The Mokaná (also Mocaná) are an indigenous people living in the

Atlántico Department Atlántico (, en, Atlantic) is a department of Colombia, located in northern Colombia with the Caribbean Sea to its north, the Bolívar Department to its west and south separated by the Canal del Dique, and the Magdalena Department to its eas ...

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 ...

. They are the only indigenous community in the department. The Mokaná language, part of the Malibu family of languages, is extinct; only 500 words have been preserved.

History

The first contact between the Mokaná and Europeans occurred in 1529 when the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

Jerónimo de Melo led an expedition overland from

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

to Malambo, a settlement on the

Rio Magdalena The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much ...

named for the Mokaná

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

Pedro Malambo who governed it at that time. The Mokaná largely converted to Christianity in the 16th century. In 1766, the

Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

granted the Mokaná ownership of 17,500 hectares of land by royal decree. During the Spanish American wars of independence, Mokaná fought in the Magdalena Campaign of 1812 and the siege of

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

in 1821. On 2 May 1998, the Mokaná were officially recognized as an ethnic group by the Government of Colombia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokana Pre-Columbian cultures Indigenous peoples in Colombia Atlántico Department Malibu languages