Kallawaya Healers: Ancient Medicine of the Andes

In the high valleys of the Bolivian Andes, the Calawaya doctors invoke the Pachamama, Mother Earth. The Calawaya knowledge may soon be lost. UNESCO has classified it as an intangible heritage of humanity. My name is Max Churamamane. Calawaya, son of the lightning. On my way to Peru, returning from Juliaca, the lightning struck me in Pampas de Pomau. From then on, I have the power to heal. Are travelling doctors and herbalists whose powers are legendary throughout all of Latin America. Legends say they descended from the doctors who treated the Incan kings before the Spanish conquest. Their traditions are said to be older than Christ. The salt, sold throughout the country, comes from the Uyuni Desert in northwest Bolivia. In truth, no one knows who the Calawaya are, and no one knows for sure when they appeared. Their vast store of knowledge is transmitted from father to son. The salt workers live in the village of Colchani, a few kilometres from the salt lake. Life at 3,600 metres high is hard, and money is scarce. Johnny is Max's adopted son. He's travelling with the master for the first time to learn the secrets of Calawaya medicine. Yes, I'm managing some plants. Yes. It hurts, my lungs hurt. Ah, what a pity. Yes. That's why I want to be cured, so that one knows. That's right, that's right. Let's see, I'll control your pulse. Let's see. Because it can pass to the heart. Yes. This woman worked for years carrying salt in the rain. She's suffering from pneumonia, a common illness on the Altiplano. The Calawaya classify medicinal plants into several categories. Hot, cold and mild plants. Hot plants treat fevers and sharp pain. Cold plants act on anemia and frailties. Mixtures calm stomach aches, kidney pain and urinary dysfunctions. Yes, thank you. Yes. Max and Johnny return home to the Charazani Valley at the base of the Andes. There are many villages in this region of the Altiplano, near the Peruvian border. Yes, thank you very much. Yes, I'm travelling to Charazani. I'm on my way. I'm arriving at Parque Popular. Max's reputation has spread far beyond the borders of Bolivia. Patients call him from Venezuela, the United States and Europe. The bus leaves the Altiplano and drops into the narrow valleys, lying at altitudes of 2,600 to 3,700 metres. The climate in the western regions of Bolivia is temperate. Year round, the temperature remains a steady 18 degrees in the day. Dense fog banks shroud the valley from December to March. The humidity is good for the plants. Max and Johnny are home. They live in the village of Chari. For centuries, this is where the Kalawaia have cultivated and transmitted their empirical medical skills, which are unrivaled in Latin America. The Kalawaia return home every year to gather medicinal plants and to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of this valley, haunted by the memories of their ancestors. Max and Johnny pass the red poncho back and forth. It's like a ceremonial cloth. Gathering the pharmaceutical plants is serious business. It's an important ritual requiring preparation. Don Ramon is over 80 years old. He comes from one of the most famous Kalawaia families. Max is happy to be back in his village. He's happy to see his old friend again. Don Ramon and Max are the last to still speak Machahuyay, the language by which the Kalawaia transmit their secrets. Don Ramon's pottery is pre-Hispanic. It was fired before the Spanish settlers arrived. It's too dry, says Don Ramon, the plants are suffering. Luis, Don Ramon's neighbor, has twisted his knee. He'll come back later. Don Ramon brought nettles so that Max can prepare a poultice. The nettle is a hot plant. It's excellent for healing strained muscles and stretched ligaments, and it stimulates the nervous system. Don Ramon invokes the Machulas, the ancestral spirits that give the plants their healing powers. Max knows more than 600 medicinal plants and preparations. Don Ramon and Max are like encyclopedias. Each Kalawaia doctor holds a considerable amount of empirical know-how, accumulated over the centuries, and garnered during constant travels throughout South America. This is the timeless knowledge Max is now transmitting to Johnny. Luis, Don Ramon's neighbor, arrives. The news that a Kalawaia doctor has returned to Charazani travels fast through the valley. Max diagnoses a minor sprain which will heal easily. The Kalawaia classify their plants according to species and types. Researchers studying this classification have discovered that it is similar to the botanical system of modern science. 