Situating the Andean Colonial Experience

Situating the Andean Colonial Experience

Ayllu Tales of History and Hagiography in the Time of the Spanish

Re-situating Andean colonial history from the perspective of the local historians of ayllu Qaqachaka, in highland Bolivia, this book draws on regional oral history combined with local and public written archives. Rejecting the binary models in vogue in colonial and postcolonial studies (indigenous/non-indigenous, Andean/Western, conquered/conquering), it explores the complex intercalation of legal pluralism and local history in the negotiations around Spanish demands, resulting in the so-called “Andean pact.” The Qaqachaka’s point of reference was the preceding Inka occupation, so in fulfilling Spanish demands they sought cultural continuity with this recent past. Spanish colonial administration, with its roots in Roman-Germanic and Islamic law, infiltrated many practices into the newly-conquered territories. Two major cycles of ayllu tales trace local responses to these colonial demands, in the practices for establishing settlements, and the feeding and dressing of the Catholic saints inside the new church, with their forebears in the Inka mummies.
  • Front Cover
  • Front matter
    • Half-title
    • Series information
    • Title page
    • Copyright information
    • Table of contents
    • List of Illustration
    • Note About the Spelling of Toponyms and Proper Names
    • Acknowledgments
  • Body
    • Introduction
    • Part one The Oral History of Qaqachaka
      • Chapter 1 Genesis in Qaqachaka
        • The Chullpas and the Lord of the Clouds
        • Adam and Eve
        • The Red-Trousered Ant
          • The Ascension to Heaven
          • The Red-Trousered Ant Against the Colonial State
          • Ritual Practices that Allude to Ants
          • The Red Place of Birth
      • Chapter 2 The First Ancestors of the Place
        • The Arrival of the Inkas
        • The Original Place Called “Qaqachika” and its Mountains
        • The First Cycle of Tales: In Which the Place of Qaqachika is Formed in a Sunless Twilight
        • The Second Cycle of Tales, Concerned with the Religious and Political Mit’a
        • Various Ancestors, Various Origins
          • Qaqachaka is Born from Money, for a Pot of Gold and Silver
      • Chapter 3 The Mit’a, the Mines, and Slavery
        • The Vicuña with a Broken Leg
        • Working as Mitayos
        • The Route to the Red Mountain of Potosí
          • Mitayos and Llamas
          • The Libations on the Journey
        • A Commentary on Mit’a and Mita
      • Chapter 4 A Gentleman’s Agreement between Literate Caciques
        • Ayra Chinche and the Red Snake
        • The Leg in the Stirrup
        • The Local Caciques Become Boundary Makers
          • The Meeting in Darkness Between Ayra Chinche and Juana Doña Ana
          • Juana Doña Ana Meets the Seven Ancestors and then the Sun is Born
          • The Role of Juana Doña Ana in the Rites of Possession of Qaqachaka
        • Some Key Documents Held by the Title-Bearers
      • Chapter 5 Settling the New Place of Qaqachaka and its Ayllus
        • How the New Place was Populated
        • The Sons-In-Law who Married into Women from Qaqachaka
        • Etymologies of the Names of Qaqachaka’s Minor Ayllus
        • New Ties to the Valley Lands
      • Chapter 6 Some Clarifications about Juana Doña Ana and her Kinsfolk
        • Juana Doña Ana and her Predisposition for Scandalous Entanglements
        • Inka Mariya and the Red Snake
        • Juana Doña Ana Snatches the Title Deeds from an Unknown Man
          • The First Caciques of the Place, According to Doña Bernaldita Quispe
          • Inka Mariya Kicks Away the Thermal Waters
          • The Two Sisters and the Tan Señora of Notes of Money
        • The Chullpa Sister and the Death of the Chullpas
        • The Birth of the Sun and the Origins of Weaving
    • Part II The Colonial Caciques in Oral and Written History
      • Chapter 7 The Caciques of Qharaqhara and Quillacas-Asanaque
        • The Caciques of the Qharaqhara Federation
        • Who was Ayra Chinche?
          • The Deeds of Don Ayra Chinche
        • Interlude: The Andean Rules of Succession
        • The Caciques of the Quillacas-Asanaque Federation
        • Who Was Takimallku Astiti and, Besides, the Choquecallatis?
        • The Deeds of Taqimallku Astiti
        • Takimallku Astiti and the Composición de Tierras by José de la Vega Alvarado
        • Who was Bartolomé Astete?
        • Who was the Ancestor Llanquepacha?
          • The Deeds of the Llanquepachas
          • The Llanquepacha Cousins and the Rebellion of Condo in 1774
    • Part III Qaqachaka Marka
