AYMARA INDIAN IN ARGENTINA

THEIR NAME MEANS HUMAN LANGUAGE. IT INCLUDED ALL PEOPLE WHO SPOKE AYMARA LANGUAGE. THIS GROUP ARE ON A HIGH PLATEAU IN THE ANDES ABOUT 4000M ABOVE SEA LEVEL.. THEY ARE IN THE CENTER OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. THEY LIVE IN THE CENTER OF SOUTH AMERICA ABOUT 7000M IN ELEVATION. THE SUMMER HAS DAILY RAINFALLS. IN 1950 THEIR POPULATION WAS 600,000 TO 900,000, PRIMARILY LIVING IN BOLIVIA. MANY STILL IN PERU. THE AYMARA ARE CONSIDERED DESCENDANTS OF SOME OF EARLIEST NATIVES HERE -THE TIAHUANACO. THEY LIVED HERE ABOUT 500 TO 200 A.D. TO A.D.1000. THEY SUDDENLY COLLAPSED. MOST FOLKS FROM ECUADOR, CHILI, ANS ARGENTINA WERE LINKED CLOSELY IN ECONOMY AND POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE INCAS. BUT THE AYMARA RETAINED THEIR LANGUAGE.

AFTER IN IN 1533, THE AYMARA SHARED THE FATE OF TH MOST SOUTH AMERICAN PEOPLE - SUPPRESSION. SPANIARDS EXPLOITED METAL AND FORCED THE INDIANS TO WORK IN MINES. IN 1825 THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA RESULTED AFTER 15 YEARS OF WAR. THE BOLIVIAN AYMARA HAD A REVOLUTION IN 1952, LEADING TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REFORM. THIS STORMY POLITICAL SCENE HAS RESULTED IN AN UNDEVELOPED ECONOMY, POOR COMMUNITIES AND OTHER OTHER INDIAN PROBLEMS.

THE AYMARA SWITCHED TO PASTORALISM AND AGRICULTURE. THEY SETTLED IN A SMALL CLUSTER THROUGHOUT THE ALTIPLANO. SEVERAL 1000 YEARS LATER IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD , THEY HAD 2 TYPES OF HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES. A HACIENDA COMMUNITY AND A FREE HOLDING COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIVERGING SETTLEMENTS. THEIR HOMES BECAME WIDELY DISPERSED IN THE COMUNARIO, WHEREAS THE COLONIO WERE CLOSE KNIT CLUSTERS. THE BUILDINGS OF EACH UNIT WERE SURROUNDED WITH WALLS. IN THE 1950'S THEY BUILT URBAN CENTERS. TODAY THE AYMARA ARE PRACTICING CATHOLICISM. THEY BLEND IT WITH INDIGENOUS RELIGION. THEY BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENON AS CLASSIFIED SIMILAR TO NATURAL ONES. RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE RANKED. SOME ANCIENT RITES ARE STILL PRACTICED THEIR SPIRITS LIVE IN HEAVEN AND HIGH MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, LAKES AND SACRED PLACES.

SEVERAL TYPES OF MAGICIANS ARE INTERMEDIARIES BETWEEN NATURAL AND THE SUPERNATURAL THEIR PRACTITIONERS WANT TO BRING ABOUT A BALANCE. MAGIC IS USED TO CURE SICKNESS, PLANTING, HARVESTING, CHILD BIRTH, AND OTHER RITUALS. THEY HAVE SEVERAL TYPES OF FIESTAS.

DURING CEREMONIES THEY HAVE BANDS AND DANCING. ILLNESS IS CAUSED BY NATURAL AND SUPERNATIONAL PHENOMENA. THEY CURE OF MEDICINE FROM PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND LEAVES AND TEAS. DOCTORS AND INDIGENOUS METHODS ARE USED. THEY HAVE FORMAL RITES OF PASSAGES FOR THE DECEASED. IT CAN BE A PERIOD OF 3 TO 10 YEARS. THEY BELIEVE THEIR SOULS COME BACK EARTH.


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