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Women in Muisca society

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Muisca raft, most prominent piece of gold working by the Muisca
Part ofa serieson
Muisca culture
Topics
Geography
The Salt People
Main neighbours
Historyandtimeline
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense with valley subdivisions; the living space of the Muisca
The Muisca are famous for their fine goldworking; atunjorepresenting mother and son
Southern Muisca ruler Nemequene installed a system of laws (Code of Nemequene) with harsh punishments for adultery, rape, incest and infidelity and arranged for widows to inherit the properties of their deceased husbands
The Muisca women prepared and sold the alcoholic beveragechicha
Thehaliteof Zipaquirá, used for cooking, preservation of meat and fish and as trading product, was extracted from a brine by the Muisca women
Mother goddess Bachué was one of the most important deities of the Muisca
SacredLake Guatavita,where the disloyal wife of thecaciquedrowned herself after her lover was killed and dismembered

This article describes the role ofwomenin thesocietyof theMuisca.TheMuiscaare the original inhabitants of theAltiplano Cundiboyacense(present-day centralColombianAndes) before theSpanish conquest of the Muiscain the first half of the 16th century. Their society was one of the four great civilizations of theAmericas.[1]

Women were important and considered egalitarian to men in most cases in the Muisca society. While the men were tasked with hunting,warfare,and other activities, the women performed the sowing of the farmfields, the preparation of foods and chicha and the education of children. The participation in the religious rituals was of both genders. The most important deities of the Muisca were female;Chíaas goddess of the Moon,Huitacaof sexual liberation andBachuéthe mother goddess of the Muisca people.

While the first chroniclers were all male, during the period of conquest and early colonisationGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada,Pedro Simón,Juan de CastellanosandLucas Fernández de Piedrahita,20th and 21st centuryanthropologyhas been conducted by many women scientists. Main contributors to the knowledge of women in the Muisca society have beenMuisca scholarsAna María Groot,Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff,Sylvia Broadbent,Ana María Gómez Londoño, Martha Herrera Ángel and various others.

Background

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Following the largelypreceramicHerrera Period,the Muisca people lived in the valleys and higher altitude terrains of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, in theEastern Rangesof the Colombian Andes. Estimates of the size of the community vary from 300,000 to two million people at the time of the Spanish conquest as of 1537. The Muisca were predominantlyfarmersandmerchants,with a loose political organisation in theirMuisca Confederation.Agriculture was performed on simple terraces on the slopes of the mountains and on the high plains of the Altiplano, especially theBogotá savanna.Their principal agricultural products cultivated weremaize,potatoes,arracacha,tubers,beans,yuca,pumpkins,gourds,tomatoes,peppers,cotton,pineapples,avocadoes,tobacco,quinoaandcoca.[2][3]

Famous is their well-elaboratedMuisca art,especially theirgoldworking.Different from the other three well-known civilisations of the Americas; theMaya,AztecandInca,they did not construct grandarchitecture.

Muisca words for women

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The Muisca used various words in their languageMuysccubunto refer to women,gui;'wife' or 'niece', literally 'daughter of the sister of the mother',[4]gyca;'sister-in-law', literally 'wife of the brother' or 'sister of the husband',[5]pabcha;'niece', literally 'daughter of the sister of the father',[6]andfucha;'her', 'female'.[7]

Women in Muisca society

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In thepre-Columbiansocieties, the women formed a central part in the explanation of the world, the structuring of the family and community, the religious life, in the labour of the farmfields,mythology,arts,and in all aspects of the organisation of society. In these communities, the woman was the centre of the birth of the culture. Thefertilityof the women played a central role in the richagricultureof the Muisca.[8]Women were raised for the labour of sowing and harvest, preparation offood,textile work,ceramicsand in the sacred ceremonies.[8]

The women in the Muisca civilisation, especially under theCode of Nemequene,had special rights over their husbands, mainly thecaciques.[9]The Code consisted of a system of penalties of horrific practice, but was focused on the stability of the society, especially in cases of adultery, cheating, incest and rape.[10]It was the Muisca men forbidden to leave their wives and if she died doing labour the spouse was ordered to pay off her family.[9][11]Infidelity of the women was punished by forcing her to have sex with the ten ugliest men of the tribe.[10]They also were condemned tofasting.[12]

