Lost in a sea of totora

Few people know that reed is such a strong material that it can survive crossing the Pacific Ocean, and even support the weight of an entire community. The Uros on Lake Titicaca have a craft legacy based around this plant that has crossed frontiers.

Published in Avianca Inflight Magazine

While the women are expert weavers with wool and thread, the men spend their days building totora houses and rafts.

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian biologist and explorer who turned to the ingenuity of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of Peru to prove a theory: that technically, the inhabitants of South America could have travelled to the farthest reaches of Polynesia. To do this, he set out in 1947 on the Kon-Tiki expedition, armed with a raft made from reeds and other plants endemic to this region, which took him right across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to the Tuamoto archipelago. A journey of 7,500 kilometers.

Heyerdahl’s story was the inspiration for a documentary that was nominated for an Oscar in 1951, while other explorers, such as the German-Norwegian Dominique Görlitz, Kitin Muñoz from Spain and Argentinean Alfredo Barragán, set out to conquer the seas in boats made from reeds.

And they weren’t the only ones. In the last 50 years, 23 crews from all corners of the Earth have defied the vastness of the Pacific in totora rafts made at the famous dockyard on Suriqui island, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca.

The very magnitude of these transoceanic voyages help explain why totora (in Quechua, t’utura) is a material that has marked the very existence of various indigenous groups in Peru and Bolivia. This plant, which grows in marshy areas and can reach a height of three meters, is woven to make rafts, beds, and even houses. It is also necessary for combustion at cooking time, and it has become a fundamental ingredient in these peoples’ diet. Its root, called sak’a in Aymara, and its stem (ch’ullu), have even been shown to have health benefits.

While the women are expert weavers with wool and thread, the men spend their days building totora houses and rafts. These vessels, which are a symbol of Titicaca, can also be seen in bays throughout Peru, such as such as Huanchaco and Pimentel, in the north. There, they are known as ‘little totora boats’.

The process of building a raft begins with 400 reeds of a good length being chosen and arranged in two groups on ropes. The ropes are then tightened and each group is tied tightly.

A central body is then made from trunks and more reeds; this is slightly smaller, but will be used to fix the two groups to its sides.

The three portions are then joined together using a delicate network of pita fiber (a plant from the region), and a special finish is given to the whole, depending on what it will be used for and so that the water will flow well. The totora is also tightened by striking it with a stone called morocco and with a wooden hook called kajlli.

THE MEN OF THE LAKE

Each of the approximately 80 floating islands on Lake Titicaca, all made completely of reeds, is inhabited by three or four Uro families, with a president on each island, and it is he, together with the other men, who builds the houses.

The islands rest on bundles of totora roots and natural fiber called khlli, which are light and float because of the gas that is released by the roots as they decompose. This compost forms the bed of the lake itself, and is anchored in place with ropes and trunks to prevent the islands from drifting. The men later weave rush matting on these, before finally building houses that have a single room. After centuries of being circular, a square structure was adopted, influenced by European evangelists.

SUSTAINABLE TRADE

Today it is possible to find accommodation on one of Titicaca’s floating islands, with electricity that is generated by solar panels, hot water, and environment-friendly sanitation services, due to the indians having converted their homes into ideal places for experiential tourism.

The fact that reed is renewable was also certified in December 2015, when the first shipment of this material was exported from Peru to Holland for making wine packaging. This was an important step for the communities, since they will no longer have to rely on burning to ensure that the plant is renewed, and only 10% of production at the Titicaca reserve will be set aside for export.

The above shows that the age-old work with totora is not just an example of great indigenous engineering and a legacy that has been handed down from one generation to the next, but also a illustration of how man adapts to his environment without destroying it