicated new reservations. Apparently most of the Indian communities

^ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 665-668.

ct
PPANC, Vol. II, fol. 506v.

56ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 782-786.

^7ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 91*0.

^Mojica, og. cit., p. 206.

59ANC, Vol. V, fol 986v.

^ANC, Vol. Ill, fol. 7705 Mojica, o£. cit., p. 197

^■Mojica, o£. cit., p. 191*

^2ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 9-l5j Mojica, oj>. cit., pp. 192-191*.

^Mojica, 0£. cit., p. 202.

^ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 952v.

by then had been grouped,^ because the available record of this visitador

shows the establishment of only three resguardos, those at Gachantiva,

Turca,^ and Sorocota (November 22).

Reservations continued to be organized and confirmed sporadically

in subsequent years. Ninety-four of them have been documented, and there

may have been more. But the local settlers were not entirely idle*

Forces were already at work with the intent of undexmining the structure

of the resguardos. Out of this struggle between the Spanish settlers and

their insecure neighbors new tenurial arrangements arose. In this manner,

after 161x2 the history of Boyaca is no longer filled with the record of

resguardos being granted everywhere; rather, the documents start to show

the overwhelming atmosphere of conflict, maladjustment, and insecurity

which permeated rural life. A new act was starting in the tragedy of the

Indian who, while attempting to defend his land was, in reality, battling

for his life.

Amparos and the Origin of the System of

Resident Labor, 161x2-1751i.

In a sense, the adjudication of resguardos amounted to an amparo,

that is, to an act of protection. The Indians needed the protection of

^Archival documents indicate that there were numerous resguardos

practically everywhere in the mountain area of Boyaca. Besides the com­
munities mentioned in the text, reservations were also established in
Agustilia, Boavita, Busbanza, Carsi, Chitaraque, Chivata, Citaquepa,
Coper, Coxmechoque, Duitama, Firavitoba, Gameza, Giramena, Guacamayas,
Guateque, Labranzagrande, Mongua, Morcote, Muzo, Oizaga, Paipa, Fauna,
Faya, Raquira, Saboya, Sachica, Sativa, Siachoque, Soaca, Socha,
Sotaquira, Susacon, Tasco, Tobasia, T^paga, Tota, Tutasa, and Viracacha.
The date of establishment of each one of these reservations is uncertain
(ANC, Vols. I-VIj ANC, Cund., Vol. I).

^ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 997-1002. 67Mojica, 0£. cit., p. 208.

 110

the authorities especially in regard to labor, because the Spaniards in

the New World imitated the real hidalgos and rejected menial activities.

If it was necessary to work the farms in order to secure a title, such

work was to be done by slaves, not by the neo-aristocrats. This attitude,

as well as pressing economic and political needs, was recognized by visita-

dores and oidores; these had to permit the use of Indians in private and

public pursuits. The "personal service" for encomenderos allowed for the

use and abuse of native hands.

The nri-ta minera was among the first systems established in Boyaca

for the determination of Indian labor. The silver mines at Mariquita had

a share of miner's from Boyaca, and later the work at the emerald mines at

Muzo were also subject to official regulations. The most important of

68
these regulations was promulgated by Juan de Borja on March 9, 1612.

The fate of the mitayos agricolas, or agricultural wage hands,

deserves close attention. When the Spanish landlords could no longer

claim the land and the Indian in one package, the need was felt for a

system which permitted the natives to work in haciendas. A system was

devised whereby the cacique of each reservation was to furnish a certain

number of able-bodied Indians, distributing them among the Spanish farms

of the surroundings. A redistribution of personnel was to be made each

year, according to manpower and the needs of the local farms. Such Indi­

ans were entitled to a wage and to the application of certain regulations,

^®Heroimdez Rodriguez, op. cit., pp. 261-262. Cf. Banco de la

Republics, Esmeraldas de Colombia (Bogoti: Banco de la Republics, 191*8),
pp. 59-68.
 Ill

such as an eight-hour workday.^ As time passed, the laborers thus engaged

were called concertados.

The earliest reference to concertados in Boyaca in the available

documents is in the titles of the reservation of Soaca, issued by Egas de

Guzman in 1596.^ But it was not until the seventh day of August of 1657

that the system of concertados was regulated in detail by President

Dionisio Perez Manriquet

It is my command that hereafter in this pueblo of DuLtama as well

as in all others in the districts of Santa Fe, Tunja, and Villa de
Leiva, Indians will be given as concertados, and they are those who
comprise one-fourth of all able-bodied Indians who pay tribute in
each town. They are to be remunerated every six months, when they
will each be paid a wage of fourteen patacones per year, and will
each be given eight fanegas of c o m on the cob . . . every fifteen
days, six pairs of alpargatas £ sandals_7, and a straw hat. • . •
Said concertados shall be distributed among the farms within the
jurisdiction of the town, with preference given those farms nearer
to the town and those of older title.

Such a system, however, slowly degenerated, as it reverted into

the seignorial arrangement to which it was leading. There were natives

who, after being allocated to a farm, stayed there for an indefinite

period of time. When landlords offered plots on which such detribalized

Indians could settle (thus securing a dependable and steady labor force)

'Wages had been required as payment for labor when the Indian
was declared a subject of the Crown as early as 151*2. Regulations of
this system were set forth in 1593 by Philip II, in 1598 by Philip H ,
in 1598 by the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe, and again according to a
royal cedula in 1601 (Groot, og. cit., I, 202, 301-302, 521*).

^°ANC, Vol. V, fol 766v. Cf. Mojica, og. cit., p. 39, for
Tuquecha and Moquecha (1596).

^Hernandez Rodriguez, op. cit., pp. 265- 266j see regulations for
concertados at Scmondoco, Tenza, Sutatenza, and Sunuba by Antonio de Obando
in 1621 (Mojica, og. cit., p. ll*2) •
and cash wages, the geiro of the present system of resident laborers was

quick to gain strength.72 The de faoto situation of these settlers moved

the Spanish government to recognize their status, and, eventually, perti­

nent instructions were issued. According to the RecopHacion de Leyes de

las Indias,

. . . if the Indians do not want to remain on the farms, they

shall not be detained there by violence, and they may return to their
reducciones. But if the Indians do not return within two years, the
hacienda in which they assist shall be their confinement, and there
shall be within the faims a place suitable for ^~Indians_^ to live
together,

Thus undermined from within and from without from its very be­

ginning, the institution of the resguardo started to disintegrate. While

many natives left the reservation to work on neighboring haciendas, white

settlers invaded the Indian lands. After 16U2 it became necessary that

the visitadores not only investigate the manner by which the Indians were

put to work, but also that the officials revisit the premises in search

of Spanish invaders. Thus new amparos had to be proclaimed. The case of

San Jose de Pare may well illustrate this period of initial disintegration.

The reservation of San Jose de Fare had been granted by Lesmes

de Espinosa Saravia in 1617 and confirmed by Diego Carrasquilla Maldonado

in 161;2. The Indians had been paying tribute to enccmendero Diego

de Velasco and his family, but there was a great reduction in intake during

the 1660's, indicating that the resguardo was decaying. Visitador Jacinto

72Ibid., p. 270.

7^Ley XII, Tftulo m , Book VI. Cf. Jose Marfa Arboleda Llorente,
El Indio en la ColorrLa (Bogota: MLnisterio de Educacion Nacional, 19li8),
p p r n w B E ----------
 113

de Vargas Campuzano went to Pare in 1670 to study the situation, and he

discovered that the Indians were scattered in the fields, that they had

diminished to less than one tenth of the number encountered by Espinosa

Saravia, and that Spaniards were squatting on the Indian land. On the

other hand, when Vargas Campuzano investigated the 1*6 farms and trapiches,

or cane mills, managed by Spanish settlers in the Province of Velez (of

which Pare was then a part), there were 10 Negroes and 1*88 laborers who

were described as "slaves.* In the region of Chitaraque and Santa Ana,

where it was suspected that a part of the Pare Indians were, 55 laborers

attended the trapiches. It was clear that the protected collective holders

of the Pare reservation had left it in order to work in neighboring

haciendas. Moreover, the Indians had rented land within the resguardo,

which was clearly against the law. Thus Vargas Campuzano, after meeting

and talking with the Indians and the Spaniards, determined to correct the

situation by regulating the system of concierta, annulling conflicting

grants, and amparando once more the existing reservation.^*

The system of resident labor was especially hard on the small

resguardos. Large reservations such as Turmeque and Tuta did not seem to

suffer much because of this annual purge.

Tenurial Adjustments and the Origin of

Agregados, 1755-1810

Most of the resguardos had troubles with squatters and invading

neighbors* Archival records are full of such conflicts* Some areas were

worse off than others. As a rule those far away from Tunja did not fare

^Mojica, op. cit., pp. 216-220.

 liU

well in this regard; the reservations of Guican and Chiscas, for example,

were practically nibbled away by whites* ^ Contemporary accounts, such

as one by Basilio Vicente de Oviedo,7^ and viceroys1 reports, all bear

witness to the trying times that the Indians were having at the hands of

non-Indians, and the considerable dwindling of the native race*

When the actual loss of lands was combined with a neglect of the

king for the welfare of his wards, the result was a more rapid pace of

disintegration of reservations* Such an acceleration was due to the

second Cedula del Pardo signed by Ferdinand VI in 175U. Of course, this

cedula once more proclaimed that the Indians were to be protected, but in

reality the fiscal interest was by then stronger than the economic interest.

International difficulties dictated that money had to be obtained, and one

easy manner was the sale of realenga, or the Crown's, land*

An appraisal of land titles thus became mandatory (composiciones)*

It was decided to sell the lands whose titles could not be documented, and

to auction the land which had not been occupied or used after 1700.77

When the Indian land was “composed* in 1755 and subsequent years, it was

found faulty both in the number of people and in its use, thereby requiring

important adjustments. This process of tenurial adjustment is closely

linked with the end of a number of reservations and with the rise of an­

other type of labor, namely, the agregados*

7*ANC, Vol. I, fols. 780-811, 921-922, Vol. Ill, fols. Utf-litfv,

727, Vol. V, fols. U20-U25, 532-538v.

"^Basilio Vicente de Oviedo, Cualidades y Riquezas del Nuevo Reino

de Granada (Bogota: Imprenta Nadonal, 1930)•
77 / /
“ Ots Capdeqm, Regimen de Tierra, pp. 107-112.
 115

The Disintegration of Resguardos«

When Andres Berdugo y Oquendo, the newly-appointed visitador,

started his difficult mission in 1755, the lines of demarcation which had

been drawn so clearly between whites and Indians were blurred both in race

and in the geographic distribution of the population* Pueblos or parro-

quias de espanoles were no longer white, and pueblos de indios had been

pretty well inteimixed* It was difficult to define who belonged in the

respective racial communities originally designed* This problem was faced

by Berdugo in Soata, where he decided to count mestizos as "legal* Indians

and proceeded to visit the resguardo.7® Of course, if the Indian com­

munity of Soata had been intermixed to such a large extent, it was due to

the immediate presence of Spaniards* Indeed, Berdugo found that the

Indians had been renting their land to whites, leaving only a small portion

to themselves. The whites not only occupied much of the land but some of

them were living in the pueblo itself.7^

Berdugo was confronted with two realities* One was the evident

dwindling of the Indian race, and the other was the tremendous pressure

upon resguardo lands exerted by the non-Indian population. In fact, both

realities could be considered as two sides of the same coin* This pressure

seemed to be exerted not so much by the big landowners, or latifundistas,

as by a new and large class of resident operators— specifically referred

to as a "middle class" by Viceroy Guirior— 80 who were content with having

78ANC, Vol. IV, fol. 7. 79ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 9-9v.

8oBduardo Posada and Pedro Maria Ibanez, editors, Relaciones de

Mando (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1910), p. 11*9#
 116

small farms. This new class may have been part white and part mestizo,

or it may have been almost all mestizo. The fact is that it rapidly grew

in numbers. Many of its members were recent arrivals from Spain, This

group of land-hungry farmers found itself squeezed by the landholders of

Boyacaj namely, the heirs of the senores, who had received large mercedes

one or two hundred years before, the Church, and the Indians, The

newcomers (chapetones) and the local mestizos could live on Spanish lati-
0*1

fundia but only as renters. On the other hand, they could not live

officially in resguardos because they were not Indians, Nevertheless a

way was found to circumvent the law and, as was the case in Soata, many

who were not Indians were actually renting and living on reservation

land,® ^

It was clear that amparos styled after Vargas Campuzano could no

longer be enforced, and that a more pragmatic system of dealing with the

situation was necessary. The cedula of 1751; authorized Berdugo to

"compose" the land and to revise all titles, thus providing him with the

opportunity to correct what in the eyes of the visitador was an anomalous

situation,

Berdugo1s solution was to sell for the king’s treasury all or part

of resguardos whose titles were in doubt or in which the number of Indians

xThere are a number of cases in which such small operators

settled on Spanish haciendas. For instance, during the 1770's Diego
de Caycedo had 23 vecinos as renters (arrendatarios) in> his Teguaneque
faim at Tumneque (ANC, Vol. VII, fol, 68). NLcol£s de Rutia had 53
vecinos as renters in his Tooa estate in 1785 (ANC, Cund,, Vol. I, fols.
33-35).

®^There were illegal renters in most reservations, some with only

one (Boyacct), others with a good number of them (Cerinza), ANC, Vol. V,
fols. 82-83, 590-995.
 117

did not justify the amount of land involved. He decided to move the rela­

tively few Indians who would be displaced to other pueblos. Resident

vecinos who were squatting or renting within the resguardos were entitled

to purchase at auction such land tinder the system of encabezonamiento,

whereby one vecino represented the others and took part in the proceedings.

This meant, of course, that such communities would lose their status as

pueblos de indios, and that they would be turned into parroquias de espa-
/ Qq
noles. Berdugo undertook such action in Soata on June 21, 1755,

S a b o y a ,8^ Tinjaca on April 30, 17568^ Toca on January 18, 1756,88 Moniquira

on April 12, 1755,^ San Jose de Pare,®® Tenza, Scmondoco,®^ and Ramiriquf

on June 11, 1756.^® Part or all of the lands in these resguardos were

publicly auctioned. The Indians were ordered to move away to work at

nearby pueblos, and to take along all of their belongings. Certain privi­

leges were granted to those displaced, such as freedom from tribute for

one year.^

There were illegal renters in other reservations, but Berdugo did

not undertake the overhauling of the entireres guardo system. This was

the accomplishment of Jose Maria Campuzano y Lanz, corregidor of the

83ANC, Vol. IV, fol. 13. ®^ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 30-33.

®'*ANC, Vol.IV, fols, 905-911. 86ANC, Vol. IV, fol. 96lv.

8 ^Mojica, o£. cit*, p. 235. ®®Correa, op. cit., Ill, 123.

®^Mojica, og. cit., pp. 2^3, 2U7.

90ANC, Vol. I, fols. 293-2955 Mojica, og. cit., p. 239.

^Memorial de los QLdores, Santa Fe, July 15, 1755, ANC, Vol. IV,
fols. 22- 22v.
partido, or province, of Tunja, who in 1777 and 1778 abolished, as the
i QO / OO
records now indicate, the entire reservations of Sativa,7c Busbanza,

Chiscas, Boavita, Guacamayas,^ Cerinza,^ Beteitiva,^ Tutasa,^7

S ogamosoTasco, Viracacha, and Tibasosaj^- and he sold a part of

the reservations at Guateque,^®2 Pesca,^"*3 Tota,So ra ca , ^® ^ Cheva,

Onzaga, and Monguf Campuzano*s criteria were the same as those of

Berdugo— the Indians were not working the land, but were renting it to

whites in order to obtain means to pay the tribute, and these whites had

practically taken over the native pueblos*

A new parroquia was instituted in each case with the blessings of

the Church."^07 The condition of landholding was maintained, except for a

change in the status of most of the vecinos frcra renters to owners* This

happened in communities where the method of encabezonamiento was vised to

92ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 315-1*57. 93ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 705-761.

^ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 869-1002;Mojica, og. cit., p. 266.

^ANC, Vol. V, fols. 3U-112V. 96ANC, Vol. V, fols. 22-270.

?7ANC, Vol. VII, fols. 97ii-1006.

^Mojica, og. cit., p. 259j cf. ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 726-727.

?9ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 82l*-81*l. 100ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 277-3l8v.

10:iMojica, og. cit., p. 2l*5. 102Ibid., pp. 250- 2^5.

103ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 579-589.

10^Mojica, og. cit., p. 21*1*. 1Q^Ibid., p. 21*7.

106ANC, Vol. V, fol. l*l*v; Mojica, og. cit., p. 273.

107Bamon C. Correa, Monografias (Tunjat Imprenta Qficial, 1928-

19l*l), I-IV. See Chapter X.
 119

affect the transition of the land from the Indians to others, namely, in

Ramiriqui,108 Guateque,10^ Soata,110 Cerinza,111 Beteitiva,112 Pesca,11^

Tasco,11^ and Tibasosa.11'’ But at Tinjaca,11^ Tutaza,11^ and Toca,118 a

single vecino was sole beneficiary in. each locality* In these three

communities, the numerous class of cash renters continued in such manner

that the few landowners lived as "senores solariegos." When a census of

vecinos was taken at Toca in 1785, it showed that there were only five

owners who had, respectively, 53, 8ii, 1;7, 27, and it families or households

of renters.11^

The Agregados*

As an outgrowth of the legal dissolution of the resguardos, came

the phenomenon of Indians being transferred by force from one community

to another together wLth their families and private belongings. In re­

ferring to those displaced from Soata in 1755, the oidores used the

familiar term agregados.120 It is important to study the meaning of this

108a n c , Vol. I, fols. 293-299V. 109a n c , 277-299.

111
^ A N C , Vol. IV, fols. 13-76v. ANC, Vol. V, fols. 5Vll2v.
5a-H2v.

n 2 ANC, Vol. V, fols. 238-21*0. n 33ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 579-589.

Vol. VI, fols. 850-860. ^ ^ o j i ca, 0£. cit., p. 25b.

^ A N C , Vol. VI, fols. 908-926.

n ?ANC, Vol. VII, fols. 97U-1026.

^ A N C , Vol. VII, fols. 83-107v.

^ A N C , Cund, Vol. I, fols. 33-35.

120a n c , Vol. IV, fol. 22-22v.

 120

terra, because it has varied from time to time and even at the present time
191
it has regional variations.

When the reservations were organized by Egas de Guzman and

Valcarcel, agregados were simply those natives who lived at some distance

from the resguardo but not in the newly-created village. They still went

to the assigned pueblo, however, for religious and administrative purposes.

For instance, in 1626, the Indians of Osamena, who lived one league away,
122
were "agregados to Vijua, where there is a church for everybody*; the

Indians of Guatensana in 163$ likewise were attached to Motavita;’*’2^ and

those natives who lived in Sasa, Chausa, and Tibaquira in 1636 were agre­

gados to Samaca.^2^ This seemed to be the common practice during the

early colonial period, as it was realistic from the standpoint of reli­

gious administration— one curate could minister to two or more dispersed

tribes. Distinct from forajidos, Indians who were strangers or foreigners

Ipq
amid the specific group with which they lived, -' this kind of agregado

^•^The term agregado is used at the present time in Giron

(Santander) to refer to a class of sharecropping arrangement for tobacco,
see Roberto Pineda Giraldo, "Estudio de la Zona Tabacalera de Santander,"
Seguridad Social Campesina (Bogota: Ministerio del Trabajo, 1955), p» $2,
$iere are agregados in diverse areas of Colombia, but their distribution
has not been fully documented. The Boyac& agregados are different from
the Brazilian agregados, who are resident laborers on fazendas, see
T, lynn Smith,"Brazil: People and Institutions (Revised ed.; Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State Universiiy Press, I9$U)» PP* 60, 383-387*

^•22Mbjica, og, cit,, p. 195,

123ANC, Vol. Ill, fol. 665; Mojica, og. rit., p. 222,

1 Mojica, op. cit., p. 20l|.

^■2^0ts Capdequ£, Nuevos Aspectos, p. 306,

 121

had duly-assigned lands and they belonged within their local coiimunities•

Another kind of agregados arose early in the seventeenth century*

This consisted of the Wiite settlers who lived away from Spanish towns

and who had difficulties in traveling each Sunday to church. This problem

was first observed by Archbishop Fernando de Ugarte in 1622.^^ He per­

mitted the repartindanto missionaries to minister the sacraments to such

isolated Spaniards, and these took the designation of agregado de confesion

2 comunion,J'2^ or vecinos 2 agregados, T h e number of vecinos y agre­

gados seems to have risen as the reservations decayed. As will be seen,

they were an important element in bringing about the end of the resguardos.

The new type of agregados which made its appearance in 1755 did

not have the religious overtones of its predecessors. It was a real tenure

class. In principle, the agregados resulting from the reorganization of

reservations were to continue with land for their own use within the new

locations. They were permitted to harvest from the lots which they were

going to abandon and to start planting immediately on the land they were

to receive in the new locations.Moreover, no differences were to be

established between the old residents and the newcomers, and the latter

Were entitled to elect and to be elected to political offices. Even the

^ ^Oviedo, og. cit., pp. 116-117.

^•^The white agregados of Toca were called "de confesion y

comunion" in 1785 (ANC, Vol. VXE, fol. 33). Cf. for Tutasa, ANC, Vol. V,
fol. 232v.

^■*®Oviedo, og. cit., p. 117.

“^ S u c h was ordered for the Sogamoso Indians upon their transfer

to Paipa (ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 726v)j and for those at Soat£ upon their
transfer to TequLa and Boavita (ANC, Vol. IV, fol. 22-22v).
 122

priests were requested to promote amalgamation.^-^

In practice, however, the agregados became landless laborers who

suffered incredible hardships not only in the process of moving from one

place to another, but at the pueblos where their Indian fellows were sup­

posed to receive than "with open arras." The pathetic case of Beteitiva

is probably typical. The leaders of this community wrote as follows in

1779 after they were ordered to move to Duitama:

About two years ago Don Jose Campuzano commanded us to leave

with all speed the lands which we possessed in said /"*Bet6itiva_/
and Tutasa and to move with our families and belongings to the
pueblo of Duitama where we were to receive sufficient land. We
pleaded with him all we could . . . but he paid no attention. On
the contrary, he said that if we did not obey his commands he would
order our houses and huts to be burned. Therefore we obeyed and
walked to Duitama under the greatest difficulties, with so many
hardships that we have no words to describe . . . how we reached
Duitama after two days of travelling with our women and more than
60 children, our cattle, and other animals. And when we arrived at
Duitama our only shelters were the trees and the eaves of the houses
of the Duitama Indians. . . . We stayed, but until the present no
land has been assigned to us, for which reason we live like renters
(arrendados), on the verge of perishing. . . . The greatest of our
afflictions / is the ill treatment that we receive from the Indians of
Duitama.

It should be noted that the Indians of Beteitiva had no choice

but to become, as they said, arrendados, or renters. They were not given

land as promised, but had to work for the residents of Duitama.

The case of Indians who would not move from their abolished

reservations also was common. In this instance the natives were likewise

^■^Auto del Visitador Francisco Antonio Moreno y Escandon, Paipa,

June 8, 1778, ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 726-727v.

^33-Bruno and Agust£n Acero, Captains of the Indios Desagregados

del Pueblo de Bet&LfcLva, to the Viceroy, Santa Fe, July 12, 1779, ANC,
Vol. V, fols. 269-270.
 123

converted from lessees of the king to landless laborers, because they

remained in opposition to the orders and on land which was no longer

legally theirs. The term used to describe these Indians was also that of

agregado, if for no other reason, because it was impossible to refer to

them as belonging to any local resguardo. Such was the case of the

Cerinza Indians who did not move to Duitama— they described themselves in

178ii as agregados to the parroquia of Belen.132

Still another possibility was afforded by those who tried to

settle in the new location, found this difficult, and returned to their

native community. This happened at Tasco in the 1780's, to which the

133
local priest sponsored the return of thirty Indians fron Socha. But,

of course, such Indians returned as laborers to a land which was no longer

theirs.

Apparently, in the course of time the word agregado was lost both

as a tenure form and a tenure term in most of the critical areas selected

by Campuzano. In these as well as in many other areas in Boyaca, the con­

cept of resident laborer embodied in the concertado system continued to

keep its hold, although new terms were adopted to describe the arrangement,

e.g., arrendatario, viviente, and dependiente (see below). It appears

that only in the small municiplo of Panqueba, and specifically in the

vereda Orgoiniga, have both the renting arrangement hinted by the Beteiti-

vans and its appellative agregado been preserved.^3k

132ANC, Vol. V, fol. 120. 133ANC, Vol. VI, fol. 89$v.

■^ In Panqueba, an agregado is a share renter (see below). When

Campuzano visited EL Cocuy in 1777, he listed three parcialidades of In­
dians at Panqueba who belonged to the EL Cocuy community, apparently
 12U

The Lawful Renting of Resguardos.

In the meantime, the disintegration of the remaining reservations

continued. When the Indians got into arrears in the payment of taxes, part

of their resguardos were rented. This happened in Raquira,-1-3^ Tuta,13^ and

( Motavita in 1803,‘1‘37 and in Firavitoba in lSOlu1^ The remnants of reser­

vations already reduced in size were rented to vecinos for the purpose of

covering the Indians1 tributes. There were about 200 such renters within

the resguardo of Guateque in 1801.13^ Even such a powerful cacicazgo as

Turmeque, which, on the basis of the available materials, alone succeeded

in augmenting its land at the expense of a Spaniard,1^0 was suspected of

having at least 300 white neuters living within the reservation. When a

fight developed between the vecinos of Toca and Diego de Caycedo (who had

relinquished his farm at Teguaneque to the Tuimeque Indians), one priest

certified that a number of whites "had listed themselves as Indians with

agregados since the visit of Berdugo in 1755 (Mojica, o£. cit., pp. 2h9,
265) . Orgoniga was a part of the resguardos of El Cocuy in 1806, when a
priest requested its delivery in order to help with the construction of
the church (ibid., p. 275)* The share renters of this locality have pre­
served the term agregado, although the meaning and functional relationship
of such a term has changed from “those attached to El Cocuy" in 1755, to
those left landless on their own plots and who pay rent in produce, after
the priest’s purchase in 1606. The principle which governed this transi­
■Dion was the
tion m e same as that uerxnza in 1781*.
tnau one in Cerinza

13^ANC, Vol. H , fols. 250-269V.

136ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 675-685,

137ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 686-699.

138ANC, Vol. IV, fols. 6U1-688.

139ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 797-797v.

^ A N C , Vol. VII, fols. 3-99.

 125

the purpose of remaining £ in the resguardosj^.*1^1

The Rise of Individual Ownership, 1810-195U

The End of the Resguardos.

When the flower vase was broken in the Llorente store on July 20,

1810, the end of the resguardos already seemed to be looming on the hori­

zon, The new Junta, probably a little more daring and much more practical

than the viceregal government, decided to finish all of the complications

altogether and decreed the end of reservations and tributes on Septem-

lii2
ber 2ht 1810, Although the situation remained unchanged because of

the unsettled state of the new government and the Spanish reconquest of

1816-1319, the precedent had already been set. The days of the Indian as

a precarious leaseholder of the king were numbered. In agreement with

the ideology of the times, the natives must be made, and were made, full-

fledged citizens and landowners in fee simple.

By 1810 the population of Boyaca had largely become a great com­

munity of mestizos. Most of the mountain localities had been by that

time converted into parroquias regardless of whether they were inhabited

by Indians, mestizos, or w h i t e s . ^3 If such was in reality the case,

^ ‘Certificado a Pedimiento de Francisco Marino, San Antonio,

January 23, 1778, ANC, Vol. VII, fol. l4l. On the other hand, Oviedo
believed that Turmeque had been little invaded by Spaniards (op. cit.,
p. 118).

^Eduardo Posada, El Veinte de Julio (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional,

1914), pp. 211-213, 353-356;

•^ in this regard see the valuable contribution of Ramon G. Correa,

already cited.
 126

then perhaps the government's decision to finish the resguardos altogether

was more realistic than it has heretofore been considered."^*

The basic law which put an end to the reservations was passed on

October 11, 1821. It stipulated that within five years the resguardo

land was to be distributed among tribute-paying Indians who would then

become owners in fee simple."^ Administrative difficulties delayed the

application of this law until 1832 when the manner of dividing the reser­

vations was set forth in detail (see Chapter IV). However, the Indians

were forbidden to sell their newly-acquired lots for ten years.