The wives of the leaders of the community wore skirts until their ankles, while common women had skirts up to their knees.[13]Maids, or sometimes called concubines, were calledtegui.[14]

The majority of the pre-Columbian cultures which had female leaders and egalitarian conditions between man and woman, went through a process of transformation towards a male leadership through the defense of their territories.[8]

Acensusheld in 1780 in the capital of theViceroyalty of New Granada,Bogotá, resulted in a 63.5% of women in the city. The women from indigenous origin moved to the capital for two reasons; to work in the households of the Spanish colonisers and to look for husbands, as themestizostatus provided them with more security.[15]

Matrilineal heritage of rule

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The Muisca woman were very important in the organisation of the family and for theMuisca rulers.The children pertained to the mother and in case of heritage were assigned to the mother, not the father. The newzipaandzaquewas traditionally chosen from the eldest sons of the elder sister of the previous ruler and the woman had the liberty to live together for a while to make sure the relation worked and they were fertile.[10]After marriage total fidelity was guaranteed.[2][16]

Exceptions to the tradition of the matrilineal heritage of rule were present in the later stages of the Muisca civilisation. Around the time of the arrival of theSpanishconquistadores,the rule ofTisquesusawas followed by his brother,Sagipa.[17]

Women's roles in the Muisca society

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The Muisca women were considered important in transferring their fertility to the farmlands, which meant they were the ones to sow the fields,[18]while the men went hunting, fishing and went to war with neighbouring groups, such as thePanche.[19]The women also prepared and sold the alcoholic beverage of the Muisca,chicha.[8][20]To prepare the chicha and aid in the fermentation process, the women chewed on the maize kernels.[21]During rituals, which could last for fifteen days, the womensang.[2]The Muisca laws protected the women from physical attacks and made sure the pregnant women received a special treatment. This treatment continued to the first years of motherhood and in the case of widowhood.[8]The food of the Muisca, eaten while sitting on the ground of theirbohíos,was prepared uniquely by the Muisca women.[22]

Women also played an important role in the extraction ofsalt.[23]The Muisca, known as "The Salt People" due to their salt mines inZipaquirá,NemocónandTausa,extracted salt by evaporating brines in large pots.[24]They used the salt in their cuisine, for the preparation of dried fish and meat and as product in theireconomy.[25]

Polygamy, polyamory and sexual rites

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The Muisca, as many other pre-Columbian cultures, practiced polygamy. The narrations of the amount of wives vary, but it was common for the higher castecaciquesto have twenty (gueta) wives. Some sources even account for one hundred spouses.[10]Less reliable sources, such as Vicente Restrepo in the 19th century, call for a number of up to 300 wives.[26]The many wives allowed the most prominent of the Muisca rulers to elaborate larger farmlands than lower castes.[13]When the principal wife of thecacique,zaqueorzipadied, the male ruler was obliged to abstain from sexual relations for five years.[10]

Virginitywas not highly regarded in the Muisca society; women who were virgins were considered the ugliest. An exception were the virgins captured from neighbouring indigenous groups (Panche,Muzo,Lache,Guayupe,Guane,Chitarero), who were used in ceremonies assacrifices.[10]

In general, the practices of polygamy, the period of cohabitation before marriage, the unimportance of virginity and the resulting sexual promiscuity were very different in pre-Columbian Colombia from the later Spanish colonial norms and laws.[10][27]

Religion and mythology

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In theMuisca religion,as with other pre-Columbian religions in the Americas,[16]various deities were female and they were among the most important. The inhabitation of the Earth is explained by themother goddessBachué,who is said to have been born inLake Iguaquein currentBoyacá.[16]One of the major deities in the religion of the Muisca wasChía,the goddess of the Moon. She was worshipped throughout the Muisca Confederation, but especially in herMoon Templein the city named after her;Chía,Cundinamarca.Chía was symbolic for the placental life, the games and the dances.[8]The rituals at the temples of the Muisca were mixed; men and women together.[28]

The Moon Temple not only formed a place of worship, also education to the newcaciquesandMuisca rulerswas given near the temple (Seminario de la Cuca).[29][30][31]

