Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE TARABUCEÑOS: MASTER WEAVERS
Though they wear the same traditional costume, speak the same language (Quechua) and
share many cultural traditions, strictly speaking it's not correct to refer to the Tarabuceños
as an ethnic group: the name was simply given by the colonial authorities to all the indi-
genous communities living around Tarabuco. When the Spanish first arrived, the region
had only recently been conquered by the Incas and marked the very limit of their domain.
To secure the frontier and defend against raids by the indomitable Chiriguano tribes to the
east, the Incas settled the area with different ethnic groups brought from elsewhere in the
empire. All these indigenous communities speak Quechua , the lingua franca of the Inca
empire, and at some point after the Spanish conquest they also adopted the distinctive cos-
tumes that give a semblance of unity today, but they have no collective name for them-
selves nor any tradition of collective political organization that suggests a common origin.
These distinctive traditional costumes make the Tarabuceños difficult to miss: the men
wear leather hats, known as monteros and shaped like the steel helmets worn by the Span-
ishconquistadors,alongwithwoollenponchoswovenwithbright,horizontalstripesofred,
yellow, orange and green on a brown background, and three-quarter-length white trousers.
In addition, they often use finely woven accessories like chumpi belts and chuspa coca-
bags. Though generally more muted in colour, the traditional costumes worn by the wo-
men, particularly the woollen shawls known as llijlas or aqsus , are also decorated with
beautiful and complex designs , and the ceremonial hats and headdresses they wear on spe-
cial occasions match the monteros of the men in their unusual shape and design: black pill-
boxes with a flap covering the neck decorated with sequins and bright woollen pom-poms,
or boat-shaped sombreros embroidered with silver thread. More even than their costumes,
however, it is Tarabuceño weavings that draw travellers to Tarabuco, and selling them has
become a major source of income for the Tarabuceños, who otherwise depend on agricul-
ture for their livelihoods and live in great poverty.
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