Pre-Columbian was one of the first sites that Spanish explorers first sighted upon their arrival to the continental
Americas. During the
pre-Columbian era, present-day La Guajira was inhabited predominantly by indigenous tribes belonging, in the dry northern lowlands, mostly to the
Wayuu (Guajiros, Macuiros, Anates, Caquetios, Wayunaiki, Cuanaos, Onotos and Eneales) and
Cocina people, and, in the south, to the
Kogui,
Arhuaco,
Guanebucan, and
Chimila ethnic groups, among others. Archaeological digs have uncovered the sites of fishing communities that used pottery on the central eastern side of the
Guajira Peninsula, dating to the 10th century BC. These groups coexisted on the Guajira Peninsula. The northern indigenous peoples were nomads traveling the peninsula, hunting, fishing, and collecting fruit. The indigenous groups in the south were semi-sedentary, practicing agriculture and exploiting coastal resources. In 1502, a Spanish expedition led by
Juan de la Cosa was the first to disembark at
Cabo de la Vela. In 1524,
Rodrigo de Bastidas created the government of Santa Marta which encompassed an area from
Cabo de la Vela to the mouth of the
Magdalena River. In 1535,
Martín Fernández de Enciso founded the first settlement in La Guajira, a village, near present-day
Cabo de la Vela, called
Nuestra Señora Santa María de los Remedios del Cabo de la Vela. In 1544, due to constant attacks from the indigenous, and from Spanish from the neighboring Captaincy of Venezuela who were after the large deposits of pearls, the village was moved to present-day Riohacha and refounded by
Nikolaus Federmann. Between 1609 and 1640, the Spanish colonizers imported some 800 or more African slaves. Most of these later escaped and formed palenques. In 1679, the Government of Santa Marta offered these palenques their freedom in exchange for their helping to protect the territory from English pirates and the government of Venezuela who coveted the Guajira Peninsula because of its
pearls.
The Guajira rebellion The Wayuu were never subjugated by the Spanish, and the two groups were in a more or less permanent state of war. There were rebellions in 1701 (when the Wayuu destroyed a Capuchin mission), 1727 (when more than 2,000 Indians attacked the Spanish), 1741, 1757, 1761, and 1768. In 1718, Governor Soto de Herrera called the Wayuu, "barbarians, horse thieves, worthy of death, without God, without law and without a king". Of all the Indians in the territory of Colombia, they were unique in having learned the use of firearms and horses. , Viceroy of the
Viceroyalty of New Granada. In 1769, the Spanish took 22 Wayuu captive, in order to put them to work building the fortifications of Cartagena. The reaction of their fellow Indians was unexpected. On May 2, 1769, at El Rincón, near
Río de la Hacha, they set the village afire, burning the church and two Spaniards who had taken refuge in it, and capturing the priest. The Spanish immediately dispatched an expedition from El Rincón to capture the Indians. At the head of this force was José Antonio de Sierra, a mestizo who had also headed the party that had taken the 22 Guajiro captives. The Guajiros recognized him and forced his party to take refuge in the house of the curate, which they then set afire. Sierra and eight of his men were killed. and
arrow. 1928. In 1903, the Capuchin Friars began building orphanages for Wayuu children, beginning with the La Sierrita Orphanage built in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. The San Antonio Orphanage, located by the
Calancala River, was built in 1910, and the Nazareth Orphanage, in the Serranía de Macuira mountains, in 1913. The orphanages had influence over the
rancherías of Guarrachal, El Pájaro, Carazúa, Guaraguao, Murumana, Garra Patamana, and Karraipía. The Nazareth Orphanage had some control over the rancherías of Taroa, Maguaipa, Guaseipá, and Alpanapause. The friars frequently visited the settlements, inviting the people to attend mass. Wayuu children in the orphanages were educated in traditional European customs. Conflicts between the Wayuu people and the Colombian government have decreased since then. In 1942,
Uribia celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve for the first time . ==Politics==