Secrets of the Cloud People (1998)

One of the most unique and legendary races in the world is also one that we know the least about. The fascinating Chachapoya, also known as ‘Cloud People’, were a race of humans that lived during the ninth century. The Cloud People began carving settlements out of the extremely dense mountain forests situated between the Marañón and Huallaga rivers, and eventually established an impressive kingdom that spread through the northern Andes of Peru.

In 1470, these strong and powerful warriors, were momentarily conquered by the Incas. The name Chachapoya actually comes from the Incan language Quechua, as when the Incas first found them they were living in the cloud forests. The original name of the Cloud People is still completely unknown. In 1535, the Spaniards arrived in modern day Peru, and were extremely impressed with this unusual tribe’s strength and determination. An alliance was soon formed with the Chachapoya, giving them enough man power to claim back their land from the Incas. However, the arrival of the European allies wasn’t all good news. The Spaniards brought with them Smallpox, which eventually wiped out the entire race.

To this day, all we really know about these fascinating people is what we can read in the logs of the Spanish that visited the Northern Andes. Probably the most famous quote about the Cloud People comes from the Spanish conquers Pedro Cieza de Leon, he wrote that the Chachapoya were ““the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness. Orellana, another Spanish conqueror wrote a similar description, and also stated that the Cloud People were much taller than the Spaniards, and had extremely light skin and blonde hair, pointing to the fact that they were of European ancestry. These facts continue to puzzle modern day scientists, as there is no evidence of previous European genes being present in this area of the world before the Cloud People.