.svg) Flag | |
 An emerald from Muzo; The Muzo were known as the "Emerald People" | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 100,000 (including Colima)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
Boyacá, Cundinamarca,  Colombia | |
| Languages | |
| Cariban, Colombian Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional religion, Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Guane, Lache, Muisca, Panche |
The Muzo people are a Cariban-speaking[2][3][4] indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a highly war-like tribe who frequently clashed with their neighbouring indigenous groups, especially the Muisca.
The Muzo inhabited the right banks of the Magdalena River in the lower elevations of western Boyacá and Cundinamarca and were known as the Emerald People, thanks to their exploitation of the gemstone in Muzo. During the time of conquest, they resisted heavily against the Spanish invaders taking twenty years to submit the Muzo.
Knowledge about the Muzo people has been provided by chroniclers Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Pedro Simón, Juan de Castellanos, Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and others.
- ^ (in Spanish) Grupos étnicos primitivos en Boyacá
- ^ (in Spanish) Culturas prehispánicas de Colombia
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