      • Chapter 8 From the History to the Hagiography of Qaqachaka
        • The Colonial History of Qaqachaka Marka
        • Re-visiting the History of the “Pueblos de Reducción”
          • The Religious History of the “Pueblos de Indios”
          • The Policy of “Congregación”
        • The Hagiography of Qaqachaka
          • Hagiography as Tradition
          • Confraternities and Ayllus
          • The Religious Authorities of the Place
        • The Wak’as and Their Territories: Their Colonial Administration by the Confraternities
        • Practices Directed at the Inka Mummies and the Current Rituals to Qaqachaka’s Saints
        • Wak’as, Mummies, and Mayordomos
    • Part IV The Saints Appear
      • Chapter 9 Tata Quri, “Father Gold”
        • Tata Quri Appears
          • Don Alberto’s Time as Mayordomo and the Rites to Tata Quri
          • The Clothes of Tata Quri’s Danzantes, According to Don Alberto
          • Tata Quri’s Danzantes, According to Don Alberto
          • The Death of Tata Quri
          • The Role of the Danzantes at the Feast of the Holy Cross
      • Chapter 10 The Construction of Qaqachaka’s Church
        • The Construction of the Two Church Towers
        • The Construction of the Cemetery
        • Don Severo’s Commentaries About Qaqachaka’s Ecclesial Constructions
          • The Construction of the Church and Cemetery, According to Don Severo
          • Bringing The Timbers for the Church Roof and the Stocks for the Criminals
        • Mamala Turri, Tatala Turri, and the Ecclesiastical Ties to Condo
          • Bringing the Church Bells
          • The Construction of the Pantheon
          • A Brief Epilogue
      • Chapter 11 Tata Quri Wants a Family
        • First his Wife, Mama Candelaria
        • Mama Kapitana and Mama Ch’uri Come to the Church in Ch’allüma
          • Stealing the Two Mamitas from Jukumani
          • More About the two Mamitas, Kapitana and Ch’uri
        • The Child-Saints of Tata Quri and Mama Candelaria
        • The Arrival of the Child-Gods
        • Bringing Wayna Mila from the Pueblo of Condo
          • The Child-gods, According to Don Alberto
        • The Arrival of San Juan and the Other Gods
          • Tata Animasa
          • Doña Bernaldita’s Commentaries About These God-Saints
          • The Arrival of the Mamita of Copacabana
          • And of Santo Cristo
          • Tata Ispiritu
        • Tata Ispiritu in the Commentaries by Don Severo
        • The Whole Ensemble of Saints
    • Part V The Religious Practices of Qaqachaka Marka
      • Chapter 12 The Origins of the Ritual Practices Around the Church
        • The Rites to Make the Two Church Towers “Stand Up,” According to Don Severo
          • The Priest’s Attitude Faced with all These Rites, According to Don Severo
        • The Turns Begin
        • The New Cycles of Feasts
        • The Miracle Sites: The Wider Cycle of Feasts in Other Places of the Region
          • The Custom of Marrying the Saint-Gods
          • Spiritual Marriages with the Saint-Gods
          • The System of Turns Before 1984
          • A Marriage with Tata Quri: Corporeal and Spiritual Kinship
      • Chapter 13 Let’s Sing to the Gods
        • The Songs to Tata Quri
        • The Songs to the Child-Gods
        • Song to the Niño Salvador, Salwaku Niñu
        • Song to Llama Herding Girl
        • Song to San Pedro of Condocondo
        • Songs to the Two Saint-Goddesses at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
          • Song to Mama Kapitana
          • Song to Mama Ch’uri
        • Song to Mama Candelaria at the Feast of Candlemas
        • Dance Songs, Wayli kirkis
          • Song to San Antonio
        • Divesting the Saints from the Church
      • Chapter 14 Converting the Saints into Persons
        • Resonances of the Inka Feasts
        • Wak’as, Chullpas, or Inkas?
        • The Authorities Charged with the Rite of Dressing the Saints
        • Changing the Clothes of the Saints: Isi Turki or Isi Kampiyaña
          • Changing the Clothes of Tata Quri
        • Changing the Clothes of Llama Herding Girl
        • Caring Mutually for the Saints
        • Feeding the Gods
          • The Sacrifice of Christ
          • Sacrifices to the Mountains
          • The Pathway of Blood
          • The Blood of the Church
          • Father Lamp and Mother Lamp
          • Licking the Prayers and the Transubstantiation of the Holy Eucharist
      • Some Conclusions
        • In Fact
        • Towards a Philosophy of History in the Andes
  • Back matter
    • Glossary
    • Appendix A: Document C of Don Franco Quispe Maraza
    • Appendix B: Document K of Don Franco Quispe Maraza
    • Bibliography
    • Thematic Index
    • Index of Toponyms