Bolivians honor Andean tradition by dressing, blessing and dancing with human skulls

Believers gathered at La Paz's General Cemetery on Sunday (November 8) for the Festival of the Ñatitas, an Andean tradition in which Bolivians honour human skulls they believe grant protection and favours. 

Devotee Janeth Castillo brought several of the 42 skulls she keeps at home, decorated with flowers, hats and sunglasses, to be blessed with coca leaves, cigarettes, alcohol and food amid music and prayer.

The ritual is held every November 8, a week after All Saints' Day, and draws on Aymara beliefs that the skulls, known as natitas, act as household protectors. The tradition blends Catholic prayer with indigenous ceremonies led by Aymara priests, known as amautas, who use conch shells and incense at the cemetery's ninth gate. 

The Catholic Church has long opposed the cult and has refused to bless the skulls in the cemetery chapels. Cemetery authorities now allow the ñatitas to be received on site, but without the involvement of local priests.

Believers ask the skulls for health, work, help with legal cases and protection from theft, and each ñatita usually has a given name.

Camera and Production: Sergio Limachi, Santiago Limachi, Claudia Morales, Production: Monica Machicao, Editing: Hugo Monnet/Reuters