ASPECTS OF ANDEAN NATIVE LIFE1
Oscar Nuiiiez del Prado
This paper is an anthropological report on cortain aspects of native
life in the mountain communities of the Andoan territory occupied by
Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. As the reader will quickly^ note, it consists
mostly of general impre3ssions. Thoso impressions are the result of my
experience in the native areas of Peru where I livej of obsorvations made
in the course of the Intornational Labor Office' s Ahdoan Indian Mission
survey of 1952 of which I formed a part, and of study of reports written
for the Ecuadorian Institute of Anthropology and the Section of Anthropo-
logy of the University of Cuzco, Peru. I have also used the results of
studies by my colleagues in the three countries of the aroa considerod.
The descriptive and statistical data available on Andean native com-
munities are very inadequate, and perhaps the chief virtue of a sum mry
like the present one is that it can call attention to gaps and problems
on which more work needs to be done. In tho three countries visited by
the Andean Indian Mission a beginning is only now being made to survoy
community land holdings, and it is .still not possible to get many speci-
fic data on concentrations of native population and the relations between
it and the land. We lack measurements of cultivable and unoultivable
land and have no figures on how much of the-cultivable land is actually
cultivated. Wo need data on the numbor of families living on large estates,
the number of small landowners, etc. All we have so far are impression-
istic estimates which vary considerably. Furthermore, very few anthropo-
logical studies have been made, and the handful of anthropologists who
have done field work in the area have had to concentrate on small areas
and have usually worked quite far apart.  It is thus difficult to get
a picture of local variations and to see the isolated studies in some sort
of perspectiveo.
In the following sulmmary, I will place a cortain amount of emphasis
on the land question because I beliove that it is a problem to which most
of the others are directly or indirectly related.
Uniform and variable factors. The native population lives for the
most part isolated from frequent contacts with tho mestizos; it forms a
world apart, and a very different one. This segregation may be attribut-
ed to historical, geographical, oconomic or cultural factors, or to a
combination of all of them; the facts are that the native population is
more involved in production than in consumption and has no part in the
political life of tho country in which it occupies the lowest social lovel
and usually lives under the most unfavorable conditions. In tho rural
areas, the native is shy, reticent and distrustful in dealings with whitos
andmestizos; he is hospitable, communicative, and open with those of his
ownsocial group. It is difficult to persuade him to forget an injury,
andif he has a chance to retaliate, ho tales it without hesitation.
on the other hand, he is loyal and affoctionate as a friend, and docile
1
and cooperativo with anyono ho finds ho can trust. He is fond of jokes
and is often ironical and biting in his criticisms.  His dedication to
agriculture leads him to live in the cointry, in conmunitios of scattered
houses, in even-more scattered houses on large ostates, or in towns or
villages dominatod. by mestizos in which the natives occupy tho outskirts.
We can ask first thother there Is any cultural unity among the nativos
in the area included in the throe- countrios with which we are concernod.
The answer is yes, for although wo must recognize a series of differontial
factors, thoy do not seriously affoct the unity, being limited to differ-
ences in dress and house type related.to climate or to certain "deviations"
in habitual occupations. We will say little about dress, although it has
an important functIon in marking the social status of indieviduals within
the area in which they live and their degree of acculturation. Obviously,
there is a general tendency for dress to be most Europeanized in the more
acculturated areas, while traditional native styles are comoner in areas
less affected by the acculturation process.
House type varies not only in relation to climate but also to the
availability of resources. Thus, in the Lake Titicaca basin we find con-
struction methods as different as the use of sod blocks (tope, or ch'ampa)
for both walls and roof and the use of a woodon frame with a thatch or
tile roof. In all cases, the floors are of earth; the interiors lack ven-
tilation and most of them are blackened with soot from cooking fires on
the floor. Dwollings commonly consist of only one or two rooms, utilized
without distinction for cooking, sleeping, and raising chickens and guinea
pigs. Sleeping is done on the floor or on a platform of poles or of stones
and mud; bedding consists of sheepskins and a few home-woven blankets in
varying stages of wear and disintegration. In Ecuador, while 521oto
82fo of the houses are of the same simple type, it is worth noting that
most of the native houses are more attractive than those of Peru and
Bolivia, some even having ceilings and wooden-floors. Thu nativos bathe
rarely; personal cleanliness consists in some washing about onco a wook.
It is not uncomon for the women to wash their hair with urine because of
a belief in its magical or medicinal value. In most of Ecuador standards
of cleanliness are somewhat higher than in the other two countries.
Marriage is preferably within the coonmunity, and the conjugal family
forms the smallest work unit, but consanguineous, affinal, and ceremonial
kinsihip is also very important. Patornal authority is strong, and pater-
nal kinsmen have a certain priority.  Division of labor is by sox and ago.
Children begin to work very young, and it is not unusual to find children
three to four years old in charge of a flock which they havo to follow
several kilometers in a day, especially if the pasturage is poor. Boys
accompany their fathers to the fields whore they are generally assigned
a specific amount of work which they have to complete without objections
or oxcuses; alternativoly, they may be required to provide wood for fuel,
irrigato a fiold, carry water for household use, etc. The girls go out
with the domostic animals or help their mothers at spinning, weaving,
and cooking, when the women are not needed to holp in sowing. Tho womon's
part is to break up clods, distribute the seed, and help to cover it.
2
During the day, the family moves around as the work roquires, divid-
ing its time between the care of the fiolds and hords, ropair of fonces,
weaving, and spinning or othor handicrafts, or, in the case of tenant farm-
oe-, working for the ostate. People go out at night only rarely, when
participating in a fiesta; on other days, the parents discuss their prob-
1   briefly around tho fire in the ovening and then all go to bod. The
bd itself is usually a family affair.
Social life is organizod around kinship ties, whether consanguineous,
affinal, or coromonial, and usually involvos patterns of cooperative la-
bor. Thore is a constant interchange of rights and obligations to holp
in the family work which provides a cortain esprit do corps in the work
axchange group.  Ceremonial kinship is especially important. Godparents
and compadros are troated with special respect and deforence, and it is
difficult to refuso a requost from thom. Kinship by oath is somewhat
rarer, but occurs in cases where two friends treat each other as brothers
(wawcechak)) and ostablishes a closer rolationship than betweon brothers
born.
