The name of the Aymara people stems from the wordAyma-ra-mi meaning "a place with many communally owned farms". The word "Aymara" also refers to a group of languagedialects of which the origin, spread and time-frame are debated.[6]
According to research byMax Planck Institute, the ancestors of the Aymara people have a continuous genetic heritage in theAndean highlands dating back at least 8,750years[7] around 6750BCE,Late Mesolithic /Early Neolithic, showing close ties to the region's earliest settlers and adaptations to the high-altitude environment. Whilegenetics supportsAymara's deephuman roots in the region, linguistic evidence suggests the modernAymara language developed later.[8]
The early history of the Aymara people is uncertain. Various hypotheses have been voiced.[9] Archeological data of theTiticaca basin in theAltiplano (high plain) comes from the site of the ancient city ofTiwanaku. Aradiocarbon dating study suggests the ancient city was founded in about 110 AD.[10] Origin legends of the Aymara people in terms of time frame seem inconsistent to archeologists. Archeologist Carlos Mamani Condori suggests this is because the Aymara tradition may see the passage of time as a continuum rather than in terms of prehistory and history.[11] The Aymara may have been settlers from elsewhere rather than the builders of the ancient city.[9]Pedro Cieza de León (1518–1554), the Spanish chronicler of Peru, wrote that the Aymara people he met did not know who had built the ancient city.[12]
When Inca migrants first arrived at the traditional lands of the Aymara people, some Aymara people and other ethnic groups were living side by side in the village of Acamaca. Acamaca, located to the north of Lake Titicaca, would grow to be the site of the laterKingdom of Cusco, the capital of theInca Empire and the current day city ofCusco. The Inca arrived not as an army but as migrants searching for agricultural land.[13]
The Aymara people of the Altiplano, the Titicaca basin, and the ancient city ofTiwanaku to the south of Lake Titicaca, also encountered theInca civilisation prior to the rise of the Inca Empire.[14] One of the Inca origin stories tells ofManco Capac andMama Occlo being brought up from the waters of Lake Titicaca by theSun God to create an Inca dynasty.
The rulers of the Kingdom of Cusco were obligated to travel regularly to theIsla del Sol (Sun Island), a rocky island in the southern part of Lake Titicaca, for ritual worship of the Sun God. Charles Stanish writes:[14]
Throughout their short reigns, Inca emperors were obligated to make a long pilgrimage to the Island of the Sun and the Island of the Moon to the ruined but ritually powerful city of Tiwanaku, sought to have some of their sons and daughters conceived and born in the lake area (and) offered precious objects to the cold waters.
In 1438, Aymara warriors were, be it as mercenaries, volunteers or conscripts, present in the army of the Inca ruler,Pachacuti in the defense of Cusco during theChanka–Inca War.[15]
However, more recent historians warn that the chronology of the spread of the Inca empire from Cusco, south to the Altiplano, may be more complex. For example, the names of Incan leaders are variable and may have been used across generations; there were revolts amongst the elite of the Inca Kingdom of Cusco itself; and the history given by the Inca to the Spanish chroniclers was given as part mythology.[19] Furthermore, the dating of the conquest of the Incas by the finding of certain ceramics in archeological strata is, in this area, unreliable.[16]
Rather than one ethnically homogenous group, the Aymara consisted of sometimes warring clans of differing dialects, traditions and geographic distribution. Among them were the Huamallas, Hatuncollas, Chuquitos and Azángaros, and, the Lupaqa and Colla. Their loyalty remained to their village and their local chiefs.[13]: 87 [20]
Unlike the many groups of Indigenous peoples who lost every vestige of their cultures under Inca rule, the Aymara civilisation survived, at least partially. The Aymara insurrections were violent but also organised and persistent (one of twelve years duration). In the end, though, the Aymara were unsuccessful in throwing off the Inca. The outcome was harsh retribution in the form of executions or exile.[21][13]: 87
In addition to this direct punishment, the Aymara were increasingly subjugated by the building of civil, military, agricultural and religious infrastructure through their lands, removal of their sons to Cusco for education, taxation in the form of relinquishing sacred objects to the Inca. The Aymara were also required to give labour and military service to the Inca.[20]: 37
Moreover, groups of Aymara were removed from their village to work in other parts of the Empire, the number of Aymara living in Cusco itself was limited and colonists from elsewhere in the Empire were settled in the region.[22][20]
Pizarro reached Cusco by 1534. Some Native groups saw the Spaniards as liberators and lent support to Pizarro. Pizarro also secured a lineage of Incapuppet rulers, includingManco Inca Yupanqui. Manco Inca Yupanqui was ill treated by Pizarro's men. He escaped then returned with tens of thousands warriors, forcing Cusco intosiege. After ten months, and the arrival of Spanish reinforcements, Manco Inca Yupanqui withdrew.[24]
Having secured Cusco, Pizarro continued south with the resources, wealth and infrastructure of the Inca and Native labour. He benefited from the lack of cohesion between the Altiplano ethnic groups. He had unstoppable soldiers and weapons. In 1542, Spain created theViceroyalty of Peru.
