Quechuas
Encyclopedia
Quechuas is the collective term for several indigenous
ethnic groups in South America
who speak a Quechua language
(Southern Quechua
mainly), belonging to several ethnic groups in South America
, especially in Peru
, Ecuador
, Bolivia
, Chile
, Colombia
and Argentina
.
The Quechuas of Ecuador
call themselves as well as their language Kichwa
- Kichwas or Quichuas. In Colombia, the Kichwa-speaking group calls themselves the Ingas. Other Quechua speakers call themselves Runakuna (“People”; in Junín
and parts of Ancash, Peru: Nunakuna; singular: Runa or Nuna).
Some (historic) Quechua peoples:
. These include the Huanca (Wanka is a Quechua dialect spoken today in the Huancayo area) and the Chanka (the Chanca dialect of Ayaqcucho) of Peru, and the Kañari (Cañar) in Ecuador. Quechua was spoken by some of these peoples, for example, the Wanka, before the Incas of Cusco
, while other peoples, especially in Bolivia but also in Ecuador, adopted Quechua only in Inca times or afterward.
Quechua became Peru’s second official language in 1969 under the military regime of Juan Velasco Alvarado
. Recently there have been tendencies toward nation building among Quechua speakers, particularly in Ecuador (Kichwa) but also in Bolivia, where there are only slight linguistic differences from the Peruvian version. An indication of this effort is the umbrella organization of the Kichwa peoples in Ecuador, ECUARUNARI
(Ecuador Runakunapak Rikcharimuy). Some Christian organizations also refer to a “Quechua people,” such as the Christian shortwave radio station HCJB
, "The Voice of the Andes" (La Voz de los Andes). The term “Quechua Nation” occurs in such contexts as the name of the Education Council of the Quechua Nation (Consejo Educativo de la Nación Quechua, CENAQ), which is responsible for Quechua instruction or bilingual intercultural schools
in the Quechua-speaking regions of Bolivia. Some Quechua speakers claim that if nation states in Latin America had been built following the European pattern, they should be a single, independent nation.
.
Traditionally, Quechua identity is locally oriented and inseparably linked in each case with the established economic system. It is based on agriculture in the lower altitude regions, and on pastoral farming in the higher regions of the Puna. The typical Andean community extends over several altitude ranges and thus includes the cultivation of a variety of arable crops and/or livestock. The land is usually owned by the local community (ayllu
) and is either cultivated jointly or redistributed annually.
Beginning with the colonial era and intensifying after the South American states had gained their independence, large landowners appropriated all or most of the land and forced the native population into bondage (known in Ecuador as Huasipungo, from Kichwa wasipunku, “front door”). Harsh conditions of exploitation repeatedly led to revolts by the indigenous farmers, which were forcibly suppressed. The largest of these revolts occurred 1780-1781 under the leadership of José Gabriel Kunturkanki.
Some indigenous farmers re-occupied their ancestors' lands and expelled the hacendados during the takeover of governments by reform-minded juntas in the middle of the 20th century, such as in 1952 in Bolivia (Víctor Paz Estenssoro
) and 1968 in Peru (Juan Velasco Alvarado
). The agrarian reforms included the expropriation of large landowners,. In Bolivia there was a redistribution of the land to the indigenous population as their private property. This disrupted traditional Quechua and Aymara culture based on communal ownership, but ayllus have been retained up to the present time in remote regions, such as in the Peruvian Quechua community of Q'ero
.
The struggle for land rights continues up to the present time to be a political focal point of everyday Quechua life. The Kichwa ethnic groups of Ecuador which are part of the ECUARUNARI association were recently able to regain communal land titles or the return of estates—in some cases through militant activity. Especially the case of the community of Sarayaku has become well known among the Kichwa of the lowlands, who after years of struggle were able to successfully resist expropriation and exploitation of the rain forest for petroleum recovery.
A distinction is made between two primary types of joint work. In the case of Minka
, people work together for projects of common interest (such as the construction of communal facilities). Ayni
is, in contrast, reciprocal assistance, whereby members of an ayllu help a family to accomplish a large private project, for example house construction, and in turn can expect to be similarly helped later with a project of their own.
