Tairona
Nation | Defunct
1 CE to 1683 CE
Tairona is a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which goes back at least to the first century CE and had significant demographic growth around the eleventh century.The Tairona people form one of the two principal linguistic groups of the Chibcha family, the other being the Muisca.
Genetic and archaeological evidence shows a relatively dense occupation of the region by at least 200 BCE.
Pollen data compiled by Luisa Fernanda Herrera in the 1980 shows considerable deforestation and the use of cultigens such as yuca and maiz since possibly 1200 BCE.
However, occupation of the Colombian Caribbean coast by sedentary or semi-sedentary populations have been documented to have occurred by c. 4000 BCE.
Ethnohistorical data shows that initial contact with the Spanish was tolerated by the Tairona but by the 1600 CE confrontations built and a small part of the Tairona population moved to the higher stretches of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
This movement allowed them to evade the worst of the Spanish colonial system during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The indigenous Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuacos (Ijka, Ifca) and Cancuamo people who live in the area today are believed to be direct descendants of the Tairona.
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By contrast, Colombia's Muiscas—based in the present departments of Cundinamarca and Boyaca in the Cordillera Oriental—live in dwellings scattered through the countryside, and their temples and palaces are of perishable materials, but Muiscas, of whom there are perhaps six hundred thousand, are far more numerous than the Taironas and cover a wider territory, extending from the area of present-day Bogota northeastward to Tunja and beyond.
As in the case of the Taironas, Muisca local chiefdoms have consolidated into two separate confederations.
The Muisca territory also includes Laguna de Guatavita, site of the fabled ceremony of El Dorado, the gold-dusted dignitary who plunges into the crater lake along with a rain of golden offerings.
More than any other native people, the Muiscas have served as a model for later ideas of Colombia's pre-Columbian civilization.
Aboriginal people inhabited the territory of what is now Colombia by 10,500 BCE.
Nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes existed near present-day Bogotá (at El Abra and Tequendama sites) which traded with one another and with cultures living in the Magdalena River Valley.
Between 5000 and 1000 BCE, hunter-gatherer tribes transitioned to agrarian societies; fixed settlements were established, and pottery appeared.
Beginning in the first millennium BCE, groups of natives including the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona develop the political system of cacicazgos with a pyramidal structure of power headed by caciques.
The Muiscas inhabit mainly the area of what is now the Departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca high plateau (Altiplano Cundiboyacense).
They farm maize, potato, quinoa and cotton, and trade gold, emeralds, blankets, ceramic handicrafts, coca and salt with neighboring nations.
The Taironas inhabit northern Colombia in the isolated Andes mountain range of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
The Quimbayas inhabit regions of the Cauca River Valley between the Occidental and Central cordilleras.
The Incas expand their empire on the southwest part of the country.
Alonso de Ojeda (who had sailed with Columbus) had reached the Guajira Peninsula in 1499.
Spanish explorers, led by Rodrigo de Bastidas, had made the first exploration of the Caribbean littoral in 1500.
Christopher Columbus navigates near the Caribbean in 1502.
None of Colombia's native peoples develop a system of writing comparable to that of the Mayas, and much less will the Spaniards encounter a native empire such as that of either the Aztecs or Incas.
By 1500, the most advanced of the indigenous peoples are two Chibcha groups: the Taironas and the Muiscas.
The Taironas, who appear to have been fairly late arrivals from Central America, inhabit well-organized towns connected by roads on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the far north of Colombia, rising just to the east of Santa Marta, Colombia's oldest city.
Politically, they have progressed beyond the stage of local chieftainships, forming two larger, and rival, confederations.
They are also the only people to construct works of engineering such as stone temples and stone-paved roads.
The first Europeans to visit what is now Colombia are the crew of Alonso de Ojeda, who in 1499 leads an expedition to the north coast of South America.
It reaches Cabo de la Vela, on the Peninsula de La Guajira, but does not tarry, because these visitors are interested in trading for gold and pearls, not in colonization.
Amerigo Vespucci, as a member of Ojeda's expedition, is among the first to explore the Colombian coasts.
Other early expeditions also come to trade, or to seize indigenous people as slaves for sale in the West Indies.
Vasco Nuñez de Balbo, born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, is a descendant of the Lord mason of the castle of Balboa, which is located in northwestern Spain.
His mother is the Lady de Badajoz, and his father is the hidalgo (nobleman), Nuño Arias de Balboa.
Little is known of Vasco's early childhood except that he was the third of four boys in his family.
