Culture & Society Sierra Nevada

Local Inhabitants

Indians: Within the Sierra are the Indian tribes of the Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco, and Kamkuamo.  In January 1973, the Ministry of Government declared that the perimeter of the Sierra Nevada would be known as a Black Line symbolically separating the sacred sites of the Arhuaco, Kogui, and Malayo and ordered that these sites be respected and kept free of commercial interests.

The Indian inhabitants generally settle along the banks of rivers, from the lower altitudes where they cultivate cocoa, coffee, plantains, and sugar cane to the paramos where potatoes are the principal crop.  Some tribal members raise cattle and almost all have small herds of sheep from which they obtain the wool they use for their clothing and for knapsacks or carryalls.

Farmers: Within the protected area there are farm communities mostly located in the middle and lower altitudes.  Their primary activity is agriculture.