Every 8 November, people arrive at La Paz's General Cemetery carrying human skulls known as Ñatitas.
Some have names and have been cared for by the same families for decades. Others represent anonymous souls. Their caretakers may ask them for protection, health, work or help with everyday problems — and in return they care for them throughout the year.
For one day, many are brought to the cemetery with flowers, coca, cigarettes, prayers and music.
We go beyond simply seeing the skulls. We explore who cares for them, why they do it and what kind of relationship exists between the living and the dead.
Small groups · Cable car included · Limited date
8 November 2026 · 11:30 · $15
A Ñatita is not simply a human skull on display.
For the people who care for them, these remains can become part of an ongoing relationship involving protection, gratitude, responsibility and faith.
The exact origins of today’s celebration are complex. Andean relationships with ancestors and human remains go back centuries, while Catholic practices have also become part of the way the celebration is lived in La Paz.
That relationship has not always been comfortable or harmonious — and understanding those contradictions is part of this experience.
Before seeing any Ñatitas, we first understand what the word means and, more importantly, what it does not mean. Not every Ñatita belonged to the family that now cares for it. Some have known identities, while others are anonymous souls that have entered the care of a household or community.
As we travel towards the cemetery, we connect Ñatitas Day to the wider November cycle of remembrance, introduce the idea of ajayu, and explain why it is misleading to describe the celebration as simply “Catholic” or “pre-Hispanic”.
Before entering the cemetery, we stop to buy a small offering. Flowers and coca are among the things commonly offered to Ñatitas, alongside candles and cigarettes. The offering is included.
We stop at selected murals connected with Ñatitas and compare how artists represent death and remembrance with what we are about to see being practised around us. The murals help us move from representation to lived practice.
We enter the celebration slowly, observe how Ñatitas are carried and decorated, see how caretakers interact with them and learn why some people ask them for protection, work, health or help with personal problems. We do not touch, photograph closely or approach someone's Ñatita without permission.
We learn the Ñatita's name, how she came into the caretaker's life, how she is cared for during the year and what the relationship means to that person. We offer the flowers and coca we bought earlier, following the caretaker's guidance.
Ñatitas Day exists for believers and caretakers — not for visitors.
We do not treat human remains as props.
We do not ask people to pose with their Ñatitas.
We do not interrupt prayers or celebrations.
We do not touch a Ñatita without an invitation.
And we never assume that because something is happening in a public cemetery, everyone present wants to be photographed.
Your guide will help you understand when it is appropriate to take a photograph and when the respectful choice is to put the camera away.
