Monthly Archives: November 2009

November 10th, 2009
post by Rachel | | Closed

Chan Chan, the Chimu’s imperial capital

By Laurel Thompson, Kuoda Tours
Chan Chan (meaning “Sun Sun”), the archaeological site located near Trujillo in Peru, is the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America.  It was the imperial capital of the Chimu Empire, Chimor, until it was conquered by the Inka in the 15th century. The vast mud city was built between c.850 and c.1470 and it is estimated that more than 30,000 people lived there, although strong seasonal fluctuation is suspected.

The city is made up of ten walled citadels which housed ceremonial rooms, burial chambers, temples, reservoirs and residences all interconnected by a labyrinth of passages. The walls themselves were constructed of adobe brick and decorated with intricate designs, which were carved into them. The designs are mostly of geometrical shapes and include both realistic and fantastic representations of animals including: birds, fish, squid and sea mammals. For carving, the Chimu seemed to prefer water themes as opposed to the feline forms concentrated on by earlier civilizations.

The complexity of the city has come to light only after years of intensive excavations. It covers an area of approximately 20 km² and is dominated by a series of huge enclosures: the palaces of the Chimu kings. Each of these palaces, most of which are laid out in a very similar fashion, are characterized by three types of structures: U-shaped rooms, which are thought to have been used as administrative offices, storerooms, which are thought to have stored valuable goods and large, deep, walk-in-wells.

The commoners of Chan Chan, the artisans, fishermen, farmers and laborers, lived outside of the compounds in smaller structures similar to (although more complex than) huts. They were probably forbidden to enter the compounds, whose access was probably reserved for nobility.
The Chimu was a highly organized society that existed from around 1000 AD to approximately 1470 AD. Archaeological evidence suggests that the culture grew out of the remnants of the Moche culture; early Chimu pottery had some resemblance to Moche pottery.

The Chimu are known for their distinctive, solid colored pottery and their exceptionally fine copper, gold, silver and bronze metalwork. The pottery is often in the shape of a creature, or human figure. The shiny black finish on most Chimu pieces was achieved by firing the pottery at high temperatures in a closed kiln, which prevents oxygen from entering and reacting with the clay.

Agriculture was a major concern of the Chimu, who are known for the brilliance of their irrigation systems, which included inter-valley canals, to expand the area under cultivation.  A long canal was built from the Chicama River to the north, in order to irrigate farmland near Chan Chan in the Moche Valley. The enormous area harvested in the Moche Valley in Pre-Hispanic times still surpasses the area currently cultivated. Some of these designs are still used today.
The Chimu were also experts in native medicinal plants and they bred many animals such as guinea pigs and a species of short necked llama, now extinct, which was used for transport.
In their religion, the Chimu worshiped the sea and the moon.
Unlike the Inca who worshiped the sun, the Chimu viewed the sun as a destroyer, which might be due to its harshness in their desert home.

They were completely devoted to the sea which, in their language, was called Ni. This adoration was reflected in every one of their adobe constructions, which were adorned with figures in the shape of sea animals, fishing tools, and sailing scenes. The ancient Chimu believed the sea was the origin of life. In contrast with the hostile desert environment, the sea was brimming with life and food which sustained not only their physical bodies but their souls as well. Their deities included fish, sea mammals and shellfish. The whale and the otter were revered, but one of the most special and holy of the sea mammals was the sea lion, which was believed to accompany the souls of the dead to the land of the afterlife.

The Chimu state was characterized by conquest and expansion; at one time, the empire encompassed about 620 square miles. Minchancamon was the last leader of the Chimu. His quest for expansion was the reason that the Chimu encountered the Inca in the south. The Inca destroyed the Chimu’s intricate canal/irrigation system and diverted the water back to the canal from whence it originated, in order to overwhelm, and eventually conquer them.

Today Chan Chan is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The vast and fragile site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1986; the city is severely threatened by erosion from El Niño, which causes heavy rains and flooding on the Peruvian coast.
Kuoda Tours brings travelers to visit Chan Chan, Trujillo, and Huanchaco, in Northern Peru, as well as to Machupicchu and other regions all over this spectacular land.
Places and Archaeological Sites
November 4th, 2009
post by Rachel | | Closed

Native Amazonian Cultures

By Laurel Thompson, Kuoda Tours
Throughout the Amazon jungle it is possible to find quite a few different native tribes, such as the Machiguengas, the Huarayos, the Mashcos, the Huachiparis, the Shirenis, the Aguarunas, the Amahuaca, and the Iñaparis, all of which have completely distinct cultures and traditions. Many of these indigenous groups are fighting to maintain their cultural identity while living in modern day society.

Some try to make a stand living in and near cities; many of them have been converted to Christianity, and incorporated into the mainstream culture, but still retain many of their own traditional customs and ideas. They attempt to find a balance between completely different cultures. Others retreat well beyond the new frontiers of so-called civilization, in a desperate struggle to maintain their perspectives, their ways of life and their history. Two of the few uncontacted tribal communities in the Amazon are the Yaminahua and the Mashco Piro.

Aside from the few main villages populated by these tribes, there are hardly any sizeable settlements. There are between 35 and 62 indigenous tribes – the exact number depends on how you classify tribal identity – each with its own distinct language, customs and dress.