Whether segregated in the country or living near them in towns and
cities, the natives' relations with ?rhites and mestizos are strongly con-
ditioned by barriors of fear on the one sido and projudice on tho other.
In the country, the rolationship is that botweon serf and lord, and con-
tacts aro limited to the superficial ones occasioned by tho rendoring
of service or a visit by the mestizo for reasons of his own convenionco.
When tho native goes to live in a mestizo town or in the city, because
of the loss of his land, tho attraction of a good salary, or some other
reason,; ho lives in the outskirts, crowded into miserable and filthy hous-
os which he shares with othor natives in the same condition as his own.
He is merely an Indian, which means that he occupies the lowest social
and economic level and is subject to strong social pressures from all sides.
In many places (e.g., Paucartambo) he may be taken by any mestizo who wants
his services without his wishes being consulted in the mattor. The contemp-
tuous attitude of the mestizo toward the Indian is constantly met with
in all social levels. It is not uncommon to hear such romarks as: "The
Indian is a dead weight, an amorphous class outside the oconomy; he neither
produces nor consumes anything" (Ecuador); "The Indians are parasites on
the country" (Bolivia); and many mostizos speak in terms of extorminat-
ing the Indians or proventing thom from reproducing. In all three coun-
tries contempt for evorything Indian is habitual. No one wants to belong
to this class, and it is very nearly an insult to suggest to a mestizo
that he has an Indian relative; the Indian himself, when he has passed to
tho "cholo" social class, wishes to wipe out his Indian connections or
cover thom up as much as possible, because ho knows that society condemns
tho Indian to an inferior position and that even his legal rights are
obstructed. Ho becomes ashamed of his languago and even abuses his rola-
tives who maintain their Indian status.
When the native moves to other rural areas his problems chango littlo
socially but his health is likely to be in greator danger. Such migra-
tions are usually to lower altitudes in the tropical forest valloys whero
3
he goes to work on an estato (Quillabamba), gets a job washing gold (Quin-
comil), or colonizes land belonging to the government (Tambopata). In
any case, he comes to these areas without proper protection or prophylaxis
and readily acquires a soriOs of diseasos to which he has no nativo resis-
tance and against which he knows no way of protecting himself. Because
of froquent movements back and forth between somo of the highland communi-
ties and these tropical valleys, it is not uncommon to find cases of mala-
ria and hookworm in the highlands, as the ILO Mission noted at Wamanruru
in Puno whence there is constant emigration to Quincomil. Some of tho
emigrants stay permanontly in the valleys, while others como back to their
old homes from time to time to rocoup their forcos. Wo know littlo about
the causes of these movements, the numbors of people involved, and the
areas preferred for settlemont, but such movements are frequently roported.
There appear to be regional differences in native attitudes which
we can illustrate by notes on the Cuzco area in Peru, the Lake Titicaca
rogion in Bolivia, and Otavalo in Ecuador. The doscription givon for the
Cuzco area is the most reliable, sinco it is based on my personal experienco;
my information on the other two areas is mostly ascond hand and compara-
tively superficial.
The Inca speaking native of the Cuzoo area behaves in two different
ways, depending on whom he is dealing with. With mostizos, he is suspi-
cious, silent, withdrawn, and nearly inaccessible; he offors a passivo
and systematic resistance. He is humble, fearful, and inattentive; reticent
and evasive in his answers, indecisive in his attitudes.  He supprosses
and hides his emotions and rarely reveals his disagrooment evon whon he
finds himeolf in fundamental opposition. He is obsoquious at times, but
this attitude implios that ho wants sonmthing very specific, that he ox-
pects an almost immediate roward. With other nativos he is opon, communi-
cativeo, fond of practical jokes; he makes a display of his industry and
is ready and willing to cooperato; he shows his feelings and states his
opinions without roserve. He is fond of fiostas and enjoys himself in
them. When ho is drunk, he is impulsive and courageous in a fight; he
boars grudges, -is vongeful, astute, and ofton mocking. Ho is sober and
modorato in his sex life, frugal in eating, and tranquil in daily affairs.
As a general observation, wo can say that he is extromely conserva-
tive; he allows no suddon changos and is openly resistivo to traits, tech-
niques and practices difforent from those to which he is accustc  d, at
least until he has a chance to convince himself personally and ob-.-
jectivoly of the advantages he might gain frcm an inmovation. Even so,
he vacilates for a long timo before dociding to accept the new practico.
He has lived in a closed circlo in which tradition and custom are his
basic schools, and it is a nearly static circle which gives him no oppor-
tunity to grasp other possibilities or take initiativo in unfamiliar mat-
ters. His accumulated knowledgo is limited to the circumscribod round of
relationships in his community, and his world is limited to the community,
the estate, or the nearest town where he usually trades. His interosts
are likewise limited by these circumstances and by tho possibilities which
he has found in these circlos. It is logical to think that initiative
4
requires a favorable exporionco and innovation a provious tradition of
change; as long as these conditions are not found, it is natural for us
as outsiders to rogard the native communities as "asloop" or "backward."
Most of the native's activities consist of repeating routino behavior.
His manual skill is considerable but usod with a limitod technology.
The products of his handicrafts are elogant but little diversified, and
they are made for local consumption. Textiles and poqtetrry furnish good
examples; the weaving is done on a backstrap loom and the pottery made
entirely by hand. An important factor in the situation is that most of
the natives speak no language but Inca and the proportion of illiterates
is overwhelming. Illiteracy limits the native's sourcos of information
to conversations in the evening or in rest periods during cooperative
labor.
In the Aymara area of Lake Titicaca, the native gives an impression
of greater personal security; instead of timidity, he has a rather arro-
gant manner, and his speech and attitudes are emphatic and peremptory.
He is less shy than the Inca speaker and more quarrelsome when drunk.
A clearer difference, perhaps, is his greater mobility. Although tradi-
tionally a faxrer, ho is loss closely attached to the soil and can leave
it temporarily or even permanently without regarding the fact as a catas-
trophe. He sometimes travels hundreds of kilometers to exchange his pro-
ducts and not infrequently settles down In a region far removed from his
community of origin. He is skillful in trade when he devotes himsolf to
it. Fiestas fascinate him, and he will go to groat lengths to maintain
his reputation as a generous spender on such occasions. His handicrafts
are somewhat more diversified than those of the Inca speakers and show a
certain tendency toward commercialization, although his production tech-
niques aro quito limited and he is also very conservative about changing
them.
