Fantastic Floating Islands

The Uros people of Lake Titicaca
have a unique way of life - they build their own islands, float them on
the lake and then proceed to live on them. Here is a glimpse of their
world, where their home made "islands" are truly "in the stream".







Like many unique cultures around the world, that of the Uros is under threat from assimilation.
Most of the Uros speak Aymara - which is the language of a larger local
tribe that is resolutely mainland. It is thought that they lost their
own language around five hundred years ago. Whether the language was
naturally lost or Aymara was forced upon the Uros is not known, but the
relatively recent arrival of Europeans has been the greatest threat to
their cultural identity - greater than that of the Inca Empire - to
which the Uros had to pay taxes and give up many of their own people as
slaves.



Traditionally there are around forty small islands
on the lake with one - the largest - being the focal point of the
community. The reed, as well as being - quite literally - the
foundation of the community, is important to the Uros' economy and well
being. Iodine is produced from the base of the reed and it is also used
for general medicinal purposes.. The reeds are wrapped around parts of
the body that are hurting and, purportedly - cure it of its aches and
pains! The flower of the reed is also used to brew up a cuppa









Although numerically a small people, the Uros seem to have adopted the aspects of European society which suits them. Many of them use solar panels on their reed homes to run television sets and other electronic appliances. The largest of the islands has a radio station
which broadcasts for several hours each day and the concept of group
education for the children in the form of two schools has also been
adopted. However, great care is taken to preserve the culture of the
Uros, with one of the schools given over entirely to traditional
learning. A gas run generator used to give light at night but this has
been eschewed because of its prohibitive expense. Instead, candles and flash lights are now used.













It can only be hoped that this small, unique and vibrant culture can
survive the demands placed upon it by external forces. Certainly it
would be a shame if the world was to lose yet another intriguing and
vital, if tiny, aspect of humanity to the ogre of global homogenization