THE NASA PEOPLE

LOCATION

The Nasa are an indigenous group of Colombia. They live in the north eastern zone of Cauca. This ethnic group is located in Tierradentro in the slopes of the Cordillera Central. Their land has an extension of around one thousand nine hundred square kilometers. It is surrounded by mountains of difficult access which are called Tierradentro. The Nasa are divided into two municipalities in Inza and in Belalcazar or Paez.

HISTORY

The old settlers of Tierradentro inhabited the area around one hundred years after Christ. Archaeologists found the Paez indigenous community divided into two kinds of burials: primary and secondary. These tombs consist of a hole where they buried the dead and placed, next to them, jewelry, tulpas, and pots.

POPULATION

The Nasa are people that recognize their past and feel love for their region. They preserve traditions, customs, rituals and culture in their life. Colombian Indias are distributed in more than eigthy ethnic gropups, one of the largest groups are the NASA. According to the DANE, In the census of two thousand five, the Nasa indigenous population in Cauca is two hundred forty-seven thousand nine hundred eighty –seven.

ORGANIZATION

The Nasas are organized in Cabildos. In Tierradentro, there are two organizations: Juan Tama comprising nine indigenous Cabildos of the municipality Inza and Nasa Cxahcxha which includes nineteen Cabildos of the municipality of Belalcazar Paez.

A Cabildo comprises the governor, the commissioner, the mayor, sheriff and prosecutor. The Nasa members of the Cabildo receive the wand as a sign of their authority.

The traditional doctor called Thè Wala occupies an important place in social organization. He solves the problems that arise between indigenous people and the spiritual world.

CLOTING

The dresses are made by the Nasa indigenous group. The men remove the wool from the sheep and the women spun and painted it with vegetables, for making the ruanas, mochilas and chumbes, later. The men weave straw hats. Some older men and women do not used shoes. In the old times, they used necklaces of fangs seeds and gold.

The Nasa women usually wear: a woolen skirt, a blouse, a belt (chumbe), a straw hat and a mochila.

The Nasa men usually wear: pants, a shirt, a woolen ruana, a straw hat and a mochila.

LANGUAGE

The Nasa Yuwe is the language of this indigenous group. The language is learned by oral tradition.