The Kallawaya are an itinerant group of traditional healers living in the Andes of Bolivia. They live in the Bautista Saavedra region, a mountainous area north of La Paz. They are members of the Mollo culture and are direct descendants of Tiwanaku culture. According to the UNESCO Safeguarding Project, the Kallawaya can be traced to the pre-Inca period. They are known to have performed brain surgery and used medicinal plants as early as 700 AD. Some historical sources cite the Kallawayas as the first to use quinine to prevent and control malaria. They also helped to save thousands of lives during the construction of the Panama Canal. In 2012, there were 11,662 Kallawaya throughout Bolivia.
