Each year in early May, farmers in the region of Potosí is réunnissent for Tinku. A word of Quechua origin, meaning meeting, union, balance, convergence, but we hear also in line of battle. This event deeply rooted in Indian traditions of the Altiplano, is to give thanks to the gods for the fruit harvest. Is honored above all the Pachamama, the goddess of the earth, for its generous fertility, but as everywhere in Bolivia, Jesus and the Holy Trinity have their place in the celebrations. The most famous Tinku takes place at Macha, a small isolated village on the altiplano, which are found nearly 3,000 villagers in the region. They arrive on foot, dressed in their traditional costumes which the most singular is, in men, the rise, the hard leather helmet whose form is reminiscent of the copper helmets of the conquistadores. For two to three days, people dance, sing, drink to excess, and fight. First, each community through the streets of the village, the sound of the charango (a small ten-string guitar) and zampoñas (pan flute). Periodically, the men form a circle in the center where women take their place. While they sing the huayños (traditional songs marked by very sharp tones), men look around them by pounding the ground in time. All men and most women accompany the celebrations of great consumption of alcohol. Puro (90 º alcohol), beer or chicha (corn liquor), as the hours earns participants drunkenness and dances on the second day gave way to the fighting. They contrast two men confront each other in the center of a circle formed by spectators. They fight with fists, arms outstretched, trying to touch the opponent's head or torso (some fighters put a stone in their hand to give more power to their shots). The fighting, often of extreme violence can be understood in different ways.
