Bochica

Monument to Bochica in the municipality of Cuítiva (Boyacá).

Bochica (in muysc cubun Bozica AFI: /botʂika/ or / botsika/) is, in Muisca mythology, a civilizing hero, or a god, who taught the Muiscas to spin cotton and weave blankets, as well as instilling in them moral and social principles. The mythical tradition also affirms that he was the creator of the Salto del Tequendama. Chroniclers write in various works that vary from one another, that the Muiscas described him as a man with white hair and a waist-length beard, wearing a calf-length blanket, with bare feet and carrying a golden staff.

He was known by various names, depending on the different regions of the Muisca Confederation he visited. In the province of Bacatá (Zipazgo) it was called Neuterequeteua, Nemterequeteba, Nemquetheba, Chimizapagua, Chimizayagua, Zuhé, Xué and Zuhá. In the provinces of Hunza (Tunja) and Suamox (Sogamoso) it was called Sadigua, Sugumonxe and Sugunsua. He was also called Idacanzas , although for some authors, such as José Antonio de Plaza, these are different characters, Idacanzas being the first High Priest of Sogamoso, heir to the power bequeathed by Bochica.

Image and description

Bochica is described as having a beard like the gods Quetzalcóatl of the Aztec pantheon and Huiracocha, of the Inca, and various other deities from South and Central America. The beard, initially confused as proof of European prehistoric influence, being fed and embellished by colonial ideas, had its own meaning in Mesoamerican culture. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan are an important source of high value as they are written initially in Nahuatl. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan describe the appearance of Quetzalcoátl in Tula:

"At once he made his green mask; he took red, with which he put his lips on him; he took yellow, to cover him; and he made his fangs; then he made his beard of feathers..."Cuauhtitlan anals1975, 9.)

Here the beard is depicted as a covering of feathers, which is consistent with images found in Mesoamerican art. The connotation of the word beard by the Spanish colonizers was used as a decoration for the manufacture of European influence in Mesoamerica. No cultural representation of these gods, in painting, sculpture, etc., shows them with beards in the sense that the Spanish would have understood it.

The veracity of the preserved stories and the extent of corruption by the beliefs and imaginary incorporated by Christian missionaries and monks who chronicled the native legends for the first time have been questioned.

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Bochica in the Chronicles of the Indies

The Colombian researcher Andrés Camilo Bohórquez Roa collects in his book, Bochica in the Chronicles of the Indies, a compilation of texts from the Chronicles of the Indies that recount the myth of Bochica, and that go from the 16th to 18th century. According to Bohórquez, it is possible to trace the myth over time, like this:

Alonso de Medrano

The Jesuit Alonso de Medrano was the author of the Description of the New Kingdom of Granada (1599), a work in which the myth of Bochica has the following characteristics:

• Name given to alien: Medrano does not write any name given to the mysterious foreigner. He only refers to him as “so much man”.
• Time when the foreigner arrived in the Muslim territory: About 1500 years ago, counted from the time the author writes (ends of 1598).
• Place of origin: The East.
• Physical appearance: White skin and blond hair to the shoulders.
• character: It was dominant, with power or mandate.
• Attire: Long dress.
• Company: I was accompanied by a camel.
• Teachings: He taught “the way of salvation” and to baptize children when they were born.
• The "roads": Medrano says that the foreigner was opened the roads and the saws were raided where he was walking, of what was left evidence on the roads that the Moiscas had when the Spanish arrived. Medrano gives the location of two of those roads, seen by himself, one in the village of Boyacá, of more than thirty leagues long and very wide; and another in Bogotá, of league and a half long and less of a wide stone throw. Both roads would be, according to testimony of Medrano, as couples and right as if they had been made to cordel. He also stated that there were many more in the whole of the Musca territory, and especially in the province of Sogamoso, and that the indigenous had so much veneration, that even at that time they did not dare to walk around them, and they separated on the sides, although the Spaniards were already using them as Caminos Reales.
• Place of death of alien: Sogamoso, where they would be, according to Medrano, the bones of the stranger and those of the camel he brought with him.
• Medrano Interpretation: The personal theory of Medrano on the origin of the myth is that it may have been one of the disciples of the Apostles, or the Apostle James, as in the stories referred by the Cuzco indigenous.
• Other data: According to the chronicle of Medrano, after the death of the "holy man", a demon came to the Muslim territory in the figure of an old woman, called Bacchus, the mother of the gods, who preached against the teachings of the stranger. Baque had many children, who had names: Cuza, Chibchachun, Bochica and Chiminigagua.

