Atanquez or San Sebastian is a Colombian town and

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a ''corre ...

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Caesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. T ...

in the

Department of Cesar Caesar Department ( es, Departamento del Cesar, links=no) or simply Caesar () is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with ...

. Atanquez is located on the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

mountain range at approximately 2,000 m over sea level. Atanquez is known for being predominantly inhabited by the indigenous ethnic group Kankuamos among others and mestizo groups.

History

Atanquez was an indigenous settlement founded according to oral tradition by a ''Mama'' (spiritual leader) named Tukaka. In the mid-18th century the Spanish had already colonized the plains surrounding the

mountain range and decided to also colonize the mountains and re-found the indigenous settlements. These indigenous villages were Atanquez, Maraocaso and El Rosario which grew in population due to the displacement caused during the period of Spanish conquest of the Chimila and Guanebucanes in the lower and surrounding areas of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in the 16th century. The Kogui named these the "Wiwa", while the

Arhuaco The Arhuaco are an indigenous people of Colombia. They are Chibchan-speaking people and descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Name The Arhuaco are also known as the Aruaco, ...

called them "Arzario". Former African slaves also established in Atanquez and formed the "

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. ...

of Atanquez". The Spanish sent Capuchin and Dominican friars to "civilize" the indigenous and named it San Sebastian. According to an order of the Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogota by a Sub-delegate Judge of Land named Don Agustín de la Sierra in 1781. The corregimiento of Atanquez was created by Municipal Accord of Valledupar 02 on January 4, 1906, and ordered by then Mayor of Valledupar, Moisés Martínez. Atanquez also became part of the indigenous Kankuamo Resguardo created by Resolution 012 of April 10, 2003, as established by the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform (INCORA).

Colombian armed conflict

Between 1986 and 2003 the

Colombian armed conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerril ...

affected the region of Atanquez intensively with 197 Kankuamos murdered by paramilitary and guerrilla groups. The region was influenced by the paramilitary group

United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia The United Self-Defences of Colombia (''Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia'', or AUC, in Spanish) was a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period ...

(AUC), and two guerrillas; the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

(FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). These groups flourished in the region due to the marijuana bonanza of the 1970s and later the use of their traditional

Coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...

plants to produce

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

and the introduction of amapola plantations.

Economy

The economy of Atanquez is based on agriculture and the production of indigenous art crafts. The main products are

panela Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Central and Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other na ...

, liquor from

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

fique Fique is a natural fibre that grows in the leaves of plants in the genus ''Furcraea''. Common names include fique, cabuya, pita, penca, penco, maguey, cabui, chuchao and coquiza. History The Indigenous peoples of the Americas extracted and used ...

, production of medicinal plants, local fruits and vegetables, Cacao and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

which is commercialize in Valledupar.

Notes

References

External links

Atanquez official website
{{coord, 10, 42, N, 73, 21, W, region:CO_type:city, display=title Corregimientos of Valledupar Corregimientos of Colombia