In almost all Quechua ethnic groups, many traditional handicrafts are an important aspect of material culture
. This includes a tradition of weaving handed down from Inca times or earlier, using cotton, wool (from llamas, alpacas, guanacos
, vicunas) and a multitude of natural dye
s, and incorporating numerous woven patterns (pallay). Houses are usually constructed using air-dried clay bricks (tika, or in Spanish adobe), or branches and clay mortar (“wattle and daub
”), with the roofs being covered with straw, reeds, or puna grass (ichu).
The disintegration of the traditional economy, for example, regionally through mining activities and accompanying proletarian social structures, has usually led to a loss of both ethnic identity and the Quechua language. This is also a result of steady migration to large cities (especially to Lima
), which has resulted in acculturation
by Hispanic society there.
The forced sterilization policy under Alberto Fujimori
affected almost exclusively Quechua and Aymara women, a total exceeding 200,000. The Bolivian film director Jorge Sanjines dealt with the issue of forced sterilization already in 1969 in his Quechua language feature film Yawar Mallku.
Perceived ethnic discrimination continues to play a role at the parliamentary level. When the newly elected Peruvian members of parliament Hilaria Supa Huamán
and María Sumire
swore their oath of office in Quechua—for the first time in the history of Peru in an indigenous language—the Peruvian parliamentary president Martha Hildebrandt
and the parliamentary officer Carlos Torres Caro
refused their acceptance.
The Quechuas came to terms with their repeated historical experience of genocide in the form of various myths. These include the figure of Nak'aq or Pishtaku (“butcher”), the white murderer who sucks out the fat from the bodies of the indigenous peoples he kills, and a song about a bloody river. In their myth of Wiraquchapampa the Q'ero Indians describe the victory of the Apus over the Spaniards. Of the myths still alive today, the Inkarrí myth common in southern Peru is especially interesting; it forms a cultural element linking the Quechua Indians throughout the region from Ayacucho to Cusco.
. The hat has been worn by Quechua and Aymara women since the 1920′s, when it was brought to the country by British railway workers and are still commonly worn today.
The traditional dress worn by Quechua women today is a mixture of styles from Pre-Spanish days and Spanish Colonial peasant dress. Younger Quechua men generally wear Western-style clothing, the most popular being synthetic football shirts and tracksuit pants. Older men still wear dark wool knee-length handwoven bayeta pants. A woven belt called a chumpi is also worn which provides protection to the lower back when working in the fields. Men's fine dress includes a woollen waistcoat, similar to a sleeveless juyuna as worn by the women but referred to as a chaleco. Chalecos can be richly decorated.
The most distinctive part of men's clothing is the handwoven poncho. Nearly every Quechua man and boy has a poncho, generally red in colour decorated with intricate designs. Each district has a distinctive pattern. In some communities such as Huilloc, Patacancha, and many villages in the Lares Valley
ponchos are worn as daily attire. However most men use their ponchos on special occasions such as festivals, village meetings, weddings etc.
As with the women, ajotas, sandals made from recycled tyres, are the standard footwear. They are cheap and durable.
Chullos are frequently worn. These are knitted hats with earflaps. The first chullo
that a child receives is traditionally knitted by his father. In the Ausangate
region chullos are often ornately adorned with white beads and large tassels called t'ikas. Men sometimes wear a felt hat called a sombrero
over the top of the chullo decorated with centillo, finely decorated hat bands.
Since ancient times men have worn small woven pouches called chuspa
s used to carry their coca leaves.
Highlands
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
ethnic groups in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
who speak a Quechua language
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
(Southern Quechua
Southern Quechua
Southern Quechua , or only Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 5 million speakers...
mainly), belonging to several ethnic groups in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, especially in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
The Quechuas of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
call themselves as well as their language Kichwa
Kichwa
Kichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...
- Kichwas or Quichuas. In Colombia, the Kichwa-speaking group calls themselves the Ingas. Other Quechua speakers call themselves Runakuna (“People”; in Junín
Junín Region
Junín is a region in the central highlands and westernmost Amazonia of Peru. Its capital is Huancayo.-Geography:The region has a very heterogeneous topography. The western cordillera located near the border with the Lima Region, has snowy and ice covered peaks. On the east, there are high glacier...
and parts of Ancash, Peru: Nunakuna; singular: Runa or Nuna).
Some (historic) Quechua peoples:
- Inca; Tawantinsuyu EmpireInca EmpireThe Inca Empire, or Inka Empire , was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century...
