The Arhuacos

COLOMBIA

The Arhuacos Laura Roldan 12°D Valeria Cardenas 12°C

TOPICS 1. Who 2. Where 3. When 4. Genetics 5. Medicine 6. Geology 7. Mining 8. Economy, agriculture and livestock 9. Food 10. Craftwork 11. Religion 12. Contribution to today's chemistry

Who? The Arhuaco are the biggest indigenous tribe that exists in that place, descendants from the Tairona culture. They are recognized by their clothing, religion, and economy. They are around 40,000 people in the area they live.

Where?

In the Sierra Nevada, Santa Marta in Colombia.

It is located in the Colombian coast and has an altitude of 5,700m over the sea level. They live in an area of about 17,000 km and share it with the other 3 indigenous groups: the Kankuamos, the Wiwa, and the Koguis.

When?

The history starts at the beginning of the conquest when the Spanish called them Indians Tairona. They are considered the first direct descendants of the Taironas.

Genetics We believe that genetics is an actual area of study and that it is only used in the 21st century. However, the Arhuacos believed that in the community the stronger women, that were the daughters of the leader only should marry and have kids with the stronger man of the group. It was a way of thinking that is really close to today's genetics, the genes of that man would transfers to the children's, so he/ she would be similar to him or her mother.

The children would be as strong or as skilled as their parents.

Medicine The Arhuacos use natural medicine. Even nowadays they don't like to use sythetic compounds that doctors use. They prefer to use plants with different properties that would cure the symptoms that they have or even the illness itself. They use plants of the following groups: Phanerogamae Cryptogamae Magnoliopsida Liliopsida Pinophyta

The Eukalyptus is a plant that belongs to the group Magnoliopsida, it is used to treat a cold. It reduces cough,nasal congestion and it is used as an expectorant. They mashed it, mix it with H2O and heat it up until it reaches it's boiling point. It could also be chewed in little quantities, because it was considered really strong.

Rosemary is known for being an aromatic plant, but has a lot of properties that the Arhuacos used for their benefit. It has antiseptic and antispasmotic effects. It is used by the Arhuacos to reduce the symptoms of epilepsy and anemia.

Geology First, it is essential to clarify that the Arhuacos didn't see the land only as territory. They don't only see it as natural resourses, for them this are biological points that function as a mean of balancing the different ecosystems. The Arhuacos know which part of the land is more fertile, so they will be able to grow their food. They identify lands that are rich in: Oxygen (O), Hydrogen (H), Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P).

Due to the geographic characteristics and the weather, the Sierra is an attractive place for the business owner that want to do ecoturism. For them, this is a threat for their traditions and costumes.

Mining The Arhuaco tribe has always been a pacifist and ecologist civilization who understood the impact of mining in the environment and in all the natural resources present in different ecosystems. Even today they still are against mining and frequently make protests in order to preserve La Sierra Nevada in Santa Marta. Mining requires lots of water, and it ends up filled with Cyanide (CN-), Mercury (Hg), Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4), among other dangerous chemical compounds that may destroy the environment, the ecosystems and people’s health.

Economy, agriculture and livestock The main economic activity of the Arhuacos is subsistence farming, which was traditionally practiced by all the families of the community in their own parcel next to their houses.

Each family owned two houses, one in the highlands where the climate is cooler and the other in the warmer, lower lands of the mountains. Today they can only practice this in the higher lands due to the expropriation of land during the Spanish colonization. In the higher lands, they grow potatoes, onions, cabbages, lettuce, blueberries, tree tomatoes, pumpkins, garlic and wheat.

In the middle lands they sow; corn, beans, yucca, arracacha, malanga, coca, cotton, pineapple, papaya, guava, passion fruit, sweet passion fruit, oranges and limes. Coffee is grown for commercial purposes only with Arhuaca backpacks (handmade bags, fashionable among men and women in Bogotรก and other important Colombian cities), and other arts and crafts to be exchanged in the lowlands for products not obtained in the highlands. The Arhuacos also raise chickens, cows, sheep and goats. The men produce all the traditional clothing, but today they also wear modern clothing.

Food The Arhuacos used to mainly eat whatever they harvested. They strongly believed that we are what we eat and because of that had a diet based on the native foods of grass species, tubers, fruits, cereals etc. that strengthen the concentration of the arhuaca wisdom and their blood. This might be confirmed by modern science and biochemistry by taking into account the properties of those food group. Most of them are high carbohydrates containers which are stored as glycogen (the complex form of glucose) in the organism. Glucose, at the same time, is absolutely necessary for neurons to function properly.