Further regulations were set forth in 1831;* and in 18143. Finally, on

June 22, 18$0, the Indians were made full owners in fee simple, being

entitled "to dispose of their property in the same manner and in the same

titles as the other £ citizens^.

Although the colonial authorities had ended numerous resguardos

prior to 1810, there were many still left to merit the consideration

of republican legislators. Reservations were abolished as follows:

Samaca on July 3, l83lij^1^ Sotaquira on July 22, l837j"^^ Cucaita on

llUlThe authority of the new Colombian government to make such a

decision rested upon the conviction that the state had subrogated from
the Spanish Crown the eminent domain. This is contained in a decision
by the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia dated April 7, 1897. See
Jose Maria Serrano Zuniga, Investigaciones Juridicas Sobre Baldlos
(Manizales: Casa Editorial Arturo Zapata, 1936), p. 79.

^^Hemandez Rodriguez, op. cit., p. 286.

^Ibid., p. 286. 1^7Ibid., p. 287.

These dates represent the day on which the actual partition was
completed in each locality, after the Indians had been given possession of
their new lots. The record for the Samaca reservation is in the Notarla
Segunda, Legajo Samac4, fols. l-99v.

Leg. Sotaquira, fols. 1-not numbered.

 127

August 27, IS*);1* 5 Sora on March 21, 1 8 3 9 Combita on March lit,

1 8 3 8 2 Motavita, the lower section, on August 9, 1838j1^ Motavita, the

paramo section, on November 25, 1871;^"^ Tuta on March 2k, l836j^^ and

Tuxmeque on June U, 1 8 3 6 . The resguardos at Siachoque and Oicata were

parcelled also during this period, because the local Indians were already-

selling their land and even their rights to the land in November, 1850,

probably as a result of the law of June 22 of the same year.1^? Many

other resguardos were terminated during this period, but no documentation

is yet available.

It appears that there are no resguardos in Boyaca at the present

time except for one in the municipio of Coper, and, in principle, one for

the Tunebo Indians at Guican. It is not known when the Coper reservation

was established. The local Indians had been encomendados to Miguel Gomez

on April 28, 1561, and the repartimiento had continued (for the emerald

mines) in 1629, when Diego de Argote was enccmendero.^® The reservation

^®NP, Leg. Cucaita, fols. 1-87.

1 Cl
X-,XNP, Leg. Cucaita, folios not numbered.

■^%P, Leg. Cucaita, fols. 36-121;.

Leg. Motavita, fols. 1-18.

■^^NP, x,eg. Motavita, fols. 19-not numbered.

W 5 n s , Leg. Tuta, fols. 1-98.

NT, Leg. I836, folios not continuously numbered.

■^NP, jrf3g. Protocolos de Siachoque y QLcata, 1850-1856, folios

not numbered.

-^Mojica, og. cit., pp. ll;0-llil, l$k, 163.

 128

had been organized many years prior to 1770, because in this year the

local priest, Francisco Gil de Rojas, was put in charge of the adminis­

tration of a part of the res guard o . C o p e r was converted into a

160
parroquia on December 29, 1776. But there is no record of the abolition

of the resguardo during either the colonial or the republican period. At

present, the Coper "Indians11 pay an annual levy for the use of their land

(see below).

The End of Entailed Properties.

Another important change in tenure was effected during the

nineteenth century. It will be remembered that the Church had been accu­

mulating property by purchase and bequeathal at such a pace that in 1729

President Antonio Manso Maldonado complained that "the piety of the faith­

ful in these regions is excessive. "1^1

The revolution of 1810 had left the Church domains practically

untouched, just as it had left in their entirety the lands of the members

of the governing elite. However, on September 9, 1861, in the wake of

measures designed to curtail the power of the ecclesiastical, General

Tomas Cipiiano de Mosquera ordered that all property held in mortmain be

disentailed.1^2 As a result, all of the lands previously owned by the

Church passed to the State, which proceeded to auction them publicly.

l59ANC, Vol. IH, fol. 6ii3v. l60Correa, og. cit., HI, 60.

1^Antonio Manso Maldonado, "Relacion de Mandolin Eduardo Posada

and Pedro M. Ibanez, editors, Relaciones de Mando (Bogotat Imprenta
Nacional, 1910), pp. 12-lli.

^^Jesus Marla Henao and Gerardo Arrubla, Historia de Colombia

(Bogota* Iibrerfa Voluntad, 1952), p. 70i*.
 129

There appears to have been no subdivision of these large estatesj ap­

parently such haciendas were sold as received, and, therefore, only the

wealthy purchased them. Thus one consequence of this measure was simply

to increase the number of latifundia and haciendas held in fee simple.

Such was the case in the Territorio Vasquez, a large part of which was

composed of two entailed capellanias held by the Church until 1861.

These capellanfas, called Guaguaqul and Teran, were sold to Lucrecio

Salcedo and Jos4 Maria Peralta in 1865 and 1866, after the abolishment

of entails was decreed. These immense estates, which encompassed most of

the land between Santander and Cundinamarca on the Andean slopes toward

the Magdalena River, were eventually purchased by the Texas Petroleum

Company. Then, as today, they were largely occupied by squatters."^

The Colonos.

The problem of squatters, or colonos, was felt early during the

republican period. The word colono has been used to refer both to the

individual who "squats" or "sits upon" and builds his home on the public

domain (baldios), and to the farmer who invades an uncultivated portion

of somebody else's faxm. In Boyaca, the word colono is used mainly in

the first sense, and other terms such as derechantes or culebreros are

indicative of the second variety. It should be noted, however, that a

squatter who is in reality an invader of private property often refers

to himself as a colono.

The first legislation to deal with this problem was Law Ik of

■^Bernal, og. cit., pp. 66-68, 85.

 130

1870. This laid the foundation for aLl subsequent legislation on the use

of baldios and the handling of colonos.1^ 4, Other prescriptions were

established in 18 7U, 1882, 1915, 1917, 1926, 1931 and 1936. Many indi­

viduals in Boyaca have taken advantage of such laws and legal dispositions,

especially in the area of the Territorio Vasquez and Tunebia, and on the

Andean slopes toward the llanos. Most of the baldios in the Territorio

Vasquez, however, were transferred from the nation to the department of

Boyaca according to a decree dated April li, 1893. And in the area of

Campohermoso the municipio was empowered to administer 15,000 hectares of

local baldios.

In order for a colono to establish ownership rights over the land

he tills, he must cultivate the soil, build a home on the property, and

establish that he has made use of it for at least ten years.^^ After

such a period has elapsed, the colono has to prove that he has either

cultivated one third of the claim or occupied two thirds of it with

cattlej otherwise the land reverts to the nation. This is because, ac­

cording to the Civil Code, baldios cannot be acquired by prescription but

168
only by occupation and cultivation.

The other kind of squatters, namely, the culebrero, or snake, has

•^Carvajalino and Martinez, og. cit., p. 9, and passim,

^■*Departamento de Boyaca, Territorio Vasquezi Mensura de Baldios

(Tunja: Imprenta del Departamento, 192<J), p. $L,

•^Cruz Lopera Berrio, Colombia Agraiia (Manizales: imprenta

Departamental, 1920), p. 7k•

•^ i b i d ., p. 99j Carvajalino and Martinez, op. cit., pp. 29, 119.

•^Carvajalino and Martinez, og. cit., pp. 2k, 73j 119*

 131

has constituted an acute social problem, especially in recent years.

Although conflict for lands has always plagued the history of Boyaca, the

issuing of a momentous law seemed to have brought to a head the constant

169
fight between the landlords and the landless. ^ Law 200 of December 30,

1936, contained a revolutionary definition of baldios, which shook the

nation from top to bottoms

Article 1, It is assumed that properties possessed by indi­

viduals are private and not baldios, but it is understood that said
possession consists of the economic exploitation of the soil by
virtue of positive acts of ownership, such as cultivation or seedbeds,
occupation with cattle, and others of equal economic significance. . .
Article 2. Rustic properties which are not possessed in the
manner determined in the article above are assumed to be baldios. '

Because the owner was to be the individual who put the land to

economic use, many arrendatarios, or renters, hoped that they would be

made the lawful proprietors of plots granted to thorn by hacendados. The

latter had, and still have, the advantage or the disadvantage of being

accustomed to a leisurely life in the city, leaving the affairs of ha­

ciendas to overseers. A rather typical case happened in Giiican, where

the huge hacienda of the Sanchez family was invaded by squatters. While

the main heir to this property was away in Buenaventura, the derechantes

were moving in on his estate. It was not until this gentleman returned

and occupied the big house that the invasion stopped. By that time, how­

ever, it was exceedingly difficult legally to dislodge the squatters who

■ ^ A decision from the Supreme Court in 1926 had also created

much discussion and unrest. The Court ruled that unless an owner could
furnish titles proving that the land no longer belonged to the government,
the tribunals would decide in favor of the nation.

■^Carvajalino and Martinez, op. cit., p. 151.

 132

still continue in physical possession of their claims. They have no

titles to defend their holdings other than their weapons; and they have

developed locally effective "tomahawk rights." The procrastination of

the government in dealing with this affair has undoubtedly helped them.

The situation has become even more involved since many derechantes have

sold their "rights" or have bequeathed such "rights" to their children.

In an effort to alleviate this problem, the government decided to

purchase those haciendas in which such conflicts arose. This proved to

be a Phyrrhic victory because arrendatarios then promoted more "problemas

sociales" in other haciendas in the hope that the government would buy

and distribute the land. Nevertheless, an Institute for Parcellation,

Colonization, and Forestry (now christened Institute for Colonization and

Immigration) was organized in 191*8 for the purpose of administering the

government haciendas and for subdividing them among the landless. The

beneficiaries were usually the arrendatarios of the same haciendas. They

were referred to as parcelarios. Lands were adjudicated to the farmers

under a sale-promise contract ("contracto de promesa de venta"). These

plots were mortgaged to the government until 60 per cent of the value had

been paid by the parcelario. One step above arrendatarios in the agri­

cultural ladder, parcelarios can be found in Boyaca on those haciendas

which have been subdivided by the government.

All of the provisions of Law 200 were supposed to be enforced in

•^The government organized a settlement project in the Sarare, on

baldios between Norte de Santander and Boyaci, close to the Venezuelan
border. This colony is working under the legislation for colonos and with
considerable financial help from the government.
 133

19h6* By that year, however, the national political situation had become

difficult and the deadline was postponed. The civil war which ensued

served as a distraction from the minor war between the landlords and the

landless. In certain areas of Boyaca, such as San Jose/ de Pare, the civil

war became in fact a new chapter in the history of the struggle for land,

as many local hacendados were expelled and their farms subdivided by force.

With the return of peace and the elimination of the division of

Colombians into two hostile political camps, it is possible that the

malady represented by the aspirations of the landless to become individual

owners will predominate once more as Colombia’s problem of the century.

Present Tenure Status of the People of Boyaca

Because of the failure of the agricultural census of 1951, the

closest that the Colombian Department of Statistics has come to classi­

fying the people of Boyaca according to tenure status is contained in

Table XCI of the 1951 Census of H o u s i n g . T h i s table contains a classi­

fication of dwellings into three tenure categories* (1) those owned by

their inhabitants; (2) those rented to their occupants; and (3) those held

by other forms of tenure. ^73 The data are given separately for the seats,

of the municipios, or counties, and for the remainder of the local govern­

mental units.

Considering that the people of Boyaca live overwhelmingly according

•^^Departamento Nacional de Estadxstica, Boyaca: Censo de Edificios

y Viviendas de 1951 (Bogoti, 195U), pp. lUU-161.

173The census bureau did not specify what these other forms of
tenure were. By inference, they include such arrangements as concertados,
viviantes, arrendatarios, agregados, and dependiantes (see below).
 13U

to the scattered farmsteads type of settlement, that 81* percent of the

population live outside the seats of the municipios,-^ and that 72 per­

cent of the economically active population is engaged in agriculture and

related occupations, -^5 these data have considerable value. The tenure

of those who inhabit the dwellings— indicatory of the tenurial arrange­

ments of the land on which such dwellings are built— may be used to learn

something about the tenure of those who cultivate the soil in the depart­

ment. See Table III.

According to this table, ownership in fee simple is the predominant

tenure pattern in Boyaca, for 77 percent of the dwellings situated outside

the seat of the municipio are occupied by their owners. This is an impor­

tant factor in the social systems of Boyaca; it is a characteristic which

seems to have its roots in the subdivision of Indian reservations since

the eighteenth century. The people of Boyaca are ownership-conscious.

Even though many farmers start their occupational life as landless

laborers, thrift and hard work eventually permit them to climb the

agricultural ladder. To be an owner is the goal of a lifetime; to remain

as one is among the main purposes of everyday life for the majority of

Boyacenses.

Some regional variations in tenure can be observed. In general

terms, the central and southern municipios have a larger proportion of

"^Departamento Nacional de Estad£stica, Departamento de Boyaca*

Poblaciondelos Municipios . . . en las Cabeceras y Otras Localidades,
Cienso de Iftgl (Typescript), (Bogot£, Cuadro No. 6-P.

^'’Departamento Nacional de EstadfstLca, Departamento de Boyaca s

Poblacidn Econ<Snri.camente Activa, Censo de 1951 (TypWcript), (Bogotd,
195U)> Cuadro No, 35-D. See Chapter IH.
 135

TABLE III

DUELLINGS OUTSIDE THE SEAT OF MUNICIPIOS IN BOIACA

ACCORDING TO TENURE STATUS OF DUELLERS, 1951

Regions Number Percentage of Dwellings Occupied

and of Dwellings By
Municipios Outside
the Seat of
the Munieipio Owners Renters Other Forms

Total 129,326 77.3 12.5 10.2

Territorio Vdsquez 914 81.6 11.3 7.1

Western Andean Slopes 13,749 78.9 16.7 4*4

Bricefio 1,047 84.5 15.2 .3
Buenavista 1,130 84.0 15.4 .6
Caldas 1,121 87.0 9.6 3.4
Coper 922 61.6 38.3 .1
Chiquinquird 2,620 78.2 16.6 5.2
Maripl 1,455 77.8 21.8 .4
Mazo 822 65.6 20.0 14.4
Fauna 1,766 79.2 8.7 12.1
Saboyad 2,866 82.2 15.0 2.8

Leiva-Samacd 8,268 75.5 15.6 8.9

Arcabuco 631 60.4 26.7 12.9
Cucaita 305 68.9 26.2 4.9
Chlqniza 419 30.3 67.8 1.9
Gachantiva 758 86.7 7.0 6.3
Leiva 674 58.7 15.7 25.6
Rdquira 1,364 86 .4 9.2 4«4
Sdchica 198 81.8 5.1 13.1
Samacd 1,269 78.6 18.8 2.6
Santa Sofia 857 80.2 4*4 15.4
Sora 303 79.5 13.2 7.3
Sutamarchdn 920 76.3 8.7 15.0
Tinjacd 570 88.9 11.1 —

Mbniquird 6,050 67.5 14.1 18 .4

Chitaraque 891 67.8 15.7 16.5
Moniquird 2,596 68.3 15.1 16.6
San Josd de Pare 853 61.4 4.1 34.5
Santa Ana 880 73.4 16.3 10.3
TogUi 830 64*8 17.4 17.8
 136

Table III — continued

Regions Number Percentage of Dwellings Occupied

and of Dwellings By
Municipios Outside
the Seat of
the Municipio Owners Renters Other Forms

Tunja-Sogamoso 23,291 76.4 11.8 11.8

Bel6n 1,196 82.9 8.9 8.2
Cerinza 853 89.0 6.2 4.8
Cdmbita 1,293 82.4 11.1 6.5
Chivatd 522 81.8 15.1 3.1
Duitama 2,357 78.5 15.4 6.1
Firavitoba 1,210 66.0 11.8 22.2
Floresta 1,046 86.2 10.7 3.1
Motavita 430 74.2 21.5 4.3
Nobsa 651 71.7 13.5 14.8
Oicatd 486 71.0 3.5 25.5
Paipa 2,135 76.2 6.6 17.2
Santa Rosa de Viterbo 933 77.9 12.0 10.1
Siachoque 1,104 82.7 7.2 10.1
Sogamoso 3,289 75.1 16.3 8.6
Soracd 627 82.6 12.4 5.0
Sotaquird 1,320“ 77.3 19.8 2.9
Tibasosa 335 70.7 2.7 26.6
Toca 976 63.3 6.9 29.8
Tunja 737 61.6 23.1 15.3
Tuta 1,091 71.7 5.3 23.0

Tasco 4,328 80.4 9.4 10.2

Betditiva 885 95.1 4.1 .8
Busbanzd 189 83.2 4.2 12.6
Corrales 465 75.3 20.9 3.8
Paz; de Rio 1,005 79.9 10.1 10.0
Tasco 1,407 74.5 11.6 13.9
Tutazd 377 74.3 .5 25.2

Soatd 14,177 69.3 11.4 19.3

Boavita 1,735 70.5 10.1 19.4
Covarachia 338 74-9 20.1 15.0
Jeric6 1,360 62.5 5.7 31.8
La Uvita 1,405 57.7 17.0 25.3
Sdtivanorte 1,112 82.6 4.0 13.4
Sdtivasur 455 76.3 21.5 2.2
Soatd 2,461 60.6 22.1 17.3
Socha 1,402 74.8 33.4 11.8
Socotd 2,355 71.8 4.3 23.9
Susacdn 1,004 78.1 6.1 15.8
 137

Table III — continued

Regions Number Percentage of Dwellings Occupied

and of Dwellings By
Municipios Outside
the Seat of
the Miunlcipio Owners Renters Other Forms

El Cocuy 8,970 57.9 15.4 26.7

Chiscas 1,453 56.3 15.7 28.0
Chita 2,703 73.2 13.4 13.4
El Cocuy 1,320 43-9 8.2 47.9
El Espino 881 53.7 38.7 7.6
Gtiacamayas 846 65.0 20.1 14-9
GOicAn 1,175 45.4 8.7 45-9
Panqueba 592 43.8 11.1 45.1
San Mateo “•

Puebloviejo 10,685 77.1 10.2 12.7

Cultiva 476 83.8 5.0 11.2
Gdmeza 1,225 63.6 15.2 21.2
Iza 377 66.3 7.7 26.0
Mongua 1,225 70.3 2.5 27.2
Mongul 625 86.2 10.1 3.7
Fesca 2,420 78.6 15.8 5-6
Puebloviejo 2,387 77.7 11.2 11.1
T6paga 617 72.4 4.9 22.7
Tota 1,333 90.6 5.6 3.8

Ramirlqui-Turmequ6 14,915 83.9 13.6 2.5

BoyacA 1,568 73.1 23.3 3.6
Ci6nega 801 87.0 11.3 1.7
Genezano 1,803 84.0 9.3 6.7
Nuevo Coldn 945 78.1 16.7 5.2
Ramirlqui 1,720 85.3 14.0 .7
TibanA 2,288 86.4 11.9 1.7
TurmequA 1,510 80.3 18.2 1.5
Umbita 1,712 83.5 13.4 3.1
Ventaquemada 1,591 91.1 8.7 .2
ViracachA 977 89.6 10.2 .2

Tenza 15,422 88.7 8.9 2.4

Almeida 1,108 86.3 9.8 3.9
 138

Table III — continued

Regions Number Percentage of Dwellings Occupied

and of Dwellings By
Municipios Outside
the seat of
the Municipio Owners Renters Other Forms

Chinavita 943 93.0 6.6 .4

Garagoa 1,823 84.7 8.8 6.5
Guateque 1,2+18 87.6 12.4 -

GuayatA 1,759 92.0 4.2 3.8

La Capilla 952 96.0 3.5 .5
Macanal 2,112 86.0 13.2 .8
Pachavita 1,150 84.6 14.2 1.2
Somondoco 1,178 93.1 6.5 .4
Sutatenza 1,588 86.1 10.1 3.8
Tenza 1,371 91.3 6.1 2.6

Eastern Andean Slopes 8,557 85.2 10.7 4.1

Berbeo 1,121 89.6 9.6 .8
Campohermoso 1,676 93.5 5.3 1.2
ChAmeza - — — -

Labranzagrande 806 63.6 14.5 21.9

La Salina 203 82.8 11.3 5-9
ttLraflores 1,595 78.2 16.9 4.9
Pajarito 293 72.6 13.7 13.7
Paya 293 97.3 2.4 .3
Pisva 155 96.8 3.2 -

Recetor 261 90.0 10.0 -

Ronddn 859 84*6 14.2 1.2

Zapatosa 141 85.8 14.2 -
Zetaquira 1,154 91.9 7.6 .5

Source: Compiled and computed from Departamento Nacional de Estadlstica,

BoyacAt Censo de Edificios y Viviendaa de 1951 (BogotA, 1954) , PP*
144-16i .
 139

owners, the largest percentages being in the Tenza and the Ramiriqui-

Tuimeque areas. (Figures for the municipios on the Eastern Andean Slopes

are questionable on account of the anomalous political situation reigning

there at the time of the census.) Most of the municipios known to include

resguardos which were subdivided show high proportion of owners. Note es­

pecially the cases of Cucaita, Samaca, Sora, Ramiriqu£, Guateque, Cerinza,

Beteitiva, Pesca, Sotaquira, C&nbita, Motavita, Turmeque, and Siachoque.

On the other hand, in Tutaza and Toca, where the Indians' land was acquired

by only one individual, the proportions of owners are low. In Tuta, where

the reservation was ended in 1836, there is a relatively high proportion

(23 percent) of dwellers in "other forms" of tenure, accompanying 71 per­

cent of owners. This seems to corroborate the idea that haciendas have

been created on a part of the Indian land (see Chapter VIH). The per­

centage of renters is high in Chtquiza, where there is a monopoly of land

by the Rivadeneira familyj and in Coper, where apparently the members of

the resguardo were classified as ranters.

Ownership declines as one moves north in Boyaca until one reaches

what may be called pathological areas. The most conspicuous areas, accord­

ing to this table, are in the Soata, Moniquira, and El Cocuy regions. The

reasons were discussed in the preceding section.

Plans for the agricultural census of 1951 contemplated the classi­

fication of the population into four categories, namely, the propietario,

or owner, who holds legal title 'to the land; the colono, who exploits land

without having a legal title; the arrendatario, or renter, who pays a

deteimined price to the owner in exchange for exploitation or habitation,

or one who uses a lot within an hacienda; and the aparcero, who works for
the landowner in exchange for a part of the crops These definitions

are both unreal and confused, especially in regard to the arrendatario and

the aparcero. Instructions for census enumerators read that "in certain

regions of the country no clear and precise distinction is made among the

word arrendatario and the terms mediasquero, socio, aparcero, cosechero,

and agregadoj in reality the latter four terms are synonyms, but wholly

different from the arrendatario itself,"-*-77 This is also in error, because

the "latter four terms" are not synonymous, as will be seen shortly. More­

over, the term aparcero is not used by the Boyaca farmers to refer to any

of their main tenurial arrangements.1^ The following classification of

tenure situations in Boyaca is advanced in the hope that it will help

modify the census terminology and that it will guide subsequent research:

A. Farm Operators.
1. Owners.
a) Individual.
b) Collective.
2. Administradores or Managers.
3. Renters.
a) Cash.
b) Share.
U. Colonos, Farcelarios, and Squatters.
a) dolonos
b) farcelarios
c) Squatters.

B. Farm Laborers.
XI Mayordemos.
2 . Sharecroppers.
3. Wage Hands.
a) Resident.
b) Temporary.
U. Unpaid Laborers.

■^^Contralorxa General de la Republica, Manual de Consulta para

Bmpadronadores (Bogota, 1951), p. k5-

1^®The original meaning ofaparcero is "partner." During the

 This proposed classification is discussed in the remainder of the

chapter.

Farm Operators

Owners.
/
Most of the occupied land of Boyaca appears to be held individually

in fee simple. These owners can be living on the farm, living in a city

but often commuting to the farm in order to manage it, or absent from the

farm for long periods of time. Boyaca farmers are predominantly resident

owners and operators. Individual, owners who commute between their city

hemes and their farms may have mayordomos (see below) to assist in the

management of their farms. And the farms of absentee landlords, which are

relatively few, are operated by managers or administrators.

Certain lands in Puebloviejo, Boavita, Soata, Socota, Chita, San

Mateo, Guican, and other municipios are farms which have been transmitted

indiviso for one or more generations. This has been due in part to the

slow and complicated legal process of settling inheritances, a process

which may take from five to twenty years or more. Sometimes collective

owners prefer to keep a farm indiviso on account of its size, often with

the purpose of having ample space for cattle. When this happens, the ani­

mals are placed on the land after they have been branded or earmarked and

properly registered in the alcaldia. Only the heirs and the heirs' chil­

dren may use such lands. In Puebloviejo, where the Suse paramos have been

middle ages in Spain the aparcero was especially connected with cattle
raising and cattle transhumancy. See Rafael de Urena and Adolfo Bonilla
y San Martin, editors, Fuero de Usagre (Madrid, 1907); cf. Charles Julian
Bishko, "The Peninsular Background of Latin American Cattle Ranching,41
The Hispanic American Historical Review, XXXII (1952), pp. 501-502.
 1U2

held in common for more than one hundred years, the heirs have kept gene­

alogies and exercise close vigilance against possible intruders.

In Coper, where there is no record of the reservation having been

abolished, 120 faimers live in what is called Hacienda Resguardo. These

farmers pay an annual levy of from two pesos to 120 pesos to a board

composed of the alcalde, the treasurer, the attorney, and a secretary, a

situation that is reminiscent of the old cabildo de indxgenas. This board

adjudicates new lots and fixes the annual tax rate. In this supposed

reservation, families have been transmitting their parcels from generation

to generation.'1’^

In regard to the tenure status of the only true Indians remaining

in Boyaca, namely, the Tunebo, it can be stated that it is full collective

ownership. These Indians are entitled to protection by the authorities in

the enjoyment of their rights; and according to Law 60 of December 9, 1916,

no adjudlcation of baldios can be made if these are occupied by Indians

Their tenure, however, is precarious on account of the inability of the

government to defend them from colonos.

It is common in Boyaca to find plots of land which are held under

a partnership arrangement. Those who engage in such partnerships, or

campahias, are called socios, or partidarios. As a general rule, these

ccsnpanias are entered into, not by an hacendado and his arrendatario, but

by two small operators or by a small operator and a local laborer.

Julio Cesar Cubillos, "Infonne de la Camisi^n de Estudio de la

Zona Occidental de Chiquinquirii, n Comisi<5n de Planeamiento de la Seguridad
Social Caxnpesina, Bogota, June 11, 195U, MS.

^^Lopera Berrio, og. cit., p. 119.

 12*3

Ccmpanc£as are commonly held on land away from the worker's home*

Such partnerships can be organized for any kind of crop, and there

is an immense variation of what each socio will furnish. For instance,

campanias for the raising of potatoes in Tuta require the landowner to

give the seed and one half of the fertilizer, while the worker furnishes

his labor and one half of the fertilizer, and pays for the insecticides;

the produce is shared equally. In Puebloviejo, the same campanias require

the landowner, often called patron, to give land, to pay for one half of

the cost of the insecticides and for one half of the cost of the ferti­

lizer; the partner furnishes labor, seed, one half of the insecticides

and one half of the fertilizer. The harvest is divided on the field, two

rows for one partner and the next two for the other. In San Mateo, when

the planting is done on fallow land the patron provides the land, a team

of oxen, one half of the seed, and one half of the insecticides; the part­

ner administers labor, purchases the fertilizer, and pays for one half of

the seed and the insecticides, and the crop is shared equally. But when

the planting is done an land recently worked or plowed, the patron

furnishes only one ox and none of the seed.

In Tibasosa, where wheat is not sprayed and chemical fertilizers

are seldom used, the patron provides the land, and pays for one half of the

cost of the harvest and the threshing; the worker furnishes the labor, the

seed, and pays for the remainder of the cost of harvest and threshing; the

produce is shared equally. There is a similar arrangement in Sogamoso,

with the exception that the patron pays for one third of the cost of the

harvest and not for one half. In Susacon the landowner also pays for one
half of the seed, fertilizer, and insecticides, and the partner works and

pays for the rest, the crop being shared equally. The same arrangement

is true in San Mateo, except that each partner furnishes one ox for the

work, and the worker has to pay for the food of other laborers sigaged.