Huitacawas the rebelling goddess of arts, dance and music,[32][33]witchcraft and sexual liberation of the Muisca.[34]She is sometimes equated with Chía, but mostly considered a separate deity. In the Muisca religion, it was Huitaca who caused theFunza Riverto overflow, forcing the Muisca to inhabit higher terrains on theBogotá savanna.[17]

Cuchavira,the god of therainbow,guarded the women during their work on the farmfields, in theirChibcha languagecalledtá,as is visible in manytoponymsof the area in modern times;Bogotá,Chivatá,Cucaita,Guayatá,MachetáandTota,among many others.[2][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]

According to chronicler Bernardo de Sahagún, new-born girls were sometimes offered to the Muisca gods. This practice was accepted by the Muisca people as they viewed their gods as part of their community and ensured fertility of their lands.[42]

Lake Guatavita

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A story in the Muisca mythology about the wife of thecaciqueofGuatavitatells about her disloyalty to her husband. As punishment for this act, the people tortured her lover, aguecha warrior,by cutting off his private parts and eating them in a ceremonial ritual.[43]The wife of thecaciquejumped into the lake with her son and drowned. Thecaciquemourning the deaths, ordered to retrieve the bodies from the lake.[44]

This history formed the basis for the sacredLake Guatavitaand the later legend ofEl Dorado,as narrated by early Spanish chronicler Pedro Simón.[44]

Lake Guatavita

Famous Muisca women

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Notable female Muisca scientists

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See also

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References

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  1. ^Ocampo López, 2007, p.26
  2. ^abcd(in Spanish)Los Chibchas: Muiscas
  3. ^Broadbent, 1968, p.140
  4. ^(in Spanish)gui- Muisccubun Dictionary
  5. ^(in Spanish)gyca- Muisccubun Dictionary
  6. ^(in Spanish)pabcha- Muisccubun Dictionary
  7. ^(in Spanish)fucha- Muisccubun Dictionary
  8. ^abcdef(in Spanish)La mujer y su participación en la construcción de la sociedad colombiana
  9. ^ab(in Spanish)La Mujer en la civilización Chibcha
  10. ^abcdefg(in Spanish)El promiscuo sexo de los muiscas-El Tiempo
  11. ^(in Spanish)Biography Nemequene and Nemequene Code- Pueblos Originarios
  12. ^Daza, 2013, p.31
  13. ^abGómez Londoño, 2005, p.300
  14. ^(in Spanish)tegui- Muysccubun Dictionary
  15. ^Daza, 2013, p.75
  16. ^abcCarbonell, 1993, p.25
  17. ^ab(in Spanish)Los señores Muisca-Banco de la República
  18. ^Daza, 2013, p.24
  19. ^Carbonell, 1993, p.24
  20. ^Restrepo Manrique, 2009, p.153
  21. ^Restrepo Manrique, 2009, p.30; p.244; p.245
  22. ^Restrepo Manrique, 2009, p.43
  23. ^Groot, 2014
  24. ^Daza, 2013, p.23
  25. ^Daza, 2013, p.26
  26. ^(in Spanish)Los Chibchas antes de la conquista española-Banco de la República
  27. ^Solano Suárez, 2011, p.167
  28. ^Casilimas & López, 1987, p.128
  29. ^(in Spanish)Templo de la Luna in Chía- Pueblos Originarios
  30. ^(in Spanish)Education at the Moon Temple, Chía
  31. ^(in Spanish)Chía, Ciudad de la Luna-El Tiempo
  32. ^Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.221
  33. ^(in Spanish)2012 -Huitaca, la diosa muisca en el Palacio Liévano-El Tiempo
  34. ^(in Spanish)2015 -Huitaca y el arquetipo de la diosa rebelde desde la antiguedad hasta nuestros días
  35. ^(in Spanish)ta- Muysccubun Dictionary
  36. ^(in Spanish)Etymology Bacatá- Banco de la República
  37. ^(in Spanish)Official website Chivatá
  38. ^(in Spanish)Official website Cucaita
  39. ^(in Spanish)Official website Guayatá
  40. ^Espejo Olaya, 1999, p.1120
  41. ^(in Spanish)Etymology Municipalities Boyacá- Excelsio.net
  42. ^Torregroza & Ochoa, 2010, p.523
  43. ^Carbonell, 1993, p.26
  44. ^abCarbonell, 1993, p.27

Bibliography

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