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Chapters: Bolivians of Aymara Descent, Evo Morales, Andrés de Santa Cruz, Juan José Torres, Enrique Peñaranda, Alejandro Mario Yllanes, Franz Tamayo, Túpac Katari, Pato Hoffmann, Bartolina Sisa, Felipe Quispe, Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Roberto Mamani Mamani, David Choquehuanca, Max Paredes, Gregoria Apaza. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 67. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Juan Evo Morales Ayma (born October 26, 1959), popularly known as Evo (Spanish pronunciation: ), has been the President of Bolivia since 2006. Morales was first elected President of Bolivia on December 18, 2005, with 53.7% of the popular vote (approximately 45% of the electorate) in an election that saw the participation of 84.5% of the national electorate. Two and a half years later he substantially increased this majority; in a recall referendum on August 14, 2008, more than two thirds of voters (67.4%) voted to keep him in power (approximately 57% of the electorate). Morales won presidential elections again in December 2009 by 63% and continued to his second term of presidency. Morales is the leader of a political party called the Movement for Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, with the Spanish acronym MAS, meaning "more"). MAS was involved in social protests such as the gas conflict and the Cochabamba protests of 2000, along with many other groups, that are collectively referred to as "social movements" in Bolivia. The MAS aims at giving more power to the country's indigenous and poor communities by means of land reforms and redistribution of gas wealth. Morales is also titular president of Bolivia's cocalero movement a loose federation of coca growers' unions, made up of campesinos (rural laborers) who are resisting the efforts of the United States government to eradicate coca in th...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=284163 ... Read more

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This volume provides a multi-sited and multivocalic investigation of the dynamic social, political and economic processes in the creation and implementation of an agricultural development project. The raised field rehabilitation project attempted to introduce a pre-Columbian agricultural method into the contemporary Lake Titicaca Basin. ... Read more

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In a secluded valley high in the Andes Mountains, long before the time of the Incas and the Aztecs, the empire of the Aymara rose from the shores of Lake Titicaca and flourished for nearly a thousand years. The secrets of the Aymara civilization, one of the first great empires of the Americas, have only recently been deciphered from the haunting ruins of their splendid temples, among which their contemporary descendants still live and work today.

In Valley of the Spirits, Alan Kolata takes us deep into the mystical world of the Aymara, where past and present come together and the spirits of ancient ancestors still speak to shamans in the voices of mountain springs. Kolata's unique knowledge of the Aymara is based on 17 years of research at the site of the ancient empire.

Its crown jewel was the dazzling ancient capital of Tiahuanaco, whose gold and silver-appointed temples and "monumental stone sculptures intensified the mythic aura of the city, imbuing it with a quality of the supernatural." From A.D. 400-1100, it was the spiritual center of the Andean world. According to Aymara myth, the creator god Viracocha brought man to life from the springs and rocks of Tiahuanaco's sacred landscape.

The city's rich symbolism linked man inextricably to the majestic plan—and the cyclical fates—of nature. Royal priests performed elaborate animal and human sacrifices and buried human trophy heads and the mummified remains of Aymara kings in lavish religious pageants. So impressive was the legacy of Tiahuanaco that the Inca rulers claimed descent from the Aymara kings more than 500 years after the empire's mysterious catastrophic demise.

Kolata deciphers the mysteries of the ancient monuments, from the massive Akapana pyramid, the symbol of sacred mountains, and of fertility and abundance, to the imposing archway known as the Gateway of the Sun, among the most exquisite artistic monuments of the ancient Americas. And he takes us into the contemporary world of the Aymara as well, where shamans recite the names of ancestral spirits in a hypnotic protocol of remembrance and homage to Lady Earth and Lord Sky.

