Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2015 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

What has a long neck, stands about three feet high at the shoulder, and communicates by humming? If you answered an alpaca, you know your camelids. If you answered a llama or a vicuña, you were close. These three related animals are native to South America, and are also distantly related to their Asian and African cousins, camels. Alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas live in Peru and look similar to the untrained eye. So, what’s the difference? Let’s start with vicuñas. Unlike llamas and alpacas, vicuñas roam free in the wild. Their wool is softer than the alpaca’s, which is why it is so highly prized. Alpacas, one of the two tamed cousins, have been bred for more than 6,000 years! They are raised in herds for their high-quality, warm, and…

Caballitos are not actually little horses, but a type of traditional reed boat that has been used for centuries by fishermen on the Peruvian Pacific Coast and on Lake Titicaca in the interior highlands of the country. The original builders of the boats were the native inhabitants of the coast of Northern Peru, predecessors of the Moche, a culture that flourished from about A.D. 100 to A.D. 800. In Muchik the language spoken by the Moche, the boat was called a tup. Later, between the 9th and 15th centuries, the Chimú culture in the same area began the widespread production and use of the caballitos de totora for fishing with hooks, nets, and traps. When the Spanish saw the one-man boats in use on the water, they dubbed them “little…

A small group of men perch on a half-finished rope bridge, stretched across a canyon that is as deep as a 16-story building. This is not a scene from an action movie, but a traditional building project in the district of Quehue, Peru in the Andes mountains. Every June, four communities — Huinchiri, Chaupibanda, Choccayhua, and Ccollana Quehue — join together to create a bridge their ancestors have been rebuilding for centuries, during a ceremony that lasts four days. Today, the bridge is not needed to cross the canyon; there is a modern bridge nearby for that purpose. Instead, the ceremony of renewing the bridge each year connects the people of the communities to each other and to their history. Building the bridge is a true labor of love and…

Along time ago, our ancestors did not count the years. They lived in a harmonious way with nature and did not know death. Most of their time was spent protecting themselves from the constant rains that fell. Then, a great change occurred and the survival of the people seemed seriously threatened. The spirits of nature spoke to the Wachiperi people through their cazadores and curanderos (hunters and healers) and told them what was going to happen in the land. The spirits said that there was an imbalance of nature. The rivers, lakes, seas, and plants were drying up and revealing strange animals that threatened to attack the people and eat all the food that sustained them. There was a great fire burning, which threw the previously existing balance between fire…

We are pleased to bring the culture and heritage of Peru to you through the pages of Faces. With this edition, our goal is to extend the reach of the 2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival beyond our home on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to you wherever you live. Special thanks to the Republic of Peru Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR) for supporting the original research that shaped the Festival as well as the articles featured in this very special edition of Faces. Enjoy, Sabrina Lynn Motley Director, Smithsonian Folklife Festival The South American country of Peru is full of surprises. With a varied landscape and a rich history, this country promises adventure, beauty, and a vast array of cultural experiences. Here are five facts to get you…

You are about to embark on a Peruvian adventure. Peruvians weave together past and present in a rich cultural tapestry like no other place on earth. Within this country, you can walk across an ancient rope bridge on the Inca Road, ride the waves on a “little horse” made of reeds, get a fresh view of the lowly potato, climb a mythical life-giving tree with ancestors of present-day Amazonians, and dance with champions of the international phenomenon called the marinera. Let’s take a quick trip through the history and culture of Peru to get you oriented. As you may have already guessed, the South American country of Peru is full of surprises. Its amazing landscape ranges from beautiful beaches and desert coastline of the Pacific Ocean to the soaring Andes…

How do you combine a love of the Peruvian food you grew up enjoying, a lot of energy, and the desire to work side by side with your brother into a business? By starting a food truck, of course! This is exactly what Giuseppe and Mario Lanzone did. The Peruvian Brothers, as they call themselves, are originally from La Punta, Peru, and now live in Northern Virginia. The brothers bring delicious Peruvian treats to the streets of the Washington, D.C., area each weekday. As the sons of a fisherman from a small coastal town near Lima, the brothers grew up enjoying the super fresh bounty of the ocean. As their grandfather emigrated from Italy to Peru, they also enjoyed fusions of that great cuisine with native Peruvian foods. Foods they…

