Since ancient times, the South American Andes Mountains have been the ancestral home to the prized alpaca. Their fleece was cherished by members of the Incan civilization (referred to as "The Fiber of the Gods"), and their graceful herds of alpaca roamed centuries. As a group, South American camelids date back two million years. Current theory suggests that the alpaca is a descendant of the vicuna with its domestication taking place some six to seven thousand years ago. Alpaca breeding and husbandry reached a peak in the 11th and 12th centuries AD under the Inca Empire. During this period alpaca and llama breeding was conducted by a state organization whose members all belonged to a special nobility. Alpacas were the most valuable domestic animals of the time and were intensively selected for production of copious, fine fiber and for the perpetuation of the species. Through the centuries alpacas have also served as a source of meat and played an important role in the religion of their caretakers.

Alpacas are associated with the goddess "Pachmana", the Earth Mother, in Andean mythology. It was believed that alpacas were loaned to humans, to be left on earth for only as long as they were properly cared for and respected. According to this legend, alpacas were given as a gift at the mountain Ausangate in Peru. When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Peru, they found a civilization that was based on textiles.

The Inca people lived in a society that was literally ‘woven together” by the fibers supplied by alpacas, llamas and cotton. Inca weavers made everything from bridges to roofs from fibers, and they recorded their wealth in patterns of knots. Among the Andean people cloth was currency, and the fleece of the alpaca was one of the most prized. The loyalty of nobles was rewarded with cloth made of alpaca. They gave away stacks of alpaca textiles to assuage the guilt of defeated lords. Their armies were paid with alpaca textiles.In this society, cloth making was a major enterprise of the State. In fact, the warehouses filled with alpaca textiles were considered so precious that Inca armies deliberately burned them when retreating from battle. However, the Spaniards did not recognize the true treasure of these native peoples, being blinded by the abundant gold, silver and precious stones.In the effort to conquer and subjugate the native people, there ensued a wholesale slaughter of alpacas and llamas. By some accounts as much as 90% of the alpacas in South America were slaughtered and left to rot in the fields. The carefully tended alpaca herds, divided by color and quality, were killed or dispersed. Only a small remnant of these wonderful animals were saved by the native population when they were secreted off to the barren and remote Altiplano.

Alpaca numbers dropped and husbandry practices deteriorated in the hands of the native Andean herders whose very life was a struggle on the harsh Altiplano. The high altitude and harsh landscape ensured only the hardiest of these creatures survived, and these ancestors of today's best bloodlines have provided a gene pool producing hardy, agile animals with dense, high quality fiber.

Alpacas faded into the background of history after the Spanish invasion of South America.

Finally in the 1920's, appreciation for alpaca fiber experienced a rebirth. By the 1980's alpaca fiber production had risen to a strategic economic resource in Peru. Today Peru, which has over 85% of the world population of alpacas, considers the species a natural resource worthy of protection.
In 1984, a small group of importers brought the first of a carefully selected herd of highest quality alpacas into the United States and Canada, and they immediately became a beloved part of the North American landscape.

Peru, Bolivia, and Chile are still home to the largest percentage of alpacas in the world, and alpaca breeders in the United States have learned much from their southern neighbors.

Alpacas offer a sustainable farming lifestyle while proving to be the world's finest livestock investment...their natural simplicity makes them a pleasure to own and breed.

We believe alpacas are a farm product capable of producing a meaningful income while being environmentally friendly and providing a natural product with markets all around the world. It is this reason why we are proud to be part of this wonderful opportunity.