The Andean people comprise a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit the Andean Mountains in present-day Peru. The Andean cultures developed here for thousands of years before the invasion of the Europeans in 1532.
The Kero are the Andean people of Quechua ethnicity who live in one of the most remote places in the Peruvian Andes in the province of Paucar'Tambo, one of the 13 provinces in the Cuzco Region in the Southern highlands.
The Kero live in an area that stretches over several climates, with elevations from under 1800 meters to over 4500 meters. Their one-room houses are not larger than 20 square meters, and they are made of clay and natural stone with roofs of hard grass. Depending on the climatic zone, corn and potatoes may be grown, while the only means of transportation, the llamas, are kept in the high areas. The fields are plowed with a type of foot-plow tool named "chaqui taclla."
According to the 10-year census, there are six major villages, which are home for 600 Kero people and approximately 6,000 llamas and alpacas. The travel-time on the mountain trails between villages ranges from only an hour to a full three-days journey. The lower areas of the community are inhabited seasonally, in order to till the fields; accordingly the housing there consists of temporary huts made of clay and branches.
The Kero people practice an active tradition of oral literature, with stories passed down from generation to generation. According to Kero mythology, their ancestors defended themselves from the invaders with the aid of the spirits of the local mountains that devastated the European army near the pampa of Viracocha by creating an earthquake and subsequent rock-slide that buried the invaders.
The Kero people do not practice any particular religion, though they are highly spiritual. Their beliefs are not dogmatic. There are no shamans among them, as they are more mystical than shamanic level.
They call their spiritual leaders 'paqos," a term that may be translated as "priest" or "practitioner."
A major distinction between mystic and shamans is that shamans need to enter a trance state which is induced by either a medicinal plant, dancing, drumming, meditation, or some other type of transformational activity that allows the practitioner to transcend into a trance-like state in order to heal or diagnose disease.
According to Kero's myth, until now there were two great ages that replaced each other by big turning points in history (Pacha'cutec) while a new age is still approaching. During the first age, the time of the first men, only the moon (Quilla) existed. Within the first big turning point of history the sun (Inti) made its appeareance and dried out the time of the first men. The Inca was the son of the sun (Inti) and father of the Inca and therefore ancestor of the Kero people. When the Inca founded the city of Cuzco by throwing a golden rod, a new civilization arose. The current age was initiated by the arrival of the Europeans and the violent death of the Inca. This age will end with another turning point when the Inca returns converting the souls of everything into gold and silver. The sun will burn the world with bad people while good people will ascend to the sky.
The Kero people live in complete balance and respect for all living things (reciprocity). It is based on the idea of always giving and knowing that in the end you yourself will receive. Reciprocity (ayni) is also practiced with the spirit world and this puts one into the right relationship and harmony with all living things. The spirit of life around them is what they respect and honor. They understand deeply the balance of nature, its power and beauty, otherwise they could not exist in such a harsh and difficult environment in which they are enclosed like a walled spiritual city.
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