By rmattiola
"We are all children of mother earth"
In Chile, there are about 10 recognized indigenous groups, although many others exist. The largest two are the Aymara (or Aimara) of the extreme north (aka the region of Arica and Parinacota) and the Mapuche of the Central- South (Arancunia Region).
During class, we received small details about each group, and we occasionally can pick up on personal opinions, but it seems like the program is encouraging us learn directly from the indigenous, rather than from a secondary source from an outsider’s perspective. We quickly learned the significance of Pacha mama (Mother earth) and Inti (Sun) from various artisans and educators in Arica, but I was craving more information.
I was fascinated by a brief lesson taught in a Spanish class about the Andian Cosmovisión (roughly translates to “world view”). The surviving Andian communities are the Quechua and Aymara who share many aspects of their world beliefs. This ancient group is thought to have migrated from Lake Titicaca in Tiwanhaku, Bolivia to the coast of Chile and Peru well before the conquistadors arrived in Latin America. We learned of the strong community connection rooted in familiar ties between the inhabitants of Aymara towns. Apparently, the hardest and most important work is often shared. The whole community will come together to dig a canal, or plant seeds, or harvest potatoes, and then feast together afterwards. We learned of the belief in 3 worlds:
Uku or Alak pacha: the world below the earth; the roots; where the dead live—but not to be mistaken for “underworld”—uku pacha has a lighter connotation. It is a respectful resting place, rather than a punishment. In fact, apparently the Aymara will pour out a little wine or milk or liquor on the ground for their ancestors (called antepasados) before drinking the beverage themselves.
Kai or Aka pacha: the current life; the time from birth to death
Hanan or Maka pacha: the life of above; the sky; where the guardian Andian gods live
Furthermore, we were introduced to the whipala, the andian flag, composed of colored squares following a specific pattern. The colors represent their seasons and hot and cold things. On my bike rides to and from Spanish class I always pass a similar flag, and presumed that it had native significance, but was unsure until recently.
Pictured: whipala-like flag in Arica
We also learned about the major festivals. I was most intrigued by the Aymara New Year, called Willka Kuti, which falls on June 21, their winter solstice. This New Year makes so much sense, since from that day on, they will have more sun, more crops, more rain, more warmth—all of the things which enable them to survive.
Finally, I was enamored by the 13 Aymaran principles of good living (buen vivir: suma kayana), in accordance with their faith and philosophy, not their religion. Modern Aymaran religion is dominated by those religions introduced by missionaries. (Thanks missionaries). These 13 principles are beautiful, and seem similar to many Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian principles. They are all based on “knowing” or “being familiar with” certain things like eating, sleeping, working, meditation, dancing, loving, listening, walking, etc.
We studied a bit of the symbolism among the Andian communities as well. The chakana is a popular symbol for indigenous and non-indigenous alike. It is a cross-like figure that incorporates steps and separates the 3 worlds. It carries a sentiment similar to ying yang, as it is said to represent masculine and feminine, above and below, black and white, sun and moon, heaven and earth. I was able to ask the yatiri if it is ok for non-indigenous people use this sacred symbol. He explained that everyone is mixed, so it’s not so bad. He did not give a direct answer, but he didn’t seem too upset about it.
Pictured: Chakana
Since I’ve been in Putre, I’ve learned much more about the Aymara. Putre is a town in the high plains about 2 hours north east of Arica. The highland seasons are nearly opposite to the rest of Chile, and everyday was about 30-50 F compared to the normal 70-80 F in Arica. This town holds one of the highest concentrations of Aymara in Chile. In fact of the 914 inhabitants, 90% are Aymara. The town is shrinking because the elderly are dying and the youths are moving to the city.
Pictured: Sunrise over Putre and sunset on Tarapaca mountain
The trip to Putre is half desert and half high mountains. We passed ancient petrogylphs carved into the mountainside—figures of travelers and their llamas. These are the first graffitied inscriptions of “I was here”, made to show the routes of the caravans. The two-hour bus ride took 3 hours due to frequent stops to acclimate to the altitude. We finally reached 11,500 feet (Colorado/ Arizona is 5,000 – 7,000 feet) and most of us were feeling great thanks to the coca tea. As I would soon learn, coca leaves are sacred among the Aymara, used to communicate with spirits and diagnose disease, not only to counteract the effects of altitude sickness. Coca leaves are illegal in the United States, but the natural form does not have any euphoric effects on the body.
