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Aymara

Total population
~2 million
Regions with significant populations
Bolivia 1,462,286 [1]  Peru 440,380 [2]  Chile 48,501 [3]
Languages
Aymara, Andean Spanish
Religion
Roman Catholicism, traditional Andean religion
Related ethnic groups
Quechuas

The Aymara or Aimara (Aymara: aymara  listen (help·info)) are an indigenous ethnic group in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. With the Spanish American Wars of Independence (1810-1825) Aymaras became subjects of Bolivia and Peru and after the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) Chile acquired an Aymaran population.

History[link]

The Aymara have existed in the Andes in what is now Western Bolivia, Southern Peru and Northern Chile for over 2,000 years, according to some estimates.^{[citation needed]} The region where Tiwanaku and the modern Aymara are located, the Altiplano, was conquered by the Incas under Huayna Capac (reign 1483–1523), although the exact date of this takeover is unknown. It is most likely that the Inca had a strong influence over the Aymara region for some time. The architecture for which the Inca are now known is clearly modeled after the Tiwanaku style.^{[citation needed]} Though conquered by the Inca, the Aymara retained some degree of autonomy under the empire. There were a number of ethnic groups which were later to be called Aymara by the Spanish. These were divided upon different chieftainties. These included the Charqa, Qharaqhara, Quillaca, Asanaqui, Carangas, SivTaroyos, Haracapi, Pacajes, Lupacas, Soras, among others. Upon arrival of the Spanish, all these groups were spread in what today is Bolivia. Looking at the history of the languages, however, rather than their current distribution, it is clear that Aymara was once spoken much further north, at least as far north as central Peru, where most Andean linguists feel it is most likely that Aymara originated (see 'Geography' below). In fact, the Inca nobility may themselves originally have been Aymara-speakers, who switched to Quechua only shortly before the Inca expansion. For example, the Cuzco area has many Aymara placenames, and the so-called 'secret language of the Incas' actually appears to be a form of Aymaran.

The Aymara, in their turn, overran and displaced Uru an older population from the Lake Titicaca and Lake Poopó regions, even as recently as the 1930s.^[4]

Geography[link]

Most present day Aymara-speakers live in the Lake Titicaca basin beginning in Lake Titicaca through Desaguadero River and into Lake Poopo (Oruro, Bolivia) also known as the Altiplano, and are concentrated south of the lake. The capital of the ancient Aymara civilization is unknown, as there were at least seven different kingdoms (according to research by Cornell University Anthropologist John Murra). The capital of the largely populated Lupaqa Kingdom was the city of Chucuito (See also John Murra study of this Aymara Kingdom), located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. The present urban center of the Aymara region is El Alto, a 750,000-person city near the Bolivian capital La Paz. For most of the 20th century the center of Cosmopolitan Aymara Culture has been Chuquiago Marka (La Paz). During the government of General Pando (died in 1917) and during the Bolivian Civil War, Bolivia's capital was moved from Sucre to La Paz.

Culture[link]

The Wiphala, flag of the Aymara

The native language of the Aymara is Aymara; additionally, many Aymara also speak Spanish as a second language, whereas it is the predominant language in the countries in which they live. The Aymara flag is known as the Wiphala; it consists of seven colors quilted together with diagonal stripes. Aymara have grown and chewed coca plants for centuries, using its leaves in traditional medicine as well as in ritual offerings to the sun god Inti and the earth goddess Pachamama. During the last century, coca has brought them into conflict with state authorities who have carried out coca eradication in order to prevent the extraction and isolation of the drug cocaine. Coca also plays a central role in the indigenous religions of both the Aymara and the Quechua. Coca is used in the ritual curing ceremonies of the yatiri, and, in more recent times, has become a symbol of cultural identity.

Most of contemporary Aymaran Urban culture was developed in the working-class Aymara neighborhoods of La Paz, such as Chijini and others. Bowler hats have been worn by Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia since the 1920s when a shipment of bowler hats was reportedly sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans working on the construction of the railroads. The hats were found to be too small and were distributed to locals. The luxurious, elegant and cosmopolitan Aymara Chola dress which is an icon to Bolivia (bowler hat, aguayo, heavy pollera, skirts, boots, jewelry, etc.) began and evolved in La Paz. It is, accordingly, an urban and not a rural tradition. The dress has become an ethnic symbol for Aymara women. Also, many Aymara live and work as campesinos in the surrounding Altiplano.

The Aymara language does have one surviving relative, spoken by a small, isolated group of about a thousand people far to the north in the mountains inland from Lima in Central Peru (in and around the village of Tupe, Yauyos province, Lima department). This language, whose two dialects are known as Jaqaru and Kawki,^[5] is of the same family as Aymara. In fact, some linguists refer to it as 'Central Aymara', as opposed to the 'Southern Aymara', which is the predominant part of the family spoken in the Titicaca region.

Politics[link]

Literacy class in El Alto

There are numerous movements for greater independence or political power for the Aymara and other indigenous groups. These include the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, led by Felipe Quispe, and the Movement Towards Socialism, a political party organized by the Cocalero Movement and Evo Morales. These and many other Aymara organizations have been involved in activism in Bolivia, including the 2003 Bolivian Gas War and the 2005 Bolivia protests. One of the goals of the movement, as put forth by Quispe, is the establishment of an independent indigenous state, Qullasuyu, named for the eastern (and largely Aymara) region of the Inca empire which covered the southeastern corner of Peru and much of what is today Bolivia. Evo Morales is an Aymara coca grower from the Chaparé region whose Movement Toward Socialism party has forged alliances with both rural indigenous groups and urban working classes to form a broad leftist coalition in Bolivia. Morales has run for president in several recent elections with several close calls, and in 2005 he finally won a surprise victory, winning the largest majority vote since Bolivia returned to democracy and declaring himself to be the first indigenous president of Bolivia. He is also credited with the ousting of Bolivia's previous two presidents.

See also[link]

• Bartolina Sisa
• Gregoria Apaza
• Roberto Mamani Mamani, contemporary Aymara artist
• Socialist Aymara Group
• Wiphala

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aymara

• Aymara site in English
• Society: an essay
• Aymara worldview reflected in concept of time
• NGO Chakana
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aymara". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.