Quechua
Medicine
The Kallawaya Medicine Manual
Some historical sources cite
the Kallawayas as the first to use the dried bark of the cinchona tree,
the source of quinine, which was used for many years to prevent and
control malaria and other tropical diseases. Likewise, cocaine - the
main alkaloid present in the coca plant- was one of the first tropical
anesthetics used by the Kallawayas and later adopted by modern medicine.
Among the other plants found in the Bautista Saavedra province and the
illnesses in which these have been used are:
Red
Kantuta: the national flower of Bolivia is
a red-yellow-green bell-shaped flower that grows in the high valleys
of the Los Yungas. The fresh or dried leaves, are boiled in water and
then used as a poultice over an abscess or tumor. Also, the fluid may
be used for swollen eyes after soak the fresh leaves in clean water
for three or four hours.
Espino
(Colleita spinosissima): is a type of thistle that
grows in the high valleys in Charazani and Chajaya regions. The fresh
stalks are ground with other three plants.
Copal,
from the Tropical region of Caranavi, is the incense
of the Los Yungas, and wairuru of the region of Santa Cruz. It is used
to make plaster and for immobilizing fractures and lesions. The boiled
bark is used in the preparation of a sweaty bath to treat rheumatism.
The ground bark soaked in alcohol is used in the treatment of anemia.
Perlilla
(Dalea weberbaueri), grows in the high valleys
of Charazani y Cruzpata regions. The fresh or dried boiled leaves have
been used to treat smallpox and measles. Ground and mixed with pig grease
without salt is used to burn warts.
Diente
de león (dandelion), grows in the damp
zone of the high valleys. The infusion of fresh leaves is used to treat
heartburn. The fresh leaves, stalks and roots are used as a diuretic.
The dried roots are applied to heal wounds.
The Kallawayas
The province of Bautista Saavedra, north
of Lake Titicaca is 2.525 square kilometers of Kallawaya territory.
There, venerable healers live with their families in villages such as:
Curva, Chajaya, Chari, Inka, Huata Huata y Pampablanca. From this lonely
Andean region of northwestern Bolivia, the Kallawayas have traveled
into Perú, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Panamá. They
travel around Ancient Inca trails crossing the dried Altiplano and descending
to the Tropical lowlands with their chuspa - a colored woven
bag filled with herbs- and the blessing of the Aymara gods from pre
Inca times to protect them in their journey and give them a safety return.
