Uros Indians

One of the most interesting groups I got to learn about while touring Peru with Globus this January was the Uros Indians. The indians history goes back centuries. They were living at Lake Titicaca when the legendary Incas rose to power. The Incas conquered the area and, they demanded the Uros pay either tribute or in labor. The only tribute the Uros could give the Incas was salt which they refused. The Uros refused to work for the Incas so the Incas kicked them off the land. For centuries, the Uros would live on the lake on house boats. Then, at a time where the water was low on the lake, apparently some reeds grew through some lake soil. When the waters rose again, the soil with the reeds floated. These pieces of floating land would form the basis for the Uros man made floating islands which over 1,000 of them live on today as you can see in these pictures. The first pictures shows how the Uros build their islands. They constantly replenish the reeds on the islands so their islands don't fall apart. The second picture shows the colorful dress of Uros women. Men typically wear colorful hats as seen in the first picture. The last picture shows a uniquely Uros way of raising guinea pigs which are raised for food. In this case, the Uros built a small island within their main island for their guinea pigs to live. Presumably, the guinea pigs can't swim so the water makes a very effective gate to keep their guinea pigs in one place.