The Q’ero are a Quechua speaking tribe from the central mountains of Peru. Their lands cover some of the highest, most rugged and most isolated terrain in the Andes and their Pacos, or Mystics, are considered the best, most knowledgeable and most powerful of the region. There are currently about three thousand Q’ero living in 6 villages isolated throughout their territory.
The Q'ero practice an active tradition of oral literature, with stories being passed down from generation to generation. Some Cusco anthropologists and spiritual pilgrims believe that the Q'ero are the direct descendants of the Inca. According to Q'ero mythology, their ancestors defended themselves from invading Spanish conquistadors with the aid of local mountain deities (apus) that devastated the Spanish Army near Wiraquchapampa by creating an earthquake and subsequent rockslide that buried the Spanish invaders.
The Q'ero do not practice any particular religion, though they are highly spiritual. Their beliefs are not dogmatic like those of many organized religions. Some of the Q'ero have been converted to Christianity by a wide variety of missionaries that have visited their homeland. Some may argue that their beliefs are syncretic, consisting of the traditional spiritual beliefs of Andean peoples with a small mixture of Christianity. There are no shamans among the Q'ero, as they are more mystical than shamanic. They call their spiritual leaders “paqos”, a term that may be translated as ‘priest’ or ‘practitioner’. A major distinction between mystics and shamans is that shamans enter a trance state which is induced by either a medicinal plant, dancing, drumming, meditation, or some other type of transformational activity that allows the practitioner to transcend into a trance-like state in order to heal or diagnose disease. Among the Q'ero, there are two main levels of paqos: altumisayuq and pampamisayuq. The Q'ero worship the “Cosmic Mother” Pachamama, which may mean the entire universe or, as some would say, Mother Nature, in addition to other mountain spirits, called “apus”, e.g. Ausangate (Apu Awsanqati), Salkantai (Apu Salkantai)
Location: Paucartambo, Peru
Photographer: Sergio Pessolano
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