The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

."Achagua."
''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' (retrieved 1 December 2011) At the time of the

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

, their territory covered the present-day Venezuelan states of Bolívar,

Guárico ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Guárico'' , image_map = Guarico in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_a ...

and Barinas.James Stuart Olson (1991), ''The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'',

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

. p2 In the late twentieth century there were several hundred Achaguas remaining.

Municipalities belonging to Achagua territories

Culture

Achagua people live in large villages. Clans live together in communal houses. Polygamy is commonplace. They farm crops, such as bitter

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

. They traditionally poison their arrows with ''

curare Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...

''. There is a small town in

Apure Apure State ( es, Estado Apure, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial autho ...

called Achaguas.

Language

Achagua people speak the Achagua language, a Maipurean Arawakan language.

References

External links

Achagua artwork
National Museum of the American Indian {{DEFAULTSORT:Achagua People Circum-Caribbean tribes Indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples in Venezuela

Municipalities belonging to Achagua territories

Culture

Language

See also

References

External links