For the cultivation of corn in Tuta, the landowner has to deliver

the land ready to be planted, i.e., plowed, and he is expected to help in

the financing of the harvest; the other partner does the work, gathers

the organic manure from the field and applies it to the land; the crop is

shared equally. For broad beans at Umbita, the patron furnishes land and

seed, and the other partner does the work, sharing the produce equally.

And for tomatoes at Covarachia the patron permits the use of the land and

provides a team of oxen, while the partner furnishes the seed, does two

weedings, and irrigates; the crop is shared equally.

Passing note should be given to the fact that pasture land is

also given in compania for the raising of cattle. This is done in most

of the mountainous area of Boyaca, although it is unknown in EL Espino

and EL Cocuy. In this sort of partnership, called al aumento, the owner

of the stock grazes the animals on his partner's land. The owner of

pasture land is entitled to one half of the profit, if any, upon the sale

of the other partner’s cattle.

Administradores or Managers.

Managers are rare in Boyaci. because^ as stated above, there appear

to be few absentee owners. Certain government farms, however, are handled

by administradores, or managers, who have a free hand in the immediate

disposition of the assets. Such is the case, for instance, at the agri-
 11*5

cultural experiment stations at Nuevo Colon, Saraaca, and Paipa.

Renters*

True cash renting, whereby the owner relinquishes to the renter

the full "package” of rights except title and with certain provisions in

exchange for a stipulated amount of rent, is rare in Boyaca. This arrange­

ment is practiced, however, in areas of new settlement such as Miraflores.

Cash renting of small plots, and with an obligation on the part of the

renter to labor on the landlord's haciendas, exists in Tibana (veredas

Chiguata and Quichatoque). Here the renters must recruit six laborers

per year for work on the main farm. In Garagoa (vereda Fumbaque), the

cash renter is required to help on the main farm for a law wage. A simi­

lar practice prevails in Chxquiza (Hacienda Iguaque), where cash ralters

are required to work on the hacienda for at least twelve weeks per year

for nominal wages. These renters are called arrendatarios in Tibana and

Garagoa, and vlvientes in Chiquiza.

There is a special form of cash renting in Puebloviejo, called

antichresis, in which interest is involved in the form of usufruct. Ac­

cording to this arrangement, the landowner delivers his land to the renter

for a limited amount of time (usually two years) and for a given amount

of money. Within the time stipulated in the contract, the renter is en­

titled to cultivate the land and to enjoy the usufruct of it. When the

landowner returns the amount of money which he originally received, he

also retrieves the land which he ceded in antichresis.

Share renters are operators who secure the right to the use of

the land in return for a specified share of the crop. This pattern is
 1U6

the rule in Moniquira, where such renters are called either viviantes or

arrendatarios, and in Panqueba, where they are called agregados. The same

arrangement may be found, although to a lesser extent, in El Cocuy, where

these renters are called arrendatarios. There are no obligations to the

landlord except the punctual delivery of one half of all crops harvested

from the rented lot.

Colonos. ParcelarLos, and Squatters.

Farmers who have lawfully occupied baldxo land, and who will re­

ceive a title in fee simple upon compliance with legal regulations, are

called colonos in Boyaca. Colonos predominate in marginal areas such as

the paramos of Palchacual and Primavera in El Cocuy, and Tunebia in Guican.

They live along the water front on the Ermitano and Magdalena Rivers, and

they also are found in Otanche and other localities in the Territorio

Vasquez. The Andean slopes toward the llanos, especially the lands crossed

by the Puebloviejo-Pajarito and the Miraflores-Campohermoso roads, are

settled by colonos. They can be found also on inter-Andean paramos in

Belen, Susacon, Tutaza, and Beteitiva. On these paramos, as well as in EL

Cocuy and Guican, colonization is proceeding toward higher elevations.

When a settler is on an estate which was purchased by the govern­

ment for subdivision purposes, he receives the name parcelario. Par-

celarios are subject to the regulations set forth in a purchase contract

which call for payment within five to eight years. No title is given to

them ■until 60 percent of the purchase price is covered, and the land is
 1U7

still mortgaged until the full amount is paid.1^1 Parcelarios are found
^ /
in the following government haciendas: Canaveral, Samaria, Isama, Santo

Domingo, Campoalegre, and Santa Helena, in Buenavista; Guadualito, in

Maripij EL Juco, Rancherxa, and Merchan, in Saboya; Bosques de Chameza,

in Chameza; and Castanal, in Campohexmoso.

On account of Law 200 of 1936, many farmers, not a few in good

faith, occupied unused portions of land the title of which rested with an

individual owner. Some of these squatters were driven away forcibly, but

on other properties they have remained, as is the case in Guican, It is

probable that if Law 200 were in force these farmers (called derechantes

or colonos by themselves and culebreros by other persons) would have a

good case of lawful occupancy by prescription. As the matter now stands,

derechantes have not received any title and are in illegal possession of

land. It goes without saying that the situation represented by conflicting

occupants is quite explosive, and that it deserves careful attention and

prompt action by the authorities.

Farm Laborers

Mayordomos,

Although mayordomos are above the general level of agricultural

/
laborers in Boyaca they do not have enough functions as entrepreneurs to

deserve to be classified as operators, A mayordomo is simply an overseer

Parcelarios are definitely curtailed in the use of their land

on account of this lack of title. For instance, they cannot obtain credit
from banks by using the parcel as collateral. New legislation is being
contemplated to correct this disadvantage by giving the parcelario his
title immediately, although his property still will be mortgaged.
 11*8

who looks after the farm while the owner is away for a few days or weeks

and who carries out the orders left by his patron. There seem to be many

mayordomos in Boyaca, especially in areas where the hacienda type (see

\ / / /
Chapter VIII) makes its appearance— Chiquinquira, Leiva, Chaquiza, Samaca,

San Jose de Pare, part of the central Andean plateaus, Ccvarachia, Tibana,

and in the municipios of the Eastern Andean Slopes. The mayordomo is also

called concertado in Tuta,

Sharecroppers.

At Covarachxa and Soata there is a sharecropping arrangement for

tobacco which as a rule runs as follows: The landlord furnishes land and

house, a team of oxen, rope on which to hang the leaves, a shack (caney or

tambo) in which to keep the leaves, sometimes water, and often the payment

for two weedings. The worker, who is called medianero or arrendatario,

furnishes the seed, prepares the land, does the weeding and harvest and

prepares the leaves for market. The proceeds from the sale of the crop

are divided equally between the two.

When the w>rker plants fique instead of tobacco, he is as a rule

called parcelero. In this case the worker also resides on Ihe land which

he receives. The patron furnishes the seed (or the growing plants), and

the fiber-making apparatus. The worker does the necessary labor. The

produce is divided equally between the patron and the parcelero.

Similar sharecropping patterns are found in San Jose de Pare for

the cultivation of sugar cane, com, and yucca. In these instances the

patron furnishes land and house, the cane mill, two or more mules for

transportation of the produce, and the necessary fuel for the mill; the
 1k9

medianero, more often called viviente in this section, furnishes the seed,

labor, and food for fellow workers, and he is to deliver the finished

product ready to be sold. The proceeds are shared equally. While the

sugar cane is growing, the viviente is allowed to plant corn, but he has

to deliver one third of the crop to the patron. If he plants yucca, the

sharing is done in the field, with the tubers from two rows going to the

viviente and those of one to the patron. Almost the same pattern is found

in the cultivation of sugar cane in Coper.

It is well to emphasize that in these sharecropping patterns the

patron is the real manager of the enterprise. He may forbid the planting

of staple crops together with the commercial crops which he requires, and

he has the right to uproot any plants or trees planted without his consent.

Wage Hands.

The system of pemitting the landless to settle within large farms

in exchange for work is widespread in Boyaca. These laborers receive a

piece of land (moname) in the hacienda as part of the wage; the produce

of this lot, as a rule belongs to the laborer in its entirety. Often the

use of such monames carries obligations to the family of the laborer in

regard to domestic help in the big house. Two terms go hand in hand in

Boyaca to refer to such resident laborers, namely, arrendatario and vivi­

ente. There is a tendency to use the word arrendatario in this sense in

the central area of the department, while the word viviente is more widely

employed in the west and in the Moniquir£ region. In Paipa, the word de­

pend!ente is also used to refer to a resident laborer. The word concertado,

which predominates in northern CundLnaroarca, is used in Tuta in the sense

 150

of servants in the big house; only at Tibasosa it is used with the same

historical meaning preserved in Cundinamarca. The resident laborers of

haciendas in Samaca, Ccmbita, and GLcata consider it an insult to be re­

ferred to as concertados, and they emphasize that they are arrendatarios.

Boyaca also has its share of temporary workers. The most out­

standing example of these laborers is afforded by the semaneros who can

be hired for full wages at Sunday markets at Guepsa (Santander). These

/
are transients who arrive from many municipios of Boyaca and Santander in

the hope of earning money. They can be hired in gang3 commandeered by a

capitaa, gangs which are engaged for one week at a time. The patron

arranges the wage with the capitan and he takes the workers' tools as an

assurance against default. He also supplies the semaneros with lodging

and food for the week. Many farms in the Moniquira region are manned in

this manner, which, it should be noted, seems to be effective and satis­

factory both for the operator and the worker.

Unpaid Laborers.

The custom of having an elderly person living in a house for the

purpose of keeping an eye on the crops appears to be widely practiced in

Boyaca. Such a person is called cuidandero in most parts (Samaca, Combita,

Ledva), but in Guican he or she is called recomendado. No payment is

given to a cuidandero except, perhaps, for a very small piece of land

around the house which he can cultivate. Only after the crop which he

helped to watch is harvested, is the cuidandero gratified with a gift of

about one arroba (25 pounds) of the produce, a gift which is called jutaba

in Samaca. likewise, to children and women who help in the threshing of

 151

wheat or barley a gift of one cupful of grain is given to each one of them,

and this is called jocua (Socha), jotarao (Puebloviejo), or palada (south­

ern regions).

Operators in most areas of Boyaca permit unpaid laborers to dig

over for a second time the land from which potatoes have been harvested.

The purpose is to secure the tubers which are inevitably left hidden in

the ground. As this is often beneficial to the landowner, the laborers,

mostly women, are permitted to keep what they find. This work is called

juntas or huntas (Beteitiva), as well as tochas (Puebloviejo). In the

southern area of the department it is called rastrojear, a term fully

descriptive of the Biblical practice it denotes.

 CHAPTER VII

FRAGMENTATION OF HOLDINGS

Whether a holding is consolidated into one tract or divided into

discrete parcels is a socio-ecological phenomenon worthy of study. When

a farm is broken into fragments, its operation is rendered difficult and

great wastage of time and energy results; the expense involved in moving

machinery, equipment, and animals from one lot to another may consume a

good proportion of a year's earnings; vigilance over crops becomes diffi­

cult and it often requires the hiring of extra hands; the access to

separate fields is made difficult, especially when cattle and other ani­

mals are involved, and it becomes a source of constant conflict with

neighbors; and the necessity to build and to maintain fences around the

lots increases the cost of farm operations. On the community level, the

dispersal of fields gives rise to complications with respect to rights of

way, access to streams or other sources of water, and so on. Plans for

the improvement of agriculture, such as the establishment of a drainage

system, are often handicapped because desirable changes have to be agree­

able to many individual farmers, and unanimity is hard to secure.

Mechanization is difficult to introduce in fragmented farms, especially

when they are small. Weed and pest control is useless when there are

many lots neglected by their owners because of excessive fragmentation,

as these lots become sources of infestation.

The fragmentation of the farm holding is undesirable from these

152
 153

standpoints. However, there are cases in which it can be justified and

even advantageous. Diversity of soil conditions, the topography, and the

nature of crops often make fragmentation an asset to farm operations.

Such is the case in Switzerland and Norway, for instance, where mountain

pastures can be used only at certain times of the year5 in low-lying rice

areas it is desirable to have patches on higher land for use as seed

nurseries; in China, hill land provides fuel and green manure for the

farmer who lives in the village.'1’ All of these instances clearly denote

that fragmentation, either in its negative or in its positive aspects, is

an important subject to be considered in any discussion of man-land re­

lations.

The fragmentation of holdings has been studied especially in

Germany, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Ireland, and England. Sociologists

learned about this phenomenon from classical works on the village,^ and

since then fragmentation and the village have been inseparable. In fact,

it is believed that wherever there is fragmentation either the village

Bernard 0. Binns, The Consolidation of Fragmented Agricultural

Holdings, FAO Agricultural Studies 11 (Washington: Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations, 19£0), p. 6.

2Ibid., pp. 1-2.

3
A. Meitzen, Siedlung und Agrarwesen der Westgexmanen und Ost-
germanen, der Kelten, fonlnen, und. Slaven (Berlin; iBe'sser, 1d9^)j George L.
Gorame, m e Village Community, with Special Reference to the Origin and
Foim of"Its Survivals in Britain (London: Walter Scott Ltd., 1690)} F. ¥.
Maitland, Domesday Book and Beyond (Cambridge; University Press, 1897);
Paul Vinogradoff, The Growth of the Manor (Londons Longmans, Green, and
Co., 190U): Harold Peake, The English Village (London; Benn and Brothers,
Ltd., 1922); Frederic Seebohm, Tne English Village Community (New Yorks
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1926); Max Sering, Deutsche Agraipolitik auf
geschichtlicher und landeskundlicher Grundlage (Leipzig; Hans Buske Verlag,
1935^
 15U

pattern of settlement exists or it was predominant some time in the past.

Rural sociology textbooks and other works have given due recognition to

this duality.^ But the possibility that fragmentation could occur in

areas of scattered farmsteads and line villages has not been considered,

although there have been passing references in the literature on this re­

gard.'* It is easy to see that social scientists have given the subject

of fragmentation of holdings very little consideration. The subject has

not even been included in comprehensive symposia such as the Encyclopaedia

of the Social Sciences.^

Many areas in Boyaca are affected by this phenomenon to the point

fragmentation in United States farms has been studied especially

in connection with Mormon villages, see Lowry Nelson, The Utah Farm Village
of Ephraim, Brigham Young University Studies 2 (Provo, 192tJ)} Lowry itfeison,
Some Social and Economic Features of American Fork, Utah, Brigham Young
University Studies h (Provo, 1933’)• Also consult Lowry”Nelson, Rural
Sociology (New York: American Book Co., 19U8)> pp. 58-59} T. Iynn Smith,
The Sociology of Rural Life (3rd ed.j New York: Harper and Brothers, 1952),
pp. 216-^18} dharles P. Loomis, Studies of Rural Social Organization (East
Lansing: State College Book Store, 19U5)» pp. and, passim} N."lj. Sims,
Elements of Rural Sociology (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell and Co., 19h0),
pp. 22-2lit and passim.

fragmentation of holdings has been recorded in Japan in connection

with line villages of the Echigo type, see Iwao Ishino and John W. Bennett,
Japanese Social Relations, Ohio State University Research Foundation Report
6 (Columbus, 1953), p. 5h} cf. R. B. Hall, "Same Rural Settlement Forms in
Japan," Geographical Review, XXI (1931)* Professor Raymond E. Crist refers
to fragmentation in an area of scattered farmsteads in his “Timotes,
Venezuela," Bulletin of the Pan American Union, LXXVI (June, 19h2), 309-310.
Professors T. Lynn Smith, Justo Diaz Rodriguez, and Luis Roberto Garcia
observed fragmentation in the scattered farmsteads area of Tabio in
Colombia, see their Tabio: A Study in Rural Social Organization (Washington:
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 19U5)> p. 33* Fragnentation was also
observed and recorded in the scattered farmsteads area of Saucio in
Colombia, see the writer's Peasant Society in Transition: A Study of a
Colombian Neighborhood (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1955).
(In press.)

fdwin R. Seligman, editor, The Encyclopaedia of the Social

Sciences (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1955).
 155

that it cannot be ignored in studies of local rural life. The examination

of fragmented holdings in this department raises the interesting subject

of their relationship with patterns of settlement. As described in

Chapter IV, scattered farmsteads are the rule in Boyaca. Then from the

epistemological standpoint it becomes important to test the village-

fragmentation hypothesis. The present chapter is thus devoted to a study

of fragmentation in Boyaca, how it functions, and which are its origins.

For this purpose, the cross-sectional and the historical approaches have

been used.

The Nature and Function of Fragmentation in Boyaca

Divided holdings have cane about mainly as a result of inheritances

from parents and relatives and purchases of separate lots. They are es­

pecially prominent in Samaca (Paramo Centro), dcata (San Isidro),

Sutatenza, Guateque, Garagoa, Tinjac&, Tumeque, Moniquira, Puebloviejo,

Combita (San Martin), Tuta (Rio de Piedras), Cucaita, Sora, and Boavita.

Farmers own many tracts in different veredas, or neighborhoods.

They commute to them from their isolated homesteads on meandering paths

which are often so narrow that they do not permit the passing of yoked

oxen. Practically all of the transportation is done on the backs of men

and women (see Chapter IX), although a few farmers may use the horse or

the mule to make the rounds to their dispersed holdings. Distances be­

tween lots vary considerably. In Puebloviejo, for instance Jobo de Jesus

Pesca, owner of 27 discrete parcels, declared that his nearest separate

lot was 10 meters (33 feet) away from the homestead, while his farthest

property was lij. kilometers (6.5 miles) away. In Tumeque, where time
 156

spent walking from the homestead to the fields on such a rugged terrain

is more significant than linear distances, Jose Lancheros (owner of 22

parcels) needs only five minutes to reach his nearest separate lot in

Volcan Blanco, and fully two hours to reach a lot at Jurata which he in­

herited from his uncle. Distances are somewhat shorter in Guateque, where

Rogelio Carranza, holder of eight lots, declared that he spent from about

five minutes walking from the homestead to his nearest separate lot in

Pozos, to half an hour in going to a lot in Ubajuca (see Figure U). In

these three cases the homestead is located at from one to three miles from

the seat of the municipio, or service center; the average walking time be­

tween the homestead and the pueblo is one hour and a half.

This fragmentation has important functional characteristics. The

time spent in reaching the diverse lots has fostered a tendency to abandon

those holdings which are too far away from the homestead— this has happened

in Puebloviejo at the paramos of Hirba and Suse. The desire to watch over

the growing crops has compelled peasants to hire cuidanderos, or keepers,

who with the permission of the owner plant a few crops in compensation;

this is done in Combita and Guican, for example. In other areas, such as

Moniquira, fragmentation has induced the creation of a transient popu­

lation— whole families move from one isolated homestead to another as the

need arises for weeding or harvesting the different crops; provisional

shacks made of the guadua bamboo or the chusque cane are provided for the

purpose. Still another practice, much worse from the standpoint of social
cohesion, is provided by certain famers in Guateque who actually divide

up their families and post sons as cuidanderos on different lots.

 Iff

VEREOA POZOS

GUATEQUE
THE FRAGMENTED FARM OF ROOELIO CARRANZA
1954
SCALE 1:10,000

1.• MUKt

E»hrt GMTMUS
'I'-'WOTMTHS
t4? APPROXIMATELIMTIOFHOLNNSS

Figurei*.
 158

Crops may be lost on account of the lack of personal vigilance

which results from pulverized holdings. Potato blight, for instance, can

seriously damage a large field in two days. If it happens that such an

attack occurs while the fanner is away doing tasks in other fields, partial

or total loss of the crop is almcet certain. Crops are often lost because

there is difficulty in transporting the tools and equipment from one lot

to another.

One further disadvantage of this ecological phenomenon as it ap­

pears in the scattered farmsteads area of Boyaca is its complications with

rights of ways. A fanner has to have roads or paths to each one of his

scattered lots, and this is by no means a simple question in rural areas.

Overzealous neighbors, who are likewise settled in isolated farmsteads,

may not want to yield a right of way for a farmer to pass over their land.

How to get the harvest out from the lots is a problem which requires care­

ful planning and, practically, the approval of neighbors. Water rights

become a headache for a fanner whose lot is away from creeks or ponds.

This is most exasperating when the creek or pond is only a few meters away

and there are two or three lots owned by others intervening.

But there are advantages in connection with fragmented holdings

in Boyaca. On account of the topography, variations in temperature and

soil permit the growing of crops at different time intervals within a

relatively small area. Each lot is specialized in the sense that farmers

know what type of crop it produces best. Having lots at different alti­

tudes or at different locations proves to be a great advantage in this

respect for the variety of staples assured and for the steady income which
 159

results. For instance, Teofilo Rubiano, who lives in an isolated farmstead

in the vereda Teguaneque at Tumeque, starts his agricultural year by

planting potatoes and corn in March in one of his fourteen separate lots.

He chooses for this purpose land half way between the paramo and the bottom

of the river valley. Then during the same month he plants wheat in one of

his high-altitude properties. In April he sows c o m in a lot down by the

river. Potatoes are planted again in June in still another segment, while

the land planted for this purpose in March is left fallow. There is a

time in mid-year when this farmer is planting and harvesting simultaneously.

By using this system of cultivation, he explains, one crop lost in one lot

can be recuperated by successful harvests in other lots. Moreover, having

separate holdings for pasture is advantageous because cattle may be kept

at the upper altitudes during the winter but not during the summer. Small

creeks and ponds dry up, grasses are quickly eaten, and it becomes neces­

sary to have pasture in lower altitudes, preferably by the larger creeks

and the river, for such emergencies. Thus cattle are driven from one lot

to another as need arises for green pastures. This farmer, whose holdings

add up to 21 fanegadas acres) with a mean size of 1,5 fanegada (2.1*

acres) per lot, is able to maintain in this fashion nine head of cattle,

seven horses and mules, and twelve sheep,

A similar situation is found in Puebloviejo where, in addition,

segmented lots on the paramos are coveted because of the chite plants that

grow wild at those altitudes— chite is the main fuel for local kitchens.

It is convenient for a farmer to have properties in the valley where he

can plant around his house subsistence and cash crops, and some lots on
 160

the paramos where he can secure a steady supply of fuel. Otherwise he

would have to spend scarce cash to buy it at the Thursday market. Some

farmers walk or ride for two hours every fifteen days in order to harvest

the useful chite.

Significant information was supplied by farmers in'Guateque,

Turmeque, and Puebloviejo to justify the existence of fragmented holdings.

According to these farmers, personal security can be measured in terms of

the amount of land that one holds and seldom by other earthly possessions.

When one has parcels here and there he can sell them in case of need with­

out his main farm, i.e., the lots from which a farmer obtains most of the

cash and subsistence crops, being affected by such sales. This indicates

that farmers often purchase land away from the farmstead simply as a

capital investment, and, although farmers may cultivate the land, such

fragments are -viewed upon mainly as accessory to the main investment repre­

sented in the original, principal farm. When a crisis comes, one of

these satellite lots is sold. It is not surprising that land in Boyaca

has became an asylum for capital— local farmers have little use for banks

and savings accounts; in most municipios banks do not exist. It should

not be thought that these farmers, because they are poor, are unable to

save. Indeed, it may take them many years to accumulate some savings, but

peasants often succeed in hoarding little amounts which they religiously

keep in family coffers, bills and coins which are hidden underneath re­

ligious objects and clothing. When a small landholder finally has a sum

of which he can dispose, he is much tempted to buy land because this is a

good and highly secure investment. Because land adjacent to already-owned

 161

farms i s seldom purchasable, peasants have to content themselveswith land

away from th eir headquarters. Distance i s of little importancejthe new
l o t may be l e f t fallow i f the owner so d esires. But i t w ill be there for
sale in case of urgent need.^

Fragmentation in Representative Municipios

I t i s possible to measure the extent of fragmentation in s ix of

the municipios mentioned in the preceding section, because of an opportune
decree bearing the number 0259 issued on February 2, 195k. This government
decree ordered that freeholders in each municipio must declare th eir landed
properties and submit new estimates of th eir value, as w ell as to state
the siz e of each lo t and i t s location . A lo ca l board was appointed for
the purpose of passing fin a l judgment on estimates submitted by the free­
holders, and to establish a value on the basis of which future land taxes
starting on January 1, 1955, were to be calculated. The deadline for sub­
m itting such declarations was August 31, 1951*.
The six municipios analyzed are Boavita, Guateque, Moniquira,
Puebloviejo, Sora, and Turmeque, They were chosen on the basis of f ie ld
observation in the s ix physiographic regions in which they are located.
Local alcaldes stated that there was l i t t l e trouble in getting the farmers
to declare their properties, mainly because the freeholders were threatened
with expropriation of th eir land i f they did not comply with the decree.
But obviously not a l l the farmers submitted declarations. An analysis of
previous declarations (catastro) a t Sora in 191*8 compared with those of

^That these purchases among small landholders also foment and per­
petuate minifundia i s an important aspect studied in Chapter VIII.
 162

19 5U, with interim transactions taken into consideration, indicated that

about 10 percent of the total of freeholders either forgot or were un­

willing to declare their holdings. This ratio, of course, probably varies

from one municipio to another. However, it is likely that the coverage for
Q
each of these localities is not lower than 85 percent.

The alphabetical arrangement of the names of the declarants made

by clerical workers was one source of error. This was especially true when

a fanner declared each lot on a separate sheet of paper. Mishandling of

declarations caused some of the sheets to become separated from those which

should accompany them, in such a way that, for instance, two lots are

counted as individual holdings when in reality they belong to only one

farmer. This called for considerable care and constant correction of the

records* Excellent typed summaries were available for Boavita, Moniquira,

and Soraj but the writer himself had to start by sorting the declarations

for the other municipios. In spite of the care exercised, however, proba­

bly there is an over-representation of monoholders in the tabulations— very

likely there are fewer farmers having all their land in one parcel than

appears to be the case in the tabulations.

There is also the possibility that some farmers declared two or

more lots, when actually the land was not separated but contiguous. Actu­

ally, this danger is reduced to those farmers whose fragmented properties

are in one vereda only, because the possibilities for lots in different

veredas to lie side by side are small. But even in the declaration of

Q
Of equal concern was the problem represented in the farmers1
estimates of the size of their holdings. For an explanation of this, see
Chapter VIII.
 163

fragmented properties within one vereda it is possible to control such an

error on the basis of the fanners' classification of the kind of soil in

the lots. In order to justify the value of the property, freeholders

classified each lot according to the kind of soil it contains, whether

first, second, third, or fourth class. Moreover, many fanners explained

that they had consolidated a number of lots into one, and it was this one

larger lot which they formally declared in 195k; this fact seemed to indi­

cate that separated holdings received individual recognition. But the

best indication in this regard is the use of a name for each lot. It is

the local custom to keep such names in transactions, except in the case

where the lot is adjacent to the buyer's property; then it may take on the

name of the adjacent lot.^ The use of different names to refer to the

holdings is a good indication of the separation of such holdings; the

recognition of this custom was quite helpful in analyzing the declarations.

The results of the analyses of catastro declarations for the six

municipios under consideration can be seen in Tables IV, V, VI, VII, VIII,

and IX. It should be remembered once again that in these municipios the

population is settled in scattered farmsteads.^-®

^Colombian law requires that each rural holding have a name for
purposes of registration and recording of deeds, see Luis F. Latorre,
Registro y Matincula de la Propiedad (Bogota* Imprenta Nacional, 1933)»
pp. 135, 189.

1®Field observation testifies it, and 1951 census results confirm

it. Percentages of population and dwellings outside the seat of these
municipios are as follows:
Population Dwellings
Puebloviejo 9U.9 95.U
Turmeque 91.6 93 •3
Boavita 89.8 90.U
Sora 87.3 86.8
Moniquira 80.6 86.9
Guateque 71.8 77.8
 161*

For purposes of quantitative analysis, fragmentation is defined

as a stage in the evolution of the agricultural holdings in which a faun

consists of two or more non-adjacent parc e l s . ^ According to this defi­

nition, Puebloviejo is the most advanced in such an evolution. As may be

seen from the data in Table VII, 76 percent of the farmers in this muni-

cipio have holdings consisting of two or more parcels of land; and only

6 percent of the tracts of land in the municipio are in farms which consist

of a single lot. In Turmeque, 53 percent of the farmers are polyholders

(owners of two or more lots); and only 21 percent of the tracts are in

monoholdings. Forty-eight percent of the farmers in Sora are polyholders,

and 26 percent of the tracts are in monoholdings. The other three muni-

cipios do not show such an acute degree of fragmentation. In Guateque and

Boavita, polyholders amount to 38 percent of the farmers; and 36 percent

of the lots are in monoholdings. The least advanced municipio in this

evolution is Moniquira, where 30 percent of the farmers have holdings con­

sisting of two or more parcels of land, and almost 50 percent of the tracts

are in farms which consist of a single lot.

