Native people of Northern Argentina

We visited a shop in Taffe de Valle that represented local Artisans. It was run by a weaver and painter who was a wealth of information. He educated me on the history of the native people of northern Argentina .I think they are the Queche but the language barrier has me unsure of myself. I shall have to do some reading.

These people lived here in peace long before Christ and before Europeans conquered them. Many of the items in the shop are exact replicas of everyday items that the Queche used and he weaves garments that were worn at that time. The clothing consists or a rectangular cloth with two armholes about 1/3 of the way down the rectangle and can be worn in seven different styles. The most fascinating being the style worn when these people were approaching a new village. At those times, the men wore the garment covering both shoulders while women only covered one. In this way the village knew who was approaching... if they were all men, they should be prepared for battle... if there were women in the group it could be considered a friendly visit.



There was cheese being sold here that was made in the way cheese was made throughout history. When a cow was killed its stomach was removed, tied at the top and hung in a kitchen for three years. Kitchens here use wood fires and all of the smoke goes to the ceiling where the stomach is hung, curing it. The acidbifullus from the stomach goes to work and at that point my understanding of his broken english fell to the wayside and I am not sure what happened next. The stomach was taken down after the three years and soaked in hot water before being strained thru a seive, into fresh milk. The still active bacteria went to work in the milk until cheese was formed. The cheese was delicious!


We purchased a number of things in this little shop but the most valuable thing we took away was the education. Sorry... I didn't take any photos.