The Chitarero were an indigenous

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lan ...

-speaking people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela. They were responsible for the death of the German ''conquistador''

Ambrosius Ehinger Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser concessi ...

in 1533 by means of

poisoned arrows ''Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey through the forbidden lands of West Papua'' is a 1989 book by British writer and environmental and political activist, George Monbiot. Another edition was released in 2003. Background The book covers M ...

. At the time of the

Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations refers to the conquest by the Spanish monarchy of the Chibcha language-speaking nations, mainly the Muisca and Tairona that inhabited present-day Colombia, beginning the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

, their territory ranged from present-day

Táchira Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...

(Venezuela) to the northwest and south of

Norte de Santander Department North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santan ...

and the northeast of Santander Department (Colombia). The

Chicamocha River Chicamocha River is a river of Boyacá and Santander in central-eastern Colombia. It is part of the Magdalena river system that flows into the Caribbean Sea. Chicamocha River originates in the municipality of Tuta in the department of Boyac ...

formed a southern boundary, the Valegra a southwestern, and the Surata a southeastern. One of their settlements became the Colombian town of Chinácota; they were primarily known in the area of

Pamplona, Colombia Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is also the fifth most populated municipality in the department. History Colonization The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as Nueva Pamplona del Valle del ...

. At the refoundation of Pamplona in 1549 there were said to be 200,000 in the area.Simón, 1560, p.21-22 They were called "Chitareros" by the Spanish, because of the general custom that the men had to carry hanging from the waist a ''calabazo'' or ''totumo'' (

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

gourds) with maize wine or ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize land ...

'' as the Spanish called it. Asking what the thing they carried was called, the natives responded that it was a ''chitarero''. They traded with other peoples in the region, including the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

, the

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...

and

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chitarero people Indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples in Venezuela Andean civilizations