CABANAS AND COLLAGUAS

It is said that two very different ethnic groups occupied the Colca Canyon region since immemorial times. They arrived there from distant places and managed to stay there thanks to their military power and their skills in the application of tools and farming techniques.



The first group, Collaguas were known as the children of the volcano Collaguata and a second group, called Cabanas, said that they came from the depths of the mountain Hualca Hualca. A difference between the people from both groups was the language. The Collaguas spoke Aymara and the Cabanas spoke Quechua that was a little different from the one spoken at Cuzco.



The complex geography of their territory was for the old inhabitants of the Colca valley a source of challenges that encouraged them to develop a special system of terraced fields which still continues to amaze anyone who is lucky enough to watch.