Muzo people

For the Colombian municipality, see Muzo.
Muzo
Flag
An emerald from Muzo;
The Muzo were known as the "Emerald People"
Total population
100,000 (including Colima)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Boyacá, Cundinamarca,  Colombia
Languages
Cariban, Colombian Spanish
Religion
Traditional religion, Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Guane, Lache, Muisca, Panche

The Muzo people are a Cariban-speaking[2][3][4] indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a highly war-like tribe who frequently clashed with their neighbouring indigenous groups, especially the Muisca.

The Muzo inhabited the right banks of the Magdalena River in the lower elevations of western Boyacá and Cundinamarca and were known as the Emerald People, thanks to their exploitation of the gemstone in Muzo. During the time of conquest, they resisted heavily against the Spanish invaders taking twenty years to submit the Muzo.

Knowledge about the Muzo people has been provided by chroniclers Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and others.

  1. ^ (in Spanish) Grupos étnicos primitivos en Boyacá
  2. ^ (in Spanish) Culturas prehispánicas de Colombia
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tequia_p25 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Indios was invoked but never defined (see the help page).