The Mentor: Bolivia, vol. 5, Num. 18, Serial 142, November 1, 1917 — John Shaqi
The Mentor: Bolivia, vol. 5, Num. 18, Serial 142, November 1, 1917Newman, E. M. (Edward Manuel)
History
The Mentor: Bolivia, vol. 5, Num. 18, Serial 142, November 1, 1917
Newman, E. M. (Edward Manuel)
Bolivia -- Description and travel
When fully attired, she is a sight to behold. Arrayed in all her
finery, she promenades like a queen through the streets of the city;
and yet, back of it all, the influence of blood is evident. She may
dress ever so elaborately, but the old customs still cling; she still
insists upon carrying her baby on her back in good old Indian fashion,
and she is not averse to carrying her market basket when she goes to
the market to make her purchases. Most numerous among the Indians
are the Aymaras, who, unlike the Quichua Indians of Peru, are surly
and inclined to hold aloof from the white man. They are seemingly
indifferent to the white man’s influence. For clothing, the Aymará men
wear shirts and trousers of a coarse cotton material; and over their
shoulders is thrown a poncho of heavy woolen cloth. Aside from their
poncho, the most attractive part of their costume is a curious woolen
head-covering, beautifully embroidered with beads in gay colors. In
a climate where it is always cold except at midday, these caps with
their long ear-muffs are very serviceable. Women who are wives of
full-blooded Indians make no pretension in the way of attire, and they
accept without question their social status, which relegates them to an
inferior position.
[Illustration: ON LAKE TITICACA]
[Illustration: BALSA BOAT
Native making the boat of reeds]
_Customs and Laws_
Much of the trading carried on with the Indians is done by barter; they
bring their farm and garden produce to the city, and exchange it with
dealers for groceries or wearing apparel. Very few of them accumulate
money, and wealth is very rare.
Many of their laws are unique, and are no doubt born of tribal customs
which have been handed down for generations, and yet are usually
rigidly observed. If, for instance, a doctor loses seven patients,
Indian law decrees that the career of the doctor must terminate, and
that his life must be a forfeit for his failure to save the lives of
his patients. After the Indian doctor has lost his sixth patient, he
usually departs for some unknown place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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