A community in the Andes: problems and progress in Muguiyauyo jq085k16c

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MONOGRAPH 31

THE AMERICAN ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY |

| Verne F. Ray, Editor

A COMMUNITY IN THE ANDES Problems and Progress in Muquiyauyo

BY RICHARD N. ADAMS

University of Washington Press Seattle and London

Copyright © 1959 by the University of Washington Press Second printing, 1966 Third printing, 1968 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 59-14164 Printed in the United States of America

In Memory of Randolph Greenfield Adams and

Wendell Clark Bennett

CONTENTS

Introduction xi Part One: Exploring Muquiyauyo History

1. The Setting Today 3 2. Land and Population 11

3. Political and Administrative Development 24 4. Developments in the Religious Organization 51

5. The Change in Social Class Structure 82

6. Influences from the Outside 93 Part Two: Contemporary Life in Muquiyauyo

7. The Farmer and His Land 113 8. Cultivation and Livestock 118

9. Crafts and Commerce 129

10. The Home and Women's Activities 140

11. Clothing and Costume 150

12. The Cycle of Life 155 13. Activities of the Community 169 14. Recreation, Indulgence, and Celebrations 187 Vii

viii Contents Part Three: Culture Change in Muquiyauyo

15. The Process 201 16. The Particular 212

Notes 227 Glossary 231 Bibliography 243 Index 247

Appendix: Methods and Materials Used in the Study 219

ILLUSTRATIONS

MAPS

1, Lands of Muquiyauyo 5 2. Town of Muquiyauyo 7 3. Muquiyauyo land types 1949 15

to 1940 12 1950 12 FIGURES

1. Population change in the province of Jauja 1525 2. Growth of the population of Muquiyauyo 1742 to

ix

INTRODUCTION

THIS BOOK is the result of a field study carried on in the town of Muquiyauyo, department of Huancayo, Peru, in the period from August, 1949, until May, 1950. The original object of the study was to explore the nature of the progressivism that had been reported by various students as characterizing the community,* Muquiyauyo was brought to the writer's attention by the late Dr. Wendell Bennett, and the original plan of study, as well as the doctoral dissertation which resulted, was done with his expert and sympathetic aid.” The study was financed by a Research Training Fellowship of the Social Science Research Council. It was originally hoped that an exploration into the materials of local history, as well as into the ethnology of the community, would reveal why Muquiyauyo had manifested various traits that were called 'progressive'' by other students. It was also hoped that de-

lineation of these traits, besides providing a general account of the life in a Peruvian mountain community, might help solve problems faced in applied anthropology and provide a test for hypotheses in anthropological theory. . With respect to the first goal, there are recounted in the pages to

follow many events that played a role in this 'progressiveness. "' The history of the problems faced and solved by the community and its leaders is traced. However, a single ultimate and sufficient explanation of the fact that Muquiyauyo, and not some other town, manifested such progressive activity did not develop. The research involved in this study suggests that to ask a question of this kind is

to set up a false issue. There is, after all, no logical reason to think that a simple series of processes can "explain'' why one town and not another seems progressive. Certain factors can be selected and emphasized, but the same factors may be present elsewhere and the same events will not take place. This follows from the inxi

xii Introduction evitable fact that a community is a unique event; it is a product of a peculiar local history which in turn is made up of minute strands of life and action which are impossible completely to reproduce through historical analysis. The research carried out in Muquiyauyo led back through some seventy years of community, district, and cuartel records; reports of sessions were read with care, and the events of the past thus revealed were discussed with informants who had frequently participated in them. During my months of residence in Muquiyauyo, I visited and collected information on the contemporary life of the Muquiyauyino. These data, which are woven into Part I and comprise most

of Part II of the present book, were at the time a side issue; the major effort was devoted to the written and oral reports of local history. After my visit in Muquiyauyo I worked in Central America. It was not until 1953 that I again turned my attention to the Muquiyauyo

study, which was completed in its present form in 1954. The time Spent on other studies permitted a new approach to the Peruvian data. Most of the material in chapter 2 was worked out at this time, and the entire orientation of Part II is new. Even Part I, as it now appears, could not have been written in 1950; it required the interim period for me to clear my mind of some of the dust of the field. The book in its present form has two goals: first, to provide a description of the life of a Central Sierran mestizo and Indian community, since other studies made in this geographical region are not readily available; and second, to show through the recent history of this community how local history is directed through the presence of a few pressing unsolved problems, how each generation makes new attempts to solve these problems and in so doing brings drastic cultural and social change into the community. Often in the course of reworking the materials I found that the only apparent explanation for the appearance of some trait or the occurrence of some event was that the people faced a problem and solved it according to methods within their experience, As more and more problems and solutions were studied, a number of things became apparent. One was that there were very few original solutions; when a new problem arose, the immediate reaction was to follow some solution which had been tried before. This, of course, is not new; psychologists of learning theory have long reported such behavior. The Muquiyauyo data, however, provide perfectly

Clear evidence that history, at least on the local level, can be analyzed in part through psychological concepts. Of perhaps even greater interest and importance in the Muquiyauyo material is the fact that many of the problems that were

