The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an
indigenous people of
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.
["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 and
Barinas.
[James Stuart Olson (1991), ''The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'', Greenwood Publishing Group. 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. They traditionally poison their arrows with '' curare''.[
There is a small town in Apure called ]Achaguas
Achaguas is a small town in Apure State in Venezuela, in the Achaguas Municipality. It is located west of San Fernando de Apure, the capital city of the state.
Achaguas was founded in 1774 by Fray Alonso de Castro, and its name was taken from ...
.
Language
Achagua people speak the Achagua language
Achagua, or Achawa ( aca, Achawa), is an Arawakan language spoken in the Meta Department of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or Spanish
Spanish might refer to ...
, a Maipurean Arawakan language
The Ta-Arawakan languages, also known as Ta-Maipurean and Caribbean, are the indigenous Arawakan languages of the Caribbean Sea coasts of Central and South America. They are distinguished by the first person pronominal prefix ''ta-,'' as opposed ...
.[
]
See also
* U'wa
* Guayupe, Tegua
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