Kolla

Total population
120,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Argentina (Jujuy and Salta Provinces),  Bolivia,[2]  Chile
Languages
Northwest Jujuy Quechua, a dialect of the Southern Quechua, a Quechua language[3]
Religion
Animism, Christianity (Protestantism)[4]

The Kolla (or Colla) are an indigenous people of Western Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, living in Jujuy and Salta Provinces. The 2004 Complementary Indigenous Survey reported 53,019 Kolla households living in Argentina.^[4] They moved freely between the borders of Argentina and Bolivia.^[2] Their lands are part of the yungas or high altitude forests at the edge of the Amazon rainforest.^[1]

History [edit]

The Kolla have lived in their region for centuries, before the arrival of Inca Empire in the 15th century. Sillustani is a prehistoric Kolla cemetery in Peru, with elaborate stone Chullpas. Several groups made up the Kolla people, including the Omaguaca, Zenta, and Gispira. The Kolla came into contact with Spaniards in 1540. They resisted Spanish invasion for 110 years but ultimately lost the Santiago Estate to the Spanish. One particularly famous rebel leader was Ñusta Huillac, a female warrior who fought the Spanish in 1780. With Argentinian independence in 1810, Kolla's situation did not improve and they worked for minimal wages.

On 31 August 1945, Kolla communities in the northwestern Argentine provinces of Jujuy and Salta, through a group of representatives, sent a note to the National Agrarian Council demanding the restitution of their lands, in compliance with previous laws. On 17 January 1946 President Edelmiro Julián Farrell signed the expropriation decree. But as funds for the necessary land surveys and paperwork were in progress, the direction of the Council passed to other people, who blocked them. In 1946, Kolla people joined the Malón de la Paz, a march to the capital of Buenos Aires to demand the return of their lands.

In the 1950s, Kolla people worked in the timber industry on their ancestral lands.^[1]

In 1985 the Argentinian government officially recognized the indigenous peoples of that country by Law 23303.^[1] A cholera epidemic took a toll on the Kolla population in the late 20th century.^[2] In August 1996, many Kolla people occupied and blocks roaded to their traditional lands but were violently stopped by the police. On 19 March 1997, the Kolla people finally regained legal possession of the Santiago Estate.^[1]

Today [edit]

In the Province of Salta, Northern Argentina, Qullamarka is the Coordinating Platform for five different Kolla organizations.,^[5] including the Kolla Tinkunaku Community is a grassroots organization, which represents four Kolla communities.^[4] Two other organizations represent Kolla rights in Argentina: Centro Kolla in Buenos Aires and the Indianista de los Pueblos Kollas. Because they traditionally held their land in common, Kolla people do not have titles of ownership to their lands, which has resulted in displacement. However, Kolla people participate in Argentinian government and hold local elected positions in their region.^[2]

Indigenous Communities in Argentina [edit]

Argentina has a total population of 40 million. The Additional Survey on Indigenous Populations, published by the National Institute for Statistics and Census, gives a total of 600,329 people who see themselves as descending from or belonging to an indigenous people.^[4]

For a number of reasons the different indigenous organisations do not believe this to be a credible survey: First, the methodology used in the survey was considered inadequate, as a large number of indigenous people live in urban areas where the survey was not fully conducted. Second, many indigenous people in the country hide their identity for fear of discrimination. Moreover, when the survey was designed in 2001, it was based on the existence of 18 known peoples in the country, today there exist more than 31 groups. This increase, reflects a growing awareness amongst indigenous people in terms of their ethnic belonging.^[4]

As many Argentinians either believe that the majority of the indigenous have died out or are on the verge of doing, or 'their descendants' assimilated into Western civilisation many years ago, they wrongly hold the idea that there are no indigenous people in their country. The use of pejorative terms likening the indigenous to lazy, idle, dirty, ignorant and savage are part of the everyday language in Argentina.Due to these incorrect stereotypes many indigenous have over the years been forced to hide their identity in order to avoid being subjected to racial discrimination.^[4]

Language [edit]

The Kolla speak Northwest Jujuy Quechua or Colla, a dialect of South Bolivian Quechua, which is in turn a dialect of the Southern Quechua, a Quechua language.^[3]

Notable Kolla people [edit]

• Ñusta Huillac, female military leader who fought the Spanish in 1780

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

• "Kolla Indians Fight to Protect Their Land.", InterPress Service