Most of these traditional or semi-traditional tribes lead a quasi-nomadic life, and therefore, have very few material possessions. Communities are scattered, with groups of between ten and two hundred people, and their sites shift every few years.
Contamination from outsiders affects the health of these jungle people. In some cases, as in the village of Nahua, this has caused strong epidemics that decimated the population. The eating habits of these indigenous villagers have also been altered and protein deficiency, especially in women and children, can be a problem.
A few examples of Amazon populations are:

The Amahuaca, which are a Stone Age agricultural society widely scattered throughout the southeastern Amazon Basin in Ucayali and Madre de Dios. Their largest community is in Puesto Varadero, which until 1953, could only be reached by canoe. It is near the Brazilian border and dates back to 1947. The town was built on top of the site of an old rubber camp, which was later occupied by a Peruvian army garrison. Today the houses of the Amahuaca, made of sticks and built on stilts or rafts to protect them from floods, cover the tiny island.
Until the end of the nineteenth century, the Amahuaca were very numerous (perhaps as many as 9,000), but their numbers have been reduced to less than 500 in Peru and not more than 250 in Brazil. They speak Ponoan, which is an official language similar to that of the neighboring Yaminahua. It varies from region to region and is believed to have separated from Conibo about 1,000 years ago.
Dugout canoes are widely used by the Amahuaca. Fish are by far the most abundant source of protein and are caught with harpoon arrows, spears, poison, and hooks, as well as with bows and ordinary arrows.
Until very recently they were quite removed from modern society; they participated in infanticide and endocannibalism and in cases of marriage, there was complete sexual freedom between a man’s wife and all his brothers. They often used powerful hallucinogenics such as ayahuasca which is said to have the ability to transport people to realms where telepathy and clairvoyance are common. They had no name for themselves as a people other than hondi kuí (real people) or yora (human beings).
In recent years, their lives have been touched by the outside world, and are in the process of a transformation. Their language and ethnic group are disintegrating and they are losing their identity due to intermarriage with non-Amahuaca speakers and association with the modern day culture; harvest ceremonies have lapsed and ayahuasca is rarely used anymore. Some Christian concepts and practices have become dominant including simple burial. Traditional ornaments and art have been abandoned, and the Amahuaca now wear commercial clothes. Children, especially boys, attend school for a few years and bilingualism is common.

The Yahua is a large, widely distributed indigenous group who live mainly in the western Amazon and in eastern Ecuador. They are a vigorous people who remained independent from the modern world for centuries and who successfully resisted attempts at conquest by the Incas and attempts to covert them to Christianity by Spanish missionaries. The tribe, originally in the thousands, has diminished into the hundreds.
The Amazon jungle was named after the Yahuas. According to legend, when the Spaniards first came to the Amazon, they saw the Yahuas with their blowguns through the trees wearing “grass skirts” and thought they were women, which is why they named the Amazon River after the Greek myth of the Amazon women warriors.
The Yahua people live a simple but demanding lifestyle and are very skilled craftworkers. The men make wooden carvings of animal figures, decorative blowguns and bows and arrows.
The Yahua language is the only surviving language of the Peba-Yahua linguistic family. It is a unique language and linguists are fascinated by its distinctive morphology and syntax.
The inhabitants of their small villages wear western clothes, switching into traditional dress only on special occasions, though there are a few isolated villages where native dress is worn throughout the day.
Traditional Yahua dress consists of a “grass skirt,” which is not really made from grass but from the fiber of the Aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa). They often use red dyes obtained from a type of fruit to color the fibers and paint their skin. Other articles include a feathered headdress and ankle and wristbands.
Nowadays, however, men wear pants and women are typically seen in red skirts made out of cotton cloth that they purchase.
Girls often have their first child at fourteen or fifteen years of age.
The Yahua culture functions as a large extended family, with each member accepting a role of responsibility for the welfare of the tribal group.
The Yahuas are famous for their use of pucunas (blowguns) and for their curare-tipped darts.
Although the Yahua blowguns are typically half the length of the Matis´ four-meter blowguns, they are  highly effective hunting tools and are still commonly used.  A genuine Yahua blowgun is truly a work of art. The barrel is initially made from two separate pieces of wood, and each half is carefully grooved by carving the piece of wood by hand.  Later, the two halves are fitted together to form the barrel cylinder and held in place with the mouthpiece.  Brea (a type of tar) is then used to seal the outer surface of the barrel.

The darts are made of palm-leaf midrib and tufted with kapok fiber and are carried in a quiver made from pleated palm leaves. The Yahua shamans are real masters when it comes to making curare. Curare is a fast-acting poison that paralyzes its victim; death is caused by suffocation when the victim’s lungs are paralyzed.  Yahua shamans have passed down the ancient knowledge of making the curare mixture from generation to generation.
This culture is slowly disappearing. As they adopt foreign traditions and culture they lose and forget their own. The Yahua community near Iquitos on the Mormon River, for example, is small (less than 30 people) and no bilingual education exists.  Consequently, the younger Yahuas are loosing their ability to speak their native tongue.
People and Culture