(largest Pre Columbian Empire) - Chancas (in Huancavelica, Ayacucho y Apurímac, Peru);
- Huancas (in Junín, Peru; spoke Quechua before the Incas did); and
- CañarisCañarisThe Cañari are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador; the term also refers to an independent pre-Hispanic tribal confederation of the same name, from which the modern people are descended. They are particularly noted...
(in Ecuador; adopted the Quechua language from the Inca).
Historical and sociopolitical background
The speakers of Quechua, who total some 9-14 million people in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Argentina, have so far only slightly developed a common sense of identity. The various Quechua dialects are in some cases so different that no mutual understanding is possible. Quechua was not only spoken by the Incas, but in some cases also by long-term enemies of the Inca EmpireInca Empire
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire , was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century...
. These include the Huanca (Wanka is a Quechua dialect spoken today in the Huancayo area) and the Chanka (the Chanca dialect of Ayaqcucho) of Peru, and the Kañari (Cañar) in Ecuador. Quechua was spoken by some of these peoples, for example, the Wanka, before the Incas of Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...
, while other peoples, especially in Bolivia but also in Ecuador, adopted Quechua only in Inca times or afterward.
Quechua became Peru’s second official language in 1969 under the military regime of Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a left-leaning Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."- Early life :...
. Recently there have been tendencies toward nation building among Quechua speakers, particularly in Ecuador (Kichwa) but also in Bolivia, where there are only slight linguistic differences from the Peruvian version. An indication of this effort is the umbrella organization of the Kichwa peoples in Ecuador, ECUARUNARI
ECUARUNARI
ECUARUNARI , also known as Confederation of Peoples of Kichwa Nationality is the organization of indigenous peoples of Kichwa nationality in the Ecuadorian central mountain region, founded in 1972.Twelve ethnic groups of the region—Natabuela, Otavalos, Karanki , Kayampi...
(Ecuador Runakunapak Rikcharimuy). Some Christian organizations also refer to a “Quechua people,” such as the Christian shortwave radio station HCJB
HCJB
HCJB, "The Voice of the Andes", was the first radio station with daily programming in the South American country of Ecuador and the first Christian missionary radio station in the world. The station was founded in 1931 by Clarence W. Jones, Reuben Larson, and D. Stuart Clark.- History :Radio...
, "The Voice of the Andes" (La Voz de los Andes). The term “Quechua Nation” occurs in such contexts as the name of the Education Council of the Quechua Nation (Consejo Educativo de la Nación Quechua, CENAQ), which is responsible for Quechua instruction or bilingual intercultural schools
Intercultural bilingual education
Intercultural bilingual education or bilingual intercultural education is an intercultural and bilingual model of education designed for contexts with two cultures and languages in contact, in the typical case a dominant and an underprivileged culture...
in the Quechua-speaking regions of Bolivia. Some Quechua speakers claim that if nation states in Latin America had been built following the European pattern, they should be a single, independent nation.
Material culture and social history
Despite their ethnic diversity and linguistic distinctions, the various Quechua ethnic groups have numerous cultural characteristics in common. They also share many of these with the Aymara, or other indigenous peoples of the central AndesAndes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
Traditionally, Quechua identity is locally oriented and inseparably linked in each case with the established economic system. It is based on agriculture in the lower altitude regions, and on pastoral farming in the higher regions of the Puna. The typical Andean community extends over several altitude ranges and thus includes the cultivation of a variety of arable crops and/or livestock. The land is usually owned by the local community (ayllu
Ayllu
Ayllu is the traditional form of a community in the Andes, especially among Quechuas and Aymaras.Ayllus were the basic political and social units of pre-Inca and Inca life. These were essentially extended family groups but they could adopt non-related members, giving individual families more...
) and is either cultivated jointly or redistributed annually.
Beginning with the colonial era and intensifying after the South American states had gained their independence, large landowners appropriated all or most of the land and forced the native population into bondage (known in Ecuador as Huasipungo, from Kichwa wasipunku, “front door”). Harsh conditions of exploitation repeatedly led to revolts by the indigenous farmers, which were forcibly suppressed. The largest of these revolts occurred 1780-1781 under the leadership of José Gabriel Kunturkanki.
Some indigenous farmers re-occupied their ancestors' lands and expelled the hacendados during the takeover of governments by reform-minded juntas in the middle of the 20th century, such as in 1952 in Bolivia (Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....
) and 1968 in Peru (Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a left-leaning Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."- Early life :...
