﻿Vol.2] 
  THE 
  URU-CHIPAYA 
  — 
  LA 
  BARRE 
  579 
  

  

  DRESS 
  AND 
  ORNAMENTS 
  

  

  Anciently, 
  it 
  is 
  said, 
  the 
  Uru 
  went 
  entirely 
  nude, 
  which 
  is 
  quite 
  

   incredible 
  in 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  bitterly 
  cold 
  winters 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  The 
  

   essential 
  male 
  costume 
  is 
  like 
  the 
  pre-Columbian 
  Chipaya 
  uncu 
  — 
  a 
  

   sleeveless, 
  sacklike 
  garment 
  made 
  of 
  an 
  untailored 
  textile, 
  sewed 
  part- 
  

   way 
  up 
  the 
  sides 
  with 
  openings 
  for 
  the 
  arms, 
  and 
  partway 
  across 
  the 
  

   top 
  with 
  an 
  opening 
  for 
  the 
  neck. 
  This 
  is 
  woven 
  of 
  llama 
  yarn 
  on 
  a 
  

   simple 
  bar 
  loom 
  staked 
  in 
  the 
  ground. 
  Kecently, 
  most 
  Uru 
  males 
  

   have 
  adopted 
  trousers 
  of 
  the 
  Aymara 
  style: 
  short, 
  with 
  a 
  slit 
  at 
  the 
  

   heel, 
  and 
  tailored 
  of 
  native 
  homespun 
  after 
  a 
  Colonial 
  pattern. 
  The 
  

   slit 
  permits 
  the 
  trousers 
  to 
  be 
  rolled 
  up 
  more 
  easily 
  when 
  a 
  man 
  fishes 
  

   from 
  a 
  balsa 
  or 
  wades 
  in 
  shallow 
  water. 
  Leather 
  sandals 
  are 
  some- 
  

   times 
  worn 
  when 
  traveling, 
  but 
  people 
  usually 
  go 
  barefoot. 
  A 
  knit 
  

   wool 
  cap, 
  with 
  Aymara-style 
  earflaps, 
  is 
  sometimes 
  topped 
  with 
  a 
  

   crude, 
  -Asmara-manufactured 
  felt 
  hat. 
  A 
  belt 
  is 
  sometimes 
  worn, 
  

   and 
  occasionally 
  a 
  thick 
  woolen 
  poncho. 
  Caps 
  woven 
  of 
  bird 
  feathers 
  

   were 
  known 
  in 
  ancient 
  days. 
  

  

  Uru 
  women 
  wear 
  black 
  llama-wool 
  skirts, 
  girdled 
  at 
  the 
  waist, 
  and 
  

   untailored 
  bodices 
  pinned 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  over 
  each 
  shoulder 
  with 
  a 
  large- 
  

   headed 
  copper 
  pin 
  (tupu). 
  When 
  traveling 
  in 
  cold 
  weather, 
  the 
  

   women 
  wear 
  woven 
  woolen 
  wimples 
  over 
  the 
  head 
  under 
  the 
  hat. 
  

  

  Women 
  part 
  their 
  hair 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  and 
  wear 
  it 
  in 
  two 
  braids 
  tied 
  

   behind 
  the 
  back 
  with 
  vicuna-wool 
  filets; 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  still 
  wear 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  style 
  "Titicaca 
  braids' 
  7 
  — 
  countless 
  small 
  braidlets 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  

   head. 
  Women 
  wash 
  their 
  hair 
  in 
  fermented 
  human 
  urine. 
  Uru 
  

   men 
  wear 
  their 
  hair 
  short 
  in 
  quasi-European 
  fashion 
  or 
  in 
  an 
  all-around 
  

   tropical 
  bang. 
  

  

  BOATS 
  

  

  The 
  Uru 
  are 
  famous 
  balsa 
  builders 
  (pi. 
  115, 
  bottom). 
  Their 
  craft, 
  

   though 
  actually 
  rafts 
  made 
  of 
  totora 
  reeds, 
  are 
  shaped 
  like 
  boats 
  

   and 
  are 
  highly 
  navigable 
  even 
  in 
  narrow, 
  shallow 
  swamp 
  ways. 
  The 
  

   reeds 
  are 
  cut 
  with 
  knives 
  attached 
  to 
  poles, 
  then, 
  after 
  drying, 
  are 
  

   stacked 
  in 
  shocks 
  like 
  corn. 
  Nearly 
  every 
  able-bodied 
  Uru 
  male 
  has 
  

   quantities 
  of 
  this 
  material 
  in 
  all 
  stages 
  of 
  preparation 
  for 
  balsas. 
  

   During 
  spare 
  moments 
  in 
  their 
  houses, 
  they 
  are 
  continually 
  braiding 
  

   ichu 
  grass 
  into 
  tough 
  ropes 
  to 
  bind 
  the 
  reed 
  bundles. 
  The 
  keel 
  is 
  

   formed 
  of 
  a 
  long, 
  thin, 
  tubular 
  bundle 
  of 
  reeds 
  ; 
  and 
  separately 
  lashed 
  

   to 
  this 
  keel 
  are 
  two 
  thick, 
  cigar-shaped 
  pontoon-bundles. 
  Each 
  of 
  

   these 
  pontoons 
  is 
  built 
  up 
  of 
  reeds 
  so 
  arranged 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  thick 
  in 
  

   the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  boat 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  upturned 
  points 
  at 
  each 
  end. 
  An 
  

   acute-angled 
  wooden 
  tool 
  with 
  a 
  groove 
  inside 
  one 
  arm 
  is 
  used 
  to 
  

   tighten 
  the 
  binding. 
  To 
  keep 
  out 
  small 
  waves, 
  gunwales 
  consisting 
  

   of 
  much 
  thinner 
  bundles 
  of 
  totora 
  are 
  lashed 
  to 
  the 
  upper 
  outside 
  

  

  