Tinku Festival

Tinku Festival

Snippet by © Paul Dodson 2012

Each May thousands of indigenious Bolivian indians descend on the isolated, mountanous city of Macha in the hope of picking a fight. The 600 year old pre-Hispanic Bolivian festival of Tinku sees villager pitted against villager in a toe to toe slug fest that doesn't stop until blood is spilt on the ground. The blood: an offering to the earth goddess - Pachamama - to ensure a good harvest for the coming year. The desired result: the more spilt, the better.

Over the years dozens have died, yet the rite continues, albeit today with some limited policing. Nowadays, fighting to the death is a no-no, but not so in the past. For some of the poorest people in South America living off what they can srcatch from the land, life is literally a battle.

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