"To anyone fascinated by the total experience of humans, to anyone who wishes to go beyond the familiar world, to anyone wanting to push the envelope of their own perceptions, a sojourn into the mind and history of the Aymara is disturbing, exhilarating, and ultimately unforgettable."—Alan Kolata, in his Introduction to Valley of the SpiritsAmazon.com Review
A millennium before the Incas built their empire, the city ofTiahuanaco sat at the center of a great empire of its own. Located onLake Titicaca, the world's highest at 13,000 feet, in what is nowBolivia, at the very limits of agriculture, the people of Tiahuanacodeveloped an ingenious system of cultivation based on raised plantingbeds alternating with trenches that served as irrigation ditches. FromA.D. 400 to 800, the temples of Tiahuanaco glittered with gold and theempire supported as many as 250,000 people. Kolata, who has spent morethan 17 years excavating the empire's ruins, weaves together thestory of Tiahuanaco and the region's modern inhabitants, the Aymara. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Archeology rocks!
I think this is my favorite book I've read about South America before and after a trip there.The author introduces us to the people who live there and are his friends.We get to see how Tiawanaku looked when it was in use and learn about customs and traditions which live today.The project to re-introduce ancient agricultural practices of raised beds and irrigation,was exciting.We were kept on the edge of our seat waiting to see if a freeze killed the crop and put the population in jeopardy.A real armchair trip to Bolivia!

Spirit of the Aymara
If you can't go to Bolivia, this is the next best thing.The archeological information about Tiawanaku is fascinating.The cultural information regarding the Aymara is great too.But, my favorite part was the project to reintroduce abandoned agricultural practices to the area.Much larger populations were supported in ancient times due to the micromanagement of climate using irrigation and raised fields.And it was dramatically demonstrated that it works in this book!Good reading!

Valley of the Spirits
I really enjoyed this book and have since read further volumes on South American Indian cultures because of it.Written by the primary researcher at Tiahuanaco, Alan Kolata, the text covers the origin of the earliestpre-Inca highland civilization, the Ayamara.So impressive was the legacyof this people to their successors that the Inca themselves sought tolegitimize their claim to empire by seeking to place their roots at thissite.I found Kolata's successful test of his economic hypothesisregarding population density and farming methods (by the reintroduction ofraised bed and canal farming at altitude) especially profound.Itcertainly made abundantly apparent the pertinance of modern dayarchaeology, not only to the preservation of the world's ancientinheritance but to the material well being of modern populations as well. This book is a good place to start for anyone with an interest in ancientSouth American cultures and to applied archaeology.

this is a fine book
I'm an Egyptologist, but I like to read outside my own field.This excellent summary of years of work in the field was a real joy.It was exciting to read of a culture "done in" by a change in climate (we think this also happened in ancient Egypt!), and heartwarming to read of ancient irrigation technology revived to help people today.I feel this book is a must for anyone who cares about the past . . . and people today ... Read more

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This book traces the history and ecology of the Aymaras and the Quechuas: the highland peoples of the Central Andes, who formed the nucleus of the great Inca Empire. ... Read more

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Chapters: Mapuche, Huaca de Chena, Fuegians, Aymara Ethnic Group, Selknam, Yaghan, Promaucaes, Patagon, Diaguita, Mapuche Conflict, Capayán, Alberto Achacaz Walakial, Alacaluf, Picunche, Tehuelche, Indian Auxiliaries, Atacameño, Rapanui, Gualemo, Pehuenche, Moluche, Yanaconas, Cuncos, Chono, Poya, Chango People, Mapochoes. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 108. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Mapudungun, Spanish The Mapuche (Mäpfuchieu) are one of the indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They were known as Araucanians (araucanos) by the Spaniards. This is now considered pejorative by some people. Mapuche make up about 4% of the Chilean population, who are particularly concentrated in the Araucania Region. Contrary to popular belief, the Quechua word awqa "rebel, enemy", is probably not the root of araucano: the latter is more likely derived from the placename rag ko (Spanish Arauco) "clayey water". The Mapuche traditional economy is based on agriculture; their traditional social organisation consists of extended families, under the direction of a "lonko" or chief, although in times of war they would unite in larger groupings and elect a toqui (from Mapudungun toki "axe, axe-bearer") to lead them. The Mapuche are a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups which shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended between the Aconcagua River and Chiloé Archipelago and later eastward to the Argentine pampa. The Mapuche (note that Mapuche can refer to the whole group of Picunches (people of the north), Huilliches and Moluche or Nguluche from Araucanía or exclusively to the Moluche or Nguluche from Araucanía) inhabited the valleys between the Itata and Toltén Rivers, as w...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=392305 ... Read more