During his adolescence, he served as a page and squire to Don Pedro de Portocarrero, lord of Moguer.
In 1500, motivated by his master after the news of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the New World became known, he had decided to embark on his first voyage to the Americas, along with Juan de la Cosa, on Rodrigo de Bastidas' expedition.
In 1501, he had crossed the Caribbean coasts from the east of Panama, along the Colombian coast, through the Gulf of Urabá toward Cabo de la Vela.
The expedition had continued to explore the north east of South America, until they realized they did not have enough men and sailed to Hispaniola.
With his share of the earnings from this campaign, Balboa had settled in Hispaniola in 1505, where he resided for several years as a planter and pig farmer.
He was not successful in this enterprise, however, and ended up in debt.
Finally, he was forced to abandon life on the island.
In 1508, the king of Spain, Ferdinand II "The Catholic", had launched the conquest of Tierra Firme (the area roughly corresponding to the Isthmus of Panama).
He has created two new territories in the region between El Cabo de la Vela (near the eastern border of Colombia) and El Cabo de Gracias a Dios (the border between Honduras and Nicaragua).
The Gulf of Urabá becomes the border between the two territories: Nueva Andalucía to the east, governed by Alonso de Ojeda, and Veragua to the west, governed by Diego de Nicuesa.
Balboa, wishing to escape his creditors in Santo Domingo, sets sail in 1509 as a stowaway, hiding inside a barrel together with his dog Leoncico, in the expedition commanded by the Alcalde Mayor of Nueva Andalucía, Martín Fernández de Enciso, whose mission it is to aid Alonso de Ojeda, his superior.
De Ojeda, together with seventy men, had founded the settlement of San Sebastián de Urabá in Nueva Andalucía, on the location where the city of Cartagena de Indias will later be built.
However, the settlers have encountered resistance from natives living in the area, who use poisoned weapons, and de Ojeda had been injured in the leg.
A short time later, de Ojeda had sailed for Hispaniola, leaving the colony under the supervision of Francisco Pizarro, who, at this time, is only a soldier waiting for Enciso's expedition to arrive.
De Ojeda had asked Pizarro to leave some men in the settlement for fifty days and, if no help arrived at the end of that time, to use all possible means to get back to Hispaniola.
Before the expedition arrived at San Sebastián de Urabá, Fernández de Enciso had discovered Balboa aboard the ship, and threatened to leave him at the first uninhabited island they encountered; he later thought better of this and decided that Balboa's knowledge of this region, which he had explored eight years before, would be of great utility.
This, in addition to the crew's pleas for his life, leaves Fernández de Enciso with no choice but to spare Balboa and keep him aboard.
Moreover, both agree on removing de Nicuesa as governor of Veragua.
After the fifty days had passed, Pizarro had begun preparations for the return to Hispaniola, when Enciso's ship arrives.
Balboa has gained popularity among the crew because of his charisma and his knowledge of the region.
By contrast Fernández de Enciso is not well liked by the men: many disapprove of his order to return to San Sebastián, especially after discovering on arrival that the settlement has been completely destroyed and that the natives are already waiting for them, leading to a series of relentless attacks.
In 1510 Ojeda, having been named governor of the coast as far as Uraba in the west, returns to establish a settlement, named San Sebastian, on the Golfo de Uraba not far from the present border with Panama.
Neither it nor other settlements in that vicinity survive long, although from them explorers strike out toward the Isthmus of Panama and elsewhere.
The victory of the Spanish over the natives and the founding of Santa María la Antigua del Darién, now located in a relatively calm region, has earned Balboa authority and respect among his companions.
They are increasingly hostile toward Alcalde Mayor Fernández de Enciso, whom they consider a greedy despot because of the restrictions he has imposed on their appropriation of the natives' gold.
Balboa takes advantage of the situation, acting as the spokesman for the disgruntled settlers.
He removes Fernández de Enciso from the position of alcalde mayor, using the following legal maneuver: Enciso is now controlling an area in Veragua, to the west of the Gulf of Urabá; since he is substituting for Alonso de Ojeda, his mandate is illegitimate, because the governor of Veragua is Diego de Nicuesa, not Ojeda; therefore, Fernández de Enciso should be deposed and arrested.
After Enciso's ouster, a more open government is established and a municipal council is elected (the first in the Americas).
Two alcaldes are appointed: Martín Samudio and Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
A flotilla led by Rodrigo Enrique Colmenares arrives shortly after this in Santa María.