In the new viceroyalty, explorers, conquistadors, governors and generals were givenencomiendas. These grants from Spain gave the encomenderos the right to demand taxes and labour from the Indigenous people in return for military protection and religious instruction. They were a sign of an elite status in society.
Indigenous men between the ages of 18 and 50 were taxed in money and labour. Tax was collected by the village chiefs. One-sixth of taxable men were already assigned to encomenderos who collected the taxes. Twenty percent of the monies went to the crown.[25] In practice, the responsibilities of the encomiendas were applied partially or not at all, while the taxes were.
Whatever may have been the condition of the Aymaras under the Incas, it became infinitely worse after the Spanish conquest; it is all but impossible to convey in words a true picture of the barbarous treatment which they, as well as the neighbouring Indian tribes, experienced at the hands of the Spaniards. Treated infinitely worse than slaves, they were torn from their homes and families to be driven like cattle either to theCoca plantations andGold washings in theYungas, or hot unhealthy valleys to the east of the high Andes (where they rapidly fell victims to a climate altogether unsuited to their constitution), or to theSilver mines ofPotosí,Chayanta,Oruro (where from forced labour, ill-treatment, and insufficient food, they succumbed equally fast, only to be replaced by fresh supplies similarly obtained).[21]
In 1542, theDominican friar,Bartolomé de las Casas published his testimony of the abuse of the Aymara by the Spanish in his book,A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indians.[26] On 20 November 1542, in response to criticism,King Charles I of Spain issued theNew Laws (Ordenanzas de Barcelona orLeyes Nuevas).[26]
Indigenous people could no longer be slaves. They could not be sent to the mines without cause. Clergy andCivil servants had to give up their encomiendas to thecrown. New grants could not be given and importantly, an encomienda could not be an inheritable property.[27][28]
Among the approximate 500 encomiendas in the viceroyalty of Peru, there were cases of corruption and circumvention of the new laws. There were skirmishes between Royalist soldiers and groups of encomenderos, culminating in the death of many encomenderos in an insurrection led byGonzalo Pizarro in 1548.[29]
The new laws started to streamline the encomienda system but Aymara numbers continued to fall. Furthermore, the Indigenous labour force was redistributed causing forced and permanent displacement to cities, factories, or mines.[25] For example, in 1573, the Indigenous population of labourers at thePotosí silver mines was 11,000. By 1673, the same population numbered 1,600.[25]
In 1569,Francisco de Toledo was appointed fifth viceroy of Peru byPhilip II of Spain. Toledo served in this role until 1581. He madeLima the administrative capital of the viceroyalty. He was tasked with creating a successful system ofgovernance throughout the viceroyalty. To this end, Toledo created provinces and aligned the population with them into new, concentrated settlements called "reductions" (reducciones de indios).[30]: 88 This involved forced resettlement which caused disruption to aspects of life of the Indigenous people such as importance of the extended family clan (ayllu), authority of the clan and regional chiefs (curacas), land ownership, farming, language, rituals and sacred life (for example, sacred places known ashuacas).[26]: 40 [31]: 49
Toledo was also asked to consider the legitimacy of the Spanish conquest. Toledo concluded that the conquistadors were no more legitimate in their rule than the Inca. However, the viceroyalty of Peru was legitimate on the basis of the Spanish bringing Catholic Christianity to the Indigenous people.[26]
Toledo instructed thesecular clergy and the leaders of themonastic orders to begin theevangelisation of the viceroyalty.[32]: 165 This was not an easy task due to a lack of clergy, lack of experience of the monastic orders in evangelising and thelanguage barrier between the Spanish and the Indigenous groups who spoke, for the most part, dialects ofAymaran orQuechuan.
