- Related Topics:
- South American Indian
Aymara
-
Who are the Aymara people?
The Aymara are a large South American Indigenous group inhabiting the Altiplano, a high plateau in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia, with smaller populations in Argentina and Chile. Their language is also called Aymara.
Primarily agriculturalists and herders, the Aymara cultivate crops such as potatoes, corn, beans, barley, and wheat, and they raise herds of llama and alpaca. Before the Inca conquest around 1430, the Aymara had several independent states. The Spanish colonization beginning in 1535 brought exploitation of the Aymara for labor in agriculture, mines, and as household servants. Today, the Aymara maintain their traditional beliefs, blending them with Christian beliefs. Aymara clothing is homespun, and reflects earlier Spanish colonial styles.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Where do the Aymara people traditionally live?
The Aymara people traditionally live on the Altiplano, a high plateau in the central Andes, which spans parts of Peru and Bolivia, with smaller populations in Argentina and Chile. This region features challenging conditions with poor soils and a harsh climate. The Aymara have adapted to these conditions, developing skills in agriculture and herding. Their settlements are concentrated in the central Altiplano of western Bolivia, where cities like La Paz and Oruro are located, along with numerous smaller towns and villages.
5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What language do the Aymara people speak?
The Aymara people, who live primarily on the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia, speak the Aymara language, also called Aymaran. It is spoken in northwestern Bolivia, southeastern Peru, and small areas of northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. The Aymara numbered about three million in the early 21st century. Some scholars classify the Aymaran group and the Quechuan group together in the Quechumaran stock.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some traditional customs or practices of the Aymara people?
The Aymara are a large South American Indian group residing on the Altiplano, a plateau in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia, with smaller populations in Argentina and Chile. Here are some of their customs and practices:
- Agriculture and Herding The Aymara are primarily agriculturalists and herders in areas with poor soils and harsh climates. They raise llama and alpaca herds on coarse grasses, and their staple crops include potatoes, oca, ullucu, quinoa, corn, beans, barley, and wheat.
- Music and Dance Music and dance are closely linked, with music central to healing practices. Instrumental music is more important to Aymara speakers, and men are the instrumentalists, while women are the singers. The huayño is a couple dance of the Quechua and Aymara Indians that predates the Spanish conquest and is purely festive today.
- Religion While the Aymara have undergone Christian conversion, they maintain beliefs in a multispirit world with magicians, diviners, medicine men, and witches. Some pantheistic pre-Columbian religious characteristics have survived, especially the worship of Pachamama, the Earth goddess.
- Clothing Aymara clothing is homespun and reflects earlier Spanish colonial styles. Men wear conical, ear-flapped, knit wool gorros, and women wear round, native-made wool derbies, with wool wimples in cold weather.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do the Aymara people make a living?
The Aymara people, numbering about three million in the early 21st century, primarily live on the Altiplano in South America in Peru. They are mainly agriculturalists and herders in areas characterized by poor soils and a harsh climate. They raise llama and alpaca herds on coarse grasses. Their staple crops include potatoes, oca, ullucu, quinoa, corn, beans, barley, and wheat. Additionally, they engage in fishing using rowboats and totora-reed rafts.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What challenges are faced by the Aymara people in modern times?
The Aymara people, numbering about three million in the early 21st century, face several challenges in modern times. As agriculturalists and herders in the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, they live in areas characterized by poor soils and a harsh climate, which makes their traditional livelihoods difficult.
Additionally, the Aymara have undergone acculturation under the Incas and the Spaniards, resulting in changes in social organization and a decline in traditional arts and crafts. Many Aymara seek wages in urban settings, which changes their basic social unit.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Aymara, large South American Indian group living on the Altiplano—a vast windy plateau of the central Andes in Peru and Bolivia—with smaller numbers in Argentina and Chile. Their language is also called Aymara. In colonial times the Aymara tribes were the Canchi, Colla, Lupaca, Collagua, Ubina, Pacasa, Caranga, Charca, Quillaca, Omasuyo, and Collahuaya. The Aymara numbered about three million in the early 21st century.
Basically agriculturalists and herders, the Aymara live in areas with poor soils and a harsh climate. Coarse grass gives pasturage for llama and alpaca herds. Staple crops include potatoes, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), ullucu (Ullucus tuberosus), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), corn (maize), beans, barley, and wheat. Fishing is done from rowboats and totora-reed rafts.
Before they were conquered by the Incas, the Aymara had a number of independent states, the most important being those of the Colla and the Lupaca. About 1430 the Inca emperor Viracocha began conquests southward from his capital at Cuzco. Aymara territories ultimately formed a major part of the Inca empire, against which the Aymara continually revolted.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The Spanish colonization, beginning in 1535, brought seekers of gold and Indigenous labor, followed by Dominican and Jesuit friars in search of converts. The colonial agrarian economy was based on the systematic exploitation of the Aymara in agriculture, in the mines, as household servants, and on the coca plantations in the jungles. A period of rebellion began in 1780, during which the Aymara killed large numbers of Spaniards, and continued until Peruvian independence from the Spanish crown was proclaimed in 1821.
The Aymara have passed through several stages of acculturation, first under the Incas, then under the Spaniards, and subsequently in the course of modernization. The Inca strengthened local Aymara dynasties as part of their imperial system and introduced new religious cults and myths, a greater variety of foods, and new art styles. The Spaniards introduced new domesticated animals and plants, plow agriculture, and iron tools. They suppressed native religious institutions but effected only a superficial conversion to Christianity. Today the Aymara maintain their beliefs in a multispirit world, have many categories of magicians, diviners, medicine men, and witches, but are Christian in their beliefs about the afterworld. Independence and economic development brought changes in social organization and a decline in traditional arts and crafts.
Aymara clothing is homespun and reflects earlier Spanish colonial models. Men wear conical, ear-flapped, knit wool gorros; women wear round, native-made wool derbies, with wool wimples in cold weather. The single-room, rectangular, gabled Aymara house, about 2.5 by 3 meters (8 by 10 feet) in size, is made of turf, thatched with wild grass over pole rafters; it contains a family sleeping platform of mud at one end and a clay stove near the door.
The basic social unit is the extended family, consisting of a man and his brothers, their wives, sons, and unmarried daughters, living in a cluster of houses within a compound. This structure is changing as many Aymara seek wages in urban settings. The political unit is the ayllu, or comunidad, composed of several extended families.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
