Nabusimake is the capital of the Arhuaco people, their spiritual center and the symbol of their resistance to outsiders. For most of the 20th century Nabusimake was a Capuchin Friar mission. Friars prohibited the Arhuaco children from learning about their culture or speaking their language and put them aside in an orphanage. They took over the best land in the region with the Colombian government's consent and established forced labor. It was not until 1982 that the Arhuacos were able to expel the Capuchin Friars from Nabusimake.