Caring for herd animals in Isluga

Abstract

Chapter 3 of the book Earth, Water, Fleece and Fabric, first published in 2002, is presented in this article. It is based on periods of fieldwork carried out between 1986 and the late 1990s. In the previous chapter of the book, it was suggested that camelid domestication arose from the taming of successive generations of animals as part of the daily practices of herding. Domestication was not a once and forall event in the distant past. The present article focuses on the thick description of Isluga people’s herding strategies duringthe 1980s and 1990s. Isluga is an Aymara community in the Chilean highlands, bordering with Bolivia. Caring for camelidsin this community constitutes a process whereby herders sustain and renew lasting relationships between human beingsand herd animals. Cycles of time and space are described in order to contextualisehow and where the herders look after their llamas, alpacas and sheep. All Souls Day marks the arrival of the rainy seasonand Carnival is the event which brings it to an end. The austral summer solstice occurs on the cusp between these two festivalsand coincides with the fiesta of St. Thomas. Isluga people call themselves the «children of Saint Thomas», in a tradition which is inscribed in the topography of their territory. The other season of the year is cold and dry. It is associated with the winds of St. James the Greater and St. Anthony of Padua.The annual cycle therefore unfolds in a calendar of saints’ days accompanied by atmospheric phenomena, which nurturethe pasture grounds. The herding activities take place in a volcanic landscape associatedwith land forms which are perceived to be animated and gendered. The earth is personified as the Wirjin Tayka or Pachamama and the hills as Uywiri. Isluga people engage with these beings on a daily basis. These land forms can serve as aviadores, «providers», associated with the fertility and wellbeing of camelids and sheeps. The composition of the herds of llamas and alpacas is analysed, as well as the classifications Isluga people make accordingto age and gender. Camelid nomenclature is based on the disposition of dark and light colours in the coat of llamas and alpacas. Isluga people use names for their camelids which are intimately related to birds and other beings in their surroundings.The dense description offered makes it possible to analyse the regenerative cycle of water, pasture and fleece in a comparative ethnography, in the light of themes developed in other parts of the book, from which this article has been extracted.