Aymara

By Vanderbilt Center for Latin American Studies

Indigenous people are some of the first people to live in a particular place.
Indigenous people are also called native people. Each indigenous group has its own
language. Some indigenous people only speak their native language, and other
indigenous people speak their native language and Spanish. One group of indigenous
people called the Aymara live in the Andes mountains in parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile
in South America. Traditionally, the Aymara have lived in areas with harsh climates and
bad soil. They grow grass to feed their herds of llamas and alpacas. The Aymara also
grow and eat potatoes, corn, beans, wheat, quinoa, and aji, a popular hot pepper. Aymara
women often wear rounded hats called bowlers and colorful shawls and skirts. The
shawls are made with weaving techniques that have been used for hundreds of years.
Some people think the Aymara weaving is some of the most complex in the world.

Vanderbilt University
Center for Latin American Studies
 Music is important to the Aymara and is played at festivals and celebrations. The
most common instruments are homemade violins, drums, panpipes, and pututu which are
made from a cow’s horn. Like other indigenous people, the Aymara believe in a mixture
of their indigenous religion and Roman Catholic beliefs. They believe that spirits live in
the mountains, sky, and lightning. The most powerful and holy spirit is Pachamama, the
Earth Goddess, who controls how well crops grow. Although the Aymara people live in
three different countries today, they are united by a flag called the wiphala that has seven
colors.

First image link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aymaras.JPG

Second image link:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aymara_ceremony_copacabana_1.jpg

Vanderbilt University
Center for Latin American Studies