Extreme individual cases of fragmentation appear in the same order

as the municipios. Three farmers in Puebloviejo declared that they have 29

lots apiece. One of these freeholders, who was selected for field testing,

in reality has only 27 parcels because two of the total are adjacent to

Computed from DireccicSn Nacional de Estadfstica, Departamento de Boyac^t

Poblacl6n de los Municipios por Grupos de Edad y Sexo en las Cabeceras~y
Otras Loc alidade s. Censo de 1951 (Typescript^, (Bogota, 19$h); l)irecci6n
Nacional de Estadistica, Censo de Bdificios y Viviendas de 15511 Bpyaci
(Bogota, l?5U)j pp. llUi-161.

^ T h i s definition i s based on Binns, o£. cit., p. 5.

 165

others; he still qualifies, however, among the fanners whose property is

most pulverized. (His holdings amount to 11 fanegadas or 18 acres for a

mean size of half a fanegada or .8 acres per lot.) Another owner in

Tuimeque declared 22 lots, but during the field investigation he confided

that he had forgotten to report three, more lots, which increases his total

to 25; however, three of these are adjacent to others, thus confirming as

separated lots the figure given in the municipal catastro. (His holdings

amount to 56.5 fanegadas or 90.li acres for a mean size of 2.2 fanegadas or
3.5 acres per lot.) Sora and Guateque each has a farmer with 11 holdings.

And in Moniquira one freeholder declared 8 separated lots.

TABLE IV

NUMBER OF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN BQAVITA ACCORDING

TO THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951

Freeholders Declaring Lots

Number of Lots
per Faim Number Percent Number Percent

Total 1,615 100.0 2,781 100.0

1 1,006 62.3 1,006 36.2

2 323 20.0 6k6 23.2
3 11:3 8.9 Ii29 15.U
h 71 lt.lt 28ii 10.2
5 hh 2.7 220 7.9
6 15 .9 90 3.2
7 5 .3 35 1.3
8 3 .2 2k .9
9 3 .2 27 1.0
10 2 .1 20 .7

Source: Catastro Municipal de 195U, Boavlta.

 166

TABLE V
NUMBER OF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN GUATEQUE ACCORDING
TO THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951*

Freeholders Declaring Lots

Number of Lots
per Farm Number Percent Number Percent

Total 2,039 100.0 3,512 100.0

1 1,257 61.7 1,257 35.8

2 1*32 21.2 861* 21*.6
3 185 9.1 555 15.8
1* 73 3.6 292 8.3
5 50 2.5 250 7.1
6 19 .9 111* 3.2
7 12 .6 81* 2.it
3 6 .3 1*8 1.1*
9 3 .1 27 .8
10 1 10 .3
11 1 * 11 .3

Source: Catastro Municipal de 195U, Guateque.

TABLE VI

NUMBER OF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN MONIQUIRA ACCORDING

TO THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951*

Freeholders Declaring Lots

Number of Lots
per Farm Number Percent Number Percent

Total 2,51*6 100.0 3,81*3 100.0

1 1,778 69.8 1,778 1*6.3

2 1*51* 17.8 908 23.6
3 180 7.1 51*0 lit.l
h 81 3.2 321* 8.1*
5 31* 1.1* 170 u.i*
6 11 .1* 66 1.7
7 7 .3 1*9 1.3
8 1 8 .2
. /
Source: Catastro Municipal de 19 5U, Moniquira.
 16?

TABLE VII
NUMBER OF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN PUEBLOVIEJO ACCORDING
TO THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951*

Freeholders Declaring Lots

Number of Lots
per Farm Number Percent Number Percent

Total 2,121* 100.0 8,995 100.0

1 507 23.8 507 5.6

2 391 18.1* 782 8.7
3 291 13.7 873 9.7
1* 215 10.1 860 9.6
5 151* 7.3 770 8.6
6 ill 6.6 81*6 9.1*
7 102 1*.8 711* 7.9
8 81 3.8 61*8 7.2
9 1*6 2.2 1*11* 1*.6
10 50 2.1* 5oo 5.5
11 1*1* 2.1 1*81* 5.1*
12 22 1.0 261* 2.9
13 20 .9 260 2.9
Ik 10 .5 11*0 1.6
15 9 .5 135 1.5
16 8 .1* 128 1.1*
17 8 .U 136 1.5
18 6 .3 108 1.2
19 5 .3 95 1.1
20 k .2 80 .9
21 2 .1 1*2 .5
22 1 * 22 .2
23 2 .1 1*6 .5
21*, 2£ 0 ■* 0 •*
26 1 •* 26 .3
27 0 ■# 0
28 1 * 28 .3
29 3 .1 87 1.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 1951*, Puebloviejo.

 168

TABLE VIII
NUMBER GF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN SORA ACCORDING TO
THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951*

Number of Lots Freeholders Declaring Lo-bs

per Farm Number Percent Number Percent
Total 563 100.0 1,121* 100.0

1 295 52.1* 295 26.2

2 127 22.6 251* 22.6
3 62 11.0 186 16.5
1* 1+5 8.0 . 180 16.0
5 15 2.7 75 6.7
6 10 1.8 60 5.3
7 5 .9 35 3.1
8 0 ■* 0 *
9 2 .1* 18 1.6
10 1 .1 10 1.0
11 1 .1 11 1.0
Source: Catastro Municipal de 195U, Sora.

TABLE IX
NUMBER OF DECLARANT FREEHOLDERS IN TURMEQUE ACCORDING
TO THE NUMBER OF LOTS IN THEIR FARMS, 1951*

Number of Lots Freeholders Declaring Lo-bs

per Faim Number Percent Number Percent
Total 2,11*6 100.0 U, 777 100.0

1 1,010 1*7.1 1,010 21.1

2 502 23.U 1,001* 21.0
3 281 13.1 81*3 17.6
1* 11+6 6.8 581* 12.2
5 89 i*.l 1*1*5 9.3
6 51* 2.5 321* 6.8
7 27 1.3 189 1*.0
8 12 .6 96 2.0
9 8 .1* 72 1.5
10 1* .2 1*0 .9
11 5 .2 55 1.2
12 2 .1 21* .5
13 2 .1 26 .5
H* 2 .1 28 .6
15 1 ■it 15 .3
16,17,18,19,20,21 0 * 0 •it
22 1 •it 22 .5
Source: Catastro Municipal de 1951*, Turmeque.
 169

The Origin and Early Mechanics of

Fragmentation in Boyaca

It has been explained in Chapter IV that the village fonn of

settlement never developed in Boyaca— the village early lost the straggle

to the scattered farmsteads which the Chibcha apparently had and which new

settlers soon adopted. If this is true, then the appearance of fragmen­

tation in Boyaca cannot be attributed to the village pattern of settlement.

The association between the village and fragmentation of holdings noted by

the few sociologists who have given the matter any attention, seems inade­

quate to explain the situation in Boyaca. In this department, divided

holdings have resulted mainly from the interlocking play of inheritances

and purchases. Fragmentation is associated here with non-entailed owner­

ship in land, liberty in the use of capital, and freedom in the disposition

of landed property. Certain factors have promoted fragmentation, such as

a desire to have soils of different kinds or on different levels, and to

invest savings in small tracts of land. Facts supporting these generali­

zations have been presented above. The remainder of the present chapter

traces the natural history of the six municipios for which quantitative

data on fragmentation are available, as a further attempt to test the

village-fragmentation hypothesis. The main purpose, however, is to try

to discover the origins of fragmentation in these areas and to describe

the mechanics by which such a phenomenon evolved during its earlier stages.

Moniquira.

Little is known about this community. Moniquira. was a pre-conquest

settlement, and a resguardo^ or Indian reservation, was organized in

 170

19
1595. Spanish settlers started to invade this area shortly thereafter,
4

and it is known that Captain Pedro Marchan de Velasco took for himself a

part of the reservation land in 161;2.^3 The local Indians apparently were

dwelling in the pueblo in 1670, although there were many of them who lived

on Spanish haciendas surrounding the reservation.^

By 1575 there was a flood of vecinos, or Spanish and mestizo resi­

dents, squatting on resguardo land who took possession of such land after

the reservation was abolished.^ There is no specific information about

this important transfer which could throw light upon the manner of settle­

ment of the vecinos and the laying out of farms. In view of the fact that

the white invasion proceeded from the outer part of the reservation toward

the center, it may be inferred that the vecinos lived on the land which

they had rented or illegally taken from the Indians. It is not likely

that there was fragmentation of holdings at that time. It only seems that

fragmentation started here very slowly in 1755, and that it was caused by

vecinos who, while remaining scattered in their fields, purchased ad­

ditional lots and divided their properties proportionately among heirs.

Low density of population may have reduced the speed of subdivision of

these holdings.

■^Jose Mojica Silva, Relacitfoi de Visitas Coloniales (Tunja:

Imprenta Qficial, 19U8)> p. 227.

13Ibid., p. 208.

1^Ibid., p. 220.
15
ANC, Vol. IH, fol. 7l5jMojica,oj>. cit., pp. 235-237j Ramon C.
Oorrea, Monografxas (TunjatImprentaOficial, 1935),III, 98-99.
 171

Boavita.

Boavita had an Indian resguardo.-^ The same phenomenon of invasion

by whites took place, to the point that in 1758 that portion of the reser­

vation which was occupied by the invaders was separated from Boavita. A

new administrative unit was instituted with the name of La Uvita, a rauni-
17
cipio which still exists. The vecinos were all settled in scattered
TA
farmsteads, and most of them did not move Into La Uvita. It is possible

that fragmentation started to operate here when these farmers were made

legal owners in 1758, but the details of the process are unknown.

Guateque.

Vecinos and Indians appear to have been settled in scattered farra-

19
steads in this area from the earliest times. Fragmentation seems to have

started to operate in this group when the Indian reservation was ended in

1780 and most of the resident renters and squatters became owners in fee

simple. Since then, proportionate inheritances and purchases of separate

lots have caused fragmentation to be of great social significance in this

community.

l6Correa, og. cit., IV, 101-103.

"^For a description of La Uvita in 1850 see Manuel Ancxzar, Pere-

grinacion de Alpha (Bogota: Editorial ABC, 191*2), pp. 21*9-251*

^Mojica, og. cit., p. 21*6.

19
Many Indians lived away frcm the pueblo and some of them were
squatting on a local Spanish hacienda in 1756 (ibid., pp. 239, 263). When
the reservation was ended in 1780, there were 180 vecinos living outside
the pueblo (ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 305-30?v). The vecinos of the neighboring
parroquia of Tenza were also scattered (Mojica, og. cit., p. 21*3).
 172

Sora*
90
The reservation for the Sora Indians was thriving in 1755, and

it managed to survive until 1838 when it was subdivided among the Indians

(see Chapter VI). At the time of subdivision there were 52ij. households

entitled to the reservation land.^ Of the recipients, 369 (70 percent)

were given one f a m apiece, and 155 (30 percent) received two separate

lots.22 This can be interpreted as a sign of functional fragmentation in

Sora at the time of subdivision, because the surveyor probably respected

the de facto occupancy of both crop and pasture lands. It is possible

that there was a two-field system in the reservation of Sora, But this

system, if it was really in force, had promoted very little fragmentation

for the three hundred years that it functioned— less than one third of the

population was affected by it, and these farmers had only two separate

lots. This could have been due to the entailment of reservation lands.

Once the legal foundation for individual inheritances, sales, and purchases

was laid in 1838, it took only 116 years for monoholders to decrease in

proportion to 52 percent, while polyholders, now having from two to eleven

lots, are U8 percent of the number of owners,

Tumeque.

The records are more specific in regard to Turmeque, one of the

^°ANC, Vol. I, fols. 103-105v.

21Some of these fanners were squatting on the lands of neighboring

resguardo of Motavita, which seems to imply at least a certain amount of
scattering (NP, Leg, Motavita, fols. 5-6).

22NP, Leg. Cucaita, fols. 1-32.

 173

most noted communities among the Chibcha. The local reservation was

established in 1596,^ and the pattern of settlement at all times has

been clearly described as scattered farmsteads.2^ The community had

grown considerably by 1775 so that the Indians were given additional land

to cultivate.^ There appears to have been some functional fragmentation

prior to the subdivision of the reservation in 1836. The surveyor adjudi­

cated 1,1*09 farms of which 1,11*8 were monoholdings, 235 were bi-holdings,

and 26 were tri-holdings. In proportions, 81 percent of the farmers re­

ceived one consolidated farm apiece, 17 percent of them were given two

separate lots, and 2 percent received three separate lots.^ It is

possible that those Indians who received fragmented farms were actually

cultivating separated lots, in such a manner that the surveyor simply

recognized their de facto occupation. Some of those farmers may have had

a house in one section and a lot in another. Because the law required

23ANC, Cund., Vol. I, fols. 9-llv.

2^-Jhen Juan de Valcarcel visited this town in 1636, there were In­
dians away from the pueblo (ANC, Cund., Vol. I, fol. llv). Valcarcel
ordered that such Indians move into the village, but they did not move— in
1672 it was reported that the cattle of a Spaniard had invaded the periph­
eral area of the reservation, the animals having come very close to the
houses of the Indians who had settled there (ANC, Vol. VII, fol. 67U)•
There is a reference to white renters who lived in Teguaneque, then a
capellanfa and today one of Turmeque*s veredas, between 1738 and 1777(ANC,
Vol. VII, fols. U, 66-72). When the reservation was subdivided in I836
there were ^ore whites than Indians ** living in Pozonegro, and there were
219 houses inhabited by Indians scattered in Chirata and Fascata, sections
which have also become veredas (NT, Leg. 1836, Second Section, folios not
numbered). Inhabited houses in other sections are mentioned in the list
of complaints which the Indians made against the surveyor, as well as in
the certificates of measure and valuation.

^ANO^-Vol. VII, fols. 3-U*

26NT, Leg. 1836, fols. 1-92.

 171*

such occupation to be given recognition in allotments (see Chapter IV), it

is quite possible that the surveyor complied, thus legally preserving the

fragmentation which he encountered.

It should be noted that after three hundred years of community

life under the Spaniards fragmentation had not become a problem in

Turmeque— the people were living predominantly in monoholdings. However,

once fragmentation was given a basis on fee simple tenure in 1836, its

evolution during the past 118 years has been of tremendous significance

to this community. During this period the proportion of monoholders de­

creased from 81 percent in 1836 to U7 percent in 195k} the proportion of

bi-holders increased from 17 percent to 23 percent; and the proportion of

tri-holders increased from 2 percent to 13 percent. Farmers with frag­

mented holdings now own from 2 to 22 separate lots apiece. Thus freedom

in the sale and purchase of landed properties and the law of proportionate

inheritance fostered a rapid evolution of fragmentation in this area.

Puebloviejo.

The case of Puebloviejo, one of the most fragmented municipios in

Boyaca, is highly significant. In no other place in this department has

the inheritance-purchase-sale combination worked to such extremes.

Puebloviejo is a Spanish settlement formed according to the scattered

farmsteads pattern on a private hacienda called Aposentos de Vargas.

This hacienda, which was founded in 1593* was surrounded on one side by

the Tota Lake and on the others by two or three Spanish latifundia. The

27Correa, og. cit., Ill, 251-253

 175

initial hamlet, founded with no alarums and coats of arms, started to

grow after a miracle was reported in the vicinity in 1730, and it was
PR
made a parroquia in 1778. The pueblo grew only as a service center

(mainly religious, political, and trading) for the fanners of the sur-
29
rounding area, and it never became either a large town or a true village. ^

In this most dispersed and fragmented community three factors ap­

pear to have entered into a new and dynamic combination: (1) the Spanish

trait of egalitarian inheritance, which in Puebloviejo*s disentailed

estates had an early beginning as haciendas were divided among heirs or

otherwise distributed among settlers since the sixteenth century— this

early start seems to be the main reason for Puebloviejo's higher degree of

fragmentation; (2) transactions and purchases of separate properties,

largely determined by the terrain and the topography, hastened fragmen­

tation for subsequent and ever larger generations— the lands continued to

be disentailed thus being rendered inheritable and divisible; and (3) the

pioneering or New World spirit seemed to prevail in this marginal area

over the traits of the motherland, and the settlors did not form a true

village but remained scattered over the territory on individual farms.

Documented details of this process are not available yet. The

general configuration of the process is known; also, that the community

was intermixed both culturally and racially to some extent. The study of

^ Ibid., Ill, 253-

PQ j
^Ancizar observed that the progress of Puebloviejo was very much
"stationary” until 181*0 when a local priest made some improvements. After
181*0, Ancizar noted, the town "has decayed more than prospered” (o£. cit.,
pp. 336-337).
 176

this case makes it possible to reject again the hypothesis that fragmen­

tation of holdings is the monopoly of the nucleated village form of

settlement. Perhaps no more eloquent case could be presented to show that

fragmentation in Boyaca has been associated more with ownership in fee

simple, with egalitarian inheritance, and the purchase and sale of lots

which are likewise rendered divisible and inheritable, than with any spe­

cific pattern of settlement.

 CHAPTER V U I

THE SIZE OF THE HOLDINGS

The possession of land is closely associated with the nature of

the power structure in society. This appears to be true since early his­

toric days. Fiefs created as rewards on the basis of land caused the

stratification of society. The Greek citizens and the Roman patricians—

the precursors of the land barons of the Middle Ages— were in positions on

the social scale which necessarily depended upon the size of their estates.

The larger the size of the holding, the greater the possibilities of wealth,

power, and prestige of the holder.

It is by the very nature of this relationship between land-as-power

and what may be teimed the egoistic animus of man, that the size of the

holdings is among the most significant determinants of the welfare of a

population. Wherever there is a great concentration of land in a few hands

there is bound to be a "slave® class with a low level of living. A society

of this type as a rule becomes stagnant and conservative} its arteries for

vertical mobility are hardened, while its social polarity remains for long

periods of time.

As far as is known, human societies have been aware of the socio­

logically pathological potentials of this landless-landlord dichotomy* The

agrarian revolts have been largely the result of reactions on the part of

serfs. Efforts have been made to curtail the tendency toward land concen­

tration. But, significantly enough, one of the first to legislate on this

177
 178

matter, Consul Spurius Cassius, was assassinated. Other leaders partially-

succeeded in tempering the power of the land barons. Servius Tulius,

Licinius, and the Gracchi set limits on the size of holdings formed by-

conquest. Iicurgus succeeded in parcelling the large estates of Sparta

in such manner that to him the Laconians looked like brothers, let it

was difficult to stop the creation of the large estates. In mediaeval

times the small proprietor practically disappeared, as Grundherrshaften,

seigneuries, and manors were formed.

It is not necessary to consult David Ricardo and to cite Pliny in

order to be convinced of the pattern of inequality, exploitation, and de­

cay which arises from land monopoly and landed estates. Certain areas in

Boyac& show this phenomenon of land concentration in large estates and

haciendas with its attendant evils. However, large estates and haciendas

do not dominate the social panorama for this department as a whole.

Rather, it is the small holding, the minifundium, and the intermediate

holding, the flnca, which predominate in the rural landscape of Boyaca,

Sociologists and historians have always recognized and described

the blighting effects of the hacienda system, but little attention has

been given to the problem of minifundia.^ The evils of the latifundium

^Consult, among others, the following works: Otto Morales Benitez,

Testimonio de un Pueblo (Bogota: Antares, 1951); Antonio Garcia, Problemas
de la Nacion Colombiana (Bogota: Editorial Nuevo Mundo, 19l*9)j Alejandro
Lopez, I,C., Problemas' Colombianos (Paris: Editorial Paris-America, 1927);
Rufino Gutierrez, Monografias (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1920); Bnilio
Cuervo Mlrquez, La Cuestxon Agrariaen Colombia (Bogota: Editorial Cramos,
1932); Ram6n Franco, Antropogeografia Colombiana (Manizales: Imprenta del
Departamento, 19lil); Luis Eduardo Nieto Arteta, Economla y Cultura en la
Historia de Colombia (Bogota: Libreria Siglo XX, 19l*l) ; Ldego Mendoza
P^rez, ,fSobre la Evolucidn de la Propiedad en Colombia,** Repertorio
Colombiano, XVII (1897); Camilo Pardo Unana, Haciendas de la Sabana
 179

are, indeed, many, and they have been properly denounced. The disad­

vantages of the other extreme, the minifundium, have been viewed mainly

as a reflection of the latifundium. In fact, certain aspects have been

blamed on the latifundium which in all fairness could be due to the mini­

fundium per se. Mini fundi stas (those who live on munifundia) have a law

standard of living, are limited in knowledge, skill, and initiative, and

are poor. The income which they derive from their small farms is not suf­

ficient to keep up their health and working efficiency. Being under­

nourished, minifundistas lack energy, physical, intellectual, and moral.

Unable to secure an education, they have a narrow Weltanschauung, and are

easy prey for exploiter’s and patrones of all kinds. These are not the

only evils. Because all parts of society are interdependent, the mini-

(Bogota: Editorial Kelly, 19U6); Manuel Ancxzar, Peregrinaci&i de Alpha

(Bogota: Editorial ABC, 19U2); Medardo Rivas, Los Trabajadores de TLerra
Caliente (Bogota: Uhiversidad Nacional, 19h6); Cruz Lopera Berrlo, Colombia
Agrarla ~(Manizales: Imprenta Departamental, 1920); Guillermo Hernancfez
Rodrxguez, De los Chibchas a la Colonia y a la Republica (Bogot4: Universi-
dad Nacional, l9h9); Julio Londoho, Geopollticade Colombia (Bogota, 19U8);
Antonio Andrade Crispino, La Revolucidn por el Salario en Colombia (Bogot4:
Ediciones Teorla, 19h7); F. Pereira Gamba, La Vida en los Andes "Colombianos
(Quito: El Progreso, 1919); Luis L<Spez de Mesa, De C6mo se ha Rorm'ado la
Naci<Sn Colombiana (Bogota: Librerxa Colombiana, 193h); Raymond! E. Crist,
The Cauca ValleyT Colombia (Baltimore: Waverly Press, 1952). Useful refer­
ences to minxfunctia are found in Mxlcxades Chaves, El Problema Indxgena en
el Departamento de Narino (Bogot&, 19UU); Luis Duque Gdmez, Problemas So-
ciales de Algunas Parcialidades del Qccidente Colombiano (BogotA, 19lih);
Juan Friede, El Indio en Lucha por la Tierra (Bogoti: Ediciones Espiral-
Colombia, 19hh). For comparative purposes see George M. McBride, Land
Systems of Mexico (New York: American Geographical Society, 1923);
George M. McBride, Chile: Land and Society (New York: American Geographical
Society, 1936); Lowry Nelson, Rural Cuba (Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 19f>0); T. Lynn Smith, Brazil: People and Institutions
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Bress, 19^6); Carl C. Taylor,
Rural Life in Argentina (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,
19h6); Mathan L. Whetten, Rural Mexico (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 19h8); d e n E. Leonard, Bolivia: Land, People and Institutions
(Washington: Scarecrow Press, 195>2); and the many textbooks and histories
of continental developments in Europe since the time of the Romans.
 180

fundistas are not the only ones to suffer from the size of their holdings.

The whole society suffers. It suffers when the evils of poverty inevitably

spread to other members of the group— then the influence of a low standard

of living is felt in the corruption of politics, the inefficiency of labor,

and the lack of a public spirit. To use a well-known simile, what could

be expected of a society when its growth is rooted in the infertile soil

of lower classes which are ignorant, poor, and undernourished? Thus the

minifundium, like its other extreme, has all the potentials to undermine

the welfare of a society. When the saturation point is reached, such as

happened in Mexico and Bolivia in recent years, the reaction of the land­

less and of the small landholders is violent and destructive.

The present chapter is devoted to the stucfy of this highly im­

portant aspect of the relationships of man to the land in Boyaca.

Classifications of Landholdings

In trying to classify landholdings by size, it is basic to keep

in mind the economic functions inherent to the farm units involved. Pro­

fessor Smith has stated this criterion as follows:

The essential distinction seems to be one that separates the

farming unit in which the farm operator and the members of his family
supply the capital, perform the managerial functions, and themselves
supply the greater part of the manual labor required for the farm
tasks, from the one in which the labor supplied by the operator and
his family is only incidental, operations are greater than a single­
family scale, and a force of laborers is maintained to perform the
manual labor on the farm.2

Colombian scholars have tended to recognize only two classes of

^T. Iynn Smith, The Sociology of Rural Life (3rd ed.j New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1953)j p. 300.
 181

landholdings, namely, the latifundium and the minifundium, giving little

attention to intermediate types.^ This seems natural, because such a

polarity has been the predominant pattern in Colombia during the last

centuries, finilio Cuervo Marquez, in a communication to Alejandro Lopez

published in 1932, advanced a classification which included latifundia,

haciendas, quintas, and estancias. He defined these classes as follows*

Relative to their extension, the rural properties in Colombia may

be divided into four large groups. To the first belong the latifundios
called "concessions," generally of more than 20,000 hectares, which
the State ceded to individuals under the title of baldios, and vhich
they hold without cultivating or exploiting; to the second the proper-'
ties or haciendas, of from 50 to 20,000 hectares which their owners
have cultivated in whole or in part; to the third the quintas or casas
de campo of from 10 to 50 hectares, recreational properties which are
not devoted to cultivation; and finally, the properties of less than
5 hectares, or estancias, which are cultivated personally by their
owners.^

This classification is faulty. Among other things, not all properties of

frcm 10 to 50 hectares are recreational; and he omits farms with from 5 to

10 hectares entirely.

A more realistic classification was advanced by Professors T. Lynn

Smith,Justo Diaz Rodriguez, and Luis Roberto Garcia in their monograph on

the municipio of Tabio (Cundinamarca).^ On the basis of a local survey,

the faims were classified as haciendas (over 50 fanegadas),^ fincas (5 to

^See, for instance, Lopez, og. cit., pp. 7-6L*

^Cuervo Marquez, og. cit., p. 22.

'’T. liynxi Smith, Justo Diaz Rodriguez, and Luis Roberto Garcia,
Tabio: Estudio de la Organizaci6n Social Rural (Bogoti: Editorial Minerva,
19Uh), P. 3h.

^Qne fanegada equals 1.6 acres.

 182

50 fanegadas), and parcelas (less than 5 fanegadas). It is now proposed

to follow this classification except for a change in terminology and the

adoption of one more category. The term parcelas is changed to minifundiaj

although the former word does imply the meaning of small holding, the

latter term is more expressive and avoids regional special connotations.

And the latifundium is added as a first and separate category. A dis­

cussion of this classification follows.

Latifundia.

The latifundium is a large landed estate which has been withheld

from productive uses either because of its location in remote areas, or

because of agricultural practices of the extensive type in areas where

this type is not justified. Its range may reach to the thousands of acres.

This class of holding was predominant in Boyaca during colonial tames, but

with the increase of population and successive generations of heirs it has

retreated from the central and mountainous area of the department toward

the periphery, that is, toward the llanos, the northern forests, and the

Territorio Vasquez. In these sections extensive concessions of land lie

entirely idle, being sparsely inhabited by colonos and squatters, or par­

tially utilized by their owners.

It is difficult to draw the line between the latifundium and the

large hacienda. When the land-use criterion is used, many haciendas of

even 200 fanegadas could be classified as latifundia. If this criterion

is followed, then it can be stated that some remains of old latifundia

have been left ingrafted on the densely settled mountainous area of Boyaca.

Outstanding in this regard are the holdings of the Rivadeneira family.

 183

One of the RLvadeneira estates, Hacienda Iguaque, which was an Indian

reservation in the seventeenth century (see Chapter VI), encompasses

practically the entire area of the municipio of Chrquiza. Of course,

this family has cohorts of arrendatarios and vivientes, and it can be al­

leged that the land is being put to economic use. Nevertheless, the

accumulated holdings of this family, which run into the thousands of acres,

may justify their inclusion into the latifundium type.