The differences we have notod seem to be the result of less strong
pressures by the mestizo class in the Aymara area, providing a different
social environment.
In the area around Otavalo, the studies of Professor Rubio suggest
a close similarity of attitudes to those we have noted among the Inca speak-
ers of Cuzco. He says., for oxampls, "The Indian behaves differently with
whites from the way he does in his privato life...; he reacts with diffi-
culty when he is alone, but in a group ho finds strength in numbers; his
savings, if any, aro invested in land or in animals.... The Indian is slow
and lazy when working for whites...; when he has a definite task to accom-
plish in a day, he is quick and efficient...; his lack of foresight shows
up in fiestas, for which he will spond all he has, go into debt, and sell
his labor for trifling wages oven though ho onds in virtual slavery..;
his attitude is one of concentrated and latent dissimulation, and it gives
him good results; in solf protection he resorts to volubility and adapts
himself to the conditions imposod...; he is sometimes docile to the point
of humility" (Rubio, 1946, pp. 262-269). On the other hand, I have no-
ticed that he is much moro accessible than the other groups with which
we are comparing him; he is affable and doos not show such oxtreme roeerve
5
and reticence toward whites. He is loss conservative, more disposed to
accept outside influencos, and takes occasional suggestions with less dif-
ficulty.
One of his most notable characteristics is his great manual doxterity.
All the Ecuadorian natives are very skillful and havo developed their han-
dicrafts into successful commercial activitios, but the natives of Imba-
bura and ospecially of Otavalo are outstanding in this respect. Their
success depends on their skill, for they lack adequate tools and their
production is unorganized; furthermore, tho market for their products is
not great. Handicrafts and small industrios are organized almost exclusive-
ly on a family basis, although there are also a few small factorios.
The market for thoir products is restricted by the oxistence of specula-
tors who control the raw matorials and often oblige the craftsmen to soll
their products only to the speculator. Also, many of thoir products, such
as ponchos, mufflors, coarso woolen yard goods, otc., are consumed by ono
social class only. Even when they make good quality woolens, the goods
cannot compote in the market with machine mado materials. In general,
tho natives do not produce for the taste of the whito and mestizo market.
A great diversification of handicrafts is now taking place in Otavalo,
and there is some talk of industrialization.
Land and   ic     e     In the three countries WeG arc considering,
the distribution of land is highly unequal. The large ctates, usually
occupying the most productive land, have only small portions under culti-
vation, while the greater part is not utilizod (Cisnoros, 1948, p. 151;
Flores, 1950, p. 380). Alongsido the large estates ono finds the small
properties of nativos who have been pushed out onto the less productivo
land. The increase of tho population and tho division of land between
children roquired by law havo produced an excessive fractionation of na-
tive land so that in many areas native families do not have enough land
to live on. In the areas studied by the ILO Mission, the poorest farm
land was found in Bolivia and Peru; hero, native life is virtually con-
ditioned by the land problem, because of the depondenco of the natives
on agriculture. Evon where, as occurs in somo rogions, the natives own
large tracts of land, the yield is still inadequate because of the poor
quality of the soil; this situation is comnon in southern Peru and Boli-
via. Elsewhere in highland Peru and Ecuador, the land is more productive
but the native farms are hopolessly  ma.
A distinction must be made between systems of landholding among the
natives. Native farmers can be grouped in general into three classes in
this respect:  those who live in native communities (ccmmunc, 'aynoqa, or
allu) protectod by spocial legislation; small independent proprietors;
and the tenant farmers attached to the big estatos.
The community system can further be subdivided into three types:
(1) a type in which the agricultural land and pastures are regardod as
belonging to the community and are distributed annually among tho members;
(2) a type in which farm land is owned individually whilo tho pastures
6
and irrigation water aro hold for comon use; and (3) a typo in which
all members aro fully independent landownors but maintain tho community
organization as a means of defending their titles. In the first type,
the community lands are divided into a number of sections corresponding
to the number of crops in the rotation sories plus the number of yoars
a field must lie fallow aftor use. Thus, if the rotation series consists
of potatoes, quinua, and barloy and the fields must lig fallow for four
years, the community lands must be divided into seven soctions, as at
Koqra in Puno. Each section in turn is dividod into as many lots (ql-
pira) as there are heads of families, and oach roceives a spocific lot.
An example will help to explain the working of this system. In a givon
year, all lots in ono section will be planted to potatoes, all lots in
another to quinua, and a third will be plantod to barley. The other four
are left fallow. The following year, p6tatoes are planted in a new sec-
tion, quinua sown in the section previously devoted to potatoes, and bar-
ley in the place of the quinua. The section which had barley is now left
fallow, and will be planted to pctatoes after four years. In any given
field, a given crop is repeated every eighth year.
In communities of class two, the common pasturo and firowood resourcos
are generally used freoly by the members. In this typo and in the third,
the individual farmors have complote liberty to arrango whatevor rotation
of their crops they regard as most converniont. In all three types, irri-
gation, is regulated by local usage depending on the availability of water.
The first type of community system has the disadvantago that the crops
of a single family are scattered and correspondingly difficult to control
and care for. Tho community noeds to control a considerable area of land
in order to allow part of it to lie fallow. In the second and third types,
a family's land is likely to be concontrated and readily accessible.
In most of Ecuador, and in the Vilcanota and Apurimac valleys in
Peru, land is not left fallow and its productivity is regulated only by
crop rotation, and manuring. This practice implios that the land is of
bottor quality.
It may be safely asserted that tho natives who live nuder the com-
munity system onjoy a privileged position with respoct to those who do
not, for they aro free to uso their lands as thoy think fit, live with a
greater sense of security because of the, legal guarantoes which protect
the communities, and abovo all have greater opportunities to work on a
large scale because they can count on the cooperation of other membors
of the community. It is also plain that this type of collective defonse
has prevented the liquidation of nativeo landownorship, constantly menaced
by noiglhboring mostizos, with whom the community is forover engaged in
long and costly litigation.  Frequently, the excessive fractionation of
proporty due to growth of tho comunity population forces many of the in-
habitants to sell their lots to other members becauso thoy find themsolves
without sufficient land for subsistenco. Tho sellers must then emigrate,
ofton to distant regions, and become tenants or day laborers on the big
estates (Rubio, 1946, pp. 229-230; Nuiniez del Prado, 1949, p. 194).
