Villages for the “indios”

The Spanish created laws to force Indigenous peoples to abandon their former settlements and live in grid-like villages (also called reducciones) organized around a main square and a church. The objective of the measure was to coerce Indigenous peoples into giving up their customs.

Press ↓ or scroll to begin Use the arrow buttons to navigate

Why were the Muisca called “indios”?

Europeans coined the term “indios” to group the different societies of the New World into a single category. This practice originated during Christopher Columbus’s first travels. The label imposed many negative stereotypes on Indigenous populations.

Why can we see villages on the map?

The towns that today populate the savanna were not always there, but were the result of a project set in motion by the Spanish empire aimed at making “indios” live Catholic lives (what they referred to as “life in good order”).

Since when have there been villages on the savanna?

The first instructions for the building of villages were decreed by colonial officer Tomás López Medel in 1559 and they caused many serious problems within Indigenous societies. Reducciones not only created conditions favorable to epidemics due to overcrowding, but also generated conflicts between Indigenous authorities and communities.

How did the Muisca live before the Spanish arrived?

On the map we can see where the “old palisade of the cacique” used to be. In the sixteenth century, the Muisca of the Savanna had ceremonial centers that were known as “palisades.” These played an important role in their political organization.

Were Spaniards allowed to live in Indigenous villages?

The creation of towns was part of a set of measures aimed at creating two separate “republics” with different legal responsibilities: one of indios living in towns and another of Spaniards living in cities. This is why the “town of Bogotá” and the city of “Santa Fe” appear as different places on the map: the town of Bogotá where Funza sits today, and the city in the place of contemporary Santafé de Bogotá.