Uru people

Best known today for the floating reed islands they build on Lake Titicaca, the Uru, or Uros, are an Indigenous people of the Andean high plateau in Peru and Bolivia. Their ancestors were fishermen and hunters of the lakes and rivers of the Altiplano, and they kept a distinct identity and way of life on the water through centuries of rule by larger neighbours.

The Uru languages form the small Uru–Chipaya family, unrelated to the Aymara and Quechua spoken around them. Its speakers were originally fishing peoples on the shores of Lake Titicaca, Lake Poopó and the Desaguadero River. Today only Chipaya remains in vigorous use, with over a thousand speakers. The Uru of Titicaca's Bolivian side spoke Uchumataqu, also called Uru; in 2004 it had two native speakers in a community of about 140 people, and by 2012 none were left, though the community has shown interest in reviving it. Most Uru have long since shifted to Aymara and Spanish, through trade and intermarriage with Aymara neighbours on the shore. The main Uru groups today are the Uru-Chipaya, the Uru-Murato and the Uru-Iruito, the last still living on the Bolivian side of the lake and along the Desaguadero.

Uru tradition held that they were the owners of the lake and its waters, and an old name for themselves is said to mean "sons of the Sun". When the Inca Empire ruled the region they owed it tribute; some accounts also say they were enslaved, though this is poorly documented.

The floating islands near Puno, in Peru, are built from totora, a reed that grows in the lake. The base is a mat of dense, matted totora roots, called khili, one to two metres thick, cut into blocks, lashed together and anchored with ropes to poles driven into the lake bed. Layers of cut reeds are piled on top and must be renewed every few weeks or months, more often in the rainy season. An island lasts about 25 years before water seeps through and a new one is built. Larger islands house around ten families, smaller ones two or three. The islands were first built partly for defence, since they could be moved away from danger, and many still have a watchtower.

Totora is also used for boats, houses and crafts, and the soft white base of the stem is eaten. Islanders fish, hunt water birds, keep tethered cormorants to catch fish, and trade reeds on the mainland for quinoa and other food.

In 1986 a severe storm wrecked many islands near the middle of the lake, and many Uru rebuilt closer to shore. A 1997 census counted around 2,000 people of Uru descent, many of whom had moved to the mainland; as of 2011 about 1,200 Uru were reported living on some 60 artificial islands in the western part of the lake near Puno. Tourism has become the main source of income: boats bring visitors from Puno, and families sell handicrafts. Most boats now have motors, shared solar panels supply power, an Uru-run FM radio station broadcasts from the main island, and several islands have schools, with older pupils attending school in Puno.

Our 1492 map draws an approximate Uru territory in the Lake Titicaca region, beside neighbouring peoples labelled Karanka, Pakajaqi, Aymara and Quechua. See also Peru and Bolivia.