As Andrés Bohórquez points out, the part referring to the woman who arrived from abroad afterward is completely unorthodox, since it does not conform to what was said by any of the other chroniclers, so it was surely an accelerated interpretation by Medrano.

Bernardo Vargas Machuca

In Bernardo Vargas Machuca's work, Apologias y discursos de las conquistas occidentales (1599), reference is made to a stone carved in the shape of a cross, near the town of Velez. Wanting Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada to know the origin of that cross carved in stone, the oldest indigenous people told him a story that coincides with that of Bochica, and that has the following characteristics:

• Name given to alien: No one is given.
• Time when the foreigner arrived in the Muslim territory: More than 1500 years ago, counted, little or less, from the date on which the author relates what happened (1599).
• Physical appearance: Long barbeque.
• Attire: Similar to that of the Apostles, with the insignia of the cross in the hand.
• Teachings: He tried to teach them new doctrines, but as they did not hear him, he warned them that in the future foreigners would come to teach them the doctrines they had not wanted to learn from him.
• Interpretation by Vargas Machuca: According to this author, one can believe that the alien was one of the disciples of the Apostles.
• Other data: It is said in this chronicle that the foreigner made the sign of the cross with the right hand.

Juan de Castellanos

Juan de Castellanos according to a painting by Ricardo Moros Urbina.

In the work of Juan de Castellanos, History of the New Kingdom of Granada (1601), which is the fourth part of the Elegías de hombres ilustres de Indias, the Bochica's myth is described in more detail than in previous chronicles:

• Names given abroad: Neuterequeteua, Bochica or Xue. According to Castellanos, there is doubt as to whether three different people were, although the chronist is inclined to think that they were three epithets given to one person.
• Time Bochica arrived in the Musca territory: Castellanos simply says it was "in the past centuries".
• Physical appearance: Long barbeque and hair to the waist.
• Attire: A mistress tied over the shoulder with a knot, hair collected with a bandage and bare feet.
• Place of the death of Bochica: Sogamoso.
• Interpretation of Castellanos: According to this chronist, Bochica should not be an apostle or a holy man, for he affirms that in Sogamoso, where he left his successors, it was where the "idolatries" were most practiced.
• Other data: In the Castilian Chronicle it is stated, as in almost all authors, that Bochica left the priests of Sogamoso as heirs of his knowledge and magical powers over nature. Moreover, he states that the stories referred to mythology were so abundant among the muscas, that they could easily have filled more volumes than those written by the Roman poet Ovidio, but that by finding them "ridicles", it did not take the trouble to write them.

The myth of Huitaca

In the chronicle of Juan de Castellanos, the myth of the woman mentioned earlier by Medrano is recounted in more detail. According to Castellanos, some time after her, a woman of great beauty arrived who preached things different from those of Bochica, for which he turned her into her owl.

• Names given to the strange woman: Huitaca, Jubchrasguaya and Chie.

Fray Pedro Simón

Fr. Peter Simon. Oil by Pedro A. Quijano, 1941. Convent of San Francisco, Bogotá.

Fray Pedro Simón was the author of the Historical news of the conquests of Tierra Firme in the West Indies (1626), in which the myth of Bochica appears with the following characteristics:

• Names given abroad: Bochica, Nemterequeteba, Xué, Chimizapagua and Chimizayagua.
• Time Bochica arrived in the Musca territory: About 1400 years ago.
• Place of origin: The East, from the plains of Venezuela. The first town he visited was Pasca.
• Physical appearance: Old man in years, hair and beard to waist, with bare feet.
• Attire: Hairs taken with a ribbon, a blanket tied with a knot on the right shoulder with a neckless robe to the calves.
• Company: He was accompanied by a camel who died in Bosa, where they kept their bones, which were venerated by the inhabitants of Bosa and Soacha.
• Teachings: He taught them to swell the cotton and weave blankets, because before this the muscas were dressed with a pair of cotton-cotted plates in a branch tied with ridges. He also taught them to draw the cross.
• Features: Fray Pedro Simon presents Bochica as a universal god, but in particular the caciques and captains, who almost had power over Chubchachum, although both had dictated laws and ways of living. They responded to the oracles that were consulted, although they were never seen because they were “incorporeal or airy things”. He was offered gold offerings.
• Places visited: Pasca, Bosa, Hontibón (Fontibón), Funza, Serrezuela (Madrid, Cundinamarca), Zipacón, Cota, Guane, Hunza (Tunja) and Sogamoso.
• Place of the disappearance of Bochica: Fray Pedro Simon does not speak of the death of Bochica, but of his disappearance, which would have occurred in the village of Iza.

