Bolivia Journals

From Aymara to Yuki: Indigenous Bolivia

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An October 2007 trip to Bolivia by SeenThat

Quote: I spent most of the last three years in Bolivia; this is a farewell journal to its people.

10 Photos

1. From Aymara to Yuki: Indigenous Bolivia

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I spent most of the last three years in Bolivia. This period is about to end and I decided to dedicate a farewell journal to the main asset of this awesome country: its people.During this period I met and worked with many Bolivians. I prayed with Lutheran Aymara people in the Andean High Plateau and worked with Christian organizations helping Guarani people in the Amazonian Basin. Often I was wounded - spiritually and physically - by the local violence and harshness; however, I wouldn’t have stayed for so long without having been aware of the people’s internal kindness. Following a period...Read More

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2. Aymara Quechua and Uru: The Andean High Plateau

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Traditionally, the Aymara people lived on the Andean High Plateau, east and south of the Titicaca Lake, though during the last years a massive migration to Santa Cruz is changing the Bolivia’s demography. Their culture apparently dates back two thousand years but the lack of a written language makes accurate historic statements impossible; they may be related to the people that constructed Tiwanaku. The city of La Paz was founded within their territory and ...Read More

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3. Guarani, Tapiete and Weenhayek: Southeast Boliv

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The Guarani people are one of the main indigenous groups in South America; in Bolivia they total around seventy-five thousand and can be found in the southeast. LanguageThe different Guarani groups share a common language belonging to the Tupi family; thus it is commonly known as Tupi-Guarani. In the Tupi language it is known as abá ñe’é (man’s talk) or ñe’engatú (precious talk), the language had many dialects spoken in vast part pf the continent.TerritoryThe Guarani people lived before the Spaniards conquest in the eastern part of ...Read More

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4. Eastern Bolivia: the Amazonian Basin and the Ch

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Eastern Bolivia occupies the wet Amazonian Basin and the dry Chaco nearby the border with Paraguay; this diverse zone is home to several cultures. AyoreoAround 2500 Ayoreo people live in the Bolivian Chaco, next to Paraguay; they are known also as Kursu, Morotoco, Moro or Corazo and are nomadic, often crossing the border between the countries while hunting and gathering food. Some of them work in surrounding haciendas.Their quasi-utopian society has no authorities and they keep themselves apart from other people, thing that caused them a long-term persecutio...Read More

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5. Northern Bolivia and the Amazonian Basin

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AfrobolivianosThis group is intrinsically different from the other ethnic groups in Bolivia; they are descendants of the slaves brought to work in Potosi’s silver mines. The few that survived settled in northern La Paz, as farmers in the Yungas, the valleys connecting the Andean High Plateau with the Amazonian Basin. Twenty thousand of them live there nowadays in a culture which merged their various African origins with local beliefs and Christianity. They have contributed significantly to the Bolivian music and dances; their story is replayed in every carnival....Read More