). The agrarian reforms included the expropriation of large landowners,. In Bolivia there was a redistribution of the land to the indigenous population as their private property. This disrupted traditional Quechua and Aymara culture based on communal ownership, but ayllus have been retained up to the present time in remote regions, such as in the Peruvian Quechua community of Q'ero
Q'ero
Q'ero is a Quechua community or ethnic group in the province of Paucartambo, in the Cusco Region of Peru.The Q'ero became more widely known due to the 1955 ethnological expedition of Dr...
.
The struggle for land rights continues up to the present time to be a political focal point of everyday Quechua life. The Kichwa ethnic groups of Ecuador which are part of the ECUARUNARI association were recently able to regain communal land titles or the return of estates—in some cases through militant activity. Especially the case of the community of Sarayaku has become well known among the Kichwa of the lowlands, who after years of struggle were able to successfully resist expropriation and exploitation of the rain forest for petroleum recovery.
A distinction is made between two primary types of joint work. In the case of Minka
Minca
Minka or Mink'a , hispanicized Minca or Minga is a type of traditional communal work in the Andes in favor of the whole community ....
, people work together for projects of common interest (such as the construction of communal facilities). Ayni
Ayni
Ayni or Aini may refer to:*Sadriddin Aini, Tajik writer*Artocarpus hirsutus, a tropical evergreen tree*Ayni District in Sughd Province, Tajikistan**Ayni, Tajikistan, the capital of Ayni District in Tajikistan...
is, in contrast, reciprocal assistance, whereby members of an ayllu help a family to accomplish a large private project, for example house construction, and in turn can expect to be similarly helped later with a project of their own.
In almost all Quechua ethnic groups, many traditional handicrafts are an important aspect of material culture
Material culture
In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...
. This includes a tradition of weaving handed down from Inca times or earlier, using cotton, wool (from llamas, alpacas, guanacos
Guañacos
Guañacos is a village and municipality in Neuquén Province in southwestern Argentina.-References:...
, vicunas) and a multitude of natural dye
Natural dye
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources – roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood — and other organic sources such as fungi and lichens....
s, and incorporating numerous woven patterns (pallay). Houses are usually constructed using air-dried clay bricks (tika, or in Spanish adobe), or branches and clay mortar (“wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
”), with the roofs being covered with straw, reeds, or puna grass (ichu).
The disintegration of the traditional economy, for example, regionally through mining activities and accompanying proletarian social structures, has usually led to a loss of both ethnic identity and the Quechua language. This is also a result of steady migration to large cities (especially to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
), which has resulted in acculturation
Acculturation
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...
by Hispanic society there.
Examples for recent persecution of Quechuas
Up to the present time Quechuas continue to be victims of political conflicts and ethnic persecution. In the Peruvian civil war of the 1980s between the government and Sendero Luminoso about three quarters of the estimated 70,000 death toll were Quechuas, whereas the war parties were without exception whites and mestizos.The forced sterilization policy under Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
affected almost exclusively Quechua and Aymara women, a total exceeding 200,000. The Bolivian film director Jorge Sanjines dealt with the issue of forced sterilization already in 1969 in his Quechua language feature film Yawar Mallku.
Perceived ethnic discrimination continues to play a role at the parliamentary level. When the newly elected Peruvian members of parliament Hilaria Supa Huamán
Hilaria Supa
Hilaria Supa Huamán , is a human rights activist, an active member of several Indigenous women organizations in Peru and the world and a Peruvian politician...
and María Sumire
María Sumire
María Cleofé Sumire de Conde is a Peruvian politician. She is currently a Congresswoman representing Cusco for the period 2006-2011, and belongs to the Union for Peru party....
swore their oath of office in Quechua—for the first time in the history of Peru in an indigenous language—the Peruvian parliamentary president Martha Hildebrandt
Martha Hildebrandt
Martha Luz Hildebrandt Pérez-Treviño is a Peruvian linguist and politician. Martha Hildebrandt was the second woman to occupy the Presidency of the Congress of the Republic of Peru in 1999...
and the parliamentary officer Carlos Torres Caro
Carlos Torres Caro
Carlos Alberto Torres Caro is a Peruvian politician and a Congressman representing Lima for the 2006–2011 term. Torres Caro ran for the Union for Peru party in the 2006 election, obtaining the party's highest individual vote, but resigned from it after the presidential runoff, in which the ticket...
refused their acceptance.
