Muiscas figure prominently in Colombian national historical accounts as a worthy and valuable indigenous culture, comparable to the Incas and Aztecs, but without their architectural grandeur. The magnificent goldsmith’s art locates them on a transnational level as part of the legend of El Dorado. Today, though the population is small, Muiscas are committed to cultural revitalization. The 19th century project of constructing the Colombian nation split the official Muisca history in two. A radical division was established between the illustrious indigenous past exemplified through Muisca culture as an advanced, but extinct civilization, and the assimilation politics established for the indigenous survivors, who were considered degraded subjects to be incorporated into the national project as regular citizens (mestizos). More than a century later, and supported in the 1991’s multicultural Colombian Constitution, the nation-state recognized the existence of five Muisca cabildos (indigenous governments) in the Bogotá Plateau, two in the capital city and three in nearby towns. As part of their legal battle for achieving recognition and maintaining it, these Muisca communities started a process of cultural revitalization focused on language, musical traditions, and healing practices. Today’s Muiscas incorporate references from the colonial archive, archeological collections, and scholars’ interpretations of these sources into their contemporary cultural practices. They also rely on knowledge shared with other indigenous groups related to them. This dissertation examines the revitalization of Muisca musical and language practices as part of a larger cultural process. This revitalization demonstrates how indigenous communities navigate the challenges of multicultural politics designed, at least in principle, to support ethnic and cultural difference. To this end: I analyze the Andean-oriented musical practices of current Muisca communities in the Bogotá savanna that are performed in public events; and I examine the Muisca affective attachments to música andina and its role in shaping a Muisca indigeneity according to present time. The ethnographic study of Andean music as it is performed in current Muisca cabildos also demonstrate the connection between sound and politics. I explore how Muisca song and language help in dealing with the contradictions of reemerging indigenous groups under the nation’s multicultural governmentality. I study how música andina style, including the stereotype of Andean indigeneity advanced by the sounds, instruments, and lyrics, contributes to the development of a Muisca identity and supports cultural revitalization and official recognition. In this way, I argue that the sonic revitalization provides an aural identity formation beyond the nation-state’s essentialistic parameters of indigeneity, thus contributing to guarantee minimal conditions for survival as an indigenous community. Out of the different sociolinguistic situations where Muysc cubun (the Muisca language) is used, I trace the details and difficulties of the process of language revitalization through the analysis of a corpus of Muisca songs. It is time to recognize that many of the previous studies of colonial Muysc cubun sources followed the grammarian approach of missionaries, and consequently neglected the description of sound. Most importantly, it is time to pay attention to the sociolinguistic discourse of current Muiscas. Today’s Muisca people who have viscerally lived the long history of silencing, and territorial and cultural dispossession have a say in what has been lost and what can be built. They put forward an update of the colonial reduced general language as part of the way to build themselves as indigenous in the 21st century and rewrite the history of the nation.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Departamento de Antropologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia Social, 2016. / Submitted by Fernanda Percia França (fernandafranca@bce.unb.br) on 2017-02-14T15:28:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoseFernnellArenasGómez.pdf: 55519917 bytes, checksum: d47758bcaaeea84075ca15c82c46607e (MD5) / Rejected by Ruthléa Nascimento(ruthleanascimento@bce.unb.br), reason: Altere o orientador por favor? Obrigada! on 2017-03-27T17:17:29Z (GMT) / Submitted by Fernanda Percia França (fernandafranca@bce.unb.br) on 2017-03-27T18:01:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoseFernnellArenasGómez.pdf: 55519917 bytes, checksum: d47758bcaaeea84075ca15c82c46607e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Raquel Viana (raquelviana@bce.unb.br) on 2017-05-02T22:48:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoseFernnellArenasGómez.pdf: 55519917 bytes, checksum: d47758bcaaeea84075ca15c82c46607e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-02T22:48:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoseFernnellArenasGómez.pdf: 55519917 bytes, checksum: d47758bcaaeea84075ca15c82c46607e (MD5) / Esta tese procura indagar sobre a forma como é construída a pessoa entre os i´ku (arhuacos), um grupo de língua chibcha que ocupa a Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, ao norte da Colômbia. Analisando os conceitos de ánugwe (vitalidade) e zasari / gun´gawun (pagamentos e oferendas), identificaram-se os principais constituintes da pessoa i´ku, apontando também ao protagonismo dos especialistas rituais (os mamu) nesse processo, à transcendência do vínculo com o território, e à importância da reciprocidade como princípio da relação com todos os seres do cosmos, humanos e não humanos. Evidenciou-se também que a construção da pessoa i´ku é perpassada pelo fato de que diferentes dimensões do mundo aparecem como manifestações de um mesmo principio vital, permitindo criar relações de contiguidade entre níveis diversos como o cosmos, o território, as casas cerimoniais e o corpo. / This thesis seeks to explore how person is constructed among the i'ku people (Arhuacos), a Chibcha-speaking group that lives in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in northern Colombia. Analyzing the concepts of ánugwe (vitality) and zasari/gun´gawun (“pagamenos” or offerings), the main elements that constitute the i'ku person were identified, highlighting the role played by ritual specialists (the mamu) in this process, as well as the transcendence of the bond/relationship with the land/territory, and the importance of the relationship of reciprocity that must be maintained with other beings that inhabit the cosmos: human and nonhuman. It was also demonstrated that the construction of the i'ku person is transcended by the fact that different dimensions of his world appear as manifestations of the same vital principle, allowing relationships of continuity to be created between levels as diverse as the cosmos, land/territory, ceremonial houses and the body. / Esta tesis busca explorar la forma como se construye la persona entre la gente i´ku (arhuacos), grupo de lengua chibcha que habita en la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, en el norte de Colombia. Analizando los conceptos de ánugwe (vitalidad) y zasari/gun´gawun (pagamentos u ofrendas), se identificaron los principales elementos que constituyen la persona i´ku, resaltando el protagonismo que en dicho proceso tienen los especialistas rituales (los mamu), así como la trascendencia del vínculo con el territorio, y la importancia de la relación de reciprocidad que debe ser mantenida con los demás seres que habitan el cosmos, humanos y no humanos. Se evidenció también que la construcción de la persona i´ku es traspasada por el hecho de que diferentes dimensiones de su mundo aparecen como manifestaciones de un mismo principio vital, permitiendo crear relaciones de continuidad entre niveles tan diversos como el cosmos, el territorio, las casas ceremoniales y el cuerpo.

