Comechingón (plural Comechingones) is the common name for a group of people indigenous to the Argentine

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Córdoba and San Luis. They were thoroughly displaced or exterminated by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

conquistadores by the end of the 17th century. The two main Comechingón groups called themselves Henia (in the north) and Kamiare (in the south), each subdivided into a dozen or so tribes. The name ''comechingón'' is a deformation of the pejorative term ''kamichingan''—"cave dwellers"—used by the Sanavirón tribe. They were sedentary, practiced agriculture yet gathered wild fruits, and raised animals for wool, meat and eggs. Their culture was heavily influenced by that of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Several aspects seem to differentiate the Henia-Kamiare from inhabitants of nearby areas. They had a rather Caucasian appearance, with beards and supposedly a minority with greenish eyes. Another distinctive aspect was their communal stone houses, half buried in the ground to endure the cold, wind and snow of the winter. Their language was lost when Spanish policies favoured

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

, an indigenous language they transplanted from Alto Peru. Nevertheless, they left a rich pictography and abstract petroglyphs. A cultural contribution is the vowel extension in the

of the present inhabitants of Córdoba, but also not uncommon in San Luis and other neighbouring provinces. According to the 2010 census there are 34,546 self-identified Comechingón descendants in Argentina.Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas 2010

Division

*''Kamiare'' (mainly north of

San Luis Province San Luis () is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza and San Juan. History The cit ...

) **''Saleta'' (western Sierra de Comechingones and

Villa de Merlo Villa de Merlo is a small city in the Department of Junín, Province of San Luis, Argentina. It is administered by an intendant, presently former Provincial Senator Gloria Petrino.

) **''Nogolma'' (west of the ''Saletas'', Valle de Conlara) **''Michilingüe'' (the best-known within San Luis; west and south of the previous groups) *''Hênia'' (mainly the Sierras of the Córdoba Province) **''Mogas'' (Sierras de Ambargasta) **''Caminigas'' (south of the ''Mogas'') **''Gualas'' or ''Guachas'' (south of ''Caminigas'') **''Chine'' (west of ''Gualas'') **''Sitón'' (Valle de Punilla, eastern Sierra Chica) **''Aluleta'' (western Sierra Chica, Valle de Paravachasca, and southern Valle de Punilla) **''Naure'' (southern and central Valle de Traslasierra; north of ''Saleta'' and ''Nogolma'') **''Macaclita'' (Valle de Calamuchita, eastern Sierras de Comechingones down to Río Cuarto)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comechingon Indigenous peoples of the Southern Cone Indigenous peoples in Argentina Córdoba Province, Argentina

Division

See also

References