Andean Aymara

The New York Times today has an article about La Oroya and its status as one of the world’s ten most polluted cities. Here 97% of children under 6 have lead levels in their blood high enough to be considered toxic, and this apparently thanks to the American-owned smelter, Doe Run Peru.

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Hace varios lustros que las palomas de Castilla han invadido la ciudad. Paulatinamente se han apoderado de nuestras plazas, techos, mojinetes y han convertido en su refugio las viviendas que por lo arruinadas permanecen abandonadas desde el último terremoto. No faltan voces que ahora las consideran como uno de los atractivos turísticos que podemos ofrecer, [...]

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Gustavo Valcárcel Salas is a physicist, historian, and regional expert on a variety of local topics. Gustavo is a tremendous help in the Aymara research project and will be making occassional posts on this website on issues relating to life in the city of Moquegua.
His first contribution, Las Palomas will be posted shortly. It regards [...]

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AILDI’s 30th Anniversary
Meeting Description:
This summer, AILDI is celebrating 30 years of Indigenous language work with a  celebration and symposium. The symposium, held this year from June 29th to July 2nd, will feature presentations, panels and discussions from AILDI participants, as well as from scholars from across the U.S., Mexico and beyond working in communities on language revitalization, [...]

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Taken from Chronicle of a Killing Foretold by Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas and The Economist article Blood in the Jungle.

November 2007 President García publishes articles which state:
“The primary resource is Amazonia. It has 63 million hectares and abundant rain. Lumber forestry can be developed here, especially in the eight million hectares destroyed, but to [...]

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In this second look at the book mentioned in this series, we can explore some of the cultural and traditional observations that the author makes.  One of the most interesting aspects are the author’s notes about the various festivals held in the region. 
The PALOMITA dance is part of the festival of the Crosses. It is [...]

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According to the June 5 edition of the New York Times:
“Clashes between indigenous protesters and security forces on a remote jungle highway in northern Peru left more than a dozen dead on Friday, including 11 police officers, heightening tension over intensifying protests by indigenous groups over plans to open vast tracts of rain forest to oil drilling, [...]

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French-speaking readers can check out what is likely an interesting show on French Culture Radio entitled La longue marche du peuple Aymara et des Indiens de Bolivie. Even if you don´t speak French, it is worthwhile to check out the site to see some of the photos of Pierre de Vallombreuse who also [...]

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La ultima vez que estaba en Moquegua, mi amigo Gustavo Valcárcel Salas mi dió un libro hecho-de-mano con paginas fotocopiadas, descoloradas. El trabajo tiene el titulo Moquegua, La tierra del sol - Concerte es quererte: Folklore y turismo zona Ticsani Region Moquegua. No está claro quien escribió y organizó el documento, pero en la segunda [...]

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While I was last in Moquegua my good friend Gustavo Valcarcel Salas gave me a faded xeroxed handmade book comprised of a series of poorly photocopied sheets folded in half. The work is entitled, Moquegua, La tierra del sol - Concerte es quererte: Folklore y turismo zona Ticsani Region Moquegua. It is unclear who wrote [...]

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