His objective is to find Nicuesa, who is also facing some difficulties in the north of Panamá.
When de Colmenares learns of the recent events, he persuades the town's settlers that they should submit to the authority of de Nicuesa, since their land is under his jurisdiction.
Enrique de Colmenares invites two representatives, to be named by the local government, to travel with his flotilla and offer de Nicuesa authority over the city.
The two representatives are Diego de Albites and Diego del Corral.
Enrique de Colmenares, badly wounded and with few men remaining on account of a skirmish with local natives, had established Nicuesa near the town of Nombre de Dios.
After his rescue, Governor de Nicuesa hears about Balboa's exploits, the chieftain Cémaco's bounty, and Santa María's prosperity.
He vows that he will punish Balboa as soon as he gains control of the town, since he regards his actions as a challenge to his authority in Veragua.
A certain Lope de Olano, who has been jailed together with other malcontents, persuades Santa María's representatives that they will be making a serious error in handing control over to Nicuesa, whom he describes as cruel, greedy, and able to single-handedly destroy the town’s prosperity.
With this evidence, Albites and del Corral flee to Darién ahead of Nicuesa and inform Balboa and the municipal authorities of the governor's intentions.
When Nicuesa arrives at the city's port, a mob appears, and the ensuing disturbance prevent the governor from disembarking into the city.
Nicuesa insists on being received, no longer as governor, but as a simple soldier, but still the colonists do not allow him to disembark.
He and seventeen others are forced to board an unseaworthy boat with few supplies, and are put out to sea on March 1, 1511.
The ship disappears, leaving no trace of Nicuesa and his men.
In this way, Balboa becomes governor (gobernador) of Veragua.
With the title of governor comes absolute authority in Santa María and all of Veragua.
One of Balboa's first acts as governor is the trial of Fernández de Enciso, accused of usurping the governor's authority.
Enciso is sentenced to prison and his possessions are confiscated.
However, he is to remain imprisoned only for a short time: Balboa sets him free under the condition that he return immediately to Hispaniola and from there to Spain.
With him on the same ship are two representatives from Balboa, who are to inform the colonial authorities of the situation, and request more men and supplies to continue the conquest of Veragua.
Balboa continues defeating various tribes and befriending others, exploring rivers, mountains, and swamps, while always searching for gold and slaves and enlarging his territory.
He is also able to quell revolts among those of his men who challenge this authority, and, through force, diplomacy, and negotiation, he earns a certain respect and fear among the natives.
In a letter addressed to the King of Spain, he expresses, somewhat ironically, that he has had to act as a conciliatory force during the course of his expeditions.
He succeeds in planting corn, receives fresh supplies from Hispaniola and Spain, and gets his men used to life as explorers in the new territories.
Balboa manages to collect a great deal of gold, much of it from the ornaments worn by the native women, and the rest obtained by violence.
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, in his De orbe novo decades, wrote how Balboa had fed forty local homosexual men to his dogs.
Balboa, upset with "a brother of the king and other young men, obliging men, [who] dressed effeminately with women's clothing [... of those which the brother of the king] went too far with unnatural" temerity, threw forty of them as food to the dogs.
D'Anghiera continues his story saying that the indigenous people's "natural hate for unnatural sin" drove them so that, "spontaneously and violently, they searched for all the rest that they would know who were infected".
After all, D'Anghiera mentions that "only the nobles and the gentlemen practiced that kind of desire. [...The] indigenous people knew that sodomy gravely offended God. [... And that these acts provoked] the tempests that with thunder and lightning so frequently afflicted them, or the floods that drowned their fruits that had caused hunger and sickness."
Balboa arrives at the end of 1512 and the first months of 1513 in a region dominated by the cacique Careta, whom he easily defeats and then befriends.
Careta is baptized and becomes one of Balboa's chief allies; he ensures the survival of the settlers by promising to supply the Spaniards with food.
Balboa then proceeds on his journey, arriving in the lands of Careta's neighbor and rival, cacique Ponca, who flees to the mountains with his people, leaving his village open to the plundering of the Spaniards and Careta's men.
Days later, the expedition arrives in the lands of cacique Comagre, fertile but reportedly dangerous terrain.
However, Balboa is received peacefully and even invited to a feast in his honor; Comagre, like Careta, is then baptized.
Balboa writes a lengthy letter to the King of Spainin 1513, requesting more men (who are already acclimatized) from Hispaniola, weapons, supplies, carpenters versed in shipbuilding, and all the necessary materials for the building of a shipyard.