One of the earliest interregional congresses on the continent took place between amautas, yatiris, and kolliris from the highlands, and their counterparts in lowland areas, during the conquest of the Amazonian region by the Tiwanaku state in prehistoric times, around 800 AD.
After a fierce battle won by the Aymaras, the army of Chachapuma entered Tutiriboye, the capital of chief Boroboho (likely Leco), where doctors from both sides, besides treating the wounded from both parties, met to exchange their methods for treating puncture wounds, fractures, skull surgeries, fevers, and other diseases.
The compilation reveals an advanced knowledge of medicine using herbs and medicinal animals such as khentu (zarzaparrilla), coca, chusichusi, matico, beeswax, rubber tree milk, uthuturuncu fat, papahine, taytutá (honeybee), chayi (skunk), leafcutter ant, leech, irujichu (tough grass), parhuaya (maize silk), kallisaya (quina), chicosilla, taytetu (vinegar), and huaylla, among many others.
The congress was rescued from oral tradition by historian Víctor M. Ibáñez in his novel Chachapuma (El Hombre León), published in 1919, where he refers to the Aymara warriors’ conquest of the Tacana area, where Kenallatas and Tutirihuaras were located.
The Congress
Immediately after the battle, following the establishment of order, indigenous leader Chachapuma ordered the setting up of tents (hospitals) by “amautas (yatiris and kolliris) and tat-tapués (wise men, priests, and doctors)” among the “savages” to attend to war wounded and all sick people from both combatant armies and civilian populations.
The author of the book does not hide his amazement at the extraordinary healing methods used in those distant times, using, among other elements, medicinal herbs and animal fats that were still useful in practical life across the country at the beginning of the 20th century and are still used today.
The event began with the lighting of a bonfire where physicians sprinkled copal resin and incense. Then they proceeded to acullico (chewing coca leaves) and performed prayers accompanied by shouts and spells to ward off evil spirits.
We find ourselves in one of the tents of the ambulance, exclusively for individuals wounded by puncturing weapons, darts, spears, etc. The patients are reclining on wide benches and grills made from chiru and chuchihu bark over tiquilis (palm fronds) planted in the ground. Moments before, both sections of the health service entered the enclosure; there were up to twelve elderly men with a serious appearance among indigenous people and savages, carrying almond shell typeyes painted, a kind of turban on their heads, and additionally, several assistants or apprentices, children carrying asayés (palm leaf bags) full of medicines. The yatiris, besides their wide-brimmed hats and large ponchos adorned with countless ttics (decorations or figures), only carried a capucho or mari filled with herbs, roots, and other trinkets that even today, the kallahuayas use to heal. There was in this narrow storage room the huntu (llama kidney fat), dyed wool of various colors (ttics), chiuchis (small figures), huaminunchi (love potion), iquiñkcullu, uthuruncu sebum, and many other trinkets that we will gradually know (Ibáñez, 1919: 212).
Later, the doctors divided into two groups to treat Aymara patients on the right side of the shed and Tacana patients on the left, observing which healing methods worked faster according to their respective systems.
Treatment of Puncture Wounds and Fractures
Puncture wounds caused by weapons like darts or spears were treated by Aymaras by injecting them with khentu water (zarzaparrilla leaves) to reduce swelling and promote pus drainage. They placed fresh meat poultices on the wounds, covered everything with fresh khentu leaves, and smoothed it with a strip of linen. “This operation should be repeated daily, and it is certain that gradually new flesh grows, leading to natural healing,” Ibáñez says.
The savages, according to the tat tapué, first looked for fragments of embedded darts to remove them, then washed with matico water, and poured chusichusi mountain jujube juice into the wounds to disinfect and heal by applying beeswax compresses.
To treat a fracture, highlanders first aligned the broken bone pieces in their respective places and applied hot cataplasms of chillca after reducing swelling. They then wrapped with argamasa or flour-based dough mixed with penca juice. “After six weeks or so, remove the covering and bandage, rinsing consecutively with warm water and immediately washing the healing limb with chillca water to aid complete recovery with gentle massages of uthuruncu fat and huaylla or chillca leaf poultices,” Ibáñez explains.
The savages sprinkled khentu powder mixed with river sand and boiled water from seven wild ferns onto the affected area. Once swelling subsided, they joined the fractures and applied beeswax spread over patajú or banana leaves perforated with spine thorns to create porous patches, promoting free organic element drainage through skin pores. They then covered them with baths of siringa (rubber tree) milk, which became a month-and-a-half bandage, followed by massaging the limb with anta caiman and mono manechi fat.
