The Pakay Tree grows in abudance in Perú & Ecuador. It is often grown for its edible white pulp and commonly found on coffee plantations for shade to the plants. Belonging to the legume family, it bears an unusual fruit that resembles a giant bean pod. The seed can also be roasted and eaten as a snack.
The Pakay pod is also is valued as a shaker. These seed pods are dried out in the sun and also to create an instrument making a percussive sound.
There are at least 82 different indigenous language groups in South America.
The Quechua language family (the Indigenous languages of South America) is growing. More people speak Quechua now than in Incan times, including several million in Ecuador.