Calchaquíes

Calchaquíes is the historical denomination received by a group of groups of the Diaguita or Pazioca ethnic group that inhabited the current provinces of Salta, Catamarca and Tucumán in northern Argentina at the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquers. It is estimated that at that time its population was between 415,000 and 455,000 people, who were able to resist the Spanish for a century. By the middle of the XVII century, at the end of the conflicts, there were barely 20,000 calchaquíes left in all of Northwest Argentina.

Etymology

The name "calchaquíes" it was only given to them in the 17th century because it was the eponym of one of their main leaders. The Europeans gave this name to a group of Diaguita cultures, such as the Yocaviles, Quilmes, Tafís, Chicoanas, Tilcaras and Purmamarcas, among others. As the denomination "calchaquí" It seems to derive from one of the main Diaguita chiefs who opposed the Spanish: Kalchakí called by the Spanish Juan Calchaquí, who dominated the Yocavil valley. From what I could read, "kalcha" it was so "brave" or "bravo" and "Who" referred to "very" or "a lot". Therefore, Calchaquí was the meaning of something "Very Bravo" or "Very Brave".

Calchaquí wars

During the entire period of the conquest, the Spanish had not been able to penetrate the Calchaquíes Valleys, where the Diaguita culture had taken refuge, an advanced confederation of independent agro-pottery manors belonging to the Santa María Culture, united by a common language, the Kakan and part of the great group of Andean civilization. The Spaniards referred to its members, incorrectly, as Calchaquíes, a name corresponding to one of the Pazioca manors. These señoríos were gathered in three great nations: pulares to the north, diaguitas to the west and calchaquíes to the east. Smaller groups were the Ocloyas, made up of 2,000 people, and the Calchaquíes, some 12,500 people (2,500 tributary Indians), according to Sotelo Narváez (1583). series of acts of defense of their territory by the Diaguita confederation. These fights have been historically known as the Calchaquíes Wars that lasted for more than a century.

• The first Calchaquí War was unleashed in 1560 and the Juan Calchaquí cacique and the Quipildor and Viltypeco healers were led. The confederation managed to keep the Europeans out of their territory, rooting the three new cities founded by the Spanish: Cañete, Córdoba de Calchaquí and London. Hispanic-American Historiography Considers This War as "one of the greatest tragedies in our history". This war provoked the decision of the Spanish King in 1563 to separate the Tucumán from Chile to create a governorship dependent on the viceroy of Peru.

• The Viltypeco rebellion. Later in 1594 Viltypeco, head of the omaguacas, began a new uprising gathering an army of 10 000 spears of the diaguites tribes, however, 25 Spaniards in command of Captain Francisco de Argañaraz and Murguía infiltrated the Quebrada de Humahuaca where he attacked by surprise the enemy camp, killing the caciques and capturing Viltypeco, who was killed

• The Second War of Calchaquí lasted 7 years (1630-1637) and was directed by the priest Chalamín. The diaguites again destroyed the cities installed by the Spaniards, London II and Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1637 the Spanish army captured and executed the Chalamín priest. The inhabitants of the Lord Diaguita which led the war, were deported and reduced to slavery by the Spaniards.

• The Third Calchaquí War spread for eight years (1658-1667). This war had the peculiarity that, at the beginning, he acted an Andalusian adventurer, Pedro Bohórquez, who claimed to be inca, the Inca HualpaHe was accepted as a military leader for the peacemakers. Bohórquez maniobró with cunning, obtained even the support of the Jesuits and organized a solid indigenous army of 6000 warriors with which he maintained control of the region for several years. However in 1659 the Spaniards were handed over with the intention of being forgiven, who sent him to Lima and finally executed him. The confederation continued the war led by José Henríquez. As the lordship of the quilmes was defeated in 1665, which led the third war, the Spaniards were completely uprooted and deported to the plain of the jurisdiction of San Miguel de Tucumán, about 50 Indians, considered the most bellicose, were sent with their families, who totaled about 300 people. An important group of the denaturalized Quilmes were transferred to the outskirts of the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, and in 1709 ca. per royal cédula they are granted 94,000 hectares. in Amaicha del Valle, a title that until today the community of Amaicha (its descendants). In that place today the city of Quilmes rises. The war ended on January 2, 1667, when the last of the peace lords, the Acalian or Calian were defeated. After this, the Spaniards made the decision to divide, deport and reduce the target peoples to slavery.

Life and culture

Piece of pottery. Calchaquíes Valleys. La Plata Museum.

They were farmers, herders, and excellent potters. They worshiped the sun, the moon, thunder and the earth, and spoke their own language called kakán. With the third expansion of the Inca Empire, in 1480, they were incorporated into the Inca empire (Tahuantinsuyu), from which they received a strong cultural influence.

Housing

They made their houses of stone, arranged in the shape of a stone wall, and did not use any type of cement, a common technique of the Andean peoples.

They lived in square houses, made of stone and with thatched roofs. The houses had no windows and the roof was made of mud or straw. Its constructions were monumental, proof of this are towns such as La Paya, Quilmes and Tolombón.

They were brave warriors and faced both the conquest of the Incas and the Spanish. Their typical weapons were the bow and arrow and they fought on foot. Their cities were defended by pucarás, which were located in almost inaccessible places.

They grew corn, using the terrace system. They obtained wool and meat from the llama, the guanaco, the vicuña and the Taruca. They made ceramic pots, jugs and plates. They worked gold, silver and copper.

Feeding and cultivation

Although corn was the staple of their diet, beans and squash were also part of their diet.

Social organization, family, law

They lacked a single permanent government. Its caciques came to power by succession; "children succeed parents and siblings, if they do not have children", which would imply the existence of a true ruling caste. There were a large number of caciques of which Juan Calchaquí was the main one, coming to summon all the factions of his nation. The authority of the cacique was absolute. They preferred death to the loss of their full authority. Before the Spanish invasion they made very large coalitions.

Polygamy seems to have been a general rule. For example: on the death of the husband, the brother inherited his wife. It is possible to observe the traces of male initiation ceremonies, to which young people were subjected when they reached puberty. The Diaguita family was small, as it was made up of four or five people.

Religion

The Calchaquies worshiped the sun god. They had special priests, "wizards" "sorcerers" "gods". They believed in the immortality of the soul even as they disdained the antiquity and depth of those very beliefs.

The priests were also doctors. When a Calchaqui was sick and close to death, his relatives watched over him amid copious libations. This was understood as a defense from the evil forces that threatened him. The burial ceremonies lasted eight days and then the house was burned to prevent his return. As for them only violent death existed, all death was supposed to be provoked.

The belief in the afterlife was reflected in a whole cycle of ceremonies related to death, from burial in "ritual position" to the elaboration of gravestones accompanying the dead with his grave goods. Adults were buried in stone chambers or directly in the ground, except in some cases they were buried in urns, in the manner of children.

Art

Pictographs are numerous in the region. Generally, they are reproductions of isolated figures, although the meagerness of the lithic wall that contains them gives them a deceptive appearance of composition. Some appear to have been ensemble scenes. Animals are also represented.

The music had a certain military overtone to it. They played pingollos and bugles. They also used the pan flute, the analogous wooden flute, the simple flutes, whistles, ocarina