Motilon people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (5400) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
Colombia and Venezuela Colombia Venezuela
|
|
| Languages | |
| Bari, a language in the Chibchan group | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chibchan group |
The Motilone, or Bari are names of a Native American ethnic group, part of the Chibcha family, remnants of the Tairona Culture concentrated in northeastern Colombia and western Venezuela in the Catatumbo River basin, in the Colombian Department of Northern Santander in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. They have been the subject of the French ethnologist Robert Jaulin's attention, who redefined the concept of ethnocide by observing their particular fate.
Although the Bari and Yukpa peoples are commonly referred to as "Motilones," this is not how they refer to themselves. "Motilones" means "shaved heads" in Spanish, and is how Spanish-speaking Colombians refer to them.
In the 16th century, Alonso de Ojeda of Spain sailed to South Caribbean coasts and discovered the Maracaibo Basin. The Spaniards believed that the area's frequent lightning strikes turned stone into gold, and so they began settling the region extensively. The Motilones fought the Spaniards back from their territory, defeating five royal expeditions sent to pacify the Indians. It was the Spaniards who first named the Barí "Motilones," or "people of the short hair."
In 1530 Ambrosius Ehinger, commissioned by German banker family (Welser of Augsburg), looted a large amount of gold from Caribe Indians on the western coast of South America, and attempted to transport the gold over the Bobalí Mountains. Motilones ambushed and destroyed the expedition, and the gold was lost, never to be found again. Motilone warriors harassed the troops of Simón Bolívar in the 19th century as he led them over the Orinoco plains and the Andes Mountains.
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Wikipedia