Sibundoy (Camsá: Tabanok "village") is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Putumayo Department Putumayo () is a department of Southern Colombia. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru. Its capital is Mocoa. The word ''putumayo'' comes from the Quechua languages. The verb ''p'utuy'' means "to spring forth" ...

of the

Republic 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 ...

. The town existed well before the Spanish came in 1534. The Inca, under Huayna Cápac, conquered the local people in 1492 and established a Quechua-speaking settlement; their descendants are the modern

Inga people The Inga people are an indigenous ethnic group from the Southwest region of Colombia with a historical relation to the Incas. They speak a dialect of Quechua known as Inga Kichwa. Almost all Inga people are bilingual in Inga and Spanish, which h ...

. Most of the citizens of Sibundoy are indigenous, and wear long, blue and violet ponchos called ''kapisaius'' and ''baitas''. Sibundoy is known for

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

carving and other traditional crafts. In the town's park, the trunks of fallen trees are carved with symbols from the mythology of the Inga and Kamsá nations. One especially important event is the Carnival of the Return of the First People, which is both a fun event and key celebration of local mythology.

Notes

{{Authority control Municipalities of Putumayo Department

See also

Notes