Craftwork THE FABRIC To talk about weaving we have to refer to almost every moment of Arhuacan life. Weaving is involved in various objects of material culture. Taking into account those made by men and women, according to the sexual division of labor.Weaving on a loom, basketwork and making hats are men's jobs, while making backpacks is a woman's job.In the loom called /akunkana/ the different pieces that compose the arhuaco suit (ika) are elaborated: the blanket, that can be of wool or cotton, the trousers and the tubular stockings of fabric that are placed from the knee supported by a garter.

BASKETWORK It is a male activity that is transmitted from generation to generation. According to their use there are two kinds of baskets: those for storing cotton spindles and those for picking coffee. It is worked in wicker and roast. By means of this artisan trade also backpacks and hats are elaborated.

Religion The Arhuacos are deeply spiritual people who follow their own philosophy. They believe in a creator or "father" called KakĂź Serankua, who begat the first gods and material living beings, other "fathers" like the sun and the snowy peaks and other "mothers" like the earth and the moon. They consider the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to be the heart of the world and believe that the well-being of the rest of the world depends on it.They have a universal law (KunsamĂź) which is represented by a child, Mamo Niankua. This law of nature is an explanation of the origins of matter and its evolution, balance, preservation and harmony, which constitutes the fundamental objectives and reason for being of Mamo; the spiritual authority of the Arhuaco society.

Each Mamo or Mamß is selected among different candidates, children from 8 to 10 years old who will receive a minimum of 9 to 15 years training on average and are free to determine if they wish to continue with the training period. To become a Mamo, they stay in a cave for 9 years while the elders teach them everything they need to know. They specialize in certain areas of knowledge such as philosophy, priesthood, medicine, and practical individual or community counseling. Their influence is decisive in their society.

The Mamo is the most important figure in the culture of the Arhuaco people. He can be compared to the priest of the community, but he is much more than that. He is responsible for the contact between the supernatural world and the world in which we live.

From the moment he is born, the old Mamos sees (through divination) that he is destined to become a Mamo. Once the Mamo is chosen, he is kept on the highest mountain peaks, in a closed environment, only perceiving the world as a reflection of what it is. When he is old enough, he accompanies the old Mamo, learning the ancestral knowledge about nature and its culture.The cosmology of the Arhuaco focuses on giving the earth what it has given us.

Its philosophy is based on the idea that nature and society are interrelated.

They are seen as one. Their attributes and spaces symbolize every organ and system that is vital in their bodies. This is how rivers provide the necessary and vital resource of water and represent the veins of their body, trees and their fruits guarantee the daily task and at the same time represent the mountains, men, the snowy peaks and the sacred places where the spirits of fathers and mothers rest, the subsoil represents the bones of the earth, necessary to maintain the spirit of balance. There is no element found in the body that is not in the earth.

Contribution to chemistry They haven’t made huge contributions to today’s chemistry because they weren’t very innovative, but there are three different activities related somehow to chemistry.

The Arhuacos were one of the first groups to implement an agricultural pilot test in order to harvest multiple products that weren’t originally produced in their region or that stopped growing due to climate change. The project consist of a space of 1,308 square meters with greenhouse technology, where the indigenous people are able to produce 56 tons of top quality food, which is normally grown and brought from other regions of the country.

The Arhuacos found the way to harvest the best cacao and the most valuable one, the won’t reveal their techniques but their work throughout the years have contributed to the chocolate processes and cuisine techniques.

The Arhuaca backpack is a pre-Columbian object that is fertile in beauty and development of ancestral geometric thought. Because of this richness, three perspectives of analysis can be identified in the face of the complexity of the designs that give it configuration and attire: 1. The relationship to the development of geometric-symbolic thought, which is established when making the Arhuaca backpack.

2. The ethnomathematical processes that are incorporated when weaving the traditional figures in the side part of the backpack, then an analysis of the gauze and, finally, an analysis of the designs that are shown on the bottoms of the backpacks, which is in turn divided into three categories: bottoms that define spirals, bottoms that define concentric rings and those that combine concentric rings and traditional figures.

3. The reflections on the educational contributions that could be given by the ethnomathematics that the Arhuacan women develop in the backpacks; these have to do, among others, with the importance of the color at the time of developing geometric thought. The inaccuracy that there is in the measurements and its similar consequences, in terms of the development of school geometric concepts.

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