Kallawaya people
Encyclopedia
The Kallawaya are an itinerant group of traditional healers living in the Andes
of Bolivia
. They live in the Bautista Saavedra region
, a mountainous area north of La Paz
. They are members of the Mollo culture
and are direct descendants of Tiwanaku culture
. According to the UNESCO
Safeguarding Project, the Kallawaya can be traced to the pre-Inca period. The Kallawaya performed brain surgery as early as 700 CE.
, Chile
, Ecuador
, Panama
, and Peru
. Often they are on foot, walking ancient Inca trails, through the tropics, mountain valleys and highland plateaus, while looking for traditional herbs.
Prior to leaving their homes to heal the sick, the Kallawayas perform a ceremonial dance. The dance and regalia are expressed as the yatiri ("healer"). The choreography is noted for the llantucha of suri, clothing made of rhea
feathers and used as protection against the elements while they travel to their patients, carrying khapchos ("male bags") that contain herbs, mixes, and talismans. Groups of musicians perform Kantu
, playing drums and pan flutes during the ritual ceremonies to establish contact with the spirit world before the healer visits patients.
, a language based on Quechua grammar but retaining an esoteric vocabulary for terms reflecting medicinal knowledge, which appears to be a remnant of the vocabulary of the now extinct Puquina language. For general conversation, they speak the more common Quechua language.
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. They live in the Bautista Saavedra region
Bautista Saavedra Province
Bautista Saavedra is one of the twenty provinces of the Bolivian department of La Paz and is situated in the department's northwestern parts. The province's name honors Bautista Saavedra Mallea , Bolivia's president from 1920 to 1925.- Location :...
, a mountainous area north of La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
. They are members of the Mollo culture
Mollo culture
The Mollo culture existed in Bolivia's altiplano area after the collapse of the Tiwanaku culture during the period of AD 1000 to 1500; it predated the Inca civilization. While the Mollo showed a continuity with Late Tiwanaku culture in both domestic and village architecture, they left no...
and are direct descendants of Tiwanaku culture
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku, is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five...
. According to the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Safeguarding Project, the Kallawaya can be traced to the pre-Inca period. The Kallawaya performed brain surgery as early as 700 CE.
Etymology
According to Enrique Oblitas Poblete, a Bolivian ethnobotanical specialist, Kallawaya may be a corruption of khalla-wayai ("beginning of a drink offering") or k'alla or k'alli wayai ("entrance into priesthood").Healers
Kallawaya doctors (médicos Kallawaya), are known as the naturopathic healers of Inca kings, and as keepers of science knowledge, principally the pharmaceutical properties of vegetables, animals and minerals. Most Kallawaya healers understand how to use 300 herbs, while specialists are familiar with 600 herbs. Kallawaya women are often midwives, treat gynecological disorders, and pediatric patients. Kallawaya healers travel through northwestern Bolivia and parts of ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. Often they are on foot, walking ancient Inca trails, through the tropics, mountain valleys and highland plateaus, while looking for traditional herbs.
Prior to leaving their homes to heal the sick, the Kallawayas perform a ceremonial dance. The dance and regalia are expressed as the yatiri ("healer"). The choreography is noted for the llantucha of suri, clothing made of rhea
Rhea
-Animals:* Rhea , a large flightless bird of southern South America* Dendropsophus rhea, a tree frog-In mythology:* Rhea , a Titan in Greek mythology* Rhea Silvia, in Roman mythology the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus...
feathers and used as protection against the elements while they travel to their patients, carrying khapchos ("male bags") that contain herbs, mixes, and talismans. Groups of musicians perform Kantu
Kantu
Kantu or k'antu is an ancient style of music and circle dance which is widespread since incaic or even preincaic epoch on the Peruvian and Bolivian highlands. Modern versions of this style still use the Quechua or Aymara language and the siku...
, playing drums and pan flutes during the ritual ceremonies to establish contact with the spirit world before the healer visits patients.
Language
The language of their trade is the Kallawaya languageKallawaya language
Kallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla is an endangered, secret, mixed language in Bolivia. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes in their medicinal healing practice....
, a language based on Quechua grammar but retaining an esoteric vocabulary for terms reflecting medicinal knowledge, which appears to be a remnant of the vocabulary of the now extinct Puquina language. For general conversation, they speak the more common Quechua language.
Further reading
- Abdel-Malek, S, et al. 1995. Drug Leads from the Kallawaya Herbalists of Bolivia. 1. Background, Rationale, Protocol and Anti-HIV Activity. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 50, no. 3: 157.
- Bastien, Joseph William. Healers of the Andes: Kallawaya Herbalists and Their Medicinal Plants. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987. ISBN 0874802784
- Janni, Kevin D, and Joseph W Bastien. 2004. Special Section on Medicinal Plants - Exotic Botanicals in the Kallawaya Pharmacopoeia. Economic Botany. 58: S274.
- Krippner, S., and E. S. Glenney. 1997. The Kallawaya Healers of the Andes. The Humanistic Psychologist : Bulletin of the Division of Humanistic Psychology, Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. 25, no. 2: 212.
External links
- Articles list, various authors, prepared by Dr. K. David Harrison, Swarthmore University
- Encyclopedia Britannica on Kallawaya people
- Encyclopedia Britannica Photo of Kallawaya near Charazani, Bolivia
- Kallawaya by Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages