Achagua people
Appearance
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
![]() ![]() | |
Languages | |
Achagua | |
Religion | |
Traditional religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Guayupe, Tegua, U'wa, Wenaiwika |
The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an indigenous people of Colombia and Venezuela.[1] At the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, their territory covered the present-day Venezuelan states of Bolívar, Guárico and Barinas.[2] In the late twentieth century there were several hundred Achaguas remaining.[2]
Municipalities belonging to Achagua territories
Name | Department | Altitude (m) urban centre |
Map |
---|---|---|---|
Támara (shared with U'wa) |
Casanare | 1156 | ![]() |
Nunchía (shared with U'wa) |
Casanare | 398 | ![]() |
Yopal | Casanare | 390 | ![]() |
Aguazul (shared with Tegua) |
Casanare | 290 | ![]() |
Tauramena | Casanare | 460 | ![]() |
Recetor (shared with Tegua) |
Casanare | 800 | ![]() |
Chámeza (shared with Tegua) |
Casanare | 1150 | ![]() |
Paya | Boyacá | 970 | ![]() |
Labranzagrande (shared with U'wa & Guahibo) |
Boyacá | 1210 | ![]() |
Culture
Achagua people live in large villages. Clans live together in communal houses. Polygamy is commonplace. They farm crops, such as bitter cassava. They traditionally poison their arrows with curare.[1]
There is a small town in Apure called Achaguas.
Language
Achagua people speak the Achagua language, a Maipurean Arawakan language.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Achagua." Encyclopædia Britannica. (retrieved 1 Dec 2011)
- ^ a b James Stuart Olson (1991), The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group. p2
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
External links
- Achagua artwork, National Museum of the American Indian