Except for a large estate in Covarachfa which has 3*500 fanegadas

(5,600 acres), cattle farms in the llanos and Territorio Vasquez, and

claims on baldio land in the Guican-jEL Cocuy-Chita area, no other true

latifundia in Boyaca have come to the attention of the writer.

Haciendas.

Few things are more striking to observe in the Boyaca landscape

than the contrast afforded by haciendas and minifundia. There is an al­

most invariable rule that haciendas lie on the beautiful, level expanses

of land formed between the Andean ranges, while the small holdings occupy

the rugged terrain* For example, when one travels through the vereda of

El Cerezo near Paipa and up the canyon of the Santa Rosa river, one can

observe the small farms worked intensively on the often steep slopes.

A few kilometers north, at the point where the canyon ends, one enters

abruptly into the gorgeous valley of Manterra, where there are only a few

owners (the Jesuits, the priest of Santa Rosa de Viterbo, and a brewer)

occupying the level plateau with cattle haciendas.^ The same is true in

^The cattle ranch, one of the prominent man-land developments in

the New World, was easy to establish and free to grow in these lands, away
 181*

Cerinza, whose veredas Portachuelo and Covagote, mountainous and parcelled,

are in contrast vriLth San Victorino and Trinquita. The large wheat fields

in the Soraca valley are manned by minifundistas who live on the bordering

mountains of El Rosal. Sote, a vereda that belongs in part to Motavita

and in part to C<$mbita, and which lies in what is probably a desiccated

lake, is the habitat of cattle haciendas— its surrounding hills of San

Isidro are divided among small holdings with intensive cultivation. This

is especially prominent in Chiquinquira, where the hacienda type predomi­

nates. Here the small holdings of rugged Moyavita contrast with the cattle
Q
estates of Carapacho.

Haciendas of $0 fanegadas and more are found in many municipios

of Boyaca. Their incidence, however, is more frequent in marginal areas

such as Coper (where there are seven haciendas with from 500 to 1,500

from the regulations of the mother country and the jealous eye of the
sheepraisers' Mesta. Cattle ranching appears to have developed to some
extent in Spain, especially in Andalusia, where there were municipal grants
as well as private estates dedicated to this industry. There were cattle
estancias in Spain. In fact, the word estancia may refer to reses estantes
as opposed to transhumantes, i.e., those head which were allowed to remain
in private or municipal allocations. While haciendas and cattle estancias
flourished in the New World, they decayed in Spain, as the sheepmen com­
pletely triumphed there during the Hapsburg period. See Charles Julian
Bishko, "The Peninsular Background for Latin American Cattle Ranching,"
The Hispanic American Historical Review, XXXII (195>2), 1*91-£l5»
O
Pertinent observations in this regard are found in T. Lynn Smith,
"Land Tenure and Soil Erosion in Colombia," Proceedings of the Inter-
American Conference on the Conservation of Renewable Natural Resources
(Denver, 191*8), lf>f>-160; T.' Lynn iSmith, “The Cultural Setting of Agricul-
tural Extension Work in Colombia," Rural Sociology, X (191*5), 21*1-21*2$
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The Basis for a
Development Program for Colombia* Report of a Mission (Washington: Inter­
national Sank for Reconstruction and Development, p. 381*, et passim.
Manuel Ancxzar observed this phenomenon in 1850 when he travelled between
Sogamoso and Iza, see his Peregrinacidn de Alpha (Bogota: Editorial ABC,
191*2), pp. 329-330.
 185

fanegadas),^ Santa Ana, Chitaraque, San Jose de Pare (see Table XIII),

Covarachxa (see Table X), Umbita, Tibana, and Chinavita (where a Florez

family has large holdings). Leiva, Gachantiva, Samaca, Paipa, Sotaquira,

Tibasosa, and Cucaita (see Table XI) also have many haciendas. Together

with the municipios mentioned in the preceding paragraph, these localities

are the areas in which the hacienda type is most noticeable and important*

While the latifundium implies much absenteeism on the part of the

owner, the hacienda seans to function on a basis of part-time supervision

by the landlord. The owner of an hacienda as a rule has an overseer, or

mayordomo, to look after the menial tasks of the farm, but the owner com­

mutes often to the faim in order to manage its affairs* Such trips may

be made eveiy two or three weeks* The hacendado and his family may move

to the farm once a year for a two-month period of rest, usually at the end

of the scholastic year when the children are out of school. If the ha­

cendado engages in companxas, or partnerships, he may personally supervise

the operations. With the advent of machinery, the function of the ha­

cendado is approaching that of the family-size farmer of the United States.

For instance, in Tuta, Tibasosa, Belen, and many other localities the

hac <31dados themselves do the plowing with the tractors which they have re-

caatly purchased. Wherever these progressive operators put their land to

produce under modern conditions, prosperous farms are the result. An

hacendado is then tempted to give up his position in the city and to move

to the farm which has proved to b e both profitable and pleasant to manage.

^Julio Cesar Cubillos, "Informe de la Camision de Estudio de la

Zona Occidental de Chiquinquira," Comisi<£n de Planeamiento de Seguridad
Social Campesina, Bogota, June 11, 195k> MSS.
 186

This seams to demonstrate that farm work can be made acceptable to persons

of middle or upper class status, providing it is not performed in ways

previously handled by slaves or lower class persons.

Fincas.

Landholdings with from 5 to 50 fanegadas are more difficult to

discern in the field, but they are in evidence everywhere in Boyaca.

Statistical tabulations (see below) show that this is the type predominant

in Tuta. There are many fincas at San Jos6 de Pare, Motavita, Miraflores,

and the Territorio Vasquez. This type of holding, providing a better-than-

average existence according to local standards, is not connected with any

special kind of crop. The coffee fincas on the west and northwest, for

instance, have little in common with their counterparts in Caldas and

Antioquia. They have not permitted the development of a true middle class

of faimers. On the contrary, the arrendatario system has been transferred

to this crop. It was, indeed, the successful combination of coffee, cattle

raising, and subsistence cropping that allowed the Antioqueno farmers to

achieve a middle class status, without reverting to the extremes of either

latifundia or minifundia.^® But in Boyaca such a development has not taken

place.

As a special case, in the range of Las Cumbres between Arcabuco and

Moniquira the fincas are closely related with forestry enterprises. The

dense growth of trees on this mountain, which is largely virgin, permits

10 —
In this regard see James J. Parsons, Antioqueno Colonization in
Western Colombia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 19h9)J Morales
Benitez, op. cit.j Lopez, og. cit., passim.
 167

good incomes to the entrepreneurial lumbermen. The average size of these

farms is about 25> fanegadas.

Minifundia.

Farmers who live on minif undia have difficulty in supporting them­

selves from the produce of their farms. They are usually compelled to

seek work elsewhere in order to secure the means for their livelihood.

Some minifundistas may not need to engage in temporary labor, but their

general economic situation is hardly discernible from their less favored

fellows. The minifundia appear to have fostered migration from Boyaca

during the last decades. Sometimes when the whole family is unable to

move, the male head travels as a wage hand, often to far away regions

such as Tolima and Caldas, where he earns some money and returns home

(see Chapter III). Unusual laborers 1 markets, such as the one at Giiepsa,

have been foimed by these farm hands whose private holdings do not give

them enough to live on.

Although minifundia can be found over the entire area of Boyaca,

regional variations are noticeable. Outstanding is the Tenza valley, where

the small holding is the predominant type. The largest faxm at Guateque

is one of kO fanegadas,^ and not many holdings larger than this one are

found in the valley. Sutatenza provides a good example of these minifundia

(see Table XXV). It seems that in this valley each adult is the owner of

a pocket-size holding. It is hard to understand how these farmers survive,

although it is easy to see why they live in poverty. It only seems that

^Ascertained by means of a personal examination of the Catastro

Municipal de 19$ht Guateque.
 188

the earth is bounteous, and that it yields richly enough to compensate in

1 9
part for the lack of space.

Closely following the Tenza valley as an area of minifundia is

Puebloviejo, where the anall farms are further fragmented into minute lots

(see Chapter VII). The largest farm in Puebloviejo (without counting those

held indiviso) is one at Soriano, with 60 fanegadas.^ Farms are measured

here in terms of paces and meters rather than by fanegadas, on account of

their very small size*

Other areas in which minifundia predominate overwhelmingly are

Ventaquemada and Turmequ^, where the modal size farm is about two fane­

gadas, the largest units being two of 80 fanegadas each, one in Rosales

and the other in Pascata.1^ At Boavita, the modal size farm is also about

twro fanegadas, and the largest farm is one of U3 fanegadas called Puente

Viejo, in Rio, which belongs to the Caceres family.1'’ According to a local

farmer, the largest unit in the municipio of Boyaca has 10 fanegadas, and

similar statements can be made for Viracacha and Ramiriqux. Just as acute

is the situation in Sativasur, Raquira, Tinjaca, and Sutamarchan, where

there are practically no haciendas. The area of San Mateo, Guacamayas, El

Espino, and El Cocuy (valley section), which closely resembles— though on

a minor scale— the grandeur and beauty of the Tenza valley, is definitely

TO |
This phenomenon is at least one hundred years old. Ancxzar
observed it when he travelled through the Tenza valley in 18SO (op. cit.,
pp. U05-U06.

•^Catastro Municipal de 195k, Puebloviejo.

^Catastro Municipal de 1 95k, Turmeque. Cf. Ancfzar, o£. cit.,

pp. 388-389.

^Catastro Municipal de 1 95k, Boavita.

 189

an area of minifundia; there farmers do not know fincas of more than $0

fanegadas, while the rule is for the faimer to own four or five fanegadas.

Southeast of Sogamoso, in the valley of the Mocha river, there is one of

the best defined small areas of minifundia in the whole department.

The Size of the Holdings in Representative Municipios

On the basis of catastro declarations in 19$h (see Chapter VII)

it is possible to investigate quantitatively the size of the holdings*

The municipios chosed for the present study in Boyaca are Covarachia,

Cucaita, Motavita, San Jose de Pare, Sutatenza, and Tuta. They are located

in five different physiographic regions. They have somewhat different geo­

graphical and historical backgrounds,-*^ and very different ranges in the

size of the holdings.

Covarachia is a municipio which was formed on a private Spanish

property, see Cayo Leonidas Penuela, Album de Boyacci (BogotatArboleda y
Valencia, 1919), p. 26. The local parroquia was instituted by Viceroy
Juan Samano in 1819 by segregating vecinos and Indians from Qnzaga, Soata,
and Capitanejo, see Ramon C. Correa, Monografxas (Tunja: Imprenta Qficial,
19bl), IV, 106. Fique and sugar cane are the most important commercial
crops. It has 5,260 inhabitants who live predominantly in the open country
according to the scattered farmsteads type of settlement. The average
temperature is lU° C (57° F), at an altitude of 2,178 meters (7,188 feet).
Cf. Departamento Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Boyaca: Poblacion
de los Municipios, Censo de 1951 (Typescript), (BogotA, 19$h), Cuadro 6-B.
Contraloria General de la ReptSblica, Geografia Economica de Colombia:
Boyaci. (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1936), p. 2^6.
Cucaita, located at 2,61j.O meters (8,712 feet) above sea level,
with an average temperature of 15° C (59° F), and 1,875 inhabitants in
1951, is a wheat-and-potato-growing community. It was a pueblo de indios
whose reservation was established in 1595 and terminated In l8ii0~"(ANC,
Vol. V, fols. 921-922; Notaria Primera, Legajo Cucaita, fols. 1-87).
Motavita, at an altitude of 2,871 meters (9,lt7U feet), 13° C
(55° F), 2,610 inhabitants in 1951, is a typical municipio of the inter-
Andean plateaus. Farmers live dispersed and grow wheat, potatoes, barley,
and c o m . The local Indian reservation was formally established in 1635
(ANC, Vol. Ill, fols. 665-668). One part of the reservation was terminated
in 1838 and the other was parcelled in 1871 (Notarxa Primera, Legajo
 190

As explained in Chapter VII, the coverage of the 19Sh catastro

can be estimated as not less than 85 percent. Farmers were cooperative

as a rule. The records were well digested and typed at Tuta, Covarachia,

and Cucaita, but much disorder in the declarations was encountered at

Sutatenza, Motavita, and San Jose de Pare.^7

The tendency of farmers to underestimate the size of their holdings

is quite evident. As a rule variations are from one to one half of a fane-

gada in the understatement of the size of small farms. For instance, an

owner of two fanegadas would declare one or one and a half. The size of

larger farms is rounded out at numbers which are multiples of five. Those

Motavita, fols• ,1-19)•

San Jose de Fare enjoys an average annual temperature of 21° C
(70° F) at an altitude of 1,600 meters (5,280 feet). The main crops are
sugar cane, cotton, and coffee. According to the census it has 5>ii03 in­
habitants. It had an Indian reservation which was terminated in 1755
(Correa, og. cit., Ill, 123).
Sutatenza is typical of the Tenza valley, at an altitude of 1,850
meters (6,105 feet) with an average temperature of 20° C (68° F). There
are 6,898 inhabitants. They live on scattered farmsteads and grow fruits
of different kinds, corn, fique, peas. Sutatenza had an Indian reservation
established in 1 6 3 6 , a reservation which survived until the nineteenth
century, see Josl Mojica Silva, Relacion de Visitas Coloniales (Tunjat
Imprenta Otficial, 19U8), p. 2J.J.1.
Tuta is also on the central plateau, at 2,603 meters (8,590 feet)
above sea level, with an average temperature of 15° C (59° F). There are
5,901 inhabitants. Their main crops are wheat, potatoes, and fruits. The
local Indian reservation was established in 1636 and terminated in 1836
(ANC, Vol. VI, fols. 9-15; Notarfa Segunda, Legajo Tuta, fols. 1-98).
17
'It was necessary to sort the papers in the latter three locali­
ties and to take a careful inventory of the faun units by name of owner
direct from the declarations. The official forms to be filled by the
farmers requested that the size be declared in hectares, but the great
majority of peasants declared their holdings in fanegadas. One exception
was San Jose de Pare, where most declarations were in hectares (one hectare
equals 2*5 acres). Anyway, at the time of making the tabulations it was
necessary to convert the sizes either to hectares or to fanegadas according
to the practice of the majority of local declarants.
 191

above 50 fanegadas have the appearance of accuracy, for they are declared

as of 89, 95, or 101 fanegadas, for example. Nevertheless, the impression

gathered from the declarations is that they furnish a reliable indication

1R
on the size of the holdings in the particular localities. The results

of the statistical analyses are in Tables X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, and XV.

(There was no choice but to secure the data as they appeared in the mu­

nicipal records, either in fanegadas or in hectares.)

TABLE X

NUMBER OF F A R ® IN COVARACHIA ACCORDING TO SIZE IN

FANEGADAS, AND AMOUNT OF LAND IN FARMS, 195k

Size of F a m Land in Farms

Farms
in * Cumulative
Fanegadas Area
Percentage
Number Percent Fanegadas Percent

Total 986 100.0 8,191.0 100.0

Less than 1 IhS Hi. 7 72.5 .9

1 to ii 606 61.5 l,ii99.0 19.2
5 to 9 155 15.7 1,060.5 32.1
10 to Hi U2 ii.3 525.0 38.5
15 to 19 10 1.0 175.0 li0.6
20 to 2li 8 .8 180.0 . U2.8
25 to 3ii 8 .8 235.0 U5.7
35 to k9 h M 165.0 U7.8
50 to 199 7 .7 779.0 57.3
200 and Over 1 0.1 3,500.0 100.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 19 5U, Covarachia.

*Qne fanegada equals 1.6 acres.

1A
The fact that the peasant could submit the value of his land ap­
pears to have given him the opportunity of subestimation which is natural
among farmers the world over. By having the alternative, it seems that
these fanners chose to underestimate the value of the land more than the
size of their holdings. This is supported by the fact that the decla­
rations were to be the bases for the computation of future land taxes spe­
cifically on the assessed value of the property, and not on its size.
 192

TABLE XI
NUMBER OF FARMS IN CUCAITA ACCORDING TO SIZE IN
FANEGADAS, AND AMOUNT bF LAND IN FARMS, 195b

Size of Farm Land in Farms

in Farms
Fanegadas Area Cumulative
Percentage
Number Percent Fanegadas Percent

Total 798 100.0 3,b8 5.5 100.0

Less than 1 189 23.7 9b. 5 2.7

1 to b b87 61.0 1,16b.5 36.1
5 to 9 69 8.6 b61.5 b9.b
10 to lb 26 3.3 325.0 58.7
15 to 19 12 1.5 210.0 6b. 7
20 to b9 b .5 120.0 68.2
50 to 99 7 .9 b5o.o 81.1
100 and Over b 0.5 660.0 100.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 195b, Cucaita.

TABLE XII

NUMBER OF FARMS IN MOTAVITA ACCORDING TO SIZE IN

FANEGADAS, AND AMOUNT OF LAND IN FARIfi, 195k

Size of Farm Land in Farms

in Farms
Fanegadas Area Cumulative
Percentage
Number Percent Fanegadas Percent

Total 1,565 100.0 7,b98.5 100.0

Less than 1 268 17.1 13b. 0 1.8

1 to b 9b6 60.5 2,32b.O 32.8
5 to 9 198 12.7 1,351.0 50.8
10 to lb 71 b.5 8lb.5 61.7
15 to 19 31 2.0 523.5 68.6
20 to 2b 12 .8 270.0 72.2
25 to 29 13 .8 357.5 77.0
30 to 3b 6 .b 195.0 79.6
35 to b9 7 .b 287 .5 83.b
50 and Over 13 0.8 l,2bl.5 100.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 195k, Motavita.

 193

TABLE XHI
NUMBER OP FAHMS IN SAN JOSE DE PARE ACCORDING TO SIZE
IN HECTARES, AND AMOUNT CF LAID IN FARMS, 195k

Size of Farm Land in Farms

in Farms
Hectares* Cumulative
Area
Percentage
Number Percent Hectares Percent

Total 1,139 100.0 6,710.5 100.0

Less than 1 128 11.2 6 I1.O 1.0

1 to k 696 61.1 1 ,688.0 26.2
5 to 9 169 1 U .8 1,138.5 U3.2
10 to Hi 58 5.1 725.0 5U.0
15 to 19 26 2.3 U55.0 60.8
20 to 2U 18 1.6 U05.0 66.8
25 to 3k 13 1.2 377.5 72.it
35 to li9 13 1.2 537.5 8 0 .it
50 to 79 12 1.0 775.0 91.9
80 and Over 6 0.5 51i5.0 100.0

Sources Catastro Municipal de 195it, San Jose de Pare.

One hectare equals 2.5 acres.

TABLE XIV

NUMBER OF FARMS IN SUTATENZA ACCORDING TO SIZE IN

FANEGADAS, AND AMOUNT CF LAND IN FARMS, 195k

Size of Farm Land in Farms

in Farms
Fanegadas Area Cumulative
Percentage
Number Percent Fanegadas Percent

Total 3,U8it 100.0 it,9lt8.5 100.0

Less than 1 1,682 it8.3 8 itl.O 17.0

1 to 1; 1,689 U8.5 2,922.5 76.0
5 to 9 85 2.5 557.5 87.3
10 to lit 13 .it 162.5 90.6
15 to 19 9 .2 157.5 93.8
20 to U9 5 .1 192.5 97.7
50 and Over 1 - 115.0 100.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 195k, Sutatenza*

 191*

TABLE XV

NUMBER OF FARMS IN TUTA ACCORDING TO SIZE IN HECTARES,

AND AMOUNT CF LAND IN FARMS, 195k

Size of Faim Land in Farms

in Faims
Hectares Cumulative
Area
Percentage
Number Percent Hectares Percent

Total 2,2kk 100.0 11,870.5 100.0

Less than 1 363 16.2 181.5 1.5

1 to U 1,21*0 55.3 3,210.0 28.5
5 to 9 370 16.5 2,U5o .o U9.1
10 to li* 111* 5.1 1 ,1*25.0 61.1
15 to 19 66 2.9 1,155.0 70.8
20 to 2k 30 1.3 675.0 76.5
25 to 29 15 .7 k12.5 80.0
30 to 39 18 .8 610.0 85.2
1*0 to k9 13 .5 582.5 90.1
50 to 69 9 .k 555.0 9l*.8
70 and Over 6 0.3 61U.0 100.0

Source: Catastro Municipal de 19 5U, Tuta.

It is evident from these tables that the minifundium plays an im­

portant part in the land distribution of the municipios studied except at

Covarachia. The extreme case is that of Sutatenza, where 97 percent of

the faimers are minifundistas holding title to 76 percent of the land. In

Cucaita, 11 hacendados (l percent) with 32 percent of the area, leave 85

percent of the population with minifundia which comprise 36 percent of the

land. Eighteen persons (1.5 percent) own 20 percent of the area of San

Jose de Pare, leaving minifundistas (72 percent) and finqueros (26 percent)

with 26 percent and 5h percent of the land respectively. This situation

is similarly portrayed in Motavita, where 77 percent of the farmers are

minifundistas holding 3k percent of the land; 13 hacendados (.8 percent)

 195

hold 16 percent of the land. It is at Tuta that the finca type predomi­

nates. Concentration is here limited to 15 persons (1 percent) who hold

10 percent of the areaj the rest of the municipio is divided among mini­

fundistas (71 percent) with 28 percent of the land and finqueros (28

percent) who control a sizable 62 percent. Land concentration is most

prominent in Covarachia, where 52 percent of the land is occupied by eight

haciendas, one of which is 1*3 percent of the area (3,500 fanegadas), leav­

ing 751 minifundistas (76 percent) with 19 percent of the land.

Modal farms are quite small in these municipios. In Sutatenza,

the modal farm has a minute one-half of a fanegada (.8 acre). In Cucaita,

Covarachia, and Motavita, the modal farm has 1,5 fanegadas (2.L acres).

And in Tuta and in San Jose de Pare,' the modal size is 2.3 fanegadas (1.5

hectares or 3.7 acres). The median size of farms in each locality, that

is, that size which divides the distribution in two halves, one above and

one below it, further illustrates the predominance of the small holding.

Median values in fanegadas are 1 at Sutatenza, 2 at Cucaita, 2,k at

Motavita, 2.5 at Covarachia, 2.6 at San Jose de Pare, and lull at Tuta.

Trends .in the Size of the Holdings

There is a struggle between land concentration and land parcel-

lation which is constantly taking place in areas of fee simple tenure.

Farmers in such areas are free to sell and to transmit property to one or

to many persons, and to divide their land among heirs. But they are like­

wise entitled to accumulate land if they wish. These antagonistic forces—

the warp and woof of the pattern of the size of holdings— are seldom in

balance. The tendency is for the large holding to be more permanent and
 196

centripetal. This dominance of the large holding, however, is not at all

assured. In Boyaca the present outcome of the struggle appears to be on

the side of land subdivision. This region, in which the large estate was

once predominant either in private form or in resguardo form, has become

a haven of minifmdia and fincas. The trend toward smaller estates is so

pronounced that, as stated above, true latifundia and large haciendas have

retreated to marginal lands. In the mountainous area of Boyaca— its heart

and most significant portion, the real Boyaca— the atomization of property

seems to have balanced out and surpassed the concentration of property.

This trend is important, not so much because of the amount of land in­

volved, but because it implies the reduction of the majority of farms and

farmers to subsistence levels.

There is little evidence of many haciendas being formed in Boyaca

today, except for the marginal areas. Farmers do purchase land adjacent

to their holdings. But most of these lots are so small, that many years

pass before a number of holdings are consolidated into an estate of, say,

50 fanegadas. It is news in most communities in Boyaca when a landlord

purchases more than 50- fanegadas at a time. On the other hand, it is not

news that farm A is being divided among heirs or that hacienda B is being

parcelled by its owners. Not that farmers do not appreciate the importance

of -these steps in landownership, but that the frequent occurrence of such

events has caused them to be a part of everyday life. Here the atomization

of property has been in the ascendancy over its concentration. Thus the

study of the trends in the size of the holdings in Boyaci reduces itself

for the present to its most significant aspect, namely, the way in which
 197

the large estate is reduced to the small holding.

Four causes of minifundia in Boyaca can be advanced: (1) The par­

celling of Indian reservations during the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries; (2) the recent subdivision of haciendas and large estates in

the mountainous section of the department; (3) the custom of egalitarian

inheritance combined with an anchored and increasing population; and

(U) purchases and sales among small landholders,

Resguardos and Minifundia.

It is well to remember that the majority of municipios in Boyaca

were Indian resguardos during colonial times. When Spanish authorities

parcelled the first reservations in 1755, Spanish vecinos and mestizos

were the ones who profited by remaining on the lands which they had

squatted on or rented. This was the prevailing pattern— to give preference

to vecinos by means of the encabezonamiento system. This appears to have

fostered the creation of middle-size farms (see Chapter VI).

The same principle of subdivision occurred when reservations were

terminated during the nineteenth century-small farms were distributed.

The largest lots which resulted from the subdivision of resguardos were

two, one separated for the maintenance of a school, and the other to be

sold in order to cover the costs of the proceedings. According to the law

of March 6, 1832, these lots had to be each one-twelfth of the size of the

resguardos.^ These "twelfths” often were of hacienda size and, therefore,

it can be asserted that at least two haciendas were foimed out of each

■^Republics de Colombia, Codificacidn Nacional de Todas las Leyes

de Colombia (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 1925), IV, 3hiT*
 198

parcelled resguardo. Nevertheless, the larger area (five sixths) of each

reservation was distributed among its common holders, and the result was

minifundia with a generous sprinkling of fincas.

These assertions can be documented for six of the reservations

which were parcelled between 1836 and 181*0. The results of tabulations

made on the existing records in notarial archives at Tunja and Turmeque

20
are shown in Table XVI. Note that minifundia and fincas have survived

and still predominate in these municipios (cf. Tables XI, XII, and XV).

The largest holdings granted then had 61* fanegadas in Motavita, 5? in

C6mbita, 1*0 in Cucaita, 28 in Turmeque, 27 in Sora, and 20 in Tuta, while

the modal sizes were from 1.5 to 6.5 fanegadas*

While such small holdings were granted, the "twelfths'* were auc­

tioned to hacendados. In Turmeque, the size of the expense lot was 825

fanegadas (1,320 acres) and it was sold to one Tadeo Cuellar. The

"twelfth” was of 580 fanegadas (928 acres) in Combita, and of 51*1 fanegadas

(866 acres) in Sora. At Tuta the school lot measured 123 fanegadas (197

acres) and the expense lot, 151* fanegadas (21*6 acres). All of these

hacienda-size grants were purchased by individuals.

Thus the parcelling of reservations fostered minifundia, but it

also created some haciendas. However, it appears that most of these ha­

ciendas have succumbed to the trend of pulverization. Nowhere in these

communities are there farms of the size of the "twelfths." On the other

20
It was not easy to make these tabulations, because the size of
each holding is verbally expressed as a part of a paragraph in each case.
This paragraph contains also the names of the recipients, the description
of boundaries and the names of the neighbors, and other pertinent details
for the adjudication of the title. T o m pages, fading ink, cross refer­
ences, intervening minutes, and so forth, made this work rather onerous.
 199

hand, it may be allowed that in certain areas the school lots were bases

for the formation of haciendas; unfortunately, this phenomenon is very

difficult to document. It is true that there was a period of disorgan­

ization in Indian communities during the 1850' s when peasants were cheated
/ Ol
out of their lands. This happened in Boyaca,and same haciendas may

have been formed out of old resguardos by consolidating grants. This may

have been the case in Samaca, Paipa, and Sotaquira, for example. It should

be noted, likewise, that haciendas were formed frcsn Indian lands during

colonial times, and that these older estates have proved to be more re­

sistant to the effect of subdivision. For instance, Chiquinquira and

Chiquiza still have haciendas which can be traced back to seventeenth

century resguardos; some farms in Toca and Tutaza could have originated

from the land tenurial adjustments of Campuzano in 1777 (see Chapter VI),

But colonial haciendas in general, so it seems, have not fared well in

their struggle against parcellation.