“La Marinera no se baila con los pies; se baila con el corazón.” “The Marinera is not danced with the feet; it is danced with the heart.” A female dancer in a swirling skirt and a male dancer in a crisp white suit circle each other with elegant movements. She waves a white handkerchief and he flourishes a straw hat as their fancy footwork keeps time with the beat of a lively song. Welcome to the wildly popular Peruvian dance, the Marinera! Many dance historians believe that the Marinera is rooted in an earlier dance called the zamacueca, which blended European, African, and Andean rhythms with quick, flirtatious movements. Through the years, Marinera developed into a national symbol of Peru. The dance has different versions: some slower, some faster, some…

Can you read the patterns of this textile? Make your best guess, then see the answers at the bottom of the page. These patterns reflect the natural world of Peru. The weavers who originated these patterns only had to look around at their surroundings for inspiration. Today, new patterns and weaving techniques have emerged to reflect changing environments, such as land patterns and use. In these patterns, Pachamama, or Mother Earth, still serves as the most powerful inspiration. Look around you, either inside or – preferably – outside. Design your own pattern using the natural world as your inspiration. YOU NEED Brightly colored markers or pencils Graph paper 1. CHOOSE A SUBJECT Select a scene or a single subject, such as o o n t ou oo ot 2. ADD…

Official Name: Republic of Peru Location: Western South America. It borders Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. Its western border is the pacific Ocean. peru has about 2,000 miles of coastline. Area: 496,224 square miles (1,285,216 square kilometers) Population: 30,147,935 (July 2014 estimate) Government: Unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house Capital: Lima Highest Point: Nevado Huascaran 22,205 feet (6,768 meters) People: Indigenous groups, 45 percent; Mestizo (mixed indigenous and European descent), 37 percent; European descent, 15 percent; other (including African, Japanese and Chinese descent), 3 percent Languages: Spanish (official),84.1 percent; Quechua (official), 13 percent; Aymara (offical), 1.7 percent; Ashaninka, 0.3 percent: other native languages, 0.7 percent; other languages (including European and sign language), 0.2 percent National Holiday: Independence Day, July 28 Religions: Roman Catholic, 81.3 percent; Evangelical, 12.5 percent;…

Can you read a piece of cloth? If you grew up in the region around Cusco, Peru, and learned to weave and spin from the age of seven like I did, you can. The traditional woolen weavings from this part of the country, including my hometown of Chinchero, contain unique characteristics of size, color combinations, patterns, and quality that showcase our stunning natural world of the Andes Mountains. Even the colors, using dyes made from such natural sources as plants and insects, tell a story of the important connection between people and the land. For 2,000 years, the weaving tradition was used only as a way to provide clothing and other goods needed for daily life. Now, weaving has become a way for women to make additional income by selling…

Imagine following a line of revelers through the streets, the air filled with rhythms created by foot stomping, drumming on wooden boxes, and even playing an instrument made from a donkey’s jawbone. Each year, this is the scene in the El Carmen district in Peru during the festival called Atajo de Negritos, celebrated by Afro Peruvians, descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to Peru by the Spanish beginning in the 1500s. This district is in the province of Chincha, located on the coast of Peru about 125 miles south of the capital city, Lima. Thousands make this annual event a homecoming celebration. They enjoy parades, concerts, theater, poetry, food, and other lively traditions with their families and friends. Atajo de Negritos means, “the Crossroads of the Slaves.” Afro-Peruvians celebrate the…

In Peru, you can find chicha in a cup, on a stage, or plastered to a wall. How is this possible? It’s because chicha, which originally referred to a traditional drink made from corn, also gave its name to a lively musical movement. To advertise their concerts, musicians turned to street artists who used brilliant colors to print posters. Today, you can drink, listen to, or see chicha almost everywhere in Peru! THE BEVERAGE Let’s look at the drink first. Corn comes in many colors in Peru and has many uses. The purple variety, called maiz morado, is grown in the lower valleys of the Andes mountains. To make non-alcoholic chicha morada, you grind the corn and then boil it with sugar, pineapple, cinnamon, and clove. You will find chicha…