Kallawaya

Kallawaya (sometimes Qallawaya, Spanish Callahuaya ) is the name of an ethnic group in Bolivia and at the same time the name of their medicine men and healers who are known in certain regions of the Andes because of their healing arts in Aboriginal.

The Andean cosmic vision of Kallawaya was recorded in 2003 by UNESCO under the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity and included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The title of the proclamation reads in German: The embossed from the Andean region cosmic worldview of Kallawaya (ethnic group ) ( myths, rituals, medicine) (2003)

Etymology and history

According to one theory, the name is derived from the Aymara words Qulla and Wayu ago - one called " herbal medicine ", the second "carry". The Callawayas would thus " healing herb bearing ". ( After Oblitas Poblete, Cochabamba, 1970, quoted in Ina Rosing, The banishment of grief, first Nördlingen 1987). However, the spellings Kallawaya ( Callahuaya ) Calavaya and Carabaya were used interchangeably in the early colonial period and it created the " provinces " Hatun Calavaya (wholesale Calavaya ) and Calavaya la chica (small Caravaya ). The former consisted of the eastern Andean highlands of the Cordillera de Carabaya ( hence the name) up to the current Peruvian- Bolivian border, the latter from the border up to now the province Larecaja in Bolivia. Interestingly, the area was until the recent time because of its gold deposits and because there are additions to the lowlands. In the history of the Kallawaya people were primarily as traders, artisans ( amulets ) and of course perceived as a healer. What is known is the illustration of the mestizo chronicler Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala from the book " Nueva y Buen Gobierno Coronica ". On page 331 you can see the representation of the Inca emperor Topa Yupanqui pair and Mama Ocllo carried in a litter. In the illustration we read: " llevan al ynga going yndios callauaya " - " Callauaya - indios carry the Inca "

Region

The Kallawaya belong to a Quechua-speaking ethnic group that lives in the northeast of Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia to Peru in the Cordillera and the Cordillera Apolobamba Muñecas in the Andes.

Culture

The Kallawaya people is known is joined by his medicine in which medicine from vegetable, animal and mineral products with rituals. The weavings of Kallawaya area are outstanding in their technology and processing. The typical dance of Kallawaya ethnic group is the Qantu ( Khantu ) provided on panpipes ( Sikus ) is accompanied.

Language

The Kallawaya generally speak Quechua, but the healers use a special secret language Machchaj - Juyai or Callahuaya mentioned, which has developed through the mixing of previously spoken in this region Puquina with the Quechua. The vocabulary comes mainly doing the Puquina, the morphology of the Quechua.