Q'eros (Quechua Andean) and Music of the Andes
This afternoon we enjoyed an informative lecture by Holly Wissler who shared information regarding links between the economic system of the Inca Empire and today's Q'eros cultural group, with a focus on its relation to their music. She shared information on the extremely well-organized Inca economic system, based on mit'a, vertical ecology and ayni, and how you can see parts of this system in action with today's Q'eros cultural group. Holly is an ethnomusicologist and flutist. Since 2003, she has conducted research and participated in the indigenous musical rituals of the Quechua community of Q'eros, and has published numerous articles on Q'eros' music and culture in Peruvian, U.S. and European journals. Holly dedicates herself to applied ethnomusicology in Peru with the Q'eros (Quechua Andean) and Wachiperi (Harakmbut Amazonian) communities, involved in music, and other, projects in these communities. In 2011 she was principal author with Peru's Ministry of Culture on the petition to UNESCO that the Q'eros songs be nominated to the international "Intangible Cultural Heritage" list. She spearheaded a 2-year project with the Queros-Wachiperi community in the Madre de Dios Amazonian river basin for the rescue and documentation of Wachiperi songs and immaterial culture (2010-2012), and a collaborative research project with the youth of Q'eros in the new and only high school in the Q'eros Nation (colegio-etnico), researching the older songs that the Q'eros no longer sing.
We met with the Q’eros and heard some songs. The Q’eros are a Quechua-speaking people who live high in the Andes Mountains of southeast Perú. These native people, which have been largely hidden & isolated for the past 500 years, possess an ancient spiritual knowledge which originates directly from the Incas. This knowledge, which is still largely unknown, encourages people to be more aware of the need to change the ways in which we interact with each other and our planet Earth. The Q'eros still speak in their ancient language, the Quechua (pronounced "Ketsjuwa"). For most of their existence, they have had only very limited and rare contacts with the Peruvian government or the church. Consequently, they continue to live in their traditional way of life and are largely self-supporting. Q’eros is also the name of the cultural region that comprises eight Q’eros’ communities. Five of these communities, recently banded together in a statement of solidarity to form the “Nación Q’eros.”
In May 2006, during the Dalai Lama’s visit to South America, some Q’eros were chosen to participate in his visit to Cusco, as representatives of ‘authentic’ Andean culture. They conversed with him about their lifestyle, and closed the meeting by singing the traditional Q’eros’ song, “Thurpa.” Perú’s National Institute of Culture (INC) recently declared the Q’eros cultural group a cultural patrimony (patrimonio cultural), the first and only people in Perú to receive this recognition. The INC has begun a dialogue with the Nación Q’eros about plans for ethno-development (etnodesarollo), giving the Q’eros a voice from which to plan their own future with outside assistance. This unique identity and position gives the Q’eros people a singular platform for indigenous leadership in southeast Perú.
This afternoon we enjoyed an informative lecture by Holly Wissler who shared information regarding links between the economic system of the Inca Empire and today's Q'eros cultural group, with a focus on its relation to their music. She shared information on the extremely well-organized Inca economic system, based on mit'a, vertical ecology and ayni, and how you can see parts of this system in action with today's Q'eros cultural group. Holly is an ethnomusicologist and flutist. Since 2003, she has conducted research and participated in the indigenous musical rituals of the Quechua community of Q'eros, and has published numerous articles on Q'eros' music and culture in Peruvian, U.S. and European journals. Holly dedicates herself to applied ethnomusicology in Peru with the Q'eros (Quechua Andean) and Wachiperi (Harakmbut Amazonian) communities, involved in music, and other, projects in these communities. In 2011 she was principal author with Peru's Ministry of Culture on the petition to UNESCO that the Q'eros songs be nominated to the international "Intangible Cultural Heritage" list. She spearheaded a 2-year project with the Queros-Wachiperi community in the Madre de Dios Amazonian river basin for the rescue and documentation of Wachiperi songs and immaterial culture (2010-2012), and a collaborative research project with the youth of Q'eros in the new and only high school in the Q'eros Nation (colegio-etnico), researching the older songs that the Q'eros no longer sing.
We met with the Q’eros and heard some songs. The Q’eros are a Quechua-speaking people who live high in the Andes Mountains of southeast Perú. These native people, which have been largely hidden & isolated for the past 500 years, possess an ancient spiritual knowledge which originates directly from the Incas. This knowledge, which is still largely unknown, encourages people to be more aware of the need to change the ways in which we interact with each other and our planet Earth. The Q'eros still speak in their ancient language, the Quechua (pronounced "Ketsjuwa"). For most of their existence, they have had only very limited and rare contacts with the Peruvian government or the church. Consequently, they continue to live in their traditional way of life and are largely self-supporting. Q’eros is also the name of the cultural region that comprises eight Q’eros’ communities. Five of these communities, recently banded together in a statement of solidarity to form the “Nación Q’eros.”
In May 2006, during the Dalai Lama’s visit to South America, some Q’eros were chosen to participate in his visit to Cusco, as representatives of ‘authentic’ Andean culture. They conversed with him about their lifestyle, and closed the meeting by singing the traditional Q’eros’ song, “Thurpa.” Perú’s National Institute of Culture (INC) recently declared the Q’eros cultural group a cultural patrimony (patrimonio cultural), the first and only people in Perú to receive this recognition. The INC has begun a dialogue with the Nación Q’eros about plans for ethno-development (etnodesarollo), giving the Q’eros a voice from which to plan their own future with outside assistance. This unique identity and position gives the Q’eros people a singular platform for indigenous leadership in southeast Perú.
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