Timoto–Cuica people

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Total population
Regions with significant populations
 Venezuela extinct
Timote-Cuica language

Timoto–Cuica people were an indigenous group compromised primarily of two tribes, the Timotes and the Cuicas, that inhabited in the Andean region of western Venezuela.[1] They were closely related to the Muisca people of the Andes, who spoke a Chibchan based language. The Timoto-Cuicas were not only composed of the Timoto and the Cuica tribes, but also the Mucuchíes, the Migures, the Tabayes, and the Mucuñuques.

Culture and lifeways[edit]

Timoto-Cuica territory, in present day Mérida, Venezuela

Pre-Columbian Venezuela had an estimated indigenous population of one million,[1] with the Andean region being the most densely populated area. The two tribes lived peacefully in what are today the states of Mérida, Trujillo, and Táchira.

Timoto-Cuica society was complex with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks.[1] Their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for the most part, and depended on growing crops. Regional crops included potatoes and ullucos.[2]


Timoto and Cuica toponyms


  1. ^ a b c Mahoney 89
  2. ^ "Venezuela." Friends of the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. (retrieved 9 July 2011)


External links[edit]