Perhaps such developments may have occurred in Tuta, where the

present vereda Resguardo closely follows the limits of the original reser-
22
vation. There are 688 farms in this vereda which range in size from

half a fanegada to 139 fanegadas. This is in contrast to 33>0 farms in

1836 which varied in size from one to 15U fanegadas. It is suspected that

^"The legajos for GLcata and Siachoque in the Notaria Primera at

Tunja contain documents dated in 1850 which show that Indians were selling
their newly acquired lots,
22
The boundaries of the resguardo of Tuta in 1836 are set forth in
detail in the parcellation documents (Notaria Segunda, Legajo Tuta, fols,
35-43) • Field research with the aid of a cadastral map from the Instituto
Geografico Agustin Codazzi, Bogota, facilitated the identification of the
main boundary lines.
 200

the 139-fanegada estate is the original expense "twelfth." The next

largest present farm in the area is one of 98 fanegadas, probably the re­

mains of the school grant.^ While these two haciendas appear to have

been virtually stagnant since the time they were auctioned in 1836, the

mean size of the other farms has decreased frcm 6 to 5 fanegadas, the

median size from 5 to 3 fanegadas, and the modal size from 5 to 2 fane­

gadas .

TABLE XVI

NUMBER OF FARMS DISTRIBUTED AMONG INDIANS AT THE TIME Cf’ THE

PARCELLING OF THEIR RESERVATIONS IN BOYACA, RANGE
OF THE SIZE CF THE HOLDINGS IN FANEGADAS, AND
MEASURES CF CENTRAL TENDENCY, 1336-181*0

Number of Mean Median Modal

Reservation Farms Size Size Sizes Range

F a n e g a d a s*
Turmeque (183 6 ) 1,1*09 5.9 1**9 1.5, 1*.5 1-28
Tuta (1836) 31*8 5.9 5.5 1.5, 5.5 1-20
Motavita (1 8 3 8 ) 110 li*.l 12.2 6.1 1-61*
Combita (1838) 356 16.7 12.8 6.5 1-59
Sora (1839) 521* 1*.6 3.8 1.5, 6.5 1-27
Cucaita (181*0) 185 7.8 1*.7 l*.l* 1-1*0

Sources: Notaraa Municipal de Turmequ^, Legajo 1836.

Notarxa Primera de Tunja, Legajos Cucaita and Motavita.
Notaria Segunda de Tunja, Legajo Tuta.
One fanegada equals 1.6 acres.

The survival and further subdivision of the small holdings created

during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are thus important causes

for minifundia today. That these are closely related to the subdivision

^Catastro Municipal de 1951*, Tuta, These haciendas belong to

Eduardo Gonzalez and Farfin Jimenez, respectively.
 201

of resguardos is supported by historical evidence. Further proof is pre­

sented in Figure 5, which shows the central farms of the resguardo of

pi.
Motavita in 1838, compared with the same area as it was in 1951• The

trend here has definitely been toward smaller farms (cf* Table XII).

The Subdivision of Haciendas.

A second cause for the high incidence of small holdings in Boyaca

is the subdivision of large private estates. This is a trend which has

proceeded for many years, but which seems to have gathered impetus after

the promulgation of Law 200 of 1936— conflict with landless arrendatarios

and squatters compelled many owners to subdivide their land. The sub­

division of haciendas under the supervision of the government has been

important (see Chapters V and VI). At Hacienda Canaveral in Buenavista,

for instance, farmers received lots that averaged 9 fanegadas,^ and the

size of grants has not been much different in other parcelled estates.

Many hacendados have granted lots on the peripheries of the estates

in fee simple to their resident laborers. (This is done more with the

purpose of securing farm hands without the danger of claims for usufruct,

than with the intent of creating a true entrepreneurial class.) Numerous

private estates have been divided in recent years, either in whole or in

p).
The 1838 map is found in the Notaria Primera de Tunja, Legajo
Motavita, Middle Section, folio not numbered. No detailed or cadastral
maps of Motavita are available at present. The one shown in Figure 5 was
especially made for this study from an aerial photograph, at the Instituto
Geogrifico Agustin Codazzi, Bogota.
25
^Antonio J. Posada F., "Economics of Colombian Agriculture" (un­
published Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of
Wisconsin, 1952), p. 87.
 202

27

24 Ver eda
SALVIAL

24

29

MOTAVITA
Approximate Scale 1:6,250
30
— Limits of F arm s in 1838
- Land Divisions in 1951
Footpaths

Houses

Figure 5.
part. This has happened at Samaca (Guatoque), Siachoque (El Holino),

Tibana (Ceylon, San Cayetano, San Joaquin), Gachantiva (Las Acacias),

Arcabuco (Penablanca), San Jose de Pare, TLbasosa (vereda Suescun and

/ 26
Jesuxtas), Iza (La Companxa), and in many other municipios. The re'

suiting farms are of the finca and mirdfundium type.

Egalitarian Inheritance.

The Roman law principle of equal division among heirs is an im­

portant reason for the present existence of small holdings. Such law,

which was intensified by the democratic stipulations of the Code Napoleon,

has operated everywhere in Boyaca, and latifundia and minifundia have come

together under its aegis. ^ For example, this principle and custom can

account for the tremendous subdivision of estates in Puebloviejo. Here

in this municipio at least 6U$ farms have been formed out of the original
pQ
four haciendas which surrounded the town in the 1770's. Egalitarian in­

heritance has produced Similar results in physically isolated areas which

have experienced am increase of population density. The Tenza valley,

26
This estate, originally of the Company of Jesus, received recog­
nition from Ancxzar in 1850 (op. cit., p, 329).

^The private entailed estates, or mayorazgos, of which there

appears to have been only one in Boyaca (the marquisate of Surba-Bonza),
were abolished in 182U. See Luis Eduardo Nieto Arteta, Econcmxa y Cultura
en la Ristaria de Colombia (Bogota: Ediclones Llbrerxa Siglo )CX, l9i|lj"J
p. 16b• ftie estates of thie Church were disentailed in 1861 (see Chapter
VI).

^Catastro Municipal de 19$kf Puebloviejo. The founder's hacienda

at Vargas (1593) is now held by 12*0 freeholders; La Laguna, which belonged
to Pedro Regalado del Castillo in 1772, belongs at present to 188 farmers;
Toquilla, originally the property of Jacinto de la Barrera, is a vereda in
which 289 freeholders reside; Sisvaca, which was an estate of Nicolas
de Rutia, has 33 farm owners today (Correa, o£. cit«, I H , 253).
 20k

which was practically sealed off from the world until President Enrique

Qlaya Herrera built the Choconta-Guateque road in 1931, can be cited as

an example of this triple combination. In this case, farms were parcelled

among and inherited by an increasingly large population the community

boundaries of which were very well fixed over a period of centuries.

Purchases and Sales Among Small Landholders.

When the financial capabilities are definitely curtailed, as is

most often the case among Boyaca farmers, land is used as an insurance in

times of crises. Serious illnesses requiring considerable disbursements

may be financed through the sale of a part of the farm, Hacendados as a

rule are not interested in acquiring such lots, except when adjacent to

their haciendas. Other minifundistas are the clients for such small-scale
29
transactions. This process can work in reverse— a client may be able to

buy a small lot, and this only after a long process of saving pennies for

many years. Even such improvements as the building of a homestead may

cause the sale of a part of the lot on which it is constructed. Thus,

although it may not be entirely responsible in every instance for the

formation of minifundia, still the small purchasing power of finqueros and

minifundistas does tend to perpetuate the dominance of the small holding.

2?Cf. Sol Tax, Penny Capitalism: A Guatemalan Indian Economy,

Institute of Social Anthropology Publication No. 16 (Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1953)*
 CHAPTER IX

SYSTEMS CF AGRICULTURE

While the size of holdings is a good indicator of the welfare of

a population, the manner in which the people extract a livelihood from

the soil is a veiy potent determinant of their level of living* The

tremendous cultural gaps which exist between a country where agriculture

is mechanized and one where primitive methods prevail are due, in a large

degree, to differences in the use of manpower and in the release of human

capabilities in each country. When man is a slave of the soil on which

he works, he is most often unable to think in terms other than those of

his bitter daily struggle. The energies which he could devote to other

constructive enterprises are exhausted by the heavy and time-consuming

tasks of the hoe farmer. His powers of initiative are also very much

curtailed. The main result of these socio-economic factors is what has

been termed "backwardness” or "underdevelopment.” The areas afflicted

with these conditions are characterized by low productivity and output

per worker. On the other hand, peoples with more advanced systems of

agriculture have succeeded in raising the productive capacity of the

agriculturist as well as the standard and level of living of his society.

Of course, such texms as "backward” and "underdeveloped" are used

in reference to leading countries such as the United States and those of

northwestern Europe. Why these countries are more advanced is a very

complex question. Answers range from racial to geographical to cultural

205
 206

determinism. Yet it must be admitted that "differences in the basic agri­

cultural systems practiced by various peoples are the real key to an

understanding of the way in which the widely varying levels and standards

of living were generated and perpetuated.

Nevertheless, systems of agriculture in "underdeveloped" areas

should be regarded with respect. Local situations and the nature of crops

may have dictated the adoption of techniques which, though backward in

appearance, have been the only way to obtain results in that specific

area. Prior to introducing change and "progress," the proper course to

follow is first to inquire about the native knowledge of agriculture.

The main question to be asked is, Why do they do it that way? Often the

answer is sensible, highly practical, and entirely adapted to the circum­

stances. There are potent reasons for farmers to be conservative. Their

life depends so much on what they do in their fields that tried and tested

practices, though difficult and onerous, are always preferred to inno­

vations .

Boyaca farmers are no exception to this rule. They are conserva­

tive and mistrustful of the new— and they are also characterised by a low

level of living. Many of their agricultural practices are sound, but many

others can be improved. It will be the purpose of this chapter to review

in a cursory manner the different systems of agriculture used by the people

of Boyaca— their "know-how," their skills and tools, their culture traits—

for the raising of their food and fiber.

^T. Lynn Smith, The Sociology of Rural Life (3rd ed. j New York*
Harper and Brothers, 1953), p. 326.
 207

The Origins of Agriculture in Boyaca

When the Spaniards arrived in 1537, the Chibcha had already de­

veloped a highly successful sedentary agriculture. This cultivation

appears to have been done on the dry portions of the central Andean
2
plateaus and on terraces constructed on hills. Moreover, the Chibcha

had domesticated tubers and other plants as well as one animal, the

guinea pig. These facts point toward an early origin of agriculture in

Bpyaca.

How this agriculture developed is a matter of conjecture. The

plants domesticated by the American Indians were polyploids unknown in

the Old World. This domestication seams to have been a recent achieve­

ment, probably more recent than the domestication of wheat in the Crimea

and the Caucasus region, because the earliest known remains of man in

America are those of the Tepexpan man in Mexico, of about fifteen thousand

years in antiquity.^ If Alex Hrdlicka1s hypothesis of the peopling of

America by Asiatic peoples by way of the Bering Strait is accepted, ^ then

it can be argued that the Asians brought with them a basic knowledge of

agriculture, specifically, the ability to deal with asexual plant repro-

2Bnil Haury and Julio Cesar Cubillos, Invest! gacianes Arqueologicas

en la Sabana de Bogota (Tucson: University of Axieona Social Science
bulletin <J2', April, l£53), p* 83, et passim.

%ellmut de Terra, Javier Moreno, and T. D. Stewart, Tepexpan Man

(New York: Viking Fund, 19U9)*

^Alex Hrdlicka, The Coming of Man from Asia in the light of Recent
Discoveries (Washington: Smithsonian institution, 1936)•
duction and to multiply seed from clones.^

Some interesting developments appear to have occurred during the

Pleistocene period. The food gatherers or agriculturists of Armenia,

Mesopotamia, and Syria had succeeded in domesticating grains, and

successive wanderings took this seed to northern Africa and Central

Europe.^ Other staples such as yams and bananas were brought into man's

cortege of botanical servants in Africa and Asia. In the meantime, the

Third (Illinoian) glaciation fostered genial climates in high latitudes

and a lower sea level. It was at this time that certain animals passed

from one continent to another with ease by way of the Bering Strait.
7
Predator man followed them. Drifting south, the Asians could have

reached Tierra del Fuego in eight hundred years at the rate of ten miles

per year. Was this Mongoloid still in the hunting stage? It is probable,

although local agriculture seems to have developed as bands settled down

along the migratory routes.

Just as in the Old World, man found on this continent new plants

which were capable of domes ticaticn. He proceeded to select and to

improve by setting out cuttings, as his fellows had done or were doing in

Asia. According to Sauer, the origins of this tropical agriculture are

Carl 0. Sauer, Agricultural Origins and Dispersals (New York* The

American Geographical Society, 1952), PP« 25, 51*.

^F. Keller, The Lake-Dwellings of Switzerland (London, 1866),

pp. Ii8, 62-63.
•7
‘Sauer, og. cit., pp. 7-8.
 209

to be sought in areas of alternate rainy and dry seasons, especially in

O /
Colombia*0 The Chibcha who dwelled in Boyaca are thus credited as being

at least the early successors of that people who domesticated such im­

portant staples as potatoes, arracacha (Arracaccia xanthorrhiza), ibia

(Qxalis tuberosa), cubios (Tropaelum tuberosum), and ruba (Ullucus

tuberosus)*^ Far this purpose the pre-Chibcha group (a member of the

mysterious San Agustan civilizatLcn?)^° used wild species, planted them

with sticks on high mounds, and proceeded to cut and to select*

How this important step was effected is still a mystery* However,

that there are alternate seasons of rain and drought and that the temper-

/ atures of the Andean plateaus are favorable to tuber growth, are facts

beyond question. Furthermore, at the altitude at which the Chibcha lived

tropical growth is impossible, the timber line being at about three

thousand meters (9,900 feet). Fire, which is among man’s greatest aids,

was undoubtedly employed by these Indians to clear the land* But at

great heights nature does not have that power to retaliate with new growth

which it enjoys at lower levels* A field set afire remains tamed for man's

cultivation for many years to come. Thus the Chibcha quickly passed from

a period of fire agriculture to one of cultivation by the predominant use

®BxLd., pp. hO-kZ*

O /
It was at Zorocota that the Spaniards first ate these tubers
which, according to Juan de Castellanos, were delicious, see his Historia
del Nuevo Reino de Granada (Madrid: A. Perez Dubrull, 1886), I, 88-89.
Cf. Juan Rodriguez Fresle, ConquLsta i Descubrimiento del Nuevo Reino de
Granada (Bogota: Pizano i Pdrez, 18^9), p. £2*

^°K. Th. Preuss, Monumentale vorgeschichtliche Kunst: Ausgrabungen

im Quellgebiet des Magdalena ((jpeitingen, 1^29)? doaef Perez de BarradasT
Arqueologia Agustiniana (Bogota: Imprenta Nacional, 191:3), pp. 3-26.
 210

of sticks and hoes.11

It was during this period of hoe culture that the Spaniards

arrived. By that time the achievement of the mysterious Colombian agri­

culturists appears to have spread to almost equal distances north and

south, to Mexico and Peru. That woman had an important role in this

achievement and in its diffusion is testified by the number of matri­

archal and matrilineal societies which existed at the time of discovery

(the myth of the Amazons may have been based on fact). The Chibcha were

not an exception. But once agriculture became definitely sedentary and

the structure of society was more complex, it seems that both men and
12
women partook of the activities. Among the tools which they developed,

a large wooden hoe made from a crooked branch and stone axes (macanas)

iFire as a factor sine qua non in the agricultural system of the

Chibcha appeared to be a thing of the past at the time of arrival of the
Spaniards. However, Pedro de Aguado stated that one of the good signs
which were observed by the conquerors when they approached Chibchaland at
La Grita was smoke arising from the fields, see his Primera Parte de la
Recopilacion Historial (Madrid* Espasa Calpe, 1930), I, 11*5. Considering
that the altitude of this locality is approximately 1,500 meters (1*,900
feet), a distinction should be made between this peripheral region of the
empire, which was considerably within the area of extensive tree growth,
and the central plateaus and mountains where the Chibcha culture best
flourished. The leading population centers seem to have been situated at
an elevation of 2,600 to 2,700 meters (about 8,500 to 8,800 feet), and
rarely varying more than 100 meters from this range. According to A. L.
Kroeber, "the £ Chibcha_7 utilization of the terrain was peripheral,
atypical, and never of prime political importance* beyond the 1,600 meter
(6,000 feet) level. See A. L. Kroeber, "The Chibcha," in Julian H.
Steward, Handbook of South American Indians (Washington: Bureau of Ameri­
can Ethnology Bulletin No. 11*3, Government Printing Office, 191*6), II,
888- 892.
l20onzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, HI storia General y Natural
de las IndiaB (Madrid: Beal Academia de la ffi-Storia^ 185l), it, 378-1*12j
Joaqui-n Acosta, Historia de la Nueva Granada (Bogota: Biblioteca Nacional,
191*2), pp. 277-280; Iiborio Zerda, El Dorado (Bogota: Editorial Cahur,
191*7), PP. 120-130.
 211

13
were the highest achievements* Archaeologists have found nothing ap­

proaching the nature of a plow— the Chibcha had not developed it* In the

Old World, this important implement had already been Invented by those

Eurasian peoples who had domesticated grains and designed bronze sickles*

A Classification of Agricultural Systems

Scholars have attempted to find some order in the seemingly

chaotic sequences of the development of agriculture, sequences which are

closely related to the origin of society itself Of the classifications

offered, the one advanced by Professor Smith in 1953 is both practical and

flexible, and it is conceived within a strict sociological frame of refer­

ence* He proposes that the various systems of agriculture be classified

into the following six types: "(1) river bank; (2) fire agriculture;

(3) hoe culture; (U) rudimentary plow culture; (5) advanced plow culture;

and (6) mechanized farming** All of these types are not assumed to appear

^Pedro Simon, Noticias Historiales (Bogota: Editorial Kelly,

1953), H , 278; Pedro de Aguado, Recopilacion Historial (Bogota: Imprenta
Nacional, 1906), p* 11:5•

^ A survey of the literature on this subject would include, among

others, J* Novicow, Les Luttes Bntre Societes Humaines et Leurs Phases
Successives (Paris: F* Alcan, 1^96); Alexander Goldenwedser, AnthropoTogy
(tfew York* F. S. Crofts and Co., 1937); Henry Sumner Maine, Ancient Law
(New York* Henry Holt and Co*, 1888); Wilson D. Wallis, Culture and
Progress (New York: McGraw Hill Book Co., 1930); Wilhelm Schmidt,“"The
Cultural Historical Method of Ethnology (New York* Fortuny’s, 1939);
G. KLLiot Smith, In the beginnings* ^he Origin of Civilization (New York*
W. Morrow and Co., 1928); Johann Bachofen, Das Mutterrecht (Stuttgart,
1861); L. H. Morgan, Ancient Society (New York* Henry Hol£ and Co., 1877);
Charles A. Ellwood, Cultural Evolution (New York: Century Co., 1927);
Robert H. Louie, The Origin of the State (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and
Co., 1927); Franz Qppenheimer, the State (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merril Co.,
191u); Clark Wissler, The Relation of ISture to Man in Aboriginal America
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1926)•
 212

in sequential order of achievement by any given people.

Although there are instances of fire agriculture in Boyaca, and

mechanized fanning is making inroads, the people of this department engage

predominantly in hoe culture and in rudimentary plow culture. Hoe culture

is largely the legacy of the Chibcha nation, with its predominance of tuber

cultivation. Rudimentary plow culture is the contribution of the Spanish

conqueror. For purposes of the present analysis and description, row crops

will be treated within the section on hoe culture, while sown crops will be

studied within the section on rudimentary plow culture. It should be

understood, however, that certain practices of one type are used in the

other. Indeed, the simultaneity of both systems is the working reality of

present day agriculture in Boyaca. But in spite of this combination, agri­

culture still is in this section of the globe an onerous, labor-devouring,

and misery-perpetuating activity.

Fire Agriculture.

Fire agriculture is practiced, to a limited extent, in sections of

mountains which are covered with heavy growth. This is done, among other

places, in Puebloviejo, Belen, Ventaquemada, and Arcabuco. Toward the

end of the dry season, the farmers cut down trees and bushes, let the

branches dry up for about fifteen or twenty days, and then set the vege­

tation afire with matches or with charcoal. Planting, usually c o m or

potatoes, is done three days after the firing, while the ashes are still

warm. This planting is done with a wooden stick which stirs up the ashes

^Smith, op. cit., p. 332.

 213

as well as the soil below.

If cultivation is maintained on this plot of ground, wild vege­

tation does not return. But if it is left idle, in frcm ten to twenty

years it will have developed sufficient minor growth to supply fuel for

a new fixing. The first plants to appear in the second growth are the

frailejon and the chite.

The advantages and disadvantages of fire agriculture are questions

which have not been settled to everyone's satisfaction. It is true that

this system is extremely lavish in its use of labor, as well as wasteful

of land, soil, and timber resources. But farmers use fire mainly due to

the fact that there is no other convenient way of removing trees and vege­

tation from a field. With the employment of other implements and skills

this system could be improved. Considering the fact that fire is of

relatively minor importance as an agricultural aid in Boyaca, there is no

need for being overly concerned with its seemingly disastrous effects.^

Hoe Culture.

A great step was taken by the Indians when they were able to add

a point of metal to their digging sticks or a flattened blade to their

wooden hoes. This important advance came soon after the first contacts

with the Spanish conquerors. Quesada himself brought the first metal

See, in this regard, the descriptions of fire agriculture as it

is practiced in Brazil, in T. Iynn Smith, Brazil? People and Institutions
(Baton Rouge* Louisiana State University Press, 19h6), pp. 37-60.
 2UU

hoes.1? Metal tools were so expensive and scarce during colonial times

that entire communities had to get by with a very few.1** Etacomenderos, as

19
a rule, furnished tools to their Indians, 7 and the corregidores taught

the natives how to handle them.^

Potato cultivation in BoyacA has continued in a manner that is

reminiscent of pre-conquest days. First of all, Boyacd farmers do not

make the furrows down hill as is done in Cundinamarca, but instead follow

the contour. This may be a cultural lag from terrace cultivation, and it

is observed from Ventaquemada north to Puebloviejo and Socha. This tech­

nique determines that theworker should not "straddle" the row for purposes

of weeding and lifting the hill as is done elsewhere— he hoes from the

lower side, disturbing the furrow in front of him. Planting tubers on

steep slopes precludes all machinery and tools except the hoe. Not even

an ox team can plow at these angles, and all the labor has to be done by

hand.

The large wooden hoe apparently used by the Chibcha, now called

gancho. is still used in BoyacA, especially for the harvesting of potatoes.

^Aguado, Primera Parte, op. cit., I, 196-197* I1* 13*

^Even as late as 1806 there were "100 hoes, d axes, 4 shovels, and
2 bars" in the community of Chirivl, see RamAn G. Correa, Monografias
(Tunja: Imprenta Oficial, 1932), II, 42-43* Juan Fried® reports that in
the Cauca region it was difficult for Indians to have tools because they
cost sometimes as much as a horse or a house, see his El Indio en Lucha
por la Tierra (BogotA: Ediclones Espiral-Colombia, 1944)* pp. 59-60.

■ ^Jo sA M o jic a S i l v a , R e la c id n de V i s i t a s C o l o n i a l e s ( T u n j a : I m p r e n -
ta O f i c i a l , 1948), p. 19*

^JosA Manuel Groot, Historia SclesiAstica y Civil de la Nueva

Granada (BogotA: M. Rivas y Cia., 1S89), I, 317, 51o-520.
 215

The gancho is employed preferably for a soft and porous soil. The women

Yere^a °£ Chorroblanco near Tunja use a gancho which is more like

a wooden pick-hoe, an instrument closely resembling the small Inca qorana

rn
drawn by Gusman Poma in the sixteenth century. An early adaptation of

the native stick with a steel point has survived in Socha. It is also

called gancho and it is provided with a curved steel point. This instru­

ment is used only for the potato harvest, and as is the case with its

Chorroblanco counterpart, its advantage lies in its lightness and in the

fact that it does not cut the tubers as does the regular hoe.

Such potato culture requires the assemblage of a good number of

laborers. If planting is done in a small field (the plow is used in

larger fields), a corps of men with hoes make the furrows. Following them

are the planters who throw the tubers in the holes* Next come workers who

"crown" the seed with a handful of fertilizer. And lastly, a fourth group

covers the seed and fertilizer with hoes. Sane times this work is need­

lessly made more complicated. At Arcabuco, for instance, where potatoes

appear to be a recently-adopted crop, farmers stretch a line across the

field to guide themselves in making the furrows, and the plow is not used

as an aid in planting. This is a puzzling situation, since more advanced

techniques can be observed in areas not too far away.

The number of laborers engaged for the harvest varies in accordance

with the size of the enterprise. A common practice is to have about nine

persons harvesting potatoes fran a five-fanegada (nine acres) field for

"■Julian H. Steward, editor, Handbook of South American Indians

(Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 11*3, Government Printing
Office, 19l*6), IT, 213-211*.
 216

three days. Considering the fact that potato yields, though relatively
22
high for this department, do not approach those in Idaho, for instance,

the output per worker is low. Thus a large labor force, with all its

"know-how11 and paternal care has not succeeded in raising the production

and the level of living of these communities. On the contrary, with more

mouths to feed, even a fair crop is often insufficient to cover farmers1

needs. Its sale may cover the cost of production, but not much more.^

C o m is planted and harvested with the same lavish use of labor

displayed for potato culture, and similar techniques are followed. Seven­

teen persons have been counted at a time of harvest at Tibasosa, some of

them cutting the stalks with sickles (the machete is seldom used in this

particular area), others selecting the ears, a few of them shucking, and

still others packing.

In the Tenza valley most farmers do not own hoes. Here the long-

handle shovel is the indispensable tools. Together with the machete, the

shovel is the basic instrument of labor in the local fruit culture. Even

when local farmers plant potatoes, they use the shovel. Their technique

^fields for agricultural products in Colombia can be seen in

Kathryn Wylie, Agriculture of Colombia (Washington: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1942), and in diverse publications by the Ministry of Agri­
culture. For agricultural yields in a Hispano-Chibcha community close to
the southern border of BoyacA, see the writer's "Sauclo: A Sociological
Study of a Rural Community in Colombia" (unpublished Master's Thesis,
University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology, June, 1952), and his
Peasant Society in Transition: A Study of a Colombian Neighborhood
(Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1955). (In press.)

2^Cf. Antonio «J. Posada F., "Economics of Colombian Agriculture,"

(unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Department of
Economics, 1952); Roberto Pineda Giraldo, "Estudio de la Zona Tabacalera
Santandereana," Seguridad Social Campesina (BogotA: Ministerio del Trabajo,
1955).
 217

is t h e r e f o r e d i f f e r e n t fro m t h a t o f t h e m an w i t h t h e h o e , a n d p ro b a b ly

m o re c o m f o r ta b le , s i n c e t h e w o rk i s done s ta n d in g a n d n o t i n b a c k -b re a k in g

p o s itio n s . P eas, le n tils , and o th e r c ro p s a r e a ls o p la n te d in th is m an n er.

The m a c h e te i s th e m o st im p o rta n t t o o l i n a re a s o f su g ar cane

c u ltu re . I t is in th e s e a re a s t h a t , p e rh a p s, la b o r i s m ost la v is h ly u se d .

W h ile s c o r e s o f w o rk e rs c u t th e c a n e , o th e rs p i l e i t on o x c a rts o r pack

it o n m u le s t o tr a n s p o r t th e p ro d u c e t o th e m ill. The m i l l i n g re q u ire s

c o n s ta n t a tte n tio n b y d ay and n ig h t, and a c o n s id e ra b le d iv is io n o f la b o r*

T h e r e a r e w o r k e r s w ho t e n d t h e m u le s , o t h e r s w ho l o o k a f t e r t h e f u e l ,

so m e w ho b e a t t h e ju ic e to m ake p a n e l a , m any w ho t r a n s p o r t t h e can e on

t h e i r b a c k s fro m th e p ile to th e m ill. H e n , w om en, a n d c h i l d r e n a l l

p a rtic ip a te in th e s e ta s k s .

