Camelid fibers: stories, identity and legacy

Since we were little, we are fascinated by hearing captivating stories that transmit emotions to us or help us imagine a better reality. As we grow and become people with more responsibilities, life becomes faster and faster and we forget how good those stories made us feel. We also forget that everything, absolutely everything around us, contains a story . Only sometimes in the daily whirlwind we forget to pay attention to it.

The Andean area, so close to us geographically, but so far away in knowledge, is one of those places where the simplest, mystical and richest stories continue to be preserved every day. Animaná tries to protect many of these stories in its garments so that the consumer can enjoy, first-hand, Andean wisdom . Have you ever thought that the clothes you wear carry stories? Are you willing to hear them?

One of the best-known communities with the greatest cultural legacy in the Andean area were the Incas . They had specific rules for handling guanacos and vicuñas , animals that were extremely valued in their culture due to the quality of their fibers. Every three or four years, they captured these animals, which was known as “Chaku” . There, many of the animals were let go, others were sheared, and some were killed for their leather and meat. Outside of this period, vicuña hunting was prohibited.

Vicuña fiber was the main material to produce light fabrics called Kumpi, which were used by Inca royalty, whose making and care was in charge of the Virgins of the Sun. These garments were so precious that there were officials dedicated to their control. and storage, and fabrics were “sacrificed” by incinerating them for the gods.

To this day, the Puno peoples of southeastern Peru maintain a close mystical relationship with animals. For them, animals are “Salqa” (Wild) or “Uywa” (Domestic). The salqa are raised by the divinities in the same way that the uywa are raised by the shepherds. For the “Apus”, or mountain deities, foxes are equivalent to dogs, pumas are cats and vicuñas are alpacas. For this reason, it is punishable in many Peruvian Andean cultures to attack vicuñas, since they have an owner and, therefore, the hunter can be punished as if a shepherd stole alpacas from another shepherd.

Camelids are animals that accompanied human development and contributed to their well-being and nutrition throughout history and in different parts of the world. Today, the fibers of these animals play an important role in the fashion industry and the quality of their fibers continues to be among the finest on the market . So that, as a society, we can continue enjoying the properties of these fibers and maintain their original quality, it is necessary to take into account the management of camelids and conserve the species and its environment.

With good management of camelids, it is also possible to: strengthen local communities and institutions of collective action; revitalize ancient traditions; create and strengthen relationships between communities; recover local knowledge; provide alternative sources of income to communities, which are usually relegated and forgotten by national states. In addition, develop and encourage local participation, strengthen claims to land and natural resources, demarcate community territory, and provide incentives to avoid emigration to cities. But, above all, to preserve those mystical stories that give identity to an area and that make each fiber taken from these animals whisper to us about these mountain gods and how important it is to take care of their secrets and traditions.