30% of these plants are as effective as synthetic medicines. People like Max believe that the Kalawaia plant People in the valley say that powerful pharmaceutical laboratories are trying to steal the secrets of the Kalawaia doctors. Is this a baseless rumor or a genuine danger? For centuries, the Kalawaia have cultivated semi-wild gardens with unique collections of plants. The Kalawaia pharmacopoeia includes 984 plants. Their characteristics have been indexed and their properties recognized. The Kalawaia plants are very hot. The temperature of the Kalawaia plants is very high. Fishing is a favorite pastime of the people of the Charazani Valley. Trout supplies substances that calm nervous tension and heal brain illnesses. In addition to plants, the traditional store of drugs also includes many animal, insect and mineral elements. The Kalawaia believe that many illnesses and weaknesses are caused by magical or supernatural events. Kalawaia doctors do not just prescribe medicine. They also recommend diets based on fresh vegetables. Max and Johnny are gathering komer chuhu. This prickly shrub is known to cleanse the body of toxins. It also treats fear, which is, according to the Kalawaia, one of the worst human ailments. They never use tools for gathering, as they could damage the plants. The Kalawaia communicate constantly with their gods, Mother Earth, lightning, the ancestral spirits. Max has placed the plants gathered with his young disciple on a kabildo, an open-air altar, where Max invokes the ancestral spirits, asking them to give the plants the power to heal. The Kalawaia are not only traveling doctors. They hold a unique worldview, which differs widely from the rationalist and scientific vision of developed countries. The Kalawaia culture is an array of values, myths, rituals and artistic expressions inherited from the ancient peoples of the Andes. When I was a child, I used to travel to Peru. There, in Peru, they used to sell these herbs. They used to sell this chili. When the choro went up there, you know what it's called, they used to sell it there. Another time, I went to Peru, and there was a young man in a house. There was a guy. I didn't know him. He was just a young man. He was named Al-Hamid. He was sleeping. They had garlic in his body. He was a young man. He was sleeping. They hadn't done anything to him. The Kariseri are malevolent spirits that take on human form. They steal the fatty tissue of men, a source of force and energy. Johnny is convinced his father died because a Kariseri stole his fatty tissue. Max adopted the young orphan when he was five years old. Since his father's death, Johnny has wanted to become a Kalawaya, to heal people and to fight evil spirits. The Kalawaya's pagan beliefs have always brought them problems. The Inquisition was a violent and relentless opponent. The construction of this church on the valley slope represents the Catholic's determination to impose its will on the Andean people. Johnny is sure that the church conceals some devilish device. At 4,000 meters, La Paz is the world's highest capital. Poverty-stricken peasants arrive every day from the countryside. Most patients of the Kalawaya now live in the large cities. The Kalawaya purchase the supplies they need to practice their healing rituals on Jimenez and Linares streets in La Paz. They treat people on the nearby street of Saganaga. Condor feathers, llama foetuses, mysterious powders. The inventory in this shop is endless. Max buys condor feathers, which he will take with him to the mines of Potosi. Dr. Walter Alvarez Quispe is a Kalawaya with a medical degree from Havana, although he continues to practice the traditional medicine of his people. This patient moved to the United States. Whenever she travels to La Paz, she always consults a Kalawaya doctor. A traditional healer gives her much more time and attention than a university-trained doctor. She says their medicine has no soul and they don't take enough time with patients. Max watches the consultation. Walter has loaned him his office. After the consultation, Walter prescribes a balm for his patient. It's a natural medicine, almost with food, with plants, minerals and food. So I realize that it's important. They tell me it's important and we have to rescue it. You can't lose psychology, music, culture. Medicine has to do with culture, with the science, with the knowledge of the grandfathers and with the religiosity of the people. As always, Max offers advice by telephone to patients who are worried and in pain. Max and Johnny have reached the hills of La Paz. Max shows Johnny the city. This is the city of Sobocachi, this is the city of San Francisco, this is the city of Plaza Morello. This is the city of Achumane, this is the city of Potacota, this is the city of Chimpa. Only wealthy