7
The small nativo landownors who do not belong to an ayllu or commune
aro usually grouped in small villages,' classed admiinistratively as districts
or cantons, and are at the mercy of tho mostizos, who despise, exploit,
molest and deceivo them. They almost always lack pasture land for their
animals and have to ask for the use of pasturo land on some big ostate,
assuming in return obligations of personal service, money payments, or
loan of work animals, depending on the circumstances.  This typo of small
landowner who lacks sufficient land to support his family is an important
element of the free labor force, hiring hinself out to a big estato or
working as a Aay laborer in the city or a nearby town. This supplomentary
work gives him an opportunity to learr some construction skills, such as
working with building stone or making tiles or adobes, which enable him to
earn more money. If he then decides to settle permanently in town, he be-
COme3s a member of the social class called "cholott in Peru and Bolivia.
The tenant farmers of large estates live on estate land and are con-
sidered virtualy part of the property, since the general practice is
that the sale value of an estate is determined by the number of Native
tenants attached to it.
The huasipunguero in Ecuador, the sayana in Bolivia, and the tenant
in Peru live under almost identical conditions. In payment for the farm
l.ands and house which they receive from the ostate, they owe a fixed num-
ber of days' work a week at wages which are usually far below what they
could earn elsewhere. Tenant families live on the same lot for genera-
tions, chained to a series of obligations which absorb their time and
energy to such an extent, in some cases, that they have little left with
which to work for the support of their own families. In Ecuador, the ten-
ant is expocted to work from five to six days a week for the estate, at
a minimum of eight hours a day, and he receives in wages one fifth of the
going rate for free labor (Buitron and Buitron, 1947, table XIX). For
two to three months a year he takes his turn as "huasicama" or"cuentayo."
The huasicaa serves the estate doing domestic service, repairing fences,
looking out for the smallor animals, running errands to nearby towns, milk-
ing, etc., working from dawn to dark without a single day off, at the same
rate he gets for other work for the estate. The cuentayo looks out for
the cattle of the estate, and is fully responsible for it. There are some
estates on which the management prohibits even members of the tenants'
famtlios from working off the estate where they can earn a better salary.
The rule is enforced by threat of eviction (Flores, 1950, p. 380).
In Peru and Bolivia, the conditions of servitude under which native
tenants live are somewhat worse than in Ecuador, with more variability
in Peru than in Bolivia.  In Bolivia, the native receives two to three
hectares of fortile soil and in return must work four days a week for tho
estate without pay, but ho receives wagos for work on the remaining days.
The tenant is also allowed to plant as much of the less fertile land of
the estate as he wishes, turning over one half of the harvest to the owner
(United Nations, 1951, p. 94). The tenants also take turns serving as
pongos, at tasks similar to those assigned to the huasicaa in Ecuador,
altd. tho young wor-n of tenant families serve the estate as mitanis. The
8
mitanis serve for turns of seven to fifteen days, spinning, weaving, mak-
ing chicha, cooking food for the dogs, etc., without pay. The boys simi-
larly serve as mossengers (l1oqalla).
In Peru there is more variation. Around Cuzco, especially in Paucar-
tambo, Anta, and Quispicanchi, the native tenant receives from half a
heotare to one hectareo of land from the estate and is expected to work
for it from three to six days a week, depending on the soason. His wagos
vary from 10 to 30 centavos a day (unskilled labor in the city is paid
5 soles--about twenty timos as much).  The tenants also serve weekly turns
as pongos, which means that they go to live at the big houso on the Estato
or in the owner' s town house, whichover the owner prefers. On the estate,
the pongos take care of the horses and pigs, carry firewood, milk the
cows and carry the milk to nearby towns for salo, cut and carry forage
for the animals, and do errands around the house. Other obligations are
divided between the tenants and other laborors on the estate; these include
the jobs of irrigator,- 'arariwa (field guardian), gollana (foroman), and
supervisor. The women do domestic service as mitanis, care for tho chick-
ons, and spin wool belonging to the estate, the combination varying accord-
ing to the area (Morote, 1951, p. 108).   On top of all this, on many es-
tates the laborere are obliged to harvest the crops, load them on their
own animals, and deliver them to the town or city designated by tho owner,
sometimes two or three day's journey on foot.   Thoy also serve as "propios",
private letter carriers who deliver messages for the ownor on foot. On
some estates, the tenants are forbidden to sell their products to anyono
but tha owner, and it is quite common fork. tho owner to give his tenants
pigs or chickens to take care of with the obligation of returning then
at the ond of a certain period with all the young they havo had in the
meantimo.
The herding tasks are those least desired by the tenants because of
the responsibilitios involved. In many casos, if a shoop dies from ill-
ness or as the result of an accident, the native is supposed to bring
it in, show it to the owner, give him tho skin, take tho moat home, and
replace the dead sheep with a live ono.e The tenantts animals work for
the estate in roturn for the pasturage they consume.
Conditions are distinctly better in Ancash, Junfn, Ayacucho and Apu-
rimac. In these areas, the tenants receive from one to five hectares of
land and are expected to work three to four days a wook for the estate
at a wago of 2.50 to 3 soles. Their work for the estate is done in tho
fields, and they rarely havo to take turns as domostic servants bosides.
Even whero such service is given, the working conditions are much less
difficult than in the south.
Landholding and tho conditions under which land is held xre matters
of outstanding importance in nativo life. One of the most important meas-
ures of porsonal prestige is the amount of land ownod, and the moro land
a man has the botter able he is to moet social obligations which, in turn,
bring hin further prestige.   The more land a man has, the more holp he
noods in cultivating it. He can expect such help from relatives, so he
9
is inclinod to be ospecially considorato of thon. With larger harvests,
he is abloeto'serve more and bottor food and drinks to cooperativo work
parties than a man with loss land would be ablo to do. Furthernoro, he
has opportunities to acquire new rolatives through the pattern of core-
monial kinship, and relations with ceremonial kinsmen. are oven closer than
those with real kinsmen. Thore is a bolief that godchildren acquire the
virtues and the luck of their godparents.  Owning land is thQoativols
dearest dream, so that, as we shall soe in discussing roligion, he can-
not conceive of paradise without land ownorship. He naturally wants the
good fortune of land ownership for his children, and will not neglect the
magical possibilitios of choosing a godfather who is well provided with
land. Thus, the persons who have the most land aro the ones who aro askod
to be godfathers to most childron in the-cormunity, and they thus acquire
large numbers of compadros who respect thom and aro happy-.to join thoir
work parties.