The stars in Putre were spectacular. Even close to the town’s main square you could see the milky way (via lactea). On the first night, our chilean professor told us about the constellations, as well as the legends and the science of the sky. The night is bitterly cold and dry when it’s not raining. This contributed to the resfrio (cold) I suffered throughout my time in Putre.
I lived with a very nice family in Putre along with 3 other American girls. We ate very flavorful chicken, rice, potatoes and the occasional cucumber and tomato salad. Luckily, our family owned a small grocery store next to the “house”, which they utilized as their pantry and refrigerator. The “house” was not one collective unit. The 4 gringas had a cabana-like room in the back of the property. It was a decent space with warm beds piled with 7 blankets each. There was a small garden next to us with purple corn and other flowers. Weeds and piles of junk were strewn throughout the yard. A fresh goat skin hung next to the toe path to our room. The family was very much connected with Arica. The mother and father go frequently for work and two of the three daughters typically live there. The 22-year-old daughter, Camilla was very patient. Although she was only one or two years older than us, she took care of us like a mother. This is a curious difference to the lifestyle of young people in Arica. The grandfather had a half- paralyzed face, which he explained was caused by a freezing cold river swim when he was a boy. He told us his history, about all his jobs, his culture and his involvement in the community. At 87, he was still walking quite rapidly, talking and making his own food.
Pictured: Putre family
I heard a common trend from my family and other locals: the parent and grandparent’s generation speak aymara and uphold the traditions while their sons and daughters don’t. Most go to Arica for school and want to stay. But their children (the 4th generation) are now learning Aymara in school.
The schedule in Putre was rigorous, but most of the activities and classes were very pertinent. One day, we spoke in small groups with locals. Two sisters (with 5 other siblings) and an older woman sat in our circle. The older woman clutched knitting needles and the beginnings of a knit hat to her chest. We asked her to show us what she was making. As she knitted that black hat, she explained that she is the wife of the yatiri and that she will sell this hat in the artisanal store where her daughter works, the same place many of the students had already bought sweaters, gloves and hats. None of the women were very chatty, they simply answered the questions they were asked.
We had several classes and tours with the traditional medicine practitioners. A Yatiri is known as “él que sabe” (he who knows). Notice how the west side of the chakana represents yati or sabiduría (knowledge/wisdom). Thus yatiri is derived from yati, which translates to “the one with knowledge”. Don Teófolo, the yatiri, was an average sized man with very interesting eyes; small slits, red instead of whites and very dark brown irises. His high eyebrows were frequently lifted. His front teeth were missing, but he annunciated well. He wore a blue v-neck sweater and light blue collared shirt with jeans. His skin was dark. His face was nearly free of wrinkles other than those around his eyes. He had short black and grey hair. As a yatiri, he reads coca leaves to gain insight into another’s health, work and studies and/or love life. He can tell what illness one has, which of the 3 souls are missing, and if surgery is needed, all from the selection of coca leaves he pulls from a bag. Illness in this case is defined as an imbalance in the body. Mental illnesses cannot be separated from spirituality. I would be interested to know how and when the psychologist in the family health center is utilized.
The yatiri has “don”, that is to say he was born “gifted” in the ability to read coca leaves. He recognizes that there are imposters. His patients know he is legitimate because he cures well. His methods work. His patients pay what they can, what they have. He explained that his patients use both traditional and western health services; “Both are equal. If they come to me and it doesn’t work, they go to the western doctors in CESFAM and vice versa”. However, the western health practitioners feel there is more conflict.
Pictured: Don Teofolo (Yatiri) and Doña Fausta (Usuyiri and Cuyiri) preparing for the P’awa ceremony to welcome our group, and to ask permission and to reciprocate to mother earth and the ancestors so that we could be “blessed” with a good trip, good health and the ability to learn well.
Some of this conflict is rooted in the health system designed to incentivize doctors to work for 4 years in the “countryside” with the reward of free specialization education afterwards. The other part of the conflict could be attributed to local beliefs about “chemicals”. Our program director and veteran matron revealed, “Doctors don’t understand that other doctors exist (referring to traditional health practicioners). They are equal, but from a different school [of thought]”. During a heated debriefing session at the end of the week, I noticed that when he spoke about doctors, his face instinctively sunk to an almost disgusted look.
