Derek Piotr
Fieldwork Archive
⤝ 2226 ⤞

Caminando por aquellos cerros


Performed by Roxana Olivares Bautista and Yajaira Salinas Olivares.
Recorded October 4, 2026 in San Pedro de Casta, Huarochirí,
Department of Lima, Peru (acquisition date: October 24, 2026).
Recorded by Rowan Glass on behalf of Derek Piotr.
Yajaira, Roxana's daughter, doesn't sing but claps in the background.

Caminando por aquellos cerros
Llegué a Agüitama
Luego a Chanicocha
Al mirar mi lagunita seca
Y ahora va muy triste
Muy desconsolada

Agüita de Cunya1
Solo yo te pido
Que nunca te seques
Y si te secarás
Yo lloraría
Ellas morirían
Walking through those hills
I arrived at Agüitama
Then at Chanicocha
Seeing my little lagoon dry
Now I'm left so sad
So disconsolate

Little waters of Cunya1
I ask only this of you
Never dry up
And if you were to dry up
I would weep
And they would die

1. Cunya (sometimes spelled Cuñaq or Kunyaq) is the name of a mountain spring that feeds Carhuayumac, the most important canal in San Pedro de Casta's irrigation system. While the name's etymology is somewhat unclear, it may allude onomatopoetically to the sound of the water as it bubbles forth from the spring.











Tags

contributed recording, Peru