YouTube: The Bridge at Q’eswachaka

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., will feature a unique Native contribution from Peru.

Representatives of four Quechua communities will rebuild a replica of the sacred Q’eswachaka Bridge on the National Mall. They will hold a ceremony on Wednesday to make special offerings and light a small fire before they create the braided rope structure.

"For all four of our communities, our Q’eswachaka is a greatly beloved and respected monument. It has life and power," Arizapana Huayhua, who was taught how to build the bridge by his father, told the Smithsonian Institute blog. "For us, the bridge is the soul and spirit of our Inka that touches and caresses us like the wind."

Rebuilding the Q’eswachaka Bridge. Photo by Andean Lodges via Smithsonian Institution

The Q’eswachaka Bridge is rebuilt every year in June to reconnect the communities to their ancestors. The tradition dates back 600 years.

The Q’eswachaka is considered to be the last remaining Inca rope bridge in Peru. It takes three days to build, according to The Bridge at Q’eswachaka, a film produced for the National Museum of the American Indian.

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