The myth of Huitaca

In the chronicle of Fray Pedro Simón also appears the myth of Huitaca (or Guitaca, as this author calls her), who would have appeared after Bochica's departure, and is described as a very beautiful woman who taught things contrary to the Bochica's doctrines: a relaxed life, dedicated to pleasures and drunkenness, for which Bochica turned her into an owl.

• Names given to the strange woman: Guitaca, Xubchasgagua and Chíe. Fray Pedro Simón also identifies it with Bachué.

The myth of the Tequendama Falls

Salto del Tequendama, created, according to myth, by the power of Bochica.

Fray Pedro Simón is the first to mention the myth of the creation of the Tequendama Falls by Bochica. According to this chronicler, Chibchacum, enraged by the insults and gossip that the indigenous people had uttered against him, decided to punish them with a great flood, for which he caused the Tivitó and Sopó rivers to be born, whose beds joined that of the Funza (old name of the river Bogotá) until they flooded the entire Sabana de Bogotá. The flood was so great, growing day by day, that the indigenous people went to the temple of the god Bochica, where they offered him fasting and sacrifices, until one afternoon, in the midst of a great roar, a rainbow formed over whose top was Bochica with a golden rod in his hand, which by throwing it towards the rocks opened the Tequendama Falls, where the waters came out.

The myth of Sadigua

It is a myth that happened in America Fray Pedro Simón distinguishes the myth of Bochica, typical of the "bogotaes", from the myth of Sadigua, of the "sogamosos", although he accepts as a single character who was given different names due to the linguistic diversity of the Muisca language. Thus, the myth of the province of Sogamoso, governed at that time by the cacique Nompanen, would have the following characteristics:

• Time when Sadigua arrived in the province of Sogamoso: Four ages ago, the Muscas called bxogonoa.
• Physical appearance and clothing: The same ones described to Bochica. In the head and in the arms the sign of the cross, and a embroidery in the hand.
• Names given abroadSadigua, which means "our relative"; Sugumonxe, which means "that it becomes invisible"; and Sugunsua, who means "man who disappears."
• Places visited: Ganza (Gámeza), Bubanza (Busbanzá), Socha, Tasco, Topaga, Monguí, Tutazá, Mongua, Pesca, Yaconi, Bombaza, Tota, Guaquirá, Sátiva, Sogamoso and Iza.
• Teachings: That there is a God in heaven who rewards the good and punishes the wicked. That souls were immortal. He also taught them to spun cotton and knit blankets.

Lucas Fernandez de Piedrahita

Born in Santafé de Bogotá, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahíta wrote the General history of the conquests of the New Kingdom of Granada (1688), in which the myth of Bochica appears with the following characteristics:

• Names given abroad: Bochica, Nemquetheba and Zuhé.
• Time Bochica arrived in the Musca territory: Piedrahita only says it was "in the past centuries".
• Physical appearance: He had the beard very grown to the waist.
• Attire: The hairs had them picked up with a ribbon, a robe that tied with a knot by the tips on a shoulder, and walked barefoot.
• Time Bochica lived with the Muscas: 2000 years.
• Teachings: According to this chronist, Bochica taught the immortality of the soul, the universal judgment, the resurrection of the flesh and the veneration of the cross.
• Place of the death of Bochica: Sogamoso; although, in contradictory manner, Stonehia also states that Bochica was transferred to Heaven, and that at the time of his departure he left Sogamoso as heir to his holiness and might. Since then, the Muscas had Sogamoso as a holy land.
• The "roads": Piedrahita also speaks in his chronicle of the "roads" mentioned by Alonso de Medrano. In this respect he says that in his time there was one that went from the plains to Sogamoso, that would have about a hundred leagues of length, very wide and well done, although already mistreated and populated from bushes. By that way Bochica would have gone from the Eastern Plains to the inside of the Muisca Confederation.
• Other data: According to Piedrahita, in the province of Ubaque there was a stone with the footprint of one of Bochica's feet printed.
• Interpretation by Piedrahita: According to this chronist, Bochica may have been the Apostle Saint Bartholomew.