No description available.

Le bribri est une langue chibcha parlée au Costa Rica (Amérique Centrale). Les langues chibcha représentent la principale famille de l’Aire Intermédiaire (Constenla 1991), qui relie la Mesoamérique aux zones amazonienne et andine. Ce sont cependant toutes des langues en danger, encore relativement peu décrites.Cette thèse est une analyse de la phonologie du bribri (Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004), problématisée autour de ses caractéristiques typologiques :(i) Le système nasal : le bribri fait partie des rares langues du monde dans lesquelles la nasalité n’est pas distinctive pour les consonnes. Les consonnes nasales présentes dans l’output sont le résultat d’harmonies nasales (Cohn 1993 ; Walker 1998, 2001) et d’hypervoisement par abaissement du voile du palais (Iverson & Salmons 1996 ; Solé 2009). Alors que le premier processus avait en partie été décrit pour le bribri (Wilson 1970 ; Constenla 1982, 1985 ; Tohsaku 1987), le second n’avait pas encore été identifié.(ii) La consonne /tk/ : une unité distinctive, combinant deux lieux, sans pour autant être une consonne doublement articulée, contrairement à ce qui avait précédemment été décrit (Lehmann 1920 ; Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004). Je propose de l’analyser comme une géminée modulée (contour segment, Sagey 1990).La présente étude s’inscrit dans la lignée des travaux qui considèrent que les structures phonologiques doivent être expliquées par des contraintes phonétiques, comme les travaux précurseurs d’Ohala (1975, 1981, 1983). J’utilise plus particulièrement le modèle de la Phonologie Articulatoire (Browman & Goldstein 1986, 1989). Les analyses s’appuient sur des données acoustiques, récoltées dans deux communautés bribri entre 2012 et 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma et Amubre).En plus d’une démarche typologique et phonétique, j’adopte une approche dialectale et diachronique, afin de mieux appréhender le système phonologique de la langue. / Bribri is a Chibchan language spoken in Costa Rica (Central America). Chibchan languages form the main family of the Intermediate Area (Constenla 1991), which links Mesoamerica to the Amazonian and the Andean regions. All of them are endangered and are still under described.This dissertation provides an analysis of Bribri phonology (Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004) problematized according to its typological characteristics:(i) The nasal system: Bribri is among the few languages in the world to lack distinctive nasal consonants. The nasal consonants present in the output result from nasal harmony (Cohn 1993; Walker 1998, 2001) and hypervoicing through velopharyngeal opening (Iverson & Salmons 1996; Solé 2009). While the first process has been partially described for Bribri (Wilson 1970; Constenla 1982, 1985; Tohsaku 1987), the second has not been individuated in the language.(ii) The consonant /tk/: the consonant /tk/ is a distinctive unit which combines two places of articulation. Contrary to what has been previously described (Lehmann 1920; Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004), it is not a doubly articulated consonant. I propose to analyse it as a contour geminate consonant (based on the concept of contour segment, Sagey 1990).Following Ohala’s pioneering work (1975, 1981, 1983), this work is based on the assumption that phonological structures must be explained by phonetic constraints. More specifically, I use the Articulatory Phonology frame (Browman & Goldstein 1986, 1989). The analysis is based on acoustic data collected among two Bribri communities, between 2012 and 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma and Amubre).Along the typological and phonetic approach, I have adopted a dialectal and diachronical point of view to better capture the phonological system of the language.

The Muisca people of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia had an exceptionally complex diet, which is the result of specific subsistence strategies, environmental advantages, and social restrictions. The distinct varieties of microclimates, caused by the sharp elevations in this part of the Andes, allows for a great biodiversity of plants and animals that was accessible to the native population. The crops of domesticated and adopted plants of the Muisca include a wide variety of tubers, cereals, fruits, and leaves that are described in detail in this thesis. The Muisca used an agricultural method known as microverticality where the different thermic floors are utilized to grow an impressive variety of species at various elevations and climates. This group also domesticated the guinea pig, controlled deer populations and possibly practiced pisiculture, patterns that are also described in this text. Some of the foods of the Muisca were restricted to specific social groups, such as the consumption of deer and maize by the chiefly classes and the consumption of roots and tubers by the lower class, hence the complexity of their dietary practices. The utensils utilized in the preparation and processing of foods, including ceramics and stone tools were once of extreme importance in the evolution of the Muisca diet and form an important part of this research as well as the culinary methods that are described in the Spanish chronicles and by contemporary experts. The majority of food products utilized by the Muisca in antiquity are still part of the diet of contemporary Colombians and the current uses of these foods can allow us to understand how these products were used by this pre-Columbian society. On the other hand, knowledge of the practices used by the Muisca can facilitate the preservation of these foods in the modern diet and avoid the introduction and replacement of these foods by nonnative products, which can be less nutritious.