COCONUCA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Coconucos, at the sources of the Rio Purase.
- Guanucos, in the Sierra.
- Guambianos, see Moguexes.
- Moguexes, on the western slope of the Cordillera.
- Pubenanos, adjacent to the Coconucos.
- Mosqueras, sub-tribe of Moguexes.
- Polindaras, head-waters of Rio Cauca.
- Totoros, in the Sierra between the Magdalena and Cauca.
To these should probably be added the Conchucos and Guaycos, who appear to have been adjacent tribes speaking the same tongue, although also being familiar with the Kechua language.[262]
In the upper valleys of the rivers Daule, Chone and Tachi, there still survive some families of the “painted Indians,” who were referred to by Cieza de Leon as Manivis, now usually called Colorados, but whose own name is Sacchas, men or people. They are naturally of a light yellow hue, some with light hair and eyes, but are accustomed to go naked and cover their skin with a reddish vegetable pigment, which on the face is laid on in decorative lines. Their language,[263] with which we have some acquaintance, appears to belong to the same family as that of the Barbacoas, to whom the Jesuit Father Luca della Cueva went as missionary in 1640, and that of the Iscuandes and the Telembis, all residing in the forests near the coast, between 1° and 2° north latitude. These are described by M. André, who visited them in 1880, as of mixed blood and reduced to a few hundreds, but still retaining something of their ancient tongue, of which he obtained a vocabulary of 23 words. The Cuaiqueres he reports as also speaking this idiom.[264]
Velasco mentions that the Barbacoas, Telembis and Iscuandes formed a confederation governed by a council of nine members chosen equally from the three tribes.
To the south of the Telembis and adjoining the Kechua-speaking Malabas in the district of La Tola were the Cayapas, of whom some remnants remain, still preserving their native tongue. A vocabulary of it, obtained by H. Wilcszynski, has recently been published.[265] On comparing it with the Colorado vocabulary secured by Bishop Thiel and edited by Dr. Seler, it is clear that they are dialects of the same stock, as will be seen from these examples:[266]
| CAYAPA. | COLORADA. | |
|---|---|---|
| Head, | mishpuca, | michu. |
| Hair, | achua, | apichu. |
| Eye, | capucua, | caco. |
| Fingers, | fia-misho, | té-michu. |
| Fire, | nin-guma, | ni. |
| Water, | pi, | pi. |
| Rain, | shua, | chua-ptana. |
| Tree, | chi, | chi-tue. |
| Night, | quepe, | quepe. |
| Sister, | in-socki, | soque. |
| House, | ia, | ya. |
| White, | fiba, | fibaga. |
| To sleep, | casto, | catzoza. |
| To drink, | pi-cushno, | cuchi. |
The Cayapas are described as well-built, with oval faces and roman noses.[267]
As the Barbacoas were the first known and probably the most numerous member of this family, I shall select their name to apply to them all, and classify the group as follows: