Youngsters II
Cabana girl with her baby llama in the high Andes of Peru.
The Colca Canyon is inhabited by two ethnic groups: the Aymara-speaking Collaguas and the Quechua-speaking Cabanas.
Traditionally, each community used a different technique for deforming the heads of their children. The Collaguas elongated them and the Cabanas flattened them - each trying to emulate the shape of their respective principal mountain god (apu). During the Spanish conquest cranial deformation was prohibited and considered diabolic so people started to use hats. Tall ones for the Collaguas and round flat ones for the Cabanas – as well as intricately embroidered traditional clothing, which are used to distinguish between the two groups.
© Istvan Kadar Photography
