Chimilas

The Chimilas or Ette Ennaka are an indigenous people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia. Their Chimila language is part of the Chibcha language family; there were estimated to be around 1000 speakers in 1998. At the time of the Spanish Conquest the Ariguaní River valley was the strategic centre of their territory. On the Serranía del Perijá mountains the Yukpas were also part of the Chimila confederation of tribes.

Pre-Columbian era

At the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas they were established in most of the Cesar River basin and its valley (including Valledupar in the Cesar Department) between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá mountain ranges and bordering the Magdalena River. A Chimila cacique at the time of the Conquest lent his name to the city of Chimichagua, Colombia, while another, Upar, lent his name to Valledupar, via the Spanish ("valley of Upar"). The "Cesar" name of the Cesar River and Cesar Department is an adaptation from the Chimila indigenous word Chet-tzar or Zazare ("calm water") into Spanish, in reference to the Cesar River.