Some efforts were made to provide simple lexicons for religious teaching.[33] However, this was difficult because the Aymara language had noorthography and Aymaraphonetics did not compare well with those of theSpanish language.Ludovico Bertonio was an Italian Jesuit missionary who, in 1603, wrote about the Aymara language.[34] On one hand, some clergy tried to adapt notable aspects of the Aymara people's spiritual life, for example,rituals or seasons of the year, with theliturgy and theliturgical calendar. On the other hand, such efforts were shunned by those who saw the Aymara spiritual life as one ofidolatry and objected to the use ofalcohol or coca in rituals.[35][36]
In the Spanish colonial era, the region of Aymara and Quechuan habitation was divided into eleven provinces. They were Canchi, Caranga, Chocarca, Colla, Collagua, Collahuaya, Omasuyo, Lupaca, Quillaca, Urbina, and Picasa.[37] Insurrection in the region occurred in an intermittent, semi-organised manner from as early as 1629 through to thePeruvian war of Independence (1809–1826) when Spanish colonial rule ended.[37] A larger and more persistent insurrection occurred between 1779 and 1781. The Inca descendant,Túpac Amaru, is described as its grand leader. However, historians Julian Steward in 1946 and Steve Stern in 1987 warn that the history of this era is more complex then the romantic version involving Amaru with intricate and various associations between ethnic groups.[12][38]
Aymaraponcho, 17th or 18th centuryAymara people painting, 1890
TheWar of the Pacific (1879 – 1883) or the nitrate war, was a conflict between Chile and an alliance of Bolivia and Peru. It was precipitated by a northward incursion byChile to control sources ofguano in theLitoral province ofBolivia and theTarapacá province of Peru. It resulted in Aymara people being politically separated between the three nations.[39]
The border between Peru and Bolivia transects Lake Titicaca. Chile denied Bolivia of its only seaport atArica.[40]
Aymara children from atacama, Chile.
The Aymara people left living in Chile once again had most aspects of their lives torn asunder. In this case, it was Chilean military clergy who began the "chilenisation" of the Aymara. The emphasis of this program was indoctrination of the ideology of Chileannationalism.[39][41]
Distribution of Aymaras through Bolivia's provinces
The total number of Aymara people is quoted at 1,847,000. Approximately 30% live in Peru and approximately 60% in Bolivia. The rest are divided between Chile (6%) and Argentina (0.2%). Most self-identify as Christian.[42] Aymara language is a third official language in Peru after Spanish and Quechua. It is spoken by 1.6% of the population.[43]
The Aymara flag is known as theWiphala. An ancient design associated with the Inca, the Wiphala is an ethnic symbol for the Aymara and has been adopted as a symbol of Indigenous rights. It consists of seven colours patched together in diagonal stripes. The different colours represent geographical regions. The meaning of colours have been adapted to represent different areas of indigenous culture: red (planet earth); orange (society); yellow (strength and morality); green (economy and ecology); blue (supernatural life); and violet (self-determination).[44]
Aymara people's language isAymara. It is spoken from the north of Lake Titicaca to the south ofLake Poopó. Aymara is a third official language in Peru after Spanish and Quechua. It is spoken by 1.6% of the Peruvian population.[43] Aymara has no distant language relative but there are some nearby similar languages. Quechua has some overlap with Aymara brought by contact. There are two closely related languages called Jaqaru and Kawki. A small isolated group of about 1000 people speak these languages in and around the village ofTupe, inYauyos Province, in the remote highlands southwest ofLima. Other related languages are presumable extinct.[45]
Aymara people spinalpaca andllama wool and then colour it with vegetable and mineraldyes. Urine may be used as amordant (colour fixative). Wools and cotton are woven on a horizontalpeg loom by both men and women. There is no broad loom weaving and so, traditional garments such as carrying cloths and ponchos are made by joining two pieces.[46] The colours are vibrant. Patterns are striped or geometrical.