Land is a major factor not only in prestige but also in socurity.
The somi-feudal situations fQund on the estates mean that tho native ton-
ants who cultivate estate land are virtually bound to it, without any chance
of making new contacts or seeking now opportunitios.  In ordor to main-
tain their rights to estate land, the tenants have to put in most of thoir
time working for the estate and their movemonts are severely restricted.
The contrast between the opportunities of tenants and those of members of
free communities can be clearly seen in the case of the community of Re-
cuayhuanca and the neighboring estate of Vicos in the Callejo6n de Huay-
las. Recuayhuanca is a conmunity of sml    landowners, while Vicos is an
estate belonging to the Charitable Foundation of Huaraz, which leasos it
as a whole instoad of administering it directly. Tho traditional arrange-
ment at Vicos before its loase was taken up by Cornoll University was that
the tenants owed three days' work a wook to the ostate and wero paid wages
for it.  Some 907o of the mon of Recuayhuanca loavo for the coast in tho
slack season to supplement their income by day labor on tho coastal ostatos.
The tonants of Vicos, on the other hand, could not make such trips because
they would be immediately evicbod from the estate if they did. The groat-
or economic opportunity in Recuayhuanca gives a sense of security which
is reflected in the fact that the people are better dressed and their houses
are somewhat cleaner and better kept up. They own their houses, while
the tenants' houses at Vicos are furnished by the estate. More of the
Recuayhuanca people are bilingual and literate.
The principal and almost exclusive occupation of the native is agri-
culture, whether he is a tenant on an estate, a member of a community,
or a small independent landowner.  The labor of a tenant farmer is direct-
ad by the estate owner if the work is being done for the estate, and the
tenant merely carries out plans in which he has no interest boyond fulfill-
ing his contracted obligations or bowing to circumstances.  The small
indepondent landowner works with the cooperation of his family and requests
aid on a small scale from other individuals, to whom he ropays work with
work. Because of the sm     extent of his holdings, the holp of his fani-
ly is usually sufficient to take care of the crops. There are, however,
some indepondent proprietors who have anaged to keep or acquiro enough
10
land so that they noed oxtra labor, which they get through tho institutions
of 'ayni and minga, which wo will discuss in describing the work pattorns
of native comunitios.
The community ('ayllu, Iaynoqa, or commune) is a grouping of many
families which owns or controls varying amounts of land. The variation
in sizo of holdings is particularly notable in those communitios in which
lad is owned individually.   In this typo of comunity, the division of
property among all the children, which is enforced by law, has resulted,
as previously noted, in holdings so small as to be virtually useless in
some cases. The only solution is for some owners to sell their lots to
other members of the community, while the sellers leave to become tenant
farners on some estato or emigrate to the tropical valleys looking for
jobs. The problem varies groatly from one community to another, for somo
control considerable areas of good land while others have far too little.
A classic example of the latter extrome is Kuir 'Ayllu at Chinchoro, some
members of which have roceived by inheritance no more than two or three
furrows of cultivable land (Nuiez del Prado, 1949., p. 194).  In spite of
these differences, in most comunities the members livo in harmony and
cooperate offectivoly with one another.
Those who possess small lots cultivate them in the sano way as small
independent landowners, with the help of the conjugal family or by onter-
ing into an tayn relationship with consanguineous rolativos or frionds.
'n    (makimanachiy in Ecuador) is the loan of work ropaid by work of the
same kind. Thoso who have more land need more help to work it, and get
this help by means of a minga (mink'a in Peru, 'uyariy in Ecuador), which
consists of servicos given in return for food. and a fiesta. The word
Itminga" is used in Ecuador in a different sonse, to designate obligatory
work done froe on public works, community projects, or for an estate.
This type of work is known in Peru as "faena;" both terms imply somo de-
gree of -coercion.
The mechanization of agriculture has scarcely touched the highland
estates, and on most of them agricultural work is done with tools and
mothods of colonial or ancient native origin. The same is true of nativo
farmers, to whom, however, farm machinery is beginning to bo demonstrated
by special agricultural improvement programs undor international, state,
or private mission auspices (Warisata, Chuquibambilla, Watahata, etc.).
In general, howevor, cultivation on relatively level land is done with a
wooden plow to which a steol share is attached; this implement is drawn
by oxen. The seed is covered with the plow during tho cutting of the next
furrow, and re-covered with a drag consisting of a log which is attached
transversely to the plowing toam in place of the plow.
On steepor land and at higher altitudes, potatoes are planted with
the chaki-taklla (foot-plow), an implement of pro-conquest origin which
consists of a shaft about 1.60 m. long with a foot rest near tho lower
ond.  The point is shod with a flat metal share to penetrate the earth.
The instrument is thrust almost vertically into the earth with the foot
and then pulled down like a lever to turn up a clod of earth.    The men
11
manipulate the foot-plow and the women work in front of thern with wooden
clubs to break up the clods. Two men and a woman can plow an area 20
by 20 motors in a full day' s work. Othor agricultural imploments consist
of short-handled hoes of difforent sizos, forked sticks, spades, and a vari-
ety of smaller implements made by the natives of wood.
For the most part, the natives raise food crops, the crQps varying
in kind and importance according to the altitude and the climato. At the
highest altitudes (10,000 to 13,000 feet), potatoes, ocas, and ullucus
are the staple crops; cereals like maize, whoat, and barley predominato
from 5000 to 10,000 feet; and at lowor altitudes maize is grown with mani-
oc, unkucha, and a varioty of squashes.
