Chimila people

[1] At the time of the Spanish Conquest the Ariguaní River valley was the strategic centre of their territory.

[2] 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.

[4] There were two major cities in the region; one was called Thamara (present-day Tamalameque) and the other was Upari named after their powerful chief.

Chimilas were practiced musical rites with drums of many sizes, flutes with a tip made out of wax varying in between two and five holes, imitated the singing of the rufous-vented chachalaca birds with an instrument called guacharaca and maracas.

[7] The Chimilas cultivated the maize in a technical manner and to a lesser extent other local species of vegetables and fruits for consumption and certain trees near their huts to produces shadows and freshen their area.