S t i l l a n o th e r to o l d is p la c e s th e h oe i n r e g io n s w h e re to b a c c o i s

th e cash c ro p . I n m u n ic ip io s s u c h a s S o a ta a n d C o v a ra c h ia t h e p ic k i s th e

m o s t i m p o r ta n t im p le m e n t. A fte r a p ie c e o f la n d h a s b een c le a re d o f s to n e

b y m a n u a l l a b o r ( t h e m o u n ta in s i n th is s e c tio n o f B oyaca a r e e s p e c ia lly

d r y a n d r o c k y ) , w o rk e rs t r a n s p l a n t to b a c c o s h o o ts fro m th e n u rse ry . T hey

p l a n t th e m a f t e r f i r s t s t i r r i n g th e h a rd s o i l w ith th e p ic k . A fte r th e

p l a n t g ro w s a n d s t a r t s p ro d u c in g l e a v e s , th e o p e r a tio n becom es a fa m ily

an d n e ig h b o rly a f f a i r . The le a v e s a r e ta k e n fro m th e p la n t b y hand an d

hung in t h e ta m b o o r c a n e y h u t . A f te r th e y d ry , th e le a v e s a r e s m o o th e d

b y p r e s s i n g th e m m a n u a l l y a g a i n s t t h e k n e e . F in a lly , a f te r th e p ro d u c t

is re a d y f o r m a rk e t, th e fa n n e rs tr a n s p o r t i t to c e n tra l s to re s (e s p e c ia lly

to o n e a t C a p ita n e jo ) f i r s t o n t h e i r b a c k s o r m u le s , a n d th a n b y t r u c k s
 218

and busses on the highways•

B oyaca h a s a g r e a t v a r ie ty o f a g ric u ltu ra l cro p s. B ecause o f I t s

to p o g ra p h y , p r a c t i c a l l y e v e ry k in d o f c ro p o a n b e g ro w n i n one s e c tio n or

a n o th e r o f th e d e p a rtm e n t. P e rh a p s th e g r e a te s t v a r ia tio n w ith in a s m a ll

a rea is p ro v id e d b y t h e b e a u ti f u l v a l l e y o f th e N ev ad o R iv e r b e tw e e n S a n

M a te o , EL E s p i n o , Panqueba, an d E l C ocuy. P o ta to e s , p e a s , w h e a t, b a r le y ,

co rn , c o ffe e , to m a to e s , to b a c c o , y u c c a , s u g a r c a n e , m angoes, a rra c a c h a ,

fiq u e , a n d m any o t h e r p r o d u c ts c a n b e o b s e r v e d g ro w in g i n a d m ira b le

p ro fu s io n a t d i f f e r e n t le v e ls . N a tu re i s p ro d ig a l h e re , g e n e ro u s w ith

t h e p e a s a n ts w ho d e p e n d o n h e r f o r t h e i r s u r v i v a l . B ut in th is e a rth ly

p a r a d is e w h e re t h e c lim a te , th e to p o g ra p h y , th e seed, a n d m a n 's i n d u s t r y

c o m b in e m o s t s u c c e s s f u l l y , th e p e o p le do n o t e n jo y th e b e t t e r th in g s of

life . P erh a p s som e d a y a w ay w i l l b e f o u n d f o r t h e s e p e a s a n t s t o a c h ie v e

a h ig h e r le v e l o f liv in g as th e y m ove to w a r d m o re a d v a n c e d s y s te m s o f

a g ric u ltu re and in d u s try .

R u d i m e n t a r y P lo w C u ltu re .

The s t e p ta k e n fro m th e hoe to t h e p lo w i s a m o m e n to u s d e v e lo p m e n t

in th e h is to ry o f c iv iliz a tio n . S in c e th e d a y w hen th e s a c r e d b u l l w as

ta k e n o f f h is p e d e s ta l a n d a fo rk e d s a p lin g w as la tc h e d to h is h o r n s m an

h a s d o n e h i s w o rk w ith l e s s and le s s d ru d g e ry . A la rg e c ro o k e d b ra n c h

p ro b a b ly w as th e f i r s t p lo w t h a t r o o t e d t h e e a rth . P a p y ru s an d s to n e

d o c u m e n ts t e s t i f y to th e a n tiq u ity o f t h e p lo w . T he B ook o f Job a n d o th e r

passages in th e O ld T e s ta m e n t c o n t a i n r e f e r e n c e s to p lo w s . The a n c ie n t

E g y p t i a n s h a d a p lo w w i t h a w o o d e n b e a m , shank, an d h a n d le . U ly s s e s p lo w e d

^ C f . P in e d a G L ra ld o , op. cit., p p . $1-57*

 219

in the sands of Ithaca. Virgil and Horace described plows in their poems.

Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century, mentioned a wheeled plow.

Different peoples in diverse areas of the Old World knew the advantages of

hitching a large animal to a forked branch. The Hindus have used the ele­

phant as a source of power for plowing for centuries. In wet areas, the

water buffalo draws the plow. The horse has been used extensively to pull

the plow in northwestern Europe, the United States, and other countries.

In most regions, however, oxen are used for this purpose.

The plow introduced by the Spaniards into Boyaca during the

sixteenth century was, and still is, the age-old crooked branch with a
pt
steel share. It is pulled by two oxen hitched by their horns. This is

an inefficient instrument with no moldboard or guage wheel, which simply

roots the soil without turning it. No definite design is necessary for

this sort of plow. The mathematical computations of Jefferson have never

been explained to Boyaca plowmakers. Manufacturers choose a branch that

appears to them to have the appropriate angle, reinforce it with braces

and long screws, fix the beam, and carve a neat handle. The share has

regional variations. While it is fastened with hide-rope to the shank in

most of the sections of Boyaca, in the Tenza valley the share is nailed

or screwed onto the shank. In El Cocuy yet a different sort of share is

used— it is a long, narrow piece of metal embedded in the shank, leaving

a salient point at the tip of the shank.

^This the type still used in Galicia and Portugal, see Frits
Kruger, *E1 LexLco Rural del Noroeste Ibexico," Revista de Filolog£a
Espanola, XXXVI (19i*7)•
 220

A lo n g ro d , c a lle d c a s q u ille jo i n ro o st a r e a s ( g a rro c h a in E l

C o c u y ), is u sed to g u id e t h e o x e n . T h is t o o l a l s o h a s so m e v a r i a t i o n s ,

c a llin g f o r d i f f e r e n t te c h n iq u e s o f h a n d lin g t h e te a m . F a rm e rs p la c e a

s m a ll g ro o v e d w h e e l, l i k e th a t o f a s tirru p , a t th e e n d o f th e r o d w ith

w h ic h t o goad th e o x . B u t m any p e a s a n ts i n t h e T en z a v a l l e y , E l C ocuy,

A rc a b u c o , a n d P u e b lo v ie jo m e re ly le a v e t h e p o i n t b a r e ; s o m e tim e s t h e y

tip it w ith a n a i l . W h en t h i s i s done, g o a d in g i s on th e le g o f th e

a n im a l a n d n o t on t h e h in d s , as th e s k i n m ay b e d a m a g e d . S till o th e r

f a r m e r s h a n d l e t h e i r p lo w o x en w ith w h ip s ; s in c e th is is m o re p a i n f u l ,

t h e a n im a ls w o rk f a s t e r .

O th e r im p o r ta n t t r a i t s in t h e r u d i m e n t a r y p lo w c u l t u r e c o m p le x

a r e t h e h e a v y w ooden h a rro w u s e d t o p u lv e riz e t h e s o i l a n d th e w ooden

ro lle r. Two k i n d s o f h a r r o w s a r e u s e d i n B oyaca, th e tr ia n g u la r and

th e sq u are. B o th t y p e s r e q u i r e t h e a d a p t a t i o n o f o ld s h a r e s an d

p o in te d ir o n p ie c e s f a s te n e d o r n a ile d u n d e rn e a th th e w ooden s tr u c tu r e ,

a lm o s t w ith o u t c o n c e r t. T he o x e n p u l l t h e s e h a rro w s b y m eans o f i r o n

c h a in s . The w ooden r o l l e r i s used to le v e l th e g ro u n d a n d to sm ash t h e

h ard en ed s o i l p r io r t o a c tu a l c u ltiv a tio n . T h is r o l l e r , a n d w hen i t is

la c k in g , m e re ly a h e a v y b o a r d , is p u lle d by oxen.

T h e s y s te m o f g ra in c u ltiv a tio n in tro d u c e d b y th e S p a n ia rd s in

^Garrocha is the tern used in Spain for this pike-like instru­

ment, and it can be traced to the Middle Ages. It has been transferred
to the fiesta brava (bullfighting) for the picadores. It is also found
among the Brazilian sertanejos and the Venezuelan llaneros, see Charles
Julian Bishko, "The Peninsular Background of Latin American Cattle
Ranching," The Hispanic American Historical Review, XXXII (1952), 507-
508 .
 221

th e s ix te e n th c e n tu ry ^ ? re q u ire s a s m any w o rk e rs a s th e p la n tin g o f ro w

c ro p s. S im ila r te c h n iq u e s to th o s e d e s c rib e d above f o r th e p re p a ra tio n

of th e s o i l a re u se d f o r th e p la n tin g o f w h e a t, b a r le y , ry e , peas, and

o th e r g ra in s . In th e co u rse o f tim e , w e e d in g i s do n e m o s tly b y h an d a n d

i t t a k e s m any h o u r s a n d w o r k e r s . lik e w is e , on th e day o f th e h a rv e s t

m any l a b o r e r s g a th e r. M en c u t t h e s te m s w ith s ic k le s , w o m en t i e th e

sheaves, and c h ild re n tra n s p o rt th e s h e a v e s a n d m ake t h e b i g c e n tra l

p ile s . T he w o rk i s p le a s a n t, b u t tim e -c o n s u m in g . The r e s u ltin g y ie ld s

d o n o t c o m p e n s a te f o r th e num ber o f w o rk e rs , th e la b o r , and th e d ilig e n c e

in v o lv e d .

Once t h e g r a i n i s d r y , i t i s tra n s p o rte d to th e th re s h in g flo o r,

a n d m u le s a n d h o r s e s d o t h e f i n a l w o r k . T he d a y o n w h ic h t h i s ta k e s

p la c e s h o u ld b e w in d y a n d s u n n y f o r s u c c e s s f u l w in n o w in g . S ta rtin g e a rly

in t h e m o rn in g , tw o m en s p r e a d t h e sh eav es on th e f l o o r , w h ile a t h i r d

one le a d s th e a n im a ls a b o u t o v e r th e th r e s h in g flo o r. The a n im a ls a r e

re m o v e d p e r i o d i c a l l y so th a t th e la b o re rs c a n w in n o w , w h ic h t h e y d o w i t h

spades an d fo rk s . By s w e e p i n g w i t h h o m e - m a d e b r o o m s , t h e g r a i n i s little

27 ,
'It is not clear who introduced wheat into Boyaca for the first
time, but judging from Fray Pedro Simon‘s s t a t e m e n t that Jeronimo de
Aguayo, a latecomer to the New Kingdom, was the first to plant it near
Tunja, it appears that Governor Jerdnimo Lebron brought it in 15U0
(Simon, op. cit., Ill, 12U). Pedro Briceno was the first to build a
flour mill at tfunja, and the first woman to make bread was Elvira
Gutierrez. According to Fresle, Lebron also introduced vegetables,
broad beans, and barley (Fresle, op. cit., p. 52). And Governor Alonso
Luis de Lugo took garlic with him xn I5E3, as recorded by Castellanos
(o£. cit., II, 56).

^There is no record of any attempt to introduce the method of

threshing with flails (mayales) common in Italy, Albania, Montenegro, the
Near East, and other regions. This method was rarely used in Spain and
Portugal at the time of the conquest. See Tellsforo de Alanzadi, "Agri­
culture, * in F. Carreras y CandL, editor. Folklore y Costumbres de Espana
(Barcelona: Alberto Martin, 19b3), I, 31U*
 222

by little separated from the chaff, until there is a sackful* Next the

grain is passed through a leather sereen in order to remove some of the

sand as it enters the sacks* If conditions are favorable and the harvest

is not large, the threshing can be finished in one day, A threshing

machine operated by three persons could do the same work in thirty minutes*

Transportation of farm produce in Boyaca is done mainly on the

backs or the heads of the people, on two-wheeled ox carts, ^ and on small

carts called zorras* Burros and mules are used to some extent in the

Tenza valley, Combita, and Paipa. And cattle are transported on the hoof,

sometimes yoked by pairs* Trucks are being used increasingly by farmers

whose properties lie adjacent to roads*

Mechanized Farming*

The advanced plow culture did not develop in Boyaca* Neither the

Spaniards nor their descendants in Colombia used the horse as a source of

power for the plow; the horse has kept his relation to the class structure

almost unchanged. 3° It would be difficult to introduce this advanced

system of agriculture at the present time, not only because of the atti­

tudes held in regard to the horse but because the traits necessary for

^The first wheeled vehicles were built by Hernando de Alcocer and

Alonso de Olaya at Santa Fe around 1550, see Jesus Marfa Henao and Gerardo
Arrubla, Historia de Colombia (Bogota* libreria Voluntad, 1952), pp, 179-
180* The two-wheeled vehicle is the local counterpart of the four-wheeled
wagon of the United States during frontier days. The first is a trait of
the rudimentary plow culture complex; the second is a trait of the advanced
plow culture complex (Smith, Sociology, pp. 3^2-352)•

-^"Horses were fit chattels only for kings in the palmy days of
Egypt. . . •” L. ¥. Ellis and Edward A* Rumely, Power and the Plow
(Garden City: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1911), p. 25, ~
 223

th is s y s te m (e s p e c ia lly th e h o rse c o lla r and h itc h in g e q u ip m e n t) a r e

p r a c t i c a l l y unknow n. A r e v e r s a l o f in te n s iv e a g r i c u l t u r a l te c h n iq u e s

fro m t h e s l o p e s o f m o u n ta in s t o p l a t e a u s a n d l e v e l v a l l e y s w o u ld h a v e t o

b e m ade i n o rd e r to se c u re an e f f ic ie n t u se o f th e h o r s e a n d th e e q u ip ­

m ent in v o lv e d i n a d v a n c e d p lo w c u l t u r e . Thus i t is m o re p r a c t i c a l t o

th in k ab o u t c lo s in g th e g ap w h ic h e x i s t s i n te rm s o f m a c h in e ry a n d n o t

in te rm s o f a b e l a t e d a d o p tio n o f t h i s c u ltu re .

T ra c to rs an d th r e s h e r s h a v e b e e n in tro d u c e d b y in d iv id u a ls i n

B o y aca , a lth o u g h i n v e r y l i m i t e d n u m b e rs, d u rin g th e l a s t te n y e a r s .

A lth o u g h m any f a r m e r s i n c e rta in r e g i o n s u s e th e m , s u c h m a c h in e s s t i l l

are a ra r ity i n m ost a r e a s . T h e m a in c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h i s m a c h in e ry

i n B oyaca i s its d is tr ib u tio n a l m o b ility . T ra c to rs a n d th re s h e rs a r e

r o v i n g a p p a r a t u s e s w h ic h t r a v e l fro m one s e c tio n to a n o th e r a s t h e i r

o w n e rs a n d o p e r a t o r s a n s w e r t h e c a l l o f l o c a l f a r m e r s . T he m a in c e n t e r s

o f d i s t r i b u t i o n a r e a t T u n ja , L e iv a , S a ra a c a , a n d £L C o c u y . The f i r s t

t h r e e c e n t e r s s u p p ly t h e n e e d s o f m any f a r m e r s i n th e s o u th e r n a n d

c e n tr a l s e c tio n s . SO. C o c u y e n t r e p r e n e u r s d o n o t h a v e m a n y t r a c t o r s , but

t h e y h a v e som e g a s o l i n e t h r e s h e r s ; t h e s e a r e m oved fro m o n e fa rm t o an­

o th e r b y m eans o f o x e n . C h a rg e s v a r y r e g io n a l ly . In s p ite o f th e r e la ­

t i v e l y h ig h p r i c e o f th e s e r v ic e , in p r o g r e s s i v e r e g i o n s m o re a n d m o re

f a r m e r s a r e t a k i n g a d v a n ta g e o f t h i s m a c h in e ry .
 CHAPTER X

LOCALITY GROUPS

M an i s a s p a tia lly -a n c h o re d c re a tu re . In s p ite o f th e tre m e n d o u s

g a in s in m o b ility d u rin g th e l a s t d e c a d e s, h e s t i l l d ep en d s on s p e c if ic a l l y

l i m i t e d a r e a s f o r t h e m a in te n a n c e o f s o c i a l s y s te m s a n d f o r t h e d e te rm i­

n a tio n o f h is p e r s o n a lity . T h e m a j o r i t y o f hum an r e l a t i o n s h i p s a r e

lo c a liz e d . T h ey t a k e p l a c e a n d h a v e m e a n in g w i t h i n a d e fin ite lo c u s .

R e lig io u s , e c o n o m ic , p o l i t i c a l , re c re a tio n a l, e d u c a tio n a l, and o th e r

a c tiv itie s u s u a l l y r e v o lv e a ro u n d a r e c o g n i z a b l e n u c l e a t e d i n s t i t u t i o n . '* '

T h e s m a l l e s t g ro u p o c c u p y in g a d e f i n i t e lo c a le , th e fa m ily , is re g a rd e d

a lm o s t a s syn o n y m o u s w i t h “h e a r t h . ” W h en f a m i l i e s w h i c h a r e c o n s c io u s of

" in tim a te r e l a t i o n s w i t h o n e a n o th e r * ^ ccm e t o g e t h e r , th e y fo rm la rg e r

areas o f hum an a s s o c i a t i o n w h ic h a r e r e f e r r e d to a s n e ig h b o rh o o d s . A nd a

num ber o f i n t e r a c t i n g a n d c o h e s i v e n e i g h b o r h o o d s fo x m c o m m u n i ti e s . T hese

a re s o c ia lly th e m o st s ig n i f i c a n t a s p e c ts o f m an’s s p a t i a l a d a p ta tio n .

A ll th r e e g ro u p s, th e fa m ily , th e n e ig h b o rh o o d , and th e c o m m u n ity , a r e

fu n d a m e n ta l i n th e tra n s m is s io n o f c u ltu r e , in th e f o r m a tio n o f h a b its

and a ttitu d e s , in th e fo s te r in g o f a n a tio n a l s p i r i t , and, fin a lly , in

th e c re a tio n o f a w o rld o u tlo o k , o r W e lta n s c h a u u n g .

■^F. S t u a r t C h a p i n . C o n t e m p o r a r y A m e r i c a n I n s t i t u t i o n s (N ew Y o r k :
H a r p e r a n d B r o t h e r s , 1935>), p . 13.
2
Ja m e s M. W i l l ia m s , O ur R u ra l H e rita g e (N ew Y o r k : A l f r e d A . K h o p f ,
1 9 2 5 ), p . 21.
 22$

Desirable as it is to treat the family as it functions in Boyaca,

the present discussion is necessarily restricted to those other two

locality groups which have the territorial basis as a fundamental constitu­

ent. The neighborhood and the community have interesting manifestations

in this department. It will be the purpose of this chapter to portray the

basic characteristics of each.

The Nature of Locality Groups in Boyaca

Locality groups in Boyaca are in sharp contrast with those of

the Old World. The type of scattered farmsteads which predominates causes

them to be discerned with difficulty, so that to uninformed observers the

inhabitant of Boyaca would appear to be "a man without a community.*1

European locality groups are more easily distinguished* the people are

usually clustered in a village or hamlet which together with the surround­

ing fields constitutes an ecological unit.

But the Boyaca farmer is not a man without a community. He has

definite areas of association and interaction. In fact, his locality

groups closely resemble those of the United States, where there is a con­

catenation of open-country neighborhoods and service centers* It can be

advanced that the neighborhood in Boyaca, popularly called vereda,^ is an

^From the Latin veredus, a horse for the delivery of mail. Vereda
means a path, or a narrow road and, by extension, the area on the sides of
the path. There was a custom in Spain of calling vereda any letter, order,
or communication dispatched for a certain number of localities established
along a road or close to one another, see Bncidopedia Universal Ilustrada
Europeo-Americana (Bilbao* Esposa-Calpe, S. A., 1?29), MVII, IV?7. ttie
term vereda does"not appear to have came into wide use as a reference to
locality groups until the middle part of the nineteenth century. The terms
partido, capitania, ccmunidad, sitio, or estancia were used instead*
 226

agglomeration of a small number of families which live on adjacent fauns,

whose members come in frequent face-to-face contact and engage in mutual

aid, and who have developed a strong consciousness of kind. The community

in Boyaca is a larger ecological unit composed of various veredas, with a

church-market locus serving as a focal point for integration; this locus

or center may have other services such as government offices, stores,

banks, mills, and small industries. The ties which bind neighborhoods to­

gether into communities are sometimes weak, as will be shown below. As a

rule, however, communities succeed in creating a consensus among the people

that their welfare and fortunes depend on the progress and organization of

the community as a whole.

It is, of course, difficult to delineate the boundaries of these

groups, or to identify them with accuracy. But fortunately, the general

techniques developed by Charles J. Galpin for the study of Walworth County^

have proved to be applicable for the determination of certain Colombian

groups. Communities are difficult to discover in the field. Veredas are

somewhat easier to detect, as they are as a rule largely determined by the

topography. A cluster of houses in a valley, in the open country, often

a small hamlet, can be taken as signs of neighborhoods. Mast of these

^Charles J. Galpin, The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Com­

munity, University of Wisconsin AES Bulletin iU (Kadison, 1915).

^Orlando Fals-Borda, "Saucfo: A Sociological Study of a Rural

Community in Colombia* (unpublished Master's Thesis, Department of Soci­
ology, University of Minnesota, 19$2). The similar nature of ecological
groups in the United States and in Colombia is a helpful sign that research
methods and systems designed in the United States could be adapted with
profit for the development of sociology in Colombia.
 227

areas are identified by a name,^ and an inquiry in this regard often leads

to the discovery of at least the core of a true vereda.

In spite of increasing mobility and differentiation, Boyaca is

still in the neighborhood stage. The areas of association and acquaint­

anceship are small, the social horizons of the people are reduced, the

basic needs are satisfied mainly within the neighborhood. Boyaca is, in

this sense, a constellation of little, self-inclusive worlds, a collection

of microcosms which at places have formed macrocosms of communities.

It must be emphasized that municipios are not the equivalent of

communities in Boyaca. Veredas which belong to a municipio from the ad­

ministrative standpoint actually may have little to do with it— the people

of a vereda may even resent belonging to a given municipio, and their

social contacts and allegiance may be with a different one. Often a vereda

belongs to one municipio administratively and to another one for religious

administrataon. For these reasons the municipio is of little help in the

delineation of community boundaries. It is indispensable to undertake the

analysis of the locality group structure by examining the relationship

which exists between the church-market locus and the people of its sur­

rounding veredas. The investigation, however, should be completed with

the study of the veredas themselves— how they are formed, what their

essential components are and the bonds which perpetuate them in time and

space.

^Cf. J. H. Kolb, Rural Primary Groups, University of Wisconsin

AES Research Bulletin 51 (Madison, i?2l).
 228

The Community

While the neighborhood ie created and maintained by a good number

of "ties" and common activities (see below), the community has been formed

predominantly as a religious and economic group. Notably, the politico-

administrative activity has been of inferior intensity; the organization

7
of local banks of the Caja Agraria type still is in the nascent stage;

and factories are still difficult to find in Boyaca. This means that

Boyaca communities— well preserved survivals of bygone days— can be de­

lineated at the present time in terms of people's attendance at church

and market. Other institutions such as schools, banks, factories,

theaters, shops, and the like, are of secondary importance.

Church and market are the focal points of each community. Weekly

fairs and attendance at church cause intimate contacts between members of

different neighborhoods, in such manner that the service-centered community

becomes a group of primary relationships. Everybody converges on the seat

of the municipio on the appointed days. This important interchange between

the service center and its surrounding area takes place especially on one

day of the week when the market is on Sunday, or on two different days

when the market is held on a weekday. Other important events such as

funerals, the purchase of fertilizer and spraying compounds or arrangements

for a wedding, take open-country neighbors to town. Otherwise the town-

7
The Caja de Credito Agrario, Industrial y MLnero, or Agricultural
Credit Bank, is a government agency founded in 1931• Among its purposes,
the Caja Agraria strives to help the fanners with credit, machinery, fer­
tilizers, and other materials. It has grown phenomenally during the last
ten years, but its beneficial activities have not reached yet many rural
areas in Boyacii.
 229

neighborhood flow is practically nil, as the inhabitants of the veredas

keep to themselves. The cohesiveness of these communities is often defined

in terns of walking distances. Wherever the distance frcm a vereda to a

church-market focal point is excessive,, farmers look to other points which

are closer. Thus veredas which are located in the far-away periphery are

likely to be loosely tied to the conmunity, and the necessary trips of

their members are made to other loci.

Social differentiation takes place in those strong communities

which successfully exert a centripetal pull over the others. Their mecha-
O
nistic solidarity then slowly gives way to an organic solidarity. This

seems to be a phenomenon closely linked with availability of transportation

and the creation of currents of supply and demand. Notably, ethnic and

racial heterogeneity does not confuse community and neighborhood patterns

as it does in the United States. In Boyaca, differentiation occurs as a

result of economic forces unleashed or channelled in ways other than the

traditional ones. One result of this process is the loss of religious

cohesiveness in the weaker, or tributary, communities. Once farmers begin

to go to larger markets, they start to attend Mass there also, and to neg­

lect their own parishes. Some communities have succeeded in keeping their

religious oohesion in spite of their economic fealty to larger centers,

but this duality can be taken as a probable sign of future decay (see

below).

Bnile Duikheim, The Division of Labor (Glencoe, HI.: Free Press,

19U7), p. 131.
 230

The Structure of the Neighborhood

The predominant type of locality group in Boyaca is the neighbor­

hood, or vereda. The vereda is recognized as an administrative subdivision

of a municipio, but the limits of these political subdivisions are unreal

in the sociological sense. However, their general location seems to follow

the boundaries of locality groups. Veredas appear to have been organized

on the basis of ancient locality groups such as the par tide, the capitan^a,

the sitio, or the comunidad. Thus it may be inferred that wherever there

is a political vereda, the chances are that there is a real locality group

in the premises which is either its equivalent or its core.

On account of the many social ties which bind the people, veredas
o
can be referred to as having "cumulative" characteristics. Among such

bonds, the use of a name, kinship ties, politics, religion, economic ac­

tivities, and recreational facilities are of utmost importance.

This topography is, of course, the foundation on which a socially

significant locality group is based; it is helpful in fostering and main­

taining cohesion. The people’s employment of the time-space-cost relation­

ship causes a demotic interchange which takes place almpst entirely within

the topographical mold. Trips for the performance of farm and household

chores such as taking water from springs, bringing cattle or sheep to the

threshing floor, the gathering of manure, and so forth, are predominantly

made within this mold. This encourages frequent face-to-face contacts

with neighbors and the formation and perpetuation of in-group feeling.

o
P. A. Sorokin, C. C. Zimmerman, and C. J. Oalpin, A Systematic
Source Book of Rural Sociology (Minneapolis t University of Minnesota
Ka«713S>), t; *65-318.—
 231

Important lit the concept of vereda is the use of toponym, People

refer to themselves as "from vereda X ," and this name serves for identi­

fication purposes. In many veredas toponyms are old. For instance,

Teguaneque at Turmeque, Ubajuca at Guateque, Juana Rtaz at Tibana,

Puebloviejo and Novillero at Moniquir^, Toquilla and Vargas at Puebloviejo,

and many other veredas had their christening during colonial times. Thus

the use of a toponym— a name handed down in each locality from generation

to generation— is very helpful in the determination of the structure of a

vereda, and even for the study of its development and history.

Host veredas succumb to their own exclusiveness and become endoga-

mous. Familism and kinship ties are very significant in the organization

of veredas. There are many neighborhoods which include whole extended

families: vereda Runta at Tunja is the residence of an exclusive and large

Gonzalez family; all of the Leguizamones of Puebloviejo live in the Suse

vereda; all of the Juncos of Turmeque are in RLnchoque; and most of the

Ortegas of Guateque reside in the vereda Gaunza.^ Marrying is, of course,

a phenomenon found to be closely related to propinquity. Such is truly

the case in these mountainous, self-contained, veredas of Boyaca.