The farmor' s year bogins in August or September and ends with the
last harvests in May or June. The highland rainy season lasts from about
December to April. Usually only a single crop is grown por soason. The
smallest fruits or tubers are selected from the harvest for seed, the larg-
est ones sold, and the modium sized onos eaton. Methods of cultivation
vary according to the dopth of the soil and the water supply. In most
cases, irrigationl wator is not available and crops must bo grown without
it. Animal manure is the only fortilizer available, and it is little used
exc9pt on some estates. The manure is furished in part by sheop belong-
ing to the tenants, and some ostate owners in Bolivia will not accept a
new tenant who doos not have a certain number of sheep which will produce
manure for fertilizer. The manure question can then be usod to keop the
tonants on the land, for a land owner can rofuse to allow a tenant who
wishes-to leave to take his shoep with him, and no othor ostato would
accept the tenant without then.
Frcu the point of view of land utilization, the major problem in tho
situation wo have been describing is that the big ostates, which own much
of the best land, mako a minimum use of it, whilo the native farmers, who
practice an intonsive cultivation, havo comparatively little land to work
with and what they have is often poor. At the same time, land is a major
sy-mbol of social prestige among mestizos as well as natives, and this
factor causes it to be pricod for sale, in some cases, at oxorbitant fig-
ures which bear no relation to its productivity. Anfbal Buitron tolls
me that this situation occurs in Inbabura (Ecuador), for examplo.
In spite of the difficulties involvod, there have been somo intorest-
ing recent casoe in which the tenants on an estate formed a cooporative
organization to purchase tho whole estato for distribution in individual
lots.  I am thinking of the Hacionda Chunazanm in Azuay, Ecuador (Institu-
to Ecuatoriano de Antropolog(a y G ograffa, m.) and the Hacienda Luomos
in Apurimac,; Peru. In both casos, tho sale was negotiated directly butween
the native tenants and owners who wore willing to be paid in installments.
The natives made heroic efforts to raise tho necessary money, solling
overything that they had in order to do so, and in many cases borrowing
money at very high interest to neet the lator payments. The rolatively
defensoless condition of the natives leaves them at the mercy of mzistizo
speculators in situations of this kind.
12
Education. Informal education among the natives is given by the
parents according to sex, and is supplemented by full participation in
the activities of the community. During the earliest years, the mother
guides the child' s discipline by caresses and affection, while later it
learns by imitation and personal experience in the activities appropriate
to its sex. A boy learns first from his father and then from other men
with whom he works. A girl learns chiefly from her mothor' s example and
teaching, with a somewhat lesser opportunity to imitate the behavior of
other adult women. Fiestas and cooperative labor give good opportunities
to broaden and stimulate the children' s development. Education is thus
strongly traditional and especially oriented to teach the children how
to work.  A life close to the flocks, frequent attendance at adult fiestas,
frank discussion by adults of pregnancy and birth, and tho opportunities
provided by life in a one-room house to be present at these events, give
the children a perfectly natural introduction to everything connected with
normal sex life. This perhaps is the reason why they lack the restless
curiosity and concern with such matters which are so frequent in mestizo
children. They have never been taught any special valuation on virginity
and, at adolescence, have a certain liberty to satisfy their urges, since
pre-matrimonial sex relations are permissible within limits at the proper
age. They are thus well prepared for adult sex life, and prostitution
is very rare. Adultery and sex crimes are even more unusual.
On the other hand, their participation in community activities and
frequent dealings with adults give them an early understanding of all
matters relating to the functioning of their society. It is not unusual
to find children of seven or eight years of age who can give very exact
and detailed information about comunity problems, the local authorities
who govern them, and even the specific duties of those authorities. Grant-
ing the difference in the scope of knowledge required, it may be said that
a native man knows more of his culture than a white man does of his.
Native children almost never play. It is not that they have no de-
sire to play, nor that they are "sad" or 'melancholy" as is often said,
but that the values of their culture are directed toward work. The na-
tive believes that games are nothing but a preparation for indolence and
hence is displea0ed when children play and puts prossure on them to stop
it. This attitude is not the result of a concern for time wasted but
rather of a traditional concept of the nature and function of playing.
Formal education for natives is generally very deficient and its
results meager. The schools are provided by the state or by religious
bodies and are mestizo, not native institutions. The mestizos are not
particularly concerned about-native education and the natives are suspi-
cious of mestizo efforts in this direction. In all the places visited
by the ILO Mission where there were schools, the number of literates is
minimum. We found one case in which a school had been functioning for
more than ten years without teaching a single person to read. Among the
factors responsible for this type of situation, the following may be rnotod:
(1) lack of understanding of rural conditi'ons on the part of tho toachers,
(2) resistance on the paxt of the natives to sending their chdldron to
13
school, (3) teaching methods poorly adapted to the conditions, and (4)
the language difference. Each of these factors doserves some coment.
(1) In the three countries with which we are concerned, native educa-
tion is in the hands of three types of teachers: untrained ones, reli-
gious teachers, and teachers with a certificate. Untrained teachers are
persons with no qualifications for the work, usually from th6 towns, who
secure appointments through personal influence and worry. about learning
how to teach when they enter the schools to which they were appointed.
Religious teachers are primarily interested in "saving souls" and are
little concerned with matters that might be useful to the natives in this
lifo.  An exception must be made here for a few Protestant mission schools
which are doing something along these lines. However, in many cases their
work only increases the natives' problems since conversion produces con-
flicts between religious groups and division within the communities.
The training of certificated teachers takes place in two types of cen-
ters: schools for urban teachers and schools for rural teachers. Gra-
duates of schools for urban teachers have been trained to work in a cultur-
al situation quite different from that of the natives, but some get sent
to rural schools because there are no vacancies in the urban ones. They
accept these appointments as a stopgap until they can get an urban job,
have no interest in their work, and take the first opportunity to get back
into the kind of teaching they were trained for. There are two kinds
of normal schools for rural- teachers, one in the cities (the Normal Ru-
ral de Santa Rosa in Cuzco is an example) and the other in the country.
The students at both types of schools are whites and mestizos of urban
background. The training given in the city normal schools is highly sophis-
ticated and bookish, with no opportunities to observe, let alone partici-
pate in, the life of the people whom they will be expected to teach in
the future. They know nothing of the conditions of rural life and receivo
no orientation in the subject. There is a similar narrowness about the
training given in the normal schools located in the country; it is mainly
theoretical, with some instruction in farming practice given on the school
grounds. In many cases, the student teachers see natives only when the
latter come to the school to sell some of their products. Such schools
are an extension of city life which is in the country but not of it.