people live in the lower sections of La Paz. The poorest live in the Altos at 4,500 meters. It's hard to sleep at that altitude. It causes migraines. The effigy hanging from a lamppost is a reminder that a thief was lynched by a mob here. It's a warning from the community to bandits. The poverty-stricken areas of La Paz are growing constantly. Hundreds of thousands of poor people are packed into dilapidated shanty. Max and Johnny live in a modest house in the hills of the Bolivian capital. Max plans to travel to Potosi. The silver miners are suffering. They need him and the Kalawaya science. The arrangement of coca leaves on the blanket will tell him if he should make the trip or not. Coca plays a major role in the everyday lives of the Andean people. It alleviates the effects of altitude, wards off hunger and reveals destinies. The bus schedule in the Altiplano is extremely unpredictable as the roads are deeply rutted by rain and cold. The Kalawaya are extremely friendly to strangers they meet. Chatting, exchanging news of other people is part of getting to know each other. You can always learn something new, they say. School is crucial in Kalawaya medicine. Healers regularly go to Peru and Ecuador. Some practice in Argentina and Chile. They learn their art on the road. The old buses in the hinterland are the classrooms for their itinerant universities. In its golden age, Potosi was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. The Cerro Rico, the rich mountain, towers over the city. Silver ore has been mined here since the 16th century. They say the silver taken from the mountain would pave a road from Potosi to Madrid. The miners' square commemorates the 1952 revolt when the miners rebelled against the abominable working conditions. Since then, the Potosi mines have been run by independent cooperatives that dig wherever they choose, totally ignoring the danger. The world below is the empire of Tio, the demon uncle. As the miners head to work in the morning, they first stop at his shrine. They offer coca leaves, cigarettes and alcohol. The miners ask the devil to protect them and guide them to the ore that will make them rich. Tio has ruled the mine for over 400 years. He's violent, capricious, tyrannical. Oxygen is scarce at 4,300 meters. None of the safety measures used for decades in modern mines exist here. The air, thick with dust, is stifling. Nearly all the miners suffer from silicosis. Silica dust particles embed themselves in the lungs, forming lesions. After years of suffering, victims die asphyxiated. The sticks of dynamite are of poor quality. They're sold individually by small dealers set up around the mine. The fuses are homemade. The combustion speed varies from one manufacturer to another. The miners never know how much time they'll have to take shelter. They retreat to a room far away from the working face. They count the explosions, making sure all the charges are fired. Sometimes a stick doesn't explode or is forgotten in a tunnel. Woe to the miner who finds it. The ore is sent to a processing center where the silver is extracted. As the price for precious metals continues to rise, the miners take ever greater risks. Matthias has been working for 10 years at the Caracolas cooperative mine, one of the oldest in Potosí. I came in alone and the siren didn't want me to come in. Why did I come in alone? As you can imagine, he said something to me. No, I came in with my whim. That time we called it Quibinita, so I told him I was going to mine the Quibinita. And then, a little while later, he called me by my name. Matthias, he said, by my name. I said, look, I'm already doing it. Look, I'm already doing the mining of the Quibinita. I went out to take a picture, he said. I said, brother, why are you going out? I was late, I was a little late. He said, it's very late and you're going up. So, I was almost ten minutes late, so I went out. I went out to take a picture. There was nobody there, there was no one, absolutely no one. And when I saw him going to the bathroom, I took a picture and I took a drink, more with a drink. My heart was a little harder, so I went back. Three, four, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Matthias is convinced that he met Tio and that the devil almost took his life to punish him for not stopping work during carnival. Max sells his remedies at the Uyuni Market. The Uyuni Market is where the traditional doctors sell their cures. The Kalawaya doctors are highly respected, but charlatans sometimes take advantage of them. They pretend to be Kalawaya and prescribe plants gathered on the side of the road, which are useless and sometimes toxic. These dangerous impostors harm the traditional