INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN COLOMBIA

1. What is the name of your ethnical group?

The name of our ethnic group is ARHUACO or also known as ika, iku, Ijku - Ijka

2. Where is located?

The tribe ARHUACO, is located in Colombia, in the south eastern region, in the city of
Santa Martha in the park known as "the Sierra Nevada", They share a part of the territory
with the kogui and the Wiwa.

3. Which language is spoke?

The language spoken in this tribe is chibchana, It is estimated that there are 8,000 to
10,000 speakers of this language, Other names sometimes used for this language are ika
and bíntukwa.

4. How long have they been known?

The history of the ijka Indians, began at the time of the conquest when the Spanish
incursion into the territory decimated the so-called Tairona Indians.
The first men come from these groups and are therefore the "Older Brothers"; all who
came after are regarded as the "Little Brothers".

5. How have they been organized?

At the end of the 19th century the state granted control of the area to capuchin missions;
there they began to organize their tribe, building the social and economic fabric of the
Arhuaco territory.
As for the political organization, the Mamo also leads the structure above the lobbyists.
They, the Mamos, are the ones who make the decisions and exercise justice.

6. Have they used any specific architecture to build their houses?

Their pattern of residence is relatively mobile, depending on the possession of 2 or 3

"farms" in different places of the refuge. In them they build round or rectangular houses,
covered with straw.
7. What kind of religión do they practice?

The Arhuacos are deeply spiritual people who follow their own unique philosophy that
tends to globalize their environment. They believe in a creator or "father" named Kaka
Serankua, who begat the first gods and material living beings, other "fathers" such as the
sun and snow-capped peaks and other "mothers" such as the earth and the moon. They
consider Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to be the heart of the world and believe that the
well-being of the rest of the world depends on it.

8. where else have they lived?

they have lived in San Sebastian of Rábago, Chichicua, Ariguaní and Guatapurí.
Have they moved to other regions?
they have not moved to other regions
9. What kind of activities have they practiced?
they practice agricultura
10. Which animals have they hunted?
they have hunted snails and iguanas
11. What kind of food have they eaten, cooked harvest?
they harvest potato, onion, garlic, bean, cabbage, lettuce, blackberry, tree tomato,
pumpkin, wheat and fique, corn, beans, cassava, arracacha, malanga, coca, cotton,
pineapple, papaya, guava, passion fruit, granadilla, orange and lemon. They also raise
chickens, cattle, sheep and goats.
12. What kind of clothing have they worn?
women wear a cross-blanket, backpack and necklaces, men blanket, trousers and
backpack
13. What kind of economy activites they have used to generate cash?
they make fabrics and sell them
14. Have they admitted foreigners in their tribes?
They have not admitted foreigners, is forbidden.