﻿Vol.2] 
  THE 
  AYMARA 
  — 
  TSCHOPIK 
  569 
  

  

  Medicines 
  are 
  most 
  commonly 
  taken 
  as 
  infusions, 
  in 
  either 
  water 
  or 
  

   milk, 
  human 
  milk 
  being 
  prescribed 
  for 
  some 
  ailments. 
  Poultices 
  are 
  

   frequently 
  used 
  in 
  treating 
  wounds 
  and 
  to 
  reduce 
  swelling, 
  and 
  coca 
  

   leaves 
  are 
  plastered 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  to 
  cure 
  headache 
  or 
  toothache. 
  Vapor 
  

   inhalants 
  are 
  employed 
  in 
  some 
  respiratory 
  ailments 
  and 
  burning 
  owl 
  

   feathers 
  are 
  used 
  to 
  cure 
  earache. 
  Freshly 
  killed 
  lizards 
  are 
  applied 
  to 
  

   injured 
  limbs 
  to 
  reduce 
  the 
  swelling 
  and 
  to 
  draw 
  out 
  bad 
  blood, 
  and 
  

   snakes 
  are 
  employed 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  manner 
  to 
  cause 
  new 
  bone 
  and 
  tissue 
  

   to 
  grow. 
  

  

  Curing. 
  — 
  Powers 
  to 
  cure 
  disease 
  are 
  shared 
  by 
  several 
  classes 
  of 
  

   doctors, 
  who 
  are 
  distinguished 
  by 
  the 
  types 
  of 
  disease 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   specialize, 
  their 
  techniques 
  of 
  diagnosis, 
  and 
  their 
  methods 
  of 
  curing. 
  

   In 
  addition 
  to 
  specialists 
  in 
  magical 
  cures 
  (see 
  Practitioners 
  of 
  Magic, 
  

   p. 
  564), 
  three 
  classes 
  of 
  medical 
  practitioners 
  (the 
  qolawayu, 
  the 
  

   t'aliri, 
  and 
  the 
  qolasiri) 
  cure 
  by 
  essentially 
  practical 
  means, 
  al- 
  

   though 
  employing 
  some 
  magic. 
  These 
  doctors 
  appear 
  to 
  require 
  no 
  

   supernatural 
  experience 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  practice 
  their 
  professions. 
  

  

  The 
  medical 
  terminology 
  is 
  complex. 
  The 
  generic 
  word 
  for 
  medi- 
  

   cine 
  is 
  qola 
  and 
  for 
  doctor, 
  qolasiri, 
  literally, 
  "he 
  who 
  knows 
  medi- 
  

   cine"; 
  other 
  names 
  for 
  doctors 
  refer 
  specifically 
  to 
  the 
  techniques 
  they 
  

   employ. 
  Although 
  either 
  sex 
  may 
  practice 
  medicine, 
  most 
  doctors 
  

   are 
  men. 
  Doctors 
  who 
  continually 
  fail 
  in 
  their 
  cures 
  are 
  often 
  driven 
  

   from 
  the 
  community 
  and 
  occasionally 
  are 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  angry 
  relatives 
  

   of 
  a 
  deceased 
  patient. 
  

  

  Much 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  about 
  the 
  qolawayu, 
  the 
  most 
  famous 
  of 
  

   Aymara 
  doctors. 
  (See 
  Paredes, 
  1936, 
  pp. 
  185-95; 
  Bandelier, 
  1910, 
  

   pp. 
  103, 
  155; 
  La 
  Barre, 
  ms.) 
  These 
  traveling 
  herbalists 
  and 
  vendors 
  

   of 
  amulets 
  live 
  chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  Provinces 
  of 
  Caupolican 
  and 
  Mufiecas 
  

   in 
  Bolivia 
  and 
  constitute 
  a 
  special 
  cultural 
  subgroup 
  of 
  the 
  Aymara. 
  

   They 
  possess 
  distinctive 
  dress 
  and 
  customs, 
  and 
  are 
  said 
  by 
  some 
  to 
  

   speak 
  a 
  special 
  dialect 
  of 
  the 
  Aymara 
  language. 
  All 
  men 
  of 
  this 
  sub- 
  

   tribe 
  are 
  trained 
  as 
  herbalists. 
  They 
  travel 
  widely 
  over 
  South 
  

   America, 
  often 
  being 
  away 
  from 
  their 
  villages 
  for 
  several 
  years. 
  

  

  The 
  t'aliri 
  are 
  chiropractors 
  and 
  usually 
  also 
  midwives. 
  In 
  Chu- 
  

   cuito, 
  Peru 
  (total 
  population 
  554), 
  there 
  are 
  three 
  t'aliri, 
  two 
  of 
  

   whom 
  are 
  old 
  women, 
  while 
  one 
  is 
  an 
  old 
  man. 
  The 
  Aymara 
  believe 
  

   that 
  the 
  heart 
  may 
  be 
  dislocated 
  through 
  shock 
  or 
  an 
  accident, 
  where- 
  

   upon 
  these 
  practitioners 
  are 
  engaged 
  to 
  return 
  it 
  to 
  its 
  normal 
  position 
  

   by 
  massage 
  and 
  by 
  jerking 
  the 
  patient's 
  torso. 
  

  

  The 
  qolasiri 
  are 
  bone-setters, 
  herbalists, 
  and 
  general 
  practitioners 
  

   who 
  tend 
  strongly 
  to 
  specialize. 
  Some 
  are 
  known 
  for 
  their 
  abilities 
  

   to 
  diagnose 
  disease, 
  some 
  for 
  their 
  success 
  in 
  internal 
  medicine, 
  and 
  

   others 
  for 
  their 
  skill 
  as 
  bone-setters. 
  The 
  qolasiri 
  ordinarily 
  divines 
  

   with 
  coca, 
  but 
  uses 
  a 
  guinea 
  pig 
  for 
  more 
  important 
  cases. 
  He 
  places 
  

   the 
  live 
  guinea 
  pig 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  patient's 
  body 
  for 
  a 
  short 
  time, 
  

  

  