Atanquez was an indigenous settlement founded according to oral tradition by a Mama (spiritual leader) named Tukaka.

These indigenous villages were Atanquez, Maraocaso and El Rosario which grew in population due to the displacement caused during the period of Spanish conquest of the Chimila and Guanebucanes in the lower and surrounding areas of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in the 16th century.

Atanquez also became part of the indigenous Kankuamo Resguardo created by Resolution 012 of April 10, 2003, as established by the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform (INCORA).

[1] Between 1986 and 2003 the Colombian armed conflict affected the region of Atanquez intensively with 197 Kankuamos murdered by paramilitary and guerrilla groups.

[4] These groups flourished in the region due to the marijuana bonanza of the 1970s and later the use of their traditional Coca plants to produce cocaine and the introduction of amapola plantations.