Diario las Américas Newspaper, May 9, 1954, Page 24

s OLDEST ANDEANS JOSE MATOS MAR Reprinted from Americas, monthly magazine published by the Pan American Union in English, Spanish and Portuguese. José Matos Mar.—As new ways of life develop in the larges cities ¥ Ecuador, Andes cling to their old ways, to kind of culture we call indigenous, in centers like Quito, Guayaquil, in the scattered settlements of the puna, the Andean from the highest, io the lowest, Peru, and Bolivia, the populous Indian communities of the the social organization and special Living standards run the gamut Lima, and La Paz, gbleland eleven to fifteen thousand feet high. In the absence of grecise statistics the Indian population is estimated at about eight million, out of the three countries’ total population of sisteen and a aalf million—in other words, this: TOTAL COUNTRY | POPULATION Ecuador | Sein 900,000 Peru “000,000. 990 almost half. The distribution runs like INDIAN POPULATION | PER CENT 2 200, “7200,000 69 “4.000 3,000,000 — 1 Bolivia | 4,000,000. Especially in Peru, such agents of cultural change as schools, roads, priests, the army, the Spanish lan- guage, and on, are reducing the “indigenous” proportion; at the same time the dominant mes- tizo culture, preponderantly Indian fm some places. Western in others, is spreading. This account is based primarily @n my own experience with pre- sent-day Indian society in Peru. The problem is graver in Bolivia, but by and large what I have to say holds good for all three coun- tries All, for example, are characteriz- ed by two ways of life, not entirely coordinated. The explanation lies in familiar historical facts, dating as far back as the Spanish Con- so Using primitive “takllas”, Peruvian Indians till the land cooperativ- 2,860,000 | 10 | | } | | ' quest. In the early days Western culture won over a few thinly pop- ulated regions; it succeeded in in- troducing many cultural elements, but its institutions were seldom really accepted by the conquered masses. Later the new forms spre- ad, but so deeply rooted were the old institutions that despite all the time that has passed —421 years in Peru— they still provoke conflicts that are not always satis- factorily resolved. Still, the Andean culture is de- finitely mixed; even among the most isolated purely Indian groups many elements of Western cul- ture are evident. If they are still Indians or are still so called, it is because certain cultural pat- terns persist, not because a whole * ely. Later they will have a fiesta, PAG 12 structure survives intact. These countries are still wnder- going a process of transcultgration. The Indian elements are so strong that the situation is only aggrav- ated if Westerns fail to understand them or to offer adequate incen- tives for the adoption @f new ways. In some places the processes of assimilation are speeding up; in others, serious maladjustments and unchecked inhumanity, exploi- tation, and injustice keep the In- dians in a tremendously inferior position. The Indians’ economy continues to rest fundamentally on agricul- ture. To either variety of domes- ticated plants —potatoes, sorrel, goosefoot, corn, millet— they have added wheat and barley. They have always raised llamas and now have supplemented these with cat- tle, sheep, asses, pigs, and a few horses. While flourishing, well-ordered communities have been organized in some parts of Peru —the Man- taro Valley, Tupe, Huarochiri, the Lima sierra— the Indians are scattered in Ecuador the Peruvian- Bolivian altiplano, and various re- gions of Bolivia. Some are land- owners, but most, as in Ecuador and around Lake Titicaca, are ten- ants on estates owned by whites and mestizos. Generally the best land, as in the Urubamba Valley and the Callején de