Introduction xiii faced were very old problems that had been growing increasingly serious in spite of numerous attempts on the part of the townspeople to solve them. From these half-successful solutions often came new problems, and they were answered by solutions which in turn served to bring some new element into the culture of the community. Thus the community changed, some old problems remained, and new problems were constantly being created. This book is, then, an attempt to tell the story of how the problems faced by the people of Muquiyauyo have shaped the events which, in turn, have made up the history that we study. It is perhaps inevitable in research of this kind, where documentation is slim at best and the memory of individuals must be depended upon to a degree that is often unwise, that there are many leads which cannot be followed up; there are others that, because the information is available, can be pursued back three or four hundred years. Thus the reason we dwell on some subjects and not on others is not always because we think them to be the most important sub-

jects. At times, they are the only subjects that can tell us anything. In this way the data, and not the writer, have often been the principal selective factor in what was studied. No piece of work is done alone: friends, colleagues, and even customs agents can make or break a study. The original planning of the present study was accomplished with the aid of Wendell Bennett

and Gabriel Escobar. In Lima, Dr. Jorge Muelle, Dr. Luis E. Valcarcel, Sr. José Matos, Sr. Hernando de Lavalle and family, Dr. and Mrs. Ozzie Simmons, Mr. and Mrs. Cloyce Tippitt, Mr. and Mrs, Homer Diman, and Dr. Clifford Pease all shared in paving the way leading to Muquiyauyo. In Tingo Maria Dr. and Mrs. Howard Allard kindly offered their hospitality; in Huardén, a very pleasant visit was made possible through the courtesy of the administrator of the mines, M. Louis Charbonneau, and the Muquiyauyinos resident at the mine. In La Oroyo, Dr. and Mrs. Knute E. Berger, Mr. Egbert M. Robinson, and Mr. Charles Dasso of the Cerro de Pasco Corporation offered their hospitality and kindness during periods when I was ill. In Muquiyauyo, I was fortunate enough to have the assistance of three persons from time to time. During the first month and a half, Sr. Alfonso Trujillo, then student in the Faculty of Geography of the

University of San Marcos, collaborated with me in the field and helped me over the hurdle of initial unfamiliarity with Spanish. During February and March, 1950, Mr. Edward Bernard, of Vermont, then a student in the University of San Marcos, joined me and made a study of the religious cofradias in the town. During

xiv Introduction much of the same period, Sr. Erberto Davila, a patient at the Jauja sanatorium, came twice a week to collect excellent material on the fiestas in Muquiyauyo; the descriptive data on religious celebrations herein are largely the results of the work of Messrs, Davila and Bernard. Also in Muquiyauyo, of course, the Muquiyauyinos provided the essential help which made the study possible. It is not possible to list here by name all the informants who provided materials and information, and permitted me to visit their homes and participate in their fiestas with them. With very few exceptions, everyone with whom I came into contact in the town provided help in one way or another, One Muquiyauyino, however, gave so much of his time, and so much of the present work depends upon his constant cooperation and goodwill, that he must be especially thanked. Sr. Pedro Bustamante, a second-generation Muquiyauyino, has been one of the leaders in the public works of the community and has long interested himself in the history of the community. Sr. Bustamante contributed countless hours and invaluable knowledge to the writer; without his aid, this study could not have been accomplished. The patience and help of my wife, Betty H. Adams, has made possible the reworking of the original materials. The base maps used for the study are based upon those made by a Muquiyauyino, Tedfilo Moreno, in 1937 and supplemented by Sr. Trujillo. The editors of Human Organization and Social Forces have kindly granted permission to reproduce in chapter 5 some materials that appeared Originally in their journals. To all these people I owe a debt of gratitude; the form and content of the final product is entirely my own responsibility. The two men to whom this study is dedicated are in great part responsible for the accomplishment of the work. My father, Randolph G. Adams, led me into the paths of history; my teacher, Wendell Bennett, directed me to Latin America, I sincerely hope that this effort, which owes to them whatever merits it may have, will in some measure honor their memory. Richard N, Adams

PART ONE

EXPLORING MUQUIYAUYO HISTORY

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THE SETTING TODAY

THE JAUWA Valley in Peru, located in the highlands above the mod-

ern national capital of Lima, first stepped into the current of western history with the arrival of Pizarro in 1533. It was in this valley that Pizarro first met strong armed resistance from the Inca forces and it was here that he first planned to establish his capital in the New World. As W. H. Prescott later wrote, "It was a favorable position for holding the Indian mountaineers in check, while, at

the same time, it offered an easy communication with the seacoast. '* The town of Atunxauxa, or Jauja as it is known today, was located at the northern end of an eleven thousand-foot-high intermountain valley which was originally formed by the Mantaro River. The river, arising some one hundred kilometers northwest of Jauja,

cuts through the mountains just south of the town and enters the wide flat plain that spreads for fifty kilometers southeast to the town of Huancayo.

