The Fibers of Life

The Q’ero culture is centered around their alpaca and vicuña, the smallest of camelids. All these beautiful animals are seen as a direct manifestation of Pachamama, the Earth Mother, and provide what the Q’ero need to survive - the luxurious fiber the Q’ero use to make their weavings.

Alpacas are wonderful herd animals and in Q’eros are seen standing or sitting together, looking as if they are just more villagers of Hatun Q’eros. Because the alpacas have lived where grass grows sparsely for thousands of years, they require much less food than most animals their size. Alpacas are shorn for their valuable fleeces that are easily marketable and provide their most generative means of livelihood. They exhibit a variety of natural colors, with approximately 22 basic fiber colors and many variations and blends. Alpaca fiber has a cellular structure similar to hair and is more resilient and much stronger than Merino sheep wool and is highly sought after.

Alpacas can be expressive, voicing a soft hum, or other sounds to communicate. They have excellent eyesight and hearing, and will alert the herd and their herders of perceived danger with a staccato alarm call. If they are frightened, alpacas will spit at you to get you to back off.

Dye-free Natural Wool

The shy Vicuña, the most elegant and smallest of South America’s camelids, has been declared a “national treasure” by the Peruvian government, and worthy of protection from extinction. Their soft vicuna wool used to be called the “Cloth of Gold '' by the Inkas because of its unique softness and its impressive ability to retain heat in the Andean cold. Vicuña fur is softer than cashmere and is especially prized for its texture and rarity - only able to be harvested once every 15 months. Vicuña wool was woven by the Q'ero to create amazing, beautiful weavings specifically spun for the clothing worn by the Inka royals - the Sapa Inka and Sapa Qoya (the High King & Queen).

The Q’ero have a word - “AWAY” (pronounced “ah-why”) that carries epic meaning as beautifully expressed here by Elizabeth B. Jenkins:

“When you say the word “AWAY” you are invoking a huge constellation of meaning. For example AWAY evokes: the love with which you raise the alpaca and celebrate its life so it grows beautiful and luxurious hair, then sheared with respect and care that brings the finest fibre! Spin the fibre, invoking the spirit mistress of the spindle, as well as the muse of ancient Inka Patterns QAPA CH’EQA ÑUST’A, so that when the weaving is complete it will be strong, beautiful, filled with ancestral knowledge, and powerful prayers.”

The alpacas are celebrated, loved, respected, and blessed for the sustenance they provide to the Q’ero Community. From the sacred ceremonies, the revenant shearings, and love the Q’ero have for their beloved alpaca, the exquisite weavings they create are infused with so much love you feel Pachamama’s heartbeat through the unspoken story of the weavings -you can feel their divine living energy.