Politics gives personality and cohesion to many veredas. In this

department, the Conservative elements predominate so that most veredas

have no political troubles with neighbors. Even so, there are cases such

as vereda Chulavita at Boavita, whose male members, who were especially

drafted for the national police during the Ospina-Gomez-Urdaneta regime

^Information gathered from the records of Catastros Municipales

de 19$k in the respective localities.
 232

(195>0-1?53), became noted for their anti-LLberal sadism* Their reputation

became so widespread, that all of the members of the police were finally

referred to as chulavitas. It would be little short of suicidal for a

member of the Liberal party to try to move into Chulavita, because the

local people are milltantly cohesive along political lines. Sometimes

veredas separate from municipios on account of politics* This is the case

with vereda Tunungua at Briceno, whose members pay allegiance to Saboya,

and with vereda Batatal at Berbeo, whose members belong to the party of

the Miraflores community*

Practically all of the veredas have two or more tiendas, or small

general stores, at strategic locations, usually next to a path or at cross­

roads. These tiendas are the farmers* "country clubs," where they gather

to exchange information, to gossip, and for recreational purposes in

general. Tejo courts (a sort of quoits game) are usually provided for the

peasants, who enliven these social events by drinking huge quantities of

beer or chicha (a fermented corn drink)* Saturday and Sunday are the days

when most people came to these tiendas, usually when the farmers are on

their way to or frcm the church and market center* Tiendas are public,

but there are limitations upon the behavior of clients who are outsiders

to the group. Only the members of the vereda have the right to use the

facilities with no questions asked— attendance at these tiendas is a help­

ful aid in determining who belongs in each neighborhood* Tienda behavior

and interaction are within the accepted, almost compelling, patterns of

organization which give to each vereda its social identity*

Sometimes there is a school or a chapel within the boundaries of

 233

a vereda, in -which case either one or the other serves as a focus of neigh­

borhood interaction. But these institutions are still rare in the open

country. And very few special interest groups have developed in the rural

areas of Boyaca.^

12
Trends in the Structural Formation of Locality Groups

Communities and neighborhoods in Boyaca, as is the case in the

rest of the world, are constantly changing entities. They have, as Galpin

said, "the characteristic pulsating instability of all real life. How

they have changed or are changing is an important subject for study. In

the past, the main trend appears to have been one of creation of inde­

pendent, self-supporting communities which separated from others, like

chromosomes from a mother cell. The present trend is definitely one of

integration rather than separation— larger ecological units are in the

making. Some easier flow of humans and goods is already causing the break­

down of vereda boundaries and seme specialization on the part of the enter­

prises in the larger service centers. The remainder of the chapter is

devoted to a study of these trends in the past and in the present.

Community boundaries during colonial days closely followed the

^“hflbted in this regard is the Boyaca Federation of Labor, an

institution sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church, which has attempted
to organize the rural workers. The groups which gather around the receiver
sets of Radio Sutatenza (a broadcasting station whose dLrector-priests are
attempting to educate the peasants by means of radio programs) could be
classified as special interest groups.

This section is the result of field observation as well as an

analysis of answers given to a questionnaire submitted to parish xriests
in Boyaca during the months of December, 195U, and January, 19SS*
13
^Galpin, og. cit., p. 18.
 23U

limits of the Indian reservations and, perhaps, they included the sur­

rounding haciendas where local Indians were concertados. Stability was

one of the main characteristics of these Indian communities. Like

Prometheus, they were chained to the mountain. Spanish communities appear

to have centered likewise around a church-market locus, and they had rather

stable limits.

But with the passing of time Indian reservations and Spanish com­

munities decayed, and splinter communities appeared. These new locality

groups were created in areas far from the mother groups. Pertinent docu­

ments all show that difficulty of transportation and long distances were

the main reasons for the creation of these new communities. Typical

examples are those of Ventaquemada, which seceded from Tuxmeque in 1776,

La Capilla de Tenza and Parchavita, whose vecinos instituted separate

parroquias frcm Tenza in 1793 and 1796 respectively,^ Macanal and

Chinavita, which seceded frcm Garagoa in 1806 and 1821 respectively,

1 7
Genezano, which was separated from Ramirlquf in 1827, Umbita which was
/ n l8 and Zetaquira,
created as a parroquia distinct from Chirivx in 1778,
/ 19
which seceded from Lengupa in 17U5. Guayat&, which was one of Guateque*s
20
veredas, became an independent parroquia in 1820; Corrales and Floresta

ion C. Correa, Monograffas (Tunjat Imprenta Oficial, 1928),

I, 258.

^Ibid., II, 5-10, 18U-185. l6Ibid., II, 57-58, 1U7.

17Ibid«, H , 126. l8Ibid., II, 313-317.

19Ibid., II, 333. Ibid., H , 350-351.

 235

21 /
belonged to Santa Rosa de Viterbo until 1782 and 1818 respectively} Belen

was separated from Cerinza in 1751} in 1819 Covarachxa was inaugurated

as a splinter portion of Qnzaga, Soata, and Capitanejo}Paz de r £o was

oh
segregated from S^tivanorte in 183U} EL Espino was a part of Guacamayas

until 1790} 2^ and San Mateo was splintered from La TJvita in 1 7 7 3 * Church

and market centers with their respective veredas were formed in each one

of these new communities.

27

It is difficult to establish when this tendency to form economi­

cally and religiously self-sufficient communities began to weaken. It

seems to have considerably diminished in intensity toward the middle of

the nineteenth century. It appears that there was a period of stagnation

until the 1920's, when assimilation started to break up the old groups and

to confuse community patterns. In short, Boyaca appears to have shifted

during the last one hundred years from a period of atomization of com­

munities to one of incipient integration of them. There is a process of

social differentiation taking place, with the result that the original

mechanistic solidarity of the people is, however slowly, giving way to a

21Ibid., IV, 33, 39. 22Ibid., IV, U9.

^Ibid., IV, 106. 2W , IV, 112-113.

2% b i d ., IV, 187-189. 26Ibid., IV, 191-192.

2^The members of these isolated communities presented memoriales

with their complaints, and the political and religious authorities viewed
their demands with understanding. A typical memorial reads as follows!
"If our church continues to be at Lengupi we will be much handicapped
/"in attending Mass_J7, especially during the winter months, as winter lasts
eight months here. . . . It is impossible to go to Mass at such a far place
on account of the large rivers which are in the way and the worst of
roads. . . .'' (Vecinos de Zetaquira to the Viceroy, 171*5, quoted in
Correa, op. cit., H , 333-33U)•
 236

new organic solidarity. In Spencer's terminology, the Boyaca society is

transmuting itself from a state of "incoherent homogeneity" to one of

"coherent heterogeneity*"

Present-day communities reflect this transition. There appear to

be still some remnants of those self-sufficient communities of the eight­

eenth century. These maybe called "island communities," because they

stand out among the others for their resistance to change, their physical
i
isolation, and their minute world outlook. Sativasur and Labranzagrande

can be cited as examples. Both localities are isolated microcosms with

no roads to the outside; local veredas revolve, unchallenged, around their

own church-market focal point. Little interchange takes place between

these communities and their neighbors. The base of Sativasur is puzzling,

because this pueblo is not far from Paz de r £o * It is possible that its

Chinese walls may tumble down quickly and unexpectedly.^®

At least eighteen communities in Boyaca have done well during the

present period of integration. They have maintained their religious and

market cohesion and seem to have adapted themselves to the new phenomenon

of easy transportation. They have done so well that, not only have they

kept control of their own veredas, but are absorbing those of neighboring

communities. And they are prospering because they have found a way to

serve the larger centers. These "strong communities* aret Ventaquemada,

Samaca, and Turmeque (which are falling, without losing their identity,

into the orbit of Bogota), Ramiriqui and Boyaca (which are suppliers to

28
The national government recently determined to build a road
between Sativasur and Paz de r £o , see Gobemacio'n de Boyac^C, Presencia de
Boyac6 (Tunja: Iraprenta Oficial, 195U)* p. 230.
 237

T u n ja ), S a tiv a n o r te an d B o a v ita (w h ic h s e r v e S o a t a ) , S om on d oco, A lm e id a ,

and P achav i t a (w h ic h s e r v e G u a te q u e ) , G uacam ayas a n d E l E s p in o (w h ic h

c o m m u te w i t h E l C o c u y ) , P e s c a (w h ic h c o n n e c ts w i t h S o g a m o so ), T in ja c a an d

P a u n a (w h ic h a r e s u b s e rv ie n t to C h iq u in q u ira ), an d S a n ta S o f ia , G a c h a n tiv a ,

and San Jo s^ de P a re (w h ic h f a l l u n d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f M o n iq u ir a ) . N o te ,

a g a in , th a t th e v ered as o f th e s e c o m m u n itie s h a v e k e p t t h e i r f i d e l i t y to

th e r e s p e c tiv e c h u rc h an d m a rk e t c e n te r s , a a t h e i r m em b ers h a v e n o t f a l ­

t e r e d i n t h e a tt e n d a n c e a t t h e s e l o c a l w e e k ly e v e n t s . In fa c t, th e s e lo c a l

e v e n ts a r e b e t t e r a tte n d e d a n d th e f i n a n c i a l exchange has in c re a s e d . O n ly

a new a p p e n d a g e h a s b e e n a d d e d t o th e s e c o m m u n itie s — a s e r v i c e r o u t e to

la r g e r tra d e c e n te rs .

O th e r c o m m u n itie s a r e " s p lit," th a t is , t h e i r m e m b e rs a t t e n d t h e

l o c a l c h u r c h b u t t h e i r m a in m a r k e t i s e ls e w h e re . T h ese a r e c o m m u n itie s

w h ic h a r e h e l d t o g e t h e r m a i n l y b e c a u s e o f t h e s u rv iv a l o f re lig io u s lo c a l­

is m . L ittle c o n flic t is e n c o u n te re d , b e c a u s e m a rk e ts a r e h e ld on w eek d ay s

r a t h e r th a n S u n d ay . T hus, i n th e s e lo c a lity g r o u p s , tw o m a j o r d i s p l a c e ­

m e n ts t a k e p l a c e t one to th e c e n te r f o r S u n d ay M ass, an d o n e to a n o th e r

c e n te r f o r m a rk e t. T h is i s , o f c o u rse , one s te p to w a rd d i s s o l u t i o n . A

c a r e le s s p r i e s t c o u ld e a s i l y g iv e th e coup de g ra c e t o th e s e f a lt e r in g

c o m m u n itie s b y n e g l e c t i n g h i s d u t i e s o r re m a in in g a l o o f frc m th e ir needs.

T e n c o m m u n itie s c a n b e i n c l u d e d i n t h i s c a te g o ry s R en d o n , w h ic h h a s i t s

m a in m a r k e t a t Z e t a q u i r a ; P a i p a , w h ic h i s lo s in g t o D u ita m a ; S u ta t e n z a ,

w h ic h i s lo s in g to G u a te q u e ; S a b c y a , B u e n a v i s t a , a n d B r ic e n o , w h ic h a r e

d e p e n d e n t o n t h e C h iq u in q u ira m a rk e t; S o ra c a , w h o se fa rm e rs go t o T u n ja ;

L a U v i t a , w h o s e f a r m e r s c o m m u te t o S o a t a , t h o s e o f T u t a z a t o B e le n , and
 238

■those of Berbeo to Miraflores. Ready means of transportation and proximity

to large centers have fostered the creation of these "split communities."

Twelve communities can be classified as "decadent." These are

locality groups whose members have lost their interest both in the local

church and in the local market. Attendance at both is insignificant, while

farmers commute to other centers for their religious and economic needs.

Disintegration is taking place here at a rapid pace, and it is accompanied

by the loss of peripheral veredas to adjacent communities. Roads and pro­

pinquity appear to be, once again, among the main factors for this social

change. The following communities are "decadent"? Caldas, whose vereda

Chingaguta socially belongs to Simijaca (Cundinajnarca), is succumbing to

Chiquinquira; La Capilla is losing strength to Guateque, while its periph­

eral veredas are being absorbed by Garagoa;*^ C<5mbita1s veredas EL Carmen

and a part of San Martin are portions of the Tuta community; Toca’s

Chorrera and Tuaneca are parts of the Tuta and the Siachoque communities

respectively, and the farmers resort for their main market to Tunja and

go to church at Tuta; Cucaita, which together with Motavita and Oicata was

demoted to corregimiento in 195h> has practically lost its life, like the

others, to Tunja and Samaci; Socha’s Sochuelo y Chapa and Alto are veredas

which in reality belong to the Paz de Rlo and the Socota communities re-

pectively, and the church and market are attended by farmers, not at Socha,

but at these two neighboring localities; the people of Tota go to market

^ I t is interesting to observe the reversal which has taken place

in this locality since 1793* when it was created. After being a self-
supporting,. exclusive community, La Capilla is now being partly integrated
into two of its neighbors.
 239

an d c h u rc h a t P e sc a , w h ile th e v e re d a s o f C o rra le s a n d l a P u e rta a r e b e in g

l o s t to P e sc a an d P u e b lo v ie jo , re s p e c tiv e ly ; C oper i s w h o lly a b s o rb e d b y

C h iq u in q u ira , and i t s v e r e d a P e d r o G om ez n o w f o r m s a p a r t o f t h e C a r u p a

c o m m u n ity ; t h e f a r m e r s o f F i r a v i t o b a f i n d t h e i r m a i n m a r k e t a t S o g a ro o s o

a n d a t t e n d M ass a t T i b a s o s a o r S o g a m o s o , w h i l e t h e l o c a l v e r e d a s M b n ja s ,

S a n A n to n io , an d D ir a v ita A lto a r e b e in g l o s t t o S ogam oso, Paxpa, and

T ib a s o s a , re s p e c tiv e ly ; N obsa i s a ls o a v ic tim o f S ogam oso, w h ile i t s

v ered as o f D ic h o a n d U c u en g a f a l l i n t o th e o r b i t o f T ib a s o s a .

C e rta in c o m m u n itie s succeed in h o l d i n g t o g e t h e r t h e v e r e d a s w h ic h

a re n e a re r to th e c h u rc h an d m a rk e t c e n te r , w h ile lo s in g th o s e f a r fro m

th is p o in t. T hese a r e " s h r i n k i n g c o m m u n itie s ," w h ile t h e i r n e ig h b o rs a r e

" e x p a n d in g ." P ro m in e n t i n th is re sp e c t is S u t a m a r c h a n ■ w hich, a c c o r d i n g

to i t s p rie s t, h a s b e e n l e f t w ith o n ly o n e v e re d a (th u s b e in g i n fa c t re ­

d u ced to th e s ta tu s o f a . l a r g e n e i g h b o r h o o d ) , w h i l e t h e m em b ers o f t h e

o th e r v ered as go to m ark e t an d to c h u rc h a t S a n ta S o f ia , C h iq u in q u ira ,

R a q u ira , an d T in ja c a . T h is s o c i a l p a r t i t i o n a ls o t a k e s p l a c e a t N uevo

C o lo n , w h e re m any o f th e fa im e rs (e s p e c ia lly th o s e o f v e re d a s S o rc a ,

A p o s e n to s , an d T a p ia s ) go m o re o f t e n to n e i g h b o r i n g T u rm e q u e .

F in a lly , B oyaca h a s r e c e n tly w itn e s s e d th e r i s e o f la rg e tra d e

c e n te rs w ith s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s p re d o m in a n tly o f t h e s e c o n d a iy ty p e .

T hese a re th e n u c l e i a r o u n d w h ic h r o t a t e m o s t o f t h e s m a lle r, p rim a ry -

b o n d e d c o m m u n itie s o f B o y a c a . T h e y h a v e t h e p o t e n t i a l o f b e c o m in g s e r v i c e

c e n te r s f o r a r e a s l a r g e r th a n e v e r b e fo re seen in th is d e p a rtm e n t. In

fa c t, P a z d e R io , w h ic h i s th e s i t e o f th e in s ta lla tio n s fo r a huge s te e l

m i l l , m ay s o o n a c q u ir e a n a t i o n a l a r e a o f in flu e n c e . O th e r s tr o n g cam -
m u n itie s o f th e s e c o n d a ry ty p e a r e S ogam oso, T u n ja , C h iq u in q u ira , D u ita m a ,

M o n iq u ira , G u a te q u e , S o a t a , a n d EX C o c u y , a l l o f w h i c h a r e s e r v i c e d by-

good ro a d s o r ra ilw a y s . T hese a r e , u n q u e s tio n a b ly , th e m o st p ro g re s s iv e

c o m m u n itie s i n B o y a c a . T h e y h a v e c e r t a i n m o d e rn c o n v e n ie n c e s , a l t h o u g h

so m e o f th e m s till l a c k m o d e rn h o t e l s , te le p h o n e s , a se w e r s y s te m , a b u s

s e rv ic e , o r a n a d e q u a te e l e c t r i c pow er p la n t* F a c to rie s have been s ta r te d ,

up to a c e rta in e x te n t. S o c ia l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n is ta k in g p la c e h e re a t an

in c re a s in g r a t e . The o rg a n ic ty p e o f s o l i d a r i t y is a lr e a d y p e rm e a tin g t h e

P a z d e R lo - S o g a m o s o r e g i o n . I t is in th e a re a s o f d ir e c t in flu e n c e of

t h e s e c e n t e r s t h a t m o m e n to u s c h a n g e s i n th e tra d itio n a l s o c ia l s y s te m s o f

B o y a c ii a r e m o s t l i k e l y to o c c u r.

^According to the 1951 census, the population of these municipios

is as follows: Paz de r £o , 5390; Sogamoso, 29,077; Tunja, 27,1:02;
Chiquinquira, 22,537; Duitama, 18,U38; Moniquira, 16,608; Guateque, 8,51+2;
Soat^, 15,61|1; El Cocuy, 11,031. See Departaraento Nacional de Estadistica,
Departamento de Boyaca: Poblaci6n de losMunicipios por Grupos de Edad y
Sexo, Censo de 1951 (^Typescript), (Bogoti, 1951+;, tiuadro No. 6-D.
PAST III

CONCLUSION
 CHAPTER XI

CONCLUSION

A few words are in order with the purpose of summarizing some of

the most salient findings in this dissertation. Taken in the sequence

in which they appear in the central section, reference is first made to the

mode of arranging the population on the land. The scattered farmsteads

type is the predominant pattern of settlement in BoyacA. Archived invest­

igation shows that this pattern has been adopted here since colonial and

pre-conquest days. The Chibcha Indians who first occupied this territory

were settled in scattered farmsteads, and the Spaniards' attempts to

assemble the Indians into villages failed.

The land has been divided according to a highly inefficient system

by using metes and bounds as boundaries. This indefinite, impermanent,

and indeterminate system has fostered endless conflicts and litigation.

No definite plan has been adopted for the survey of unpatented lands.

Ownership in fee simple is the predominant tenure pattern in Bo-

yacA. Only marginal areas show a proportion of owners which is consider­

ably below the average for the department. However, the local owners and

operators are handicapped by the very small size of their farms. There

has been in BoyacA a noted trend from a domination by the large holding

to the prevalence of the small one. This process started to develop fully

at the time when Indian reservations were terminated in the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries. Statistical studies show that mlnlfundia and Tineas

2i|l
 2h2

predominate in many areas of this department, especially in the Tenza

valley and Puebloviejo.

The ecological situation is complicated by fragmentation of hold­

ings. This phenomenon is related to fee simple tenure, freedom in the dis­

position of property, egalitarian inheritance, and purchases of land which

are dictated by a desire to invest and to secure soils of different kinds

and at different altitudes. Fragmentation appears to be an asset to

farms located on the rugged terrain of this department, especially in

the Turmequ6-Rainiriqul region. Quantitative studies and statistical

analyses illustrate this phenomenon as it appears in diverse areas in

Boyaci.

From the standpoint of the manner in which the farmers extract a

living from the soil, Boyaci is in the hoe culture and rudimentary plow

culture stages. Remnants of fire agriculture and tools and techniques

from Indian times can still be observed. Mechanization has just begun.

The locality group structure is increasingly fluid. There is a

definite trend from the atomization of conmunities prevalent in the nine­

teenth century to an incipient integration of them. The neighborhood is

the most important and the most easily recognizable locality group.

However, the society is now moving from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft.

The creation of a heavy steel industry in the department and the construc­

tion of roads and railways are bringing about rapid changes in the societal

structure.
 2U3

Conclusion

The composite picture of BoyacA contained in the preceding

pages— a cross sectional portrayal with its historical dimensions— permits

one to visualize a typically agrarian society at a crucial moment in its

history: that moment when it starts to move from a quasi-stagnant stage

of development and takes its first steps toward modem and speedy progress.

Now on the brink of an industrial revolution, BoyacA is undergoing muta­

tions on its societal base for perhaps the first time during the last

four hundred years. Its agrarian, conservative tradition is suffering

a serious challenge as the group's Weseswille slowly gives way to Kiir-

wille, and modem systems of communication and transportation thoroughly

revitalize the process of cultural change. The preceding chapter on the

locality group structure describes the amoeba-like contractions and ex­

pansions of communities as these struggle to integrate into new and

larger interactional patterns. The final outcome, provided that rational­

istic forces already unleashed continue to work with the same or more in­

tensity as heretofore, can be signaled as a society with ‘'coherent hetero­

geneity." To keep a record of these changes as they occur, to observe the

effect which different factors may have on the retardation or the accel­

eration of the processes, are tasks of utmost interest from the epistemo-

logical standpoint.

The present study, however, necessarily ends at this point where

moire detailed analyses of social processes are warranted. This is task

for the future. At present, the purpose is well served if social scientists

and social planners possess an objective picture of the local reality.

 214*

In this dissertation, the socio-ecological characteristics of Boyacd

have been considered as highly significant and most worthy of examin­

ation. The relationships of man to the land in this department furnish

the all-embracing ethos for the group— they are at the core of everyday

existence, they give meaning to past events, and they furnish a basis

for tomorrow. Herein lies the importance of the study of such relation­

ships: the study comes very close to being an adequate analysis of the

very foundations of Boyacd's society. Because this group is represent­

ative of many other agricultural-pastoral societies in Latin America

where similar cultural traditions have prevailed, the present study can

serve as an indicator of what may be encountered elsewhere. The method­

ology here introduced could perhaps be employed with advantage in the

analyses of other rural worlds south of the border.

Certain factors and characteristics deserve to be outlined with

bolder strokes. The first one is the tremendous topographical variations

in Boyacd, from the tropical jungles of the Magdalena Valley to the snow­

capped mountains of GUicdn. This in itself has been a handicap to

material progress, but at the same time it offers great potentialities

in mineral riches, hydroelectric power, and in the cultivation of the

most diverse staples. More concern with the problem of erosion on steep

cultivable slopes, and an effort to transfer intensive agriculture from

the slopes to valleys and plateaus will arrest wastage and augment con­

siderably Boyacd1s wealth.

The overwhelming dominance of the scattered farmsteads type of

settlement raises the question of its effects on community cohesion and

 2U5

on the maimer of furnishing public services and utilities to the farmers.

It is true that farms are smaller here and that the houses are closer

together than in the United States, for example, but making services

available to isolated farmers is still expensive and cumbersome. It has

been observed that newly-built roads cause fanners to modify the layout

of plots and to change the sites of farm buildings. Perhaps such a

process will take place in Boyacd as new roads are gnawed into the

rugged mountains. Meanwhile, extension workers, educational campaigns,

and the like, will have to draw their plans on the basis of isolated

farmers who are difficult to reach and whose social contacts are reduced.

This calls for considerable specialized skills on the part of extension

workers.

Prior exact surveys of all unsettled lands in Boyacd should be

made as soon as possible. Otherwise, the present chaotic system of land

division will be extended over still greater territory. The adoption of

the astronomical system of surveys is urgent. little can be done with

the areas already occupied except, perhaps, to proceed with the making

of cadastral maps (these will prove to be basic references in disputes)

and to construct more durable and firmer landmarks.

Ownership in fee simple, the predominant tenure pattern in Boyacd,

makes this area rather privileged in regard to the explosive landlord-

landless relationship. Except for isolated municipios such as Chlquiza

and Umbita, the pathological areas are marginal— such regions as El

Cocuy, Soatd, and Moniquird seem to be less "democratic" and more seig-

norial. Archival investigation indicates that this high number of owners

 2k6

is due to the subdivision of Indian reservation lands during the eight­

eenth and nineteenth centuries.

But the land owners of Boyacd are handicapped as farmers— their

properties are as a rule so small that not much more than subsistence

crops can be raised. There is relatively little concentration of land

in a few hands, but poverty is widespread. Property atomization has

been, for the last two hundred years especially, the predominating trend.

This means that every year more and more farms join the subsistence-level

category. Few trends are potentially more damaging and perilous. Every

effort should be made by the leaders to make the people aware of this

internal societal erosion.

The socio-ecological problem is further complicated by the high

incidence of fragmentation of holdings in this area. This is a phenomenon

which has been found to be closely related to fee simple tenure. How this

situation can be improved requires careful analysis. One partial solution

is legislation in regard to the transmission of property to heirs. How­

ever, certain desirable characteristics of fragmentation should be main­

tained, such as facilitating the farmer a steady supply of income and food

by the cultivation of lots at different altitudes at different times. But

the level of living cannot rise until the means of production are improved,

and this is difficult to do on small and fragmented farms. This aspect of

man-land relations is a complex riddle. The perplexities involved, however,

should not detract from a careful and sympathetic treatment of the problem.

Social scientists and planners have the same reasons for concern

over the systems of agriculture now in use in Boyacd. Boyacd is in the

 2U7

hoe culture and the rudimentary plow culture stages, employing techniques

which are inefficient in this m o d e m world. Mechanization has hardly

begun. Considering that Boyacd has been on the giving end of long-range

migration (mostly males), scarcity of wage hands has become a problem;

women and children are doing men's jobs. This situation may eventually

make the limited use of machinery— or the development of machinery adapted

to local conditions— compulsory, if the local society is to survive. But

this, in turn, will be the source of new and perhaps even more complicated

problems. The introduction of machinery requires well trained, better

educated fanners. The Boyacenses will have to become managers of enter­

prises in which more capital is involved, and not merely tillers of the

soil. In order to effect this transition, Boyacd will have to make an

effort to rise from its unenviable position as the most illiterate of all

the Colombian departments. It will be difficult to raise the level of

living until all these cultural and economic aspects have been integrated

with skill.

The fact that Boyacd is in the neighborhood stage of social organ­

ization points toward the possibility of using this locality group as a

cornerstone for future development plans. Neighborhoods are easily iden­

tifiable in the field, and at the present time have more vitality than the

communities which they form. The recognition of the neighborhood, both in

the field and on the drawing boards, is of basic importance for the success­

ful implementation of directed cultural change.

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 BIOGRAPHICAL ITEMS

Mr. Orlando Fals-Borda was bona in Barranquilla, Colombia, on

July 11, 1925. His undergraduate studies were pursued at the University

of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa, where he received the degree of Bachelor of

Arts in 1947. Graduate studies were pursued at the University of Minn­

esota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he received the degree of Master of

Arts in 1952.

Mr. Fals-Borda was in 1949 a researcher at the Colombian govern­

ment* s Institute of Social Anthropology. In 1953 he was appointed head

of the section of social anthropology in the same Institute. From 1949

to 1951 he undertook a sociological research in Sauclo (ChocontA), a

rural connxunity north of BogotA, the results of which are being published

in book form by the University of Florida Press.

He was honored with fellowships from the Institute for Inter­

national Education, New York, in 1944, and from the John Simon Guggenheim

Memorial Foundation, New York, in 1953 and 1954* He was chosen in 1947

as the most outstanding student in the University of Dubuque, and his name

is in "Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges." He is a member

of Alpha Kappa Delta, national honorary sociological fraternity, and of

Phi Alpha Theta, national honorary historical society.

26U
 T h is d i s s e r t a t i o n w as p re p a re d u n d e r th e d ire c tio n o f th e c h a ir m a n

o f th e c a n d i d a t e 's s u p e rv is o ry c o m m itte e a n d h a s b e e n a p p r o v e d b y a l l

m em b ers o f t h e c o m m itte e . I t w as s u b m itte d t o t h e D ean o f th e C o lle g e

o f A rts an d S c ie n c e s a n d t o t h e G ra d u a te C o u n c il a n d w as a p p ro v e d a s

p a r t i a l fu lfillm e n t o f th e r e q u ir e m e n ts f o r t h e d e g r e e o f D o c to r o f

P h ilo s o p h y .

June 6, 1955

D e a n , C o lle g e o f A r ts a n d S c ie n c e s

D e a n , ''G r a d u a t e S c h o o l

S U P E R V ISO R ! COMMITTEE:

'Ta DJ)