One of the few cases in which a normal school has attempted to propare
teachers for rural problems is the Centro Normal Rural of Warisata, Bo-
livia.
The main problem involved is the existence of marked cultural differ-
ences between the mestizos who staff the schools and the natives who are
expected to attend then.  The teachers are not fully aware of these differ-
ences, have not been trained to deal with them, and-do not succeed in
crossing the gulf which separates them from their students.
(2) The resistance of the natives to sending their children to school
is notorious.  There have been many cases in which it was necessary to
use the police power to get the children to school. There are vury good
reasons for this resistance, however. In the first place, the school
14
is a mestizo institution, as we have noted., and the natives are suspicious
of it as such. In the second place, native children begin very young
to contribute to family subsistence by helping in the fields or with the
care of the animalS, and their help can be ill spared at home.  Finally,
the unsatisfactory results of existing school progranm have discredited
the school system. Absenteeism is somewhat less now than formerly and
is cmmoner in the case of girls than of boys. The natives explained to
me that it was because the girls were needed for herd:ing.
(3) The greater part of the teaching methods used in the schools are
ones devised for West European type conditions and cultural values, No
attempt has yet been made to study the conditions and cultural values of
native life with a view to adapting teaching methods to them. An outstand-
ing example of the problems involved is provided by the general applica-
tion in the schools of the method of recreational teaching, that is, con-
-bining teaching with games. This practice conflicts directly with the
native attitude toward games, which are regarded as a preparation for
indolence. When parents find out that their children go to school to play
games, they tend to take them out of school immediately. The experience
creates antagonism in the community toward the school. In Taraco (Puno,
Peru) the parents all complained to me that the teachers were teaching
their children to play games and accustoming them to this type of behavior.
(4) In the regions visited by the ILO Mission, most of the natives
speak the Inca language (Quochua), except in northern Bolivia and part
of the Department of Puno in Peru where Aymara is spoken. The vast majori-
ty-of the native population speaks no Spanish, and the percentage is higher
among women than among men. This situation affects the schools directly,
for school text books are uniform by law and the texts are in Spanish.
Native parents are generally interested in having their children learn
$panish as a measure of protection or to better their social position,
but it is difficult to find school time for this subject in a school syston
in which the rules were devised for children who know Spanish to begin
with.
Religion. It is not possible to classify native religion as wholly
Christian or wholly pagan. Catholic worship coexists with a series of prac-
tices and beliefs which constitute perhaps the strongest and most influ-
ential part of native spiritual life. The native's supernatural world
is populated by spirits of the earth, of themountains, of springs, of
animals, and of plants, and he dedicates to them a series of practices
directed sometimes toward warding off their powers and sometimes to mak-
ing them propitious.  These practices are often confused or mixed with
Catholic ideas and rites, but certain distinctions can nevertheless bo
made. Life on this earth is more closoly linked with natural forces and
the spirits which govern them. The success of the harvest depends in
large part on the offerings which have been made to the earth, on the farm-
er's relation with the 'awki and the lapu (mountain spirits), and on wheth-
er or not the winds, the hail and the frost are favorably inclined toward
rim. To.91- t,h nad 8itknoss depend in large part on springs, rocks, and
15
troes, and on unknown beings provided with ovil spirits. On the other
hand, there is a second aspect of native spiritual life which revolvos
around Catholic worship and which is concerned with social relations and
thoir expression in the fiesta, and with life after death. Both types
of religious behavior havo their own specialists. Those of the world of
native spirits are the pago, the 'altmIy and the BbruJo" (witch),
followed by a school of curers and herbalists or people wh& "know" certain
practices (Morote, 1951, p. 156; Rubio, 1946., p. 309; Nuriez del Prado,
1952, p. 8). The world of Catholic worship is dirocted by tho Catholic
priest and the sacristan.
Beliefs and practicos relating to agriculture and health include
propitiatory rites for the crops, prayers for rain, exorcism of frost,
hail, and evil winds, the etiology of diseasos, and their diagnosis and
treatment. A great variety of causes of Illness are recognized. Tho pa-
tient himself may even have caused the illnoss by some action, and ho may
in some cases bo the source of his cure, when for example he is treated
with his own urine or a woman is treated with menstrual fluid.
Theso concepts of the forces of nature play a very important rolo
in native life, and it is worth while commenting in greater detail on cur-
ing practices and their function.  The  aq   'altu-misayoq  or "brujo"
is a person of great prestige in society, fearod becauso of the suporna-
tural sourco of his powers. Persons who have been struck by lightning
without being killed, for oxample, thereby acquire supernatural powers.
The pa!o has the powor to summon the mountain spirits ('awki and 'apu)
and ask them to punish someone with sickness, cure someone, or carry off
his soul so that ho will go on living without it. His power is onormous
and he belongs to the highest rank of curers.  His roputation often ex-
tends over wide areas and his fees are high. He is genorally consulted
only in the most serious casos, and his treatment is of a magical nature.
Less dangerous illnesses are diagnosed and treated by a less awe inspir-
ing porson, the maych'a or curer. His diagnoses nearly always contain
a magical eloment, for he makes them by finding out first the symptoms
and the possible causos of sickness and thon choosing betweon the causes
by divination. For divining, he may use coca loaves or grains of maize,
or boil the patient's urine with certain salts, or rub tho pationt with
a guinea pig and then cut it open and look for organs affoctod by the
patient's illness. His treatment is based on herbal and other modicines,
and follows the principle of the hot and cold classification of medicines
and diseases, according to which a "hot" romedy is given for a "cold"
disease and vice versa (Morote, 1951, p. 123). Tho medicines aro adminis-
tered as liquids to be drunk, poulticos, etc., usually with prayers and
invocations, and clearly require faith on the part of the patient. Thoso
curers have great prestige among tho natives In both Peru and Ecuador,
the curors claim that there is a difference in the effoctiveness of their
modicinos as applied to nativos or mestizos, and that tho bodies of the
two groups react differently to them. It is widoly believed that what
is good for the whito man will harm tho Indian and vice versa.
The elaborate and highly rationalized system of native modicine just
described naturaLlly provides resistance to Western modicine and public
health measures!  Nevertheless, campaigns in which the objoctive utility
of vaccination and D.D.T. wore successfully demonstrated have brought about
the acceptance of both theso moasures by the natives to such an extont
that they request the treatment,in some cases.
