South American Terms for Llamas
And these are the folks who definitely know their
llamas!
taken from a paper by Jorge A. Flores Ochoa, and
published in the book, Anthropological History of
Andean Politics (Cambridge University Press). This
article focuses on nomenclature for either llamas or
alpacas. These are terms that are sometimes used for
alpacas as well.
Terms for male llamas
- Wiraqocha
- Ninucha
- Orqo
- Tatala (adult males)
- Chullumpi (studs)
- Malto (males without offspring)
- Chiflon (gelded males)
Terms for female llamas
- China (females)
- Mama (dams)
- Urwa (sterile females)
Terms for llama fleeces
- Allin millmayuq (good fleece)
- Mana allin millmayuq (poor quality fleece)
Ages of llamas
- 0 -2 years old (tuwi, regardless of
gender)
- Productive for more than 2 years (ankuta,
regardless of gender)
- Over 2 years old (machu - male, paya -
female)
Colors of South American Camelids
| Range |
Basic Colors |
Tones |
| Yuraq (white) |
|
qoyllu |
| yuraq |
|
| Kulur (color)
|
Mapha (creamy white) |
|
|
| Wayra (cream) |
wayra mapha |
|
| Khurusa (chestnut)
|
yuraq khurusa |
| puka khurusa |
| wana khurusa |
|
| Oqhe (leaden grey)
|
yuraq oqhe |
| 'asal' oqhe |
| yana oqhe |
|
| Wik'una (tobacco) |
paqo wik'una |
|
| Paqo (dark brown)
|
qoyllu paqo |
| choqe paqo |
| yana paqo |
|
| Chumpi (coffee)
|
k'iska chumpi |
| chawpi chumpi |
| puka chumpi |
| yana chumpi |
|
| Yana (black) |
puka yana |
| challa |
|
| Puka (red) |
|
| puka khurusa (semi-red) |
| wanaku (semi-red), may be puka
wanaku |
Alqa patterns
In these, light colors predominate (26 patterns
identified by Andean herders, 6 named here)
These patterns can also include the color of the
non-white area (e.g., the first pattern below might be
described (in a dark coffee colored animal) as Yana
chumpi mantusa alqa
- Mantusa alqa - Head, neck and shoulders entirely
white
- Punitu alqa - Rump and front legs entirely white,
remainder colored
- Paru alqa - Head, neck, half of shoulders and front
half of back colored, remainder white
- Mut'i phata alqa - Head, short portion of neck, rump
and hind legs colored, remainder white
- Sewarillo alqa - Eye patch and most of blanket and
rump colored, remainder white
- Yana simillu alqa - Nose, rump and hind legs colored,
remainder white
Lamas with more dark color and lighter spots in their
fleeces
- Inka misa - Head, neck and top of back entirely
white, bottom half entirely colored
- Akqusa (reverse of Inka misa)- Head, neck and top of
back colored, bottom half entirely white
- Wamant'ika (or phuyuninri) - Almost entirely colored,
but with white ears. By the way, wamant'ika means "falcon
flower" and phuyuninri means "cloudy ears"
- Ahuya - Almost entirely colored but with a white face
(ears are colored)
- Mayuch'ulla - Head, ears, and neck white, remainder
colored
- Kunka panyolo - Almost entirely colored, with white
neck ring
- Chaqoni - Almost entirely colored, with white face
and white ears
Predominately white fleeces
- Yanauya - maskara - Nose, chin and stripe around the
head colored, remainder white
- Ch'anu - Eye mask and stripe around head, mark on
back of neck, remainder white
- Andiagus - Eye patch, remainder white
- Qellwayto- gaviota - Head entirely colored, remainder
white
- Simillu - Nose colored, reminder white
Names influenced by the colors of legs
- (Yuraq) makito - Almost entirely colored, but with
white (yuraq) front legs
- (Yana) makito - Almost entirely white, but with black
(yana) front legs
- (Yuraq) kalsa - Almost entirely colored, but with
white (yuraq) hind legs
- (Yana) kalsa - Almost entirely white, but with black
(yana) hind legs
- Sirami rias - Almost entirely colored, but with white
legs
- Yanami rias - Almost entirely white, but with colored
legs
Other patterns
- Kartilla - Color covering 1/4 or less of the
lama
- Muru - Spots all over the body, elongated in shape.
When the lama is solely muru, this pattern is all over
the body (e.g., Appaloosa - DEG)
- Muru kartilla - Combination of muru and kartilla
markings. (Note: in that case, the "muru" markings are
small paint spots and/or ticking.) (e.g., Paint
Appaloosa - DEG)
- Qeqara - White head and ears, colored body
- Tihina - tiqlla - looks to be similar in amount of
coloring to kartilla. May refer to a different
distribution.
- Purutu - Refers to more or less quadrangular markings
on the middle of the body (this can be combined with
other markings).
- Shara - Muru (appaloosa) markings, but not
distributed all over the body.(e.g., Paint Appaloosa
or might be Merle - DEG)
- Turqu - Colored markings dispersed in four places: at
the extremities, at the rump, and on the neck.
- Chullumpi - Saddle marking, resembling a pack
- Wallata - Saddle marking extending over the rump
- Panu montera - Two different colors on the body
(very likely this refers to calico or roan lamas -
DEG)