Traditional clothing items include theChullo, a knitted wool cap with ear flaps and ties; a woven carrying clothAguayo carried across the shoulders; a poncho; and a full circle skirt gathered and decorated in horizontal layers (corte).[47]
Development of the Aymara textile industry has led to expositions of luxury alpaca wool garments, silks, lace and delicately embroidered blouses.[48] Another innovation drawing on the Aymara colorful aesthetic is buildings designed in a "Neo-Andean" style which has appeared inEl Alto.[49]
BothQuechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia adopted the style of wearingbowler hats in the 1920s. According to legend, a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans working on railroad construction. They were given to the Indigenous people if they were too small for the construction workers.[50]
Plants available to the traditional Aymara for throughsubsistence agriculture or trade were wild tomato (Solanum huaylasense); lucuma (Pouteria lucuma), a sweet fruit; a small orange fruit of thenightshade family which grows within a green calyx; qamasa and quinoa(Amaranthaceae) of the amaranth family for their seeds and leaves; purple corn (of the flint maize family); maca (Lepidium meyenii) a ginseng or turnip like vegetable; onion (Trichlora); olluco (Ullucus), a root vegetable that looks like a small potato;Yacón, a root vegetable called ground apple andcherimoya (Annona).[51][52]
Thepotato (Solanum tuberosum) originated in the region of the Aymara. Wild species are no longer eaten but are still found. Peru is home to 47% of all wild potato species.[53] Cultivated species are a dietary staple. Potatoes can be stored for many years asChuño. Potatoes are exposed to freezing temperatures overnight then dried during the day. It provides food security in times of famine. However, it is not of high nutritional value.[54] It is used in a variety of dishes. One traditional dish, common inLa Paz, isChairo. It is a type of stew made with Chuño, meat, carrots, onions, and corn.[54][55]
The Aymara word for tree iskhoka from which the wordcoca is derived. Aymara people have had, throughout their history, traditional, recreational, ritual and medicinal uses for coca. The whole leaves can be chewed, brewed as a tea or sucked with a pinch ofwood ash. Medicinally, coca has been used to relieve stomach complaints, including hunger. Whether or not coca ameliorates the symptoms of altitude related illness remains uncertain.[56][57]
Thepsychoactive drug,cocaine is just one of thealkaloid substances found in coca plants. One variant grown for its cocaine content isErythroxylum coca. Other variants of the coca plant contain less potent or non-toxic alkaloids and give only a mild stimulant effect.[58]
Mount Illimani towering over La Paz. Illimani is considered anapu in Aymara spirituality, a mountain deity and guardian of the city.Mummified stillbornllamas displayed at theWitches' Market in La Paz
Aymara religion is asyncretic system of faith, bringing Indigenous spirituality andCatholicism into close proximity.[59] The syncretism is evident in theliturgy of the Aymara lands. Christianfeast days which coincide temporally with Aymara spiritual events have associated, or even combined, meaning and ritual.[59]
Aymara Indigenous spirituality (pachakuti) is based on the seasons and key agricultural events. It gives the foundation of the existence of the Aymara and their responsibility to the natural environment. The Aymara concept of time comes from the cycle of natural events such as the seasons, historical events such as the arrival of the Spaniards and mythological concepts such as the time of the sun.[59] When there is a major shift in these, it is transformation (kuti). The deities are regarded in a hierarchical system.[59]
The spirits of the high mountains and altiplano are worshipped as entities which provide for and protect the people. These entities are calledAchachilas which might be understood as grandparents, ancestors or gods of the household. The majestic mountains,Illimani,Illampu andHuayna Potosí are three Achachilas deities.[60]
Auki auki are people chosen to represent Achachilas in festivals so the spirits may dance upon the earth. Human figuries of the Achachilas are found atThe Witches' Market (calle de las brujes) in La Paz. The items required for ritual offerings are sold at the market. They include coca leaves,incense, stillborn llama, potions, soaps and candles.[61]
The stillborn llama (sullus), mummified by exposure to the cold, dry conditions of the Altiplano, are sold in all sizes from tiny to near fully formed. Their legs are bound and blessings have been given by a priest (yatiri). Stillborn are a frequent occurrence in llamas who can fall pregnant again at two weeks post delivery. The sullus are used as burnt offerings or are buried in the foundations of the house.[62] In Aymaramythology, theHeavenly Llama drinks water from the ocean and urinates it as rain.[63] According to Aymaraeschatology, llamas will return to the water springs and lagoons where they come from at the end of all time.[63]
Traditionally, the Aymara dead have been buried in and outside the home, incairns, in stonedolmens and in cylindrical, upright graves. Thechullpa funerial towers were reserved for the elite of society. They varied in size, architecture and the number of burial chambers.[64]
There are many challenges faced by the Aymara people. On 23 June 2023, 48 Aymara from the La Paz region were consulted in order to prepare a contribution to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2028 inDubai (COP28). The difficulties recognised included: poverty, racism, limited access to the justice system, lack of informed consent in the health system, lack of culturally appropriate health care, loss of traditional knowledge and environmental damage.[65]
However, responses to these challenges are not all the same. For example, some Aymara families put deeper Spanish language learning over Aymara language skills for their children in order to improve the children's chances of improving their options in the general population.[66][67]
Furthermore, the nature of response to these challenges delineates along national lines.[5]
Evo Morales, Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent
In the 1960s, peasant student activists and intellectuals in La Paz, developed a group on the basis of the ideology ofFausto Reinaga (1906–1994).Felipe Quispe (1942–2021) organised the group. He founded theTupac Katari Guerrilla Army, in 1989. Despite the imprisonment of Quispe, the group was involved in violent incidents until 1995.[68][69]
Quispe was released from prison in 1997. He then reinvigorated the CSUTCB (Confederación sindical única de trabajadores campesinos de Bolivia orUnified Syndical Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia) which had first formed in 1979 to represent Aymara people.