The aspect of native religion most closoly connocted with Catholic
worship is that rolating to tho future- life.  HeaveAt ts conceived of as
a fertile region of productive land and abundant irrigation wator where
people work and have abundant harvQsts*. God lives thore in a special
place, surrounded by tho saints who are his rolativos. Hell is a land
of fire. A person' s destination in the othor life is determined by his
conduct in this life and the contributions he has made for the support of
the Catholic cult. God or the saints can also send punishments and grant
rewards on earth, Tho natives believe in God and thc saints and frequent-
ly invoke then togethor with the 'aI  and 'awki.
People seok to establish rolationships to God and the saints through
tho Catholic church, and these relationships are expressed in fiestas which
are occasions of pleasuro and provido relief from tho troublos of every-
day life. The fiesta is organized in the namo of a saint by a person who
accepts the responsibility of making the arrangements and paying the ex-
penses. This responsibility is callod a "cargo" (obligation), "alforaz-
go", or "mayordomta" in different parts of the Andean area, and it is a
fixed point of reference by which a person's social position is detormined.
No one who has been designated by the comunity to undertake a cargo would
daro to refuse, for to do so would entail a sort of moral death and abso-
lute ronunciation of all chancos of gaining community rospect. No excuse
whatever would save him from the condomnation and ill will of his neigh-
bors. As Professor Rubio says, "An Indian is not considered a man among
his fellows until he has sponsored at loast one fiesta. The opithet
'Mana cargu yallishca' (ono who has hold no cargo) is not only the worst
insult that can be offerod among then but implies a sort of dishonesty"
(Rubio, 1946, p. 299).  Cargos arc oxponsive, and often tho person dosig-
nated has to spond all that he has, sell his animals and land, nortgage
them, or emigrate for a year or morc to some other rogion where wages are
high in order to earn enough to pay for it. Families in this situation
often move for a time to the tropical valleys, the gold washings, or the
mines to oarn money for a fiesta and come homo with malaria or tuberculo-
sis acquired under difficult work conditions in an unfamiliar climate.
Evon after the cargo is paid for, the family faces a long struggle to
rocovor its former economic position--and then very likely is designated
for another cargo.
It should be noted that mon very rarely volunteer for a cargo. In
most casos a man is chosen against his will and persuaded to accept it
when he is drunk. Social prossure then keeps him from backing out. Both
church and state have laws against forcing an unwilling man to accept
a cargo, but social pressure is a very difficult phenomonon to control
by logislation. Furthlermore, many nostizos have a financial interost in
17
tho fiestas, and honco in tho cargo systeo which pays for thon, so that
the system is not ontirely unrolatod to the picturo of oxploitation which
wo drew in discussing land and agriculture.
Sovoral important aspects of nativo life, such as local govorment
and military service, havo not been covorod in this review, but enough
has boon said to indicato tho importance of considering theo,social and
economic rolationships betwoon natives and mstizos in any study in which
either group is tho main focus of interest.  Tho probloma aro important
ones, and they will not go away simply bocauso we ignore them.
18
ENDNOTE
1. This paper is a translation and abridgement by John Hz Rowe of
an article entitled:  "Problemas antropologicos del area andina (Peru-
Bolivia-Ecuador)," published in Cuzco in 1953. A full reforence to tho
original will be found in the bibliography. The translator has made a few
changes and brief additions necossitated by the process of abridgenont
and by the differoncos in background between an EnFlish speaking and an
Andean Spanish  spoaking public; these changes are based on convorsations
with the author.
The term "nativeo  is used throughout to translate "indfgena" in tho
original. In some contoxts, tho author is using this torn in deliberato
contrast to "indiolt (Indian) which, in the Cuzco aroa, is now used almost
exclusively as a social class term.
Underlined words are written in tho Inca alphabot (Rowe, 1950);
other non-English words are not especially designated. Sono of them are
Spanish, others Inca or Aymara or a mixture of Spanish and Inca olemonts.
These words are given in their commonest Spanish spolling.
The author is Profossor of Anthropology in the National University
of Cuzco, Peru.
19
BIBLIOGRAPHY
iBuitron, An{bal, and Buitr6n, Barbara Salisbury
1947     El campesino de la provincia de Pichincha.   Instituto Nacion-
al de Prevision, Departamento de Propaganda, Quito.
Cisneros Cisneros, Cesar
1948     Demografia y estadfstica sobre el indio ecuatoriano.   Taller-
es Graficos Nacionales, Quito.
Flores, Edmundo
1950     El problema agrario del Pertu.  El Trimestre Econ6mico, vol.
XVII, no. 3, pp. 355-395.  Mexico.
Instituto Ecuatoriano de Antropologfa y Geograffa
ma.      ChunazanM; informe del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Antropologfa
y Geograf?a, Quito, 1952.
Morote Best, Efra{n
1951     La vivienda campesina en Sallaq; con un panorama de la cul-
tura total.  Tradicion, ano II, vol. III, nos. 7-10, pp.
96-193. Cuzco.
Nuxiez del Prado, Oscar
1949     Chinchero; un pueblo andino del sur (algunos aspectos).
Revista Universitaria, ano    III, no. 97, segundo semestre,
pp. 177-230. Cuzco.
1952     La vida y la muerte en Chinchero.   Talleres Graficos "La
Economica,t" Cuzco.
1953     Problemas antropologicas del &rea andina (Perii-Bolivia-Ecua-
dor). Revista Universitaria, aino XLII, no. 104, primer
semestre, pp. 272-320. Cuzco.
Rowe, John Howland
1950     Sound patterns in three Inca dialects.   International Jour-
nal of American Linguistics, vol. XVI, no. 3, pp. 137-148.
Baltimore.
20
Rubio Orbe, Gonzalo
1946     Nuestros indios (estudio geogrAfico, historico y social
de los indios ecuatoriajios, especialmente aplicado a la
provincia de Imbabura). Imprenta de la Universidad,
Quito.  (Issued in 1947.)
United Nations
1951     Report of the United Natione Mission of Technical Assistance
to Bolivia. United Nations, Technical Assistance Adxminis-
trabion, ST/TAA/'K/.1B olivia/i. New York.
21