Skull Surgery
It is surprising to read about skull surgery performed by a tat tapué, leaving highland yatiris astonished.
The physician begins explaining how delicate skull surgery is after a strong blow or fall that could be fatal.
If there’s bone fracture, replacement with another material is inevitable. To this end, the patient lies on an open-air talta under shade, where they are stung by ollero (taytutá) wasps to numb and paralyze them completely. Immediately, the affected skin is cut, removing fractured bone fragments, scraping contours, and trimming protruding or fixed parts of the injury; compromised veins from scalp incisions are tied with fine chayi (skunk) or leafcutter ant tendons to prevent bleeding. Then, the cavity to be replaced is measured, marked with cera, and handed over to tutumero artists who precisely cut a tutuma or poro piece to replace the crushed bone. The skin is then smeared with chusichusi juice and roasted, completing the operation. To awaken the patient from their lethargy, healthy minnows (leeches) are applied to sting areas where the ollero wasps had previously stung, drawing a portion of blood from the patient (Ibáñez, 1919: 219).
The congress continued with the exchange of methods for treating injuries caused by projectiles like arrows, clubs, and garrotes, as well as alleviating malaria, colds, and fevers.
Did Chachapuma Exist?
Although it is still believed that the Incas were the ones who reached the Amazonian region, archaeological, ethnohistorical, and linguistic evidence shows Tiwanaku’s and Aymara groups’ previous presence in the area.
According to linguist Julio Avendaño, these Tiwanaku entries and others introduced a vast number of Aymara words into different Tacana languages and, to a lesser extent, Mosetén and Leca languages. The Aymara presence is related to various aspects of the daily lives of these rainforest families, such as numeration, measurement units, learning, religion, rituals, food, housing, health, dance, music, festivals, noble titles, weapons, games, space, and time. “Moreover, incredibly and surprisingly, aymarismos disappeared from Altiplano popular speech were found in the Amazonian Bolivian river Beni’s mouth, where it is called Omapalca (Bifurcated waters in Aymara),” he adds.
Additionally, besides Ibáñez, several historians mention the conquests of the Amazon region carried out by the legendary Aymara leader Chachapuma (Lion Man), including Fernando Diez de Medina and Luis Soria Lens.
In Tiwanaku, stone sculptures known as chachapumas have been found, representing a human figure with a puma-shaped mask, flat ears, holding a weapon in one hand and grasping the severed head of an enemy or trophy head in the other. One knee is resting on the ground, symbolizing submission to political and religious authority. These statues, less than a meter tall, represent military officers and were patrons of warriors during the Tiwanaku state.
Regarding Tiwanaku’s expansion, archaeologists have found that starting from 724 (imperial stage), the State began systematically expanding through peaceful and military means to points of economic interest, occupying not only inter-Andean valleys but also reaching the Amazon region, where it also had political control.
Víctor Ibáñez
The author of the book, Víctor Ibáñez, was a military professional and deep knowledgeable about Aymara language and customs. He participated in the Acre campaign and died in the Chaco War in 1934.
In his prologue, Ibáñez explains that he collected Chachapuma’s history from local people, acknowledging in his Prologue that knowledge diminishes over time: “the pale reflections that tradition radiates, deformed and emaciated by the rolling of centuries.”
Moreover, historian Pedro Cieza de León stated that indigenous peoples retained significant events in their memory and transmitted them from one generation to another through romances or songs, keeping their memories without forgetting, despite lacking literacy.
Therefore, it is not impossible that some traditions, like Chachapuma’s, have survived through the centuries and could still be rescued even at the beginning of the 20th century, as ancient customs and knowledge were still alive then, since automobiles or trucks had not yet become a common means of transportation in rural areas, nor was electricity available.
Bibliography
Avendaño, Julio: Tiwanaku y su idioma. Aclaración histórica sobre la cultura Qolla-Aymara. Grupo Editorial Kipus. Cochabamba, 2018.
Ibáñez, Víctor M: Chachapuma, el hombre león. Novela de costumbres indígenas del tiempo del imperio aymara. González y Medina, editores. La Paz, 1919.
Montaño Durán, Patricia: El imperio de Tiwanaku. 4ta edición. Grupo editorial Kipus. Cochabamba, 2022.
Ponce Sanginés, Carlos: Tiwanaku y su fascinante desarrollo cultural. Producciones Cima. La Paz, 2002.
https://elias-blanco.blogspot.com/2012/02/victor-m-ibanez.html