Between 2000 and 2005, a succession of protests, such as theBolivian gas conflict in 2003 and mass protests in 2005, toppled the government ofCarlos Mesa.[70]
Along Katarist lines, theMovement Towards Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo –Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos or MAS) political party evolved to support coco farmers, mine workers and the urban poor. The party, under the leadership ofEvo Morales and the concept of a "pre-european colonial utopia" was democratically elected to government in December 2005. It remained the incumbent party until the2025 Bolivian general election.[69]
^Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo (2015). Urton, Gary; von Hagen, Adriana (eds.).Encyclopedia of the Incas - Aymara. Translated by Fraser, Barbara.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 49.ISBN978-0-7591-2363-2.
^abPärssinen, Martti; Siiriäinen, Ari (1997). "Inka-style ceramics and their chronological relationship to the Inka expansion in the southern Lake Titicaca area (Bolivia)".Latin American Antiquity.8 (3): 255.doi:10.2307/971655.JSTOR971655.
^de Acosta, José (2002). "Of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and what happened up to the time of Huayna Capac". In Mangan, Jane E. (ed.).Natural and moral history of the Indies. Vol. 6. Translated by López-Morillas, Frances.Duke University Press. p. 363.
^abcSwartley, Lynn (2018).Inventing Indigenous Knowledge Archaeology, Rural Development and the Raised Field Rehabilitation Project in Bolivia.Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-1-317-79420-2.
^abForbes, David (1870).On the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and Peru. London:Taylor & Francis. p. 5. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
^World Health Organisation secretariat (2006),Contribution of traditional medicine to public,Health: coca leaf, 120th Session of the executive board, Provisional item 4.13. pdf
^abMontecino Aguirre, Sonia (2015). "Llamas".Mitos de Chile - Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos (in Spanish).Catalonia. p. 415.ISBN978-956-324-375-8.
Adelson, Laurie and Arthur Tracht;Aymara Weavings - Ceremonial Textiles of Colonial and 19th Century Bolivia, [Washington, D.C.], Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1983ISBN0-86528-022-3
Buechler, Hans C.;The Masked Media: Aymara Fiestas and Social Interaction in the Bolivian Highlands,Approaches to Semiotics, 59, The Hague, Mouton, 1980ISBN90-279-7777-1
Buechler, Hans C. and Judith-Maria Buechler;The Bolivian Aymara,Case studies in cultural anthropology, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971ISBN0-03-081380-8
Carter, William E.;Aymara Communities and the Bolivian Agrarian Reform, Gainesville,University Press of Florida, 1964.
Hardman, Martha James;The Aymara Language in Its Social and Cultural Context - A Collection Essays on Aspects of Aymara Language and Culture, Gainesville,University Press of Florida, 1981ISBN0-8130-0695-3
Lewellen, Ted C.;Peasants in Transition - The Changing Economy of the Peruvian Aymara: a General Systems Approach, Boulder, Colorado,Westview Press, 1978ISBN0-89158-076-X
John Murra, "An Aymara Kingdom in 1567",Ethnohistory 15, no. 2 (1968), 115–151.
Aaron I. Naar,Los Hombres del Lago, a documentary film. It tells about Puñaca Tintamaria, the smallest community of Uru-Muratos. Narrated by the community's ex-leader, Daniel Moricio Choque, the movie recounts the history of the community, customs, and current problems: their poverty, lack of land and representation, the contamination ofLake Poopó, and the impact of global warming.
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