The Q’eros live above 5,000 meters above sea level, to escape to the Spanish yoke and preserve their customs. Now, the task is to protect them and at the same time free them from the poverty in which they live.
The existence of the q’ero nation dates back to the origins of Tahuantinsuyo. Protected from the western world by the walls of the snowy Ausangate, south of the city of Cusco, this human group has maintained the purity of its pre-Hispanic traditions and customs.
They live at more than 5,000 meters above sea level; that is, in the very heart of the Andes. There they worship their apus and try as much as possible to avoid contact with other peoples. The secret of their self-isolation is the protection of the Ausangate, one of the most imposing mountains in Peru where the wind, the intense cold and the snow prevent the transit and permanence of any other mortal.
The 6,372-meter-high protective massif gives rise to other smaller mountains that act as guardians of one of the most inhospitable areas of the Andes. There, the Q’eros live by raising alpacas, llamas and vicuñas; the cultivation of potatoes and the hunting of fish from the turquoise green lagoons.
Some researchers point out that when the Spaniards arrived in Cusco, the Q’eros fled from the outrages of the conquerors. The Spaniards wanted to reach them, but they could not defeat nature that protected its children. That is why the Q’ero nation, made up of several communities, still practices the payment to the land, the cult of the lagoons, the mountains and other ceremonies that have continued over the centuries and are guarded with great zeal. They also preserve the ayni, the minka, the barter and the servinacuy. Their means of transportation is the llama, which in large groups travels the paths that only they know.
When I heard his words in Quechua, I understood that he was dealing with the descendants of the ancient Incas. They were simple and beautiful words that depicted the harmony that they keep with the animals, the plants, the hills and the lagoons.
Getting to a Q’ero community is traveling through a wild nature with many snow-capped mountains around, herds of camelids, lagoons and stone huts with ichu roofs. During the first meeting, their colorful clothing woven according to their ancestral forms and customs caught our attention. Their huts have a single room that serves as a kitchen (a stove), a bedroom and a store for alpaca meat.
We were lucky to arrive at the Quico Grande community when the tinkuy festival was being celebrated, which is the initiation of young people falling in love. At the top of a hill, two or three communities meet. Everyone enjoys it, especially the young people who have the opportunity to meet the woman who will later share her house and give her the children that will ensure the existence of her customs.
The Chacu is the most awaited date. It allows the collection of wool that will later be used to make their garments.
The food is very poor. Its main product is potatoes, ollucos, broad beans and a little corn.
The apus are the gods of the mountains and lakes. The q’eros are experts in contacting the supernatural in order, according to the ‘yachacc’ (the one who knows), to solve the problems of daily life.