healers, but they have no way to expose them. The penniless populations of the high plateaus mistrust modern medicine, which is profoundly foreign to their culture. The plants and ointments are the only remedies they trust and can afford. Matthias explains to Max that he's suffering from susto, a depression caused by the fear that haunts the miners. The inhuman working conditions ruin their health and destroy their physical harmony. Max considers Matthias' condition sufficiently serious for a complete cure. He will visit him at home. The Kalawaya treat patients as well as their homes. In the meantime, Max prescribes a medicinal mixture that will temporarily soothe his fear. Max goes to Matthias' house. He brews up the chuukhu in boiling water. The prickly shrub gathered on the riverbanks treats fear. The Kalawayas have set up the mesa, a table with all the offerings for Pachamama, Mother Earth, the Universal Mother, whose assistance is essential in healing Matthias. Max offers coca leaves, wine and alcohol. The foetuses of animals, particularly llamas, are used in many Andean rituals as offerings to the god. The family actively supports the patient. In the mines, fear is not taken lightly. Using the condor feathers, Max calls Matthias' soul. He invites him to return to his mortal frame. Max washes Matthias with the chuukhu decoction as he recites incantations. The healing ritual is very long. It sometimes lasts more than two days. Max writes out Matthias' prescription. He prescribes hot and cold plants and mixtures that Matthias and his family will purchase at the Uyuni market. Max also explains how to prepare the remedies. The cost is always very low, perhaps nothing more than a meal. The goal of the treatment is to heal the patient, not to earn money. After treating Matthias, he must now treat the mine where Matthias works. Johnny is clutching a stuffed ocelot. In the Kalawaia worldview, the ocelot is a descendant of the Pachamama and is an intermediary between the Kalawaia and Mother Earth. The ritual performed at the mine is meant to balance the energies flowing between the sky, the earth, and the world below. For the Andean people, the llama is man, incarnated in an animal's body. The men embrace the llama, asking forgiveness for what they are about to do. The sacrifice of the llama is linked to the tradition of human sacrifices that were once performed in the Andean and Central American culture. The llama blood is offered to Tio. The miners implore the protection of the devil that rules over the bowels of the earth and ask him to grant them the wealth they so fiercely desire and for which they risk their lives day after day. The cure is finished. The three regions of the Kalawaia world, the cosmos, the earthly world of the Pachamama, and the underground world are once again in harmony. Matthias' all-consuming fear has subsided. The mine entrance is sprayed with beer. The ritual is over. The devil's devil is in the human body. And it is in our bodies. It is in the human body. It is in our bones. It is in the human body. That's why it is not afraid of me. It is important. The devil's devil is not afraid of me. The Cerro Rico mines that are haunted by the devil They return home, but they'll be back to Potosi soon because accidents happen every day. People fall ill. The miners' fear is boundless, and the Kalawai are the only ones who know how to alleviate their dread. Max and Johnny are back in the Charizani Valley. Every time they return home, they gaze at the austere and grandiose landscape, the cradle of their people, with emotion. They return to the semi-wild gardens filled with plants that heal those who suffer. The Inca ruins of Calicata predate the Spanish conquest. Calicata is still a sacred place. The people of Charizani worship the guardian deities of the valley. Max invokes the ancestors that watch over his people. He thanks the gods. The trip to Potosi went well, took a first intense step in the long apprenticeship that will make him a Kalawai doctor. By proclaiming the Andean cosmovision of the Kalawai an intangible heritage of humanity, UNESCO is helping to defend a culture that has long been opposed by the colonizers. UNESCO has drawn up and launched a plan of action to protect the Kalawai's store of medicinal plants. Large pharmaceutical groups can no longer appropriate the secrets of the natural medicines. Local projects support the Kalawai culture. Training programs aim to encourage young people to pursue research into their own culture and help to preserve it. The Kalawai cultivate secret gardens that are difficult to reach. Their healing art is also a kind of poetry in praise of a grandiose, powerful and immortal nature.