Mythology
Practically all Quechuas in the Andes have been nominally Roman Catholic since colonial times. Nevertheless, traditional religious forms persist in many regions, blended with Christian elements. Quechua ethnic groups also share traditional religions with other Andean peoples, particularly belief in Mother Earth (Pachamama), who grants fertility and to whom burnt offerings and libations are regularly made. Also important are the mountain spirits (apu) as well as lesser local deities (wak'a), who are still venerated especially in southern Peru.The Quechuas came to terms with their repeated historical experience of genocide in the form of various myths. These include the figure of Nak'aq or Pishtaku (“butcher”), the white murderer who sucks out the fat from the bodies of the indigenous peoples he kills, and a song about a bloody river. In their myth of Wiraquchapampa the Q'ero Indians describe the victory of the Apus over the Spaniards. Of the myths still alive today, the Inkarrí myth common in southern Peru is especially interesting; it forms a cultural element linking the Quechua Indians throughout the region from Ayacucho to Cusco.
Traditional clothing
Many indigenous women wear the colorful traditional costume, complete with bowler style hatBowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
. The hat has been worn by Quechua and Aymara women since the 1920′s, when it was brought to the country by British railway workers and are still commonly worn today.
The traditional dress worn by Quechua women today is a mixture of styles from Pre-Spanish days and Spanish Colonial peasant dress. Younger Quechua men generally wear Western-style clothing, the most popular being synthetic football shirts and tracksuit pants. Older men still wear dark wool knee-length handwoven bayeta pants. A woven belt called a chumpi is also worn which provides protection to the lower back when working in the fields. Men's fine dress includes a woollen waistcoat, similar to a sleeveless juyuna as worn by the women but referred to as a chaleco. Chalecos can be richly decorated.
The most distinctive part of men's clothing is the handwoven poncho. Nearly every Quechua man and boy has a poncho, generally red in colour decorated with intricate designs. Each district has a distinctive pattern. In some communities such as Huilloc, Patacancha, and many villages in the Lares Valley
Sacred Valley
The Sacred Valley of the Incas or Urubamba Valley is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco and below the ancient sacred city of Machu Picchu...
ponchos are worn as daily attire. However most men use their ponchos on special occasions such as festivals, village meetings, weddings etc.
As with the women, ajotas, sandals made from recycled tyres, are the standard footwear. They are cheap and durable.
Chullos are frequently worn. These are knitted hats with earflaps. The first chullo
Chullo
Chullo is an andean style of hat with earflaps, made from vicuña, alpaca, llama or sheep's wool. Alpaca has wool-like qualities that help to insulate its wearer from the harsh elements in the Andean Mountain region...
that a child receives is traditionally knitted by his father. In the Ausangate
Ausangate
Ausangate is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. With an altitude of 6,384 metres it is situated around 100 kilometres southeast of Cusco.The mountain has significance in Incan mythology...
region chullos are often ornately adorned with white beads and large tassels called t'ikas. Men sometimes wear a felt hat called a sombrero
Sombrero
Sombrero in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat originating in Mexico. In Spanish, however, it is the generic word for "hat", which originates from "sombra", meaning "shade"....
over the top of the chullo decorated with centillo, finely decorated hat bands.
Since ancient times men have worn small woven pouches called chuspa
Chuspa
Chuspa is a village in the Venezuelan state of Vargas. The village is mainly a fishermen's location with some tourist attractions. It is connected through a coast road with La Guaira and Higuerote. The town is located at the side of the Chuspa river....
s used to carry their coca leaves.
Further reading on Quechua-speaking ethnic groups
The following list of Quechua ethnic groups is only a selection and delimitations vary. In some cases these are village communities of just a few hundred people, in other cases ethnic groups of over a million.- Inca (historic)
Peru
Lowlands- Quechuas Lamistas
Highlands
- Huanca
- Chanka
- Q'eroQ'eroQ'ero is a Quechua community or ethnic group in the province of Paucartambo, in the Cusco Region of Peru.The Q'ero became more widely known due to the 1955 ethnological expedition of Dr...
- Taquile
- AmantaníAmantaníAmantaní is an island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. According to a 1988 census, it has a population of 3,663 Quechua speakers divided among about 800 families. The island is circular and about 9.28 km² in size. It has two mountain peaks, Pachatata and Pachamama , with ancient Inca and...
- Anqaras