THE ARHUACOS

Presented by: ANGY PAOLA RAMIREZ

LORENA RINCON
LEONARDO MORALES
 The Arhuacos  ika o iku

Language  Ikun
Location the southern slope of the Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia).
The Arhuacos are known for their dynamic
organization and their level of political
awareness.
Religion are polytheists, the law of origin or
the universal law, the path to the future with
integrality.
 Economy
The fundamental economic activity of the Arhuacos is agriculture, oriented
mainly to subsistence.
 In the highlands they grow potatoes, onions, garlic, beans, cabbage, lettuce,
blackberries, tree tomatoes, squash, wheat and fique.
 In the middlelands, corn, beans, cassava, arracacha, malanga, coca, cotton,
pineapple, papaya, guava, passion fruit, granadilla, orange and lemon.
 They also raise chickens, cattle, sheep and small-scale goats.
 Coffee production has a mainly commercial objective.
 They also sell backpacks.
 Gastronomy
 Arhuacos base their diet on plant products such as arracacha, bananas,
cassava, celery, yams, malanga, potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes, cabbage,
corn, onions and sugar.
 Sometimes they include meats, cereals, snails and iguanas.
 They spend whole days chewing coca leaves as part of their tradition, beliefs
and customs.
 As far as drinks are concerned, panela water with lemon or guarapo and rum
are counted.
 Religion
 The Arhuacos are a deeply spiritual people and knowledgable about their own
philosophy, which has a character called globalizing.
 They believe in the existence of a Creator and Great Father, Kakü Serankua,
represented in the Sun, from which the first gods and material beings, other
fathers like the snow-capped and other mothers like Earth and the Moon came
from.
 They consider the Sierra as the heart of the world, from which it originated in
the different stones.
 Physical Characteristics
 the men reach an average height of up to 1.80 meters, the women a height
between 1.60 and 1.65.
 They are one of the towns of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta that care
about always seeking balance with other people through pacification and
respect.
 Traditions
 To marry, man must live and work for his future father-in-law for one or two
years. If the marriage does not take place after this period of time, the man
receives compensation for his work. The Arhuacos consider neighboring
communities as "little brothers.“
 «The spiritual leader, or Mamu, lives separately from the family and is
responsible for solving the legal problems of the community and providing
religious advice. There are 42 separate Arhuacos communities that
consolidate under the Tayrona Indigenous Federation.