Quichua

Lasso, 65, was received in the Andean province of Tungurahua by Quichua indigenous groups who gave him a decorated wooden pole known as a “baton of command” as well as the symbols of hierarchy including a whip and a traditional red poncho.

Braving extremely cold temperatures, the Quichua leaders transferred “positive energies” from the land and water to the president, who took office on Monday for a four-year period.

“I receive the baton with humility, and with the commitment that all of you and make that a people who want progress can make their dreams come true,” said Lasso in the community of Tamboloma, where he said a few phrases in the Quichua language.

The Quichua — or Kichwa — are one of 51 Amazon nations that have inhabited Peru for millenniums.

That didn’t seem to concern the elders of Nueva Andoas, Mr. Hualinga’s Quichua community in the Peruvian Amazon near the border with Ecuador.