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Chapters: Guaraní, Mapuche, Wichí, Fuegians, List of Indigenous Languages in Argentina, Aymara Ethnic Group, Querandí, Selknam, Malón de La Paz, Patagon, Toba People, Diaguita, Capayán, Chané, Second Malón de La Paz, Alacaluf, Comechingón, Charrua, Tehuelche, Quilmes, Puelche, Calchaquí, Pehuenche, Haush, Poya, Chicoana, Amaicha. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 120. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Guaraní, Spanish, Portuguese Guaraní are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guaraní language. The traditional range of the Guaraní people is in what is now Paraguay between the Uruguay River and lower Paraguay River, the Corrientes and Entre Ríos Provinces of Argentina, southern Brazil, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia. Although their demographic dominance of the region has been reduced by European colonisation and the commensurate rise of mestizos, there are contemporary Guaraní populations in these areas. Most notably, the Guaraní language, still widely spoken across traditional Guaraní homelands, is one of the two official languages in Paraguay, the other one being Spanish. The language was once looked down upon by the upper and middle classes, but it is now often regarded with pride and serves as a symbol of national distinctiveness. The Paraguayan population learns Guaraní both informally from social interaction and formally in public schools. The history and meaning of the name Guaraní are subject to dispute. Prior to their encounter with Europeans, the Guaraní referred to themselves simply as Abá, meaning "men" or "people." The term Guaraní was originally applied by early Jesuit missionaries to refer to natives who had accepted conversion and were thus "civilized". Cayua or Caingua (k...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=100754 ... Read more

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What Abercrombie gives us is an understanding of how people in an Andean community shape, rethink, and reshape their past.Gary Urton, author of The History of a Myth: Pacariqtambo and the Origin of the InkasPathways of Memory and Power crosses the disciplinary boundary where anthropology and history meet, exploring the cultural frontier of the colonial and postcolonial Andes. Thomas A. Abercrombie uses his fieldwork in the Aymara community of Santa Barbara de Culta, Bolivia, as a starting point for his ambitious examination of the relations between European forms of historical consciousness and indigenous Andean ways of understanding the past. Writing in an inviting first-person narrative style, Abercrombie confronts the ethics of fieldwork by comparing ethnographic experience to the power-laden contexts that produce historical sources.Making clear the early and deep intermingling of practices and world views among Spaniards and Andeans, Christians and non-Christians, Abercrombie critiques both the romanticist tendency to regard Andean culture as still separate from and resistant to European influences, and the melodramatic view that all indigenous practices have been obliterated by colonial and national elites. He challenges prejudices that, from colonial days to the present, have seen Andean historical knowledge only in mythic narratives or narratives of personal experience. Bringing an ethnographers approach to historiography, he shows how complex Andean rituals that hybridize European and indigenous traditionssuch as libation dedications and llama sacrifices held on saints day festivalsare in fact potent evidence of social memory in the community.A groundbreaking and important contribution to Andean anthropology and history. Among Abercrombies aims is bridging the gap between writing and non-writing peoples by confronting history with ethnohistory, and confronting written ethnohistory with the oral traditions and ritual practices through which Kultas themselves remember their past.Florencia E. Mallon, University of WisconsinMadisonA major theoretical, ethnographic, and historical contribution to Andean studies. It could well become a classic.Paul Gelles, University of CaliforniaRiverside

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Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic research, albeit somewhat unorthodox, by author's own admission. Very interesting views of Aymara daily / ritual life.
I am grateful for the 'fully embedded' approach the author took in giving us this journalistic view of the Aymara people.A U.S. citizen, I lived in Bolivia for the nine years prior to the authors work--his fieldwork beginning in nineteen seventy-nine.