When Pizarro visited the valley and the first Spaniards camped

near the town of Jauja, buildings of stone and mortar, usually round, and plastered inside, lined the sides of the mountains that jut up sharply from the valley floor. These structures were without windows, and the doors were only two or three feet high, requiring that a person stoop to enter or leave. They were grouped at intervals along the slopes, and many seem to have had little planning as to location. Others, however, were so arranged that the structures formed a single wall facing the valley. The local Indians who lived in this region went under the name of Huanca, although there were scattered among them groups of colonists (mitimaes) brought by the Incas from other parts of Peru. These people, natives and

colonists alike, tilled the floor of the valley and pastured their llamas and vicufias in the puna* or high land in the broken hills behind the towns, During this period few of the towns which now 3

4 A Community in the Andes dot the valley floor existed. Most of the present population centers

were formed later as a part of the Spanish policy of reduccion, whereby the Indians were brought together and settled in the flat lands of the valley. Ancestors of the present Muquiyauyinos were among those brought together in this manner. Today the Jauja Valley presents a very different picture from that

seen by Pizarro and his companions when they arrived four centuries ago. Instead of open fields, there are large growths of eucalyptus trees partially hiding many of the towns which are set back from both banks of the Mantaro River. Most of these towns have retained names which stem from the days of the Huanca: Paca,

Jauja, Huaripampa, Muquiyauyo, Pacamarca, Ataura, Huamali, Pucucho, Apata, Sincos, Matahuasi, Mito, Aco, Orcotuna, Sicaya, Chupaca, and Huancayo, the modern departmental capital. Both the streets of the towns and the fields surrounding them are laid in rectangular patterns, and stretching out from some of the towns here

and there are long eucalyptus alamedas. The architecture in all these towns is very uniform, Houses of adobe brick or rammed earth with red or orange-red tile roofs line the streets around the center plaza or park, and are scattered along the outlying streets. Most of the houses are of one story, frequently with high roofs, although around the plaza there may be a number of two-story buildings. From numerous empty lots sprout small corn patches and eucalyptus trees, and through some of the towns run irrigation canals. Each town has its church, which may be old, and each district capital has its municipal building. Set off to one side of each town is a walled-in cemetery. Muquiyauyo lies on the valley floor to the west of the river about seven kilometers south of Jauja. The main road running through the valley is on the east side of the river, so the road to Muquiyauyo is important primarily for local commerce and travel. Even the bridge spanning the Mantaro at the time the study was made had been built by local people; not until 1950 did the national government start work on a new bridge to replace the one built by the people of Muquiyauyo eighteen years earlier. Long-distance travel in the valley or to and from outside regions is mainly by bus or truck. The railroad is used as well, but buses run more frequently, especially on fair days, and are cheaper. For shorter distances donkeys and less frequently horses may be used, but most often people go on foot. Aside from a few wheelbarrows or rare complex introduced articles such as motor vehicles and bicycles, the wheel is not prevalent in this region. Although oxen are used in plowing, there are no oxcarts. Except be-

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6 A Community in the Andes tween the major towns of Jauja, Huancayo, and Oroya, the roads frequently become impassable in the rainy season. Just to the north of Muquiyauyo, closely bordering the town itself, lies Huaripampa, formerly the district capital and still the parish center for Muquiyauyo. To the south, in the district of Muquiyauyo, is the town of Muqui. The district of Muquiyauyo extends from the center of the river west across the mountains and borders in the puna on the hacienda of Llacuari. In addition to Muquiyauyo and the smaller center of Muqui, there is within the district a small village called Los Andes, located in the hills behind the town. In its general appearance, Muquiyauyo looks very much like other settlements in the valley. The streets are straight now and in some places on or close to the plaza there are paved sidewalks. The center of the town is the plaza, on which are located the old church; a park with paved walks, benches, and large trees; the municipalidad or district government building; stores; and houses. Just off the plaza to the west is the girls' school, and on the southern edge of town is the new boys’ school. Along most of the streets near the center of town are adobe walls, forming part of a house or surrounding a chacra, a small cultivated plot of land. Chacras within the town are usually irrigated from the town's canal sys-

tem, and are planted in corn, broad beans, or potatoes. There are still a number of old houses in Muquiyauyo, some dating back to early in the nineteenth ceritury. Houses are usually built bit by bit as the owner can afford to pay for them, so the compounds are often mixtures of old and new, and walls awaiting roofs. Ruins of some of the old houses give the town something of a dilapidated

appearance. Except on the main streets and near the plaza the houses are seldom built immediately adjacent to each other. Down the center of most streets running east and west are small banked canals, carrying water for irrigation, washing, drinking, and, although not so planned, refuse. The western limit of the ur-

ban section is the large upper canal, Acequia Alta; the eastern limit is formed generally by an embankment dropping some eight meters, To the south the houses stop at the last cross street, Avenida Escuela, on which is located the boys’ school; and to the north, houses string out irregularly along the road to Huaripampa. There are a few homes west of the Acequia Alta and east of the embankment, To the southeast is a small section called Quichuay, referred to as a barrig, or ward, by the people living in the town. No social or political factors distinguish the inhabitants of Quichuay from those of the rest of the town.

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