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We all use ‘El Dorado’ in everyday speech. But few know the story behind these two Spanish words. As the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) starts from October 21 in Colombia’s Cali, it is important to note that the story of El Dorado began in this very South American country half a millennium ago. It continues to reverberate till today, 500 years down the line.
Why? Because the terrible destruction that befell indigenous America and its environment due to this mythical story continues to this day. But more on that later.
Let us start with who the Chibcha were. First, this is not even the name they used to call themselves with.
Writing in The Chibchas: A History and Re-Evaluation (2013), Martin Glassner from the Southern Connecticut State College in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, notes that:
“It is argued by many writers, including contemporary ones, that the Chibchas should properly be called Muiscas as the word Chibcha refers to the language spoken by these people or to the language family which includes various languages spoken from Mexico to Ecuador. There may be some validity in this argument, since many of the earlier records use the term Muisca or some variation thereof in preference to Chibcha. Among these variations are Mwiska, Muiska, Mozca, Mosca, Moxca, Muexca, Muxca and Muysca.”
Who were these people? They were a confederation of a number of sovereign chiefdoms of the same people who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, or the central plateau of Colombia’s highlands in the Andes Mountains.
Glassner’s paper defends the Chibcha from criticisms that their civilisation was not as great as the other great ones spawned by Latin America—the Aztec, Maya and Inca.
He notes that while the Chibcha may not have left behind stone temples, elaborate artwork or great military conquests, the average subject’s life in their chiefdom was more pleasant and satisfying than their Aztec, Mayan and Incan counterparts owing to their complex economy and advanced political organisation.
But what about the legend of El Dorado?
The first Spaniards in the Americas had noticed the indigenous natives wearing gold ornaments, which led them to conclude that there must be a big source somewhere in the vast territory before them.
Stories had begun to circulate and the Europeans were beset with ‘gold fever’. The Spanish had begun to explore the coast of Colombia in 1501 itself. The country is unique among South American nations as it has both a Pacific and a Caribbean coastline.
In 1536 CE, the Spanish Conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada led an expedition from the coastal city of Santa Marta up the Magdalena river. He had heard the stories about gold somewhere in the country that is now Colombia.
Glassen writes that, “The first clue he or any white men received about the existence of the Chibchas was some bars of salt and some emeralds found among some of the tribes in the upper Magdalena valley. Determined to seek out their source, he left the valley, surmounted the Opon Mountains, and in April, 1537, with 166 surviving men and 59 horses, looked down upon the country of the Chibcha.”
The legend of El Dorado Hombre (‘The Golden Man’ or ‘The Gilded One’) related to the tribal ceremony that the Chibcha organised.
As Glassen notes, “its origin lay in the annual Chibcha ceremony at Lake Guatavita, neutral ground for all Chibcha factions and their holiest place. In this ceremony, the chief of Guatavita, naked, was covered with gold dust and set adrift on a raft laden with gold ornaments and other gifts for the mystical beings in the lake. After dropping them overboard the chief himself dove in and returned to shore.”
De Quesada did not find any gold in the lake. But it was drained by the Conquistadors to find gold.
In his 2024 paper El Dorado Offerings in Lake Guatavita: A Muisca Ritual Archaeological Site, Juan Quintero of the Banco de la República de Colombia writes about whether this ceremony actually existed or not.
Quintero notes that around the thirteenth century, in the transition from the Early to the Late Muisca periods, there were changes in social organisation that created sociopolitical tensions in the territory.
That is when one or several political leaders deployed power strategies that involved the celebration of rituals and the manufacture and deposition of votive objects.
“In this context, the El Dorado ceremony was celebrated in Lake Guatavita, and votive figures related to the power of some individuals, such as the raft and the litter, were made and offered throughout the territory so leaders could gain prestige among men and favors from the gods,” according to Quintero.
Later, once the sociopolitical order stabilised, the offerings continued in sacred places, such as in Lake Guatavita, except that it was no longer the ceremony of the golden man.
“When the Spanish arrived, they encountered groups that had heard of the ceremony performed by their ancestors, and that is what they described to the conquistadors,” writes Quintero.
Spanish and other explorers continued to search for the mythical city or man of gold for centuries but to no avail. In the process, countless lives were lost and the environment wrecked.
As Damian Sylvester notes on the portal of Brilliyond, “The El Dorado legend has had a significant impact on the environment and indigenous cultures. The quest for gold has led to environmental destruction and exploitation and has contributed to social and economic inequality. The impact of colonialism and the legacy of the El Dorado legend can still be seen today in South America and other parts of the world.”
How? Take for instance, the gold rushes in California (1849), Australia (1851), the Witwatersrand (1886) and the Klondike (1896). Note also, the plight of the Yanomami of the Amazon rainforest, not far from the lands of the Chibcha.
As the non-profit Amazon Watch notes, “The Yanomami people lived in almost complete isolation from the Western world until the 1980s, when gold was found on their land. Over the decades since this discovery, some 40,000 illegal miners invaded their lands in successive waves, bringing destruction and genocidal violence.”
Take also the plight of the Congolese child workers being made to work forcibly in cobalt mines or the lithium being extracted in Bolivia so that the modern world can power its electric vehicles.
The greed for gold in the past or precious minerals like lithium and cobalt today can only destroy the planet further. Sustainability and balance are key, if our planet and people are to survive. Food for thought for the delegates meeting in Cali.