The book is systematically divided into three categories.The first is the author's narrative as he first approach the Aymara peoples.This section glosses over the details and instead lets us come to know the author, his expressed motives, and the technical, and sometimes physical hurtles, he encountered as he began the process of embedding himself.

The second section is a detailed account of the whole of the written histories as viewed from the colonialist and Catholic Church records.These go back as early as the sixteenth century and help to paint one aspect of the memory of the Aymara.

The third section uncovers the clandestine rituals and public and private festivals and their importance in serving as mnemonic methods of recalling oral tradition--Aymara versions of "what really happened" and their relation through timespace to pacha (universe).

This book has given me welcomed insight needed to fill in the blanks in my own comprehension of the rituals and customs that surrounded me as a young boy.His work is meticulously documented, and his helpful glossary of Aymara terms rounds out the great research.The book paints a very beautiful but sometimes unsettling picture of the Aymara culture.

Excellent read on indigenous world-views
Two important elements of social "habit memory" processes strike me in Pathways of Memory and Power.The first is the apparent ease with which the colonial power asserted its program for "social amnesia" through a physical restructuring of social space (rectilinear, functional living spatial constructions) and time (the marking of Church calendrical and daily time, basically obliterating indigenous conceptions of time).The second is the reinterpretation of public and private to suit a colonial "moral code" based on the ritual performances of excessive drinking and bloodletting.These systematic, institutionalized policies effectively dismantled the indians' social habit-memories-replacing them with new ones modeled on Castilian life.

The long-standing issue of religious syncretism is (thankfully) questioned, through an understanding of how the indigenous people create distinctions between the "more Christian" and "more Andean" aspects of their deities and religions.The quipu system of knotting preserves a physical remembering which was transformed, but not destroyed, by Christianity. As Abercrombie states, "the techniques may have remained the same, but the content, the memories, were changing" (p. 260).The "imagenes de bulto," which were introduced by colonial priests, replaced the indigenous idols with Catholic saints, and initiated a long process of revisionist iconography for the indians from one source to another.The llama, as an animal that closely (to the indians) resembled humans in their social interactions, acted as a replacement for the human sacrificial victim; this helped ease the sacrificial rituals into a more acceptable Christian realm of possibilities.The origin myth, with its "multiple, not unique" origins was contentious; although re-reading and appropriating the Christ-like image of Tunupa, and the "great flood" and "tower of Babel" stories, led to a deeper understanding by colonial powers in the religion of their subjugated workers.

The historical grounding in colonial documents led to a deeper, richer, fuller picture of present-day ethnography.I think this method serves to illuminate so many elements in everyday life that seem otherwise "meaningless" or where pre-literate peoples have not developed a "linear" sense of history, as their colonizers encouraged.The ability to recreate, from historical documents, a more complete view of indigenous concepts about space, time, self, and history, is invaluable.It strikes me as a process of reading "through" (not between) the lines of the colonial texts-into the minds of the colonizers-in a way that is instructive in both the development of colonial systems for creation of dominant ideologies, and how the indigenous people actual recreated their colonizers through an adaptation of their habit-memories into a new (world) context. ... Read more

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In the same era as the American, French, and Haitian revolutions, a powerful anticolonial movement swept across the highland Andes in 1780-1781. Initially unified around Túpac Amaru, a descendant of Inka royalty from Cuzco, it reached its most radical and violent phase in the region of La Paz (present-day Bolivia) where Aymara-speaking Indians waged war against Europeans under the peasant commander Túpaj Katari. The great Andean insurrection has received scant attention by historians of the "Age of Revolution," but in this book Sinclair Thomson reveals the connections between ongoing local struggles over Indian community government and a larger anticolonial movement.

Living in Latin America, Robert M. Levine, Series Editor ... Read more