I learned about the chemical issue in a casual group interview with a young female respiratory therapist. She divulged that smoke from kitchen fires is their biggest problem. They are the cause for chronic lung problems in low-income situations. She explained that people who come from the city smoke but people from Putre don’t smoke because they don’t like to consume chemicals. This creates a conflict between western medicine and traditional medicine. She believes patients prefer herbs to medicine. If herbs don’t work, then they’ll go to the western doctors in CESFAM for a second opinion. She also mentioned that people go to the city and get sick. The air is clean in Putre (obviously so… when I returned to Arica all I could smell was fish oil and diesel).
Other than the struggle for passionate, culturally aware doctors, the primary health care center in Putre seemed to have a great grip on intercultural medicine. For example, the matron works directly with the usuyiri. He admitted, “We have the same end goal, but use different techniques”.
During the compulsory tour of the health care center, I noticed that the required government poster demonstrating patient rights was written in Aymara at the main entrance and in Spanish around the corner.
Although translation to Aymara is a good strategy to incorporate interculturality, public health professionals must be aware that Aymara is a spoken language, thus spellings are widely variable and not everyone who can speak it can write it or read it.
In a lecture about Aymara language and culture from a local educator, we attempted to replicate the “explosive” sounds, similar to clicks, which change meanings of words with the same spelling. For example, t’ant’a means bread, but tanta means old. The Aymara language only uses three vowels, a, i and u. We learned of the importance in duality and complementarity based on their gendered language. For example, pacha mama is mother earth and tata inti is father sun. I made the connection between father sun and father time, since the sun determines time. Historically, the Aymara were very connected to their environment. The educator explained that they used to be caretakers of the environment, but now people put chlorine in the water and use fertilizers and herbicides that contaminate the earth.
Throughout the trip, we picked up information and beliefs regarding herbal medicine. Locals say that the herbs always work to cure illness. The cuyiri told us, “There are people who doubt, I don’t give them herbs because they wont have an effect”. There are herbs for bone pain, arthritis, Tb, gastritis, digestion, fever, colds, anxiety, weight management, and even diabetes. There are “hot” and “cold” herbs and male and female varieties. The herbs must be taken for a long period of time—10 days to a month. The cuyiri says they work slowly but safely. Herbs can be taken with other western medications like antibiotics. There are no side effects or harmful interactions. We were told that the herb functioning depends on the blood type of the person. If one variety of an herb doesn’t work, they will try another herb. The traditional medicine practitioners read the medical charts from the western doctors and use this information to prescribe herbs. For example, if a patient has high blood pressure, they’ll use herb A, but for low blood pressure, herb B. Thus there is a very interesting use of western knowledge in traditional medicine. I found it fascinating that the yatiri and cuyiri will use traditional herbs for treatment of modern, western diseases. They test out the herbs to see what will work for something like diabetes. They apply a scientific process to herbal medicine. They are also aware of the necessity for surgery in some cases, and have specific instructions for patients undergoing surgery, like avoiding onion and hot pepper after the operation to prevent infection.
Pictured: a bag of one of the several herbs Doña Fausta taught the group about
This highly educational trip also included some touring and cultural exploration. We took a day trip to the small, yet lovely town of Belen and enjoyed a traditional meal cooked in an underground pit called a güatia. We also played a game of soccer with 6 of the 10 kids at the school and learned about the understaffed rural health post.
On our last day in the high plains we went up another 4,000 feet to Parque Nacional Lauca where the 2nd highest lake in the world rests at the foot of Chungará volcano. We stopped many times along the way to walk through the wetlands and enjoy the wildlife. Unfortunately when we reached the volcano it was sleeting and mostly covered by clouds.
Pictured: the beauty of Parque Nacional Lauca
I’m currently on a flight to Santiago with the group. We will transfer to Temuco and stay there, living with another family for 7 days and learning from the Mapuche. Then we’ll spend 3 days in the tourist and adventure sport town of Pucon before heading back to Santiago for 5 days. I can’t wait to see the south of Chile. I have a feeling I will feel much more comfortable around trees and lakes than the desert.
Aymara word of the week: kamisaraki: how are you?