﻿576 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  of 
  their 
  native 
  language 
  remains, 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  know 
  whether 
  they 
  

   were 
  linguistically 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  Uru 
  of 
  Lake 
  Titicaca. 
  It 
  is 
  highly 
  

   possible 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  different, 
  for 
  " 
  Uru" 
  has 
  been 
  used 
  even 
  more 
  

   inclusively 
  than 
  "Chango" 
  and 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  applied 
  to 
  peoples 
  of 
  

   different 
  languages. 
  

  

  Uru 
  history 
  is 
  little 
  known. 
  The 
  most 
  ancient 
  Highland 
  Uru 
  

   tradition, 
  that 
  in 
  prehistoric 
  times 
  their 
  bodies 
  were 
  used 
  as 
  binding 
  

   material 
  in 
  building 
  the 
  great 
  Colla 
  structures, 
  probably 
  signifies 
  that 
  

   human 
  beings 
  were 
  sacrificed 
  when 
  foundations 
  were 
  laid. 
  They 
  

   claim 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  oldest 
  race 
  in 
  the 
  world, 
  antedating 
  the 
  sun. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  

   that 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  people 
  involved 
  in 
  the 
  famous 
  tribute 
  of 
  lice 
  to 
  the 
  

   Inca. 
  

  

  In 
  earliest 
  historic 
  times, 
  the 
  Uru 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  lived 
  on 
  the 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  islands 
  of 
  Lake 
  Titicaca 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  reed 
  (totora) 
  swamps 
  of 
  the 
  

   Rio 
  Desaguadero. 
  Alcedo, 
  writing 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  18th 
  

   century, 
  said 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  removed 
  against 
  their 
  will 
  from 
  the 
  islands 
  

   of 
  the 
  lake 
  to 
  the 
  mainland, 
  where 
  they 
  dwelt 
  in 
  gloomy 
  caves 
  and 
  

   holes 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  covered 
  with 
  reeds. 
  At 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  19th 
  cen- 
  

   tury, 
  Uru 
  was 
  still 
  spoken 
  in 
  scattered 
  places: 
  Ahuallamaya, 
  Ancoaqui, 
  

   Iruitu, 
  and 
  Nazacara 
  in 
  the 
  Rio 
  Desaguadero 
  region 
  of 
  Bolivia; 
  and 
  in 
  

   Simifiaque 
  and 
  Sojapata 
  in 
  Peru 
  (Polo, 
  1901). 
  In 
  1873, 
  there 
  were 
  

   Uru 
  haciendas 
  at 
  Chearaque, 
  Taguau, 
  Tacacatani, 
  Chicani-uma, 
  

   Machacamarca, 
  Urcuni-uma, 
  Huallaqueri, 
  Calayampani, 
  and 
  Tocavi. 
  

   There 
  were 
  937 
  persons 
  (448 
  males, 
  4.98 
  females), 
  of 
  whom 
  809 
  were 
  

   Indians 
  in 
  the 
  Peruvian 
  section, 
  but 
  as 
  this 
  number 
  included 
  Aymara, 
  

   it 
  is 
  doubtful 
  if 
  there 
  were 
  more 
  than 
  200 
  Uru 
  in 
  1873. 
  In 
  1938, 
  there 
  

   were 
  30 
  taxable 
  persons 
  in 
  the 
  Ancoaqui 
  area, 
  which 
  agrees 
  well 
  with 
  

   Metraux's 
  estimate 
  (1936 
  a) 
  that 
  the 
  entire 
  Rio 
  Desaguadero 
  region 
  

   had 
  less 
  than 
  100 
  Uru 
  in 
  1931. 
  

  

  Recently, 
  the 
  Ancoaqui 
  Uru 
  have 
  been 
  despoiled 
  of 
  their 
  lands 
  by 
  

   the 
  Aymara 
  comunarios 
  of 
  Jesus 
  de 
  Machaca 
  and 
  retain 
  only 
  the 
  few 
  

   thousand 
  square 
  meters 
  on 
  which 
  their 
  village 
  stands. 
  

  

  The 
  Coast 
  Uru 
  are 
  little 
  known. 
  Locana 
  Machuca 
  (Latcham, 
  

   1910) 
  noted 
  400 
  fishermen 
  in 
  the 
  cove 
  of 
  Atacama 
  (Cobija), 
  others 
  

   from 
  the 
  Rio 
  Loa 
  north 
  to 
  Pisagua 
  on 
  the 
  Tarapacd 
  coast, 
  and 
  "more 
  

   than 
  a 
  thousand 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Arequipa." 
  

  

  Unlike 
  the 
  friendly 
  Uru 
  of 
  the 
  Coast, 
  the 
  Highland 
  Uru 
  have 
  long 
  

   had 
  a 
  reputation 
  for 
  truculence 
  and 
  meanness. 
  A 
  17th-century 
  

   rhyme 
  states 
  that, 
  "De 
  indio 
  Uro 
  ningun 
  hombre 
  esta 
  seguro 
  (No 
  one 
  

   is 
  safe 
  with 
  an 
  Uru 
  Indian)." 
  Acosta 
  said 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  so 
  brutish 
  

   they 
  did 
  not 
  even 
  consider 
  themselves 
  human. 
  Garcilaso 
  called 
  them 
  

   "rude 
  and 
  stupid," 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  sympathetic 
  Bertonio 
  wrote 
  of 
  them 
  

   as 
  "a 
  tribe 
  of 
  Indians 
  looked 
  down 
  upon 
  by 
  everyone 
  and 
  of 
  very 
  low 
  

   intelligence." 
  MStraux 
  found 
  even 
  the 
  Chipaya 
  less 
  morbidly 
  dis- 
  

   trustful, 
  suspicious, 
  fearful, 
  brutal, 
  and 
  stupidly 
  avaricious 
  than 
  the 
  

  

  