Although the Uros Indians of the floating islands have intermarried with Aymara Indians and no pure-blooded Uros exist, many of the inhabitants of the islands still practice the old traditions of fishing, trapping birds and living on the lake plants. The totora reeds, which grow abundantly in the shallows of the lake, are used for their boats, houses and islands.
The Indians began living on the reed islands over five hundred years ago when the Uros built the islands in an effort to isolate themselves from the Collas and the Incas.