The myth of Huitaca

According to Piedrahita, after Bochica's arrival, a woman of extreme beauty also arrived who taught the Muiscas things contrary to Bochica's doctrine, and who was followed by many people until Bochica, as punishment, converted her in owl, or moon. In addition, this chronicler adds an additional piece of information: the ubaques (indigenous people of Ubaque) affirmed that Chía was the wife of Uaqui, or Vaqui, with whom she had a daughter, whom she married to the captain of the demons.

• Names given to the strange woman: Huythaca, Yubecayguaya and Chía.

The myth of the Tequendama Falls

The myth of the Tequendama Falls varies a little in the Piedrahita version, compared to the previous ones. According to Piedrahíta, through the intervention of Huythaca's evil arts, the Funzha River (Bogotá River) flooded the Sabana de Bogotá, forcing its inhabitants to seek refuge in the mountains, where they stayed until Bochica arrived, who played with his staff. the sierra, thus opening the way to the waters.

Fray Alonso de Zamora

Fray Alonso de Zamora was also born, like Lucas Fernández de Piedrahíta, in Santafé de Bogotá, and wrote the Historia de la Provincia de San Antonio del Nuevo Reyno de Granada (1701), in which The myth of Bochica appears with the following characteristics:

• Names given abroad: Bochica and Zuhá.
• Teachings: According to Fray Alonso de Zamora, Bochica taught the Muscas that there is an author of nature that is at a triune time in people, and one in essence, and for this statement proves the finding of idols with three heads, of which the indigenous said to be three people with the same heart. He would also have taught them the immortality of the soul, the universal judgment and the resurrection of the dead.
• Bochica Disappearance: For this chronist, Bochica would have been transferred to heaven after being preaching many years, and would have appointed the cacique of Sogamoso as heir to his power and holiness.
• The "roads"Zamora also speaks of the "carreteras" mentioned by other authors, and says that Sogamoso arrived one that had more than 100 leagues in length, which had its principles in the plains of San Juan, and that the indigenous said that there Bochica had arrived.

The myth of Huitaca

The Zamora chronicle mentions the arrival of a woman of strange beauty, named Huythacha, who taught things contrary to Bochica's doctrine, such as worshiping the Sun and his wife, the Moon, and sacrificing children and boys to the Sun under twenty years of age.

• Names given to the strange woman: Huythacha, Chía.

José Domingo Duquesne

José Domingo Duquesne, born in Santafé de Bogotá, briefly mentions the myth of Bochica in his Disertation on the calendar of the muyscas (1795). For this author, Bochica is identified with the Sun, to which fifteen-year-old boys were sacrificed at a certain time of the year. The boys were raised with special care in a temple of the Sun, located in the plains of San Juan. The heart and entrails were offered to Bochica.

Alexander von Humboldt

According to the German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, Bochica was able to come from Scandinavia and the Nordic lands.

The German explorer Alexander von Humboldt wrote Sites of the mountain ranges and monuments of the indigenous peoples of America (1810), a work in which the myth of Bochica is analyzed by the author.

• Names given abroad: Bochica, Nemquetheba, Zuhé and Idacanzas.
• Physical appearance: Old man with long beard.
• Place of origin: The plains east of the Chingaza Range.
• Comparative mythology: Alexander von Humboldt compares the myth of Bochica with those of other civilizing heroes of America: Quetzalcoatl, of Mexico, and Manco Capac of Peru.
• Teachings: He taught men how to dress, build cottages, cultivate the land and gather in society.
• Probable origin of Bochica: For Humboldt, Bochica may have been a European shipwreck, or a Scandinavian arrived from the Nordic lands.
• Bochica Disappearance: Bochica, after living 2000 years with the maids, disappeared in the Valley of Iraca, after leaving his power to the High Priest of Iraca, and recommending that they choose Hunzahúa as the first Zaccha of Hunza, as it actually happened.
• Relationship with the Far East: According to this author, Bochica was the Buddha of the Musks, and his teachings, especially as regards the form of social organization, had much in common with those of Tibetan Buddhism.

The myths of Huitaca and the Tequendama Falls

In Humboldt's work, Huitaca appears as the wife of Bochica, who arrived with him. She was a woman of rare beauty but excessive malignancy; She went against the teachings of her husband, and it was she who made the Funza River (Bogotá River) grow, whose waters flooded the Bogotá Sabana. Enraged, Bochica then decided to punish Huitaca by turning her into Luna, and broke the rocks to make way for the water.

• Names given to the strange woman: Huytaca, Yubecayguaya and Chía.