Andes HighlandsNo. 02 of 12Guinea Pig
the shy one
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The guinea pig, little healer of the Andes
In the farmhouses of the Andes, the guinea pig has kept families company since ancient times. The Cañari people already carried it as an offering to their sacred places, along with grain, fruit and chicha.
But the guinea pig also has a very special role: in Ecuador’s ancestral medicine, the yachak or healers use it in the “cleansing with cuy”, also known as soba or shoqma. The healer asks the person to calm their mind, prays softly and passes the guinea pig over their whole body, from head to toe, three times.
According to this tradition, the guinea pig “absorbs” illness or negative energy and helps reveal what is wrong with the person. Even its colour matters: black, red or white. This practice is still alive in Kichwa communities of the highlands, such as those of Imbabura and Azuay.
“A little healer who keeps Andean families company.”
Told by: Ancestral Kichwa medicine of Ecuador’s highlands
No tail
sturdy body and short neck
Squeaks
to warn when it’s hungry or senses danger
Up to 4,500 m
high, in páramo and shrubland
Herbivore
alfalfa, grass, corn and leaves
Andes Highlands
It lives in cold and temperate climates, mainly in the highlands. In the wild it inhabits páramo, Andean shrubland and marshes.
Fun facts
- Its fur can be short, long, straight or curly.
- It startles easily, which is why it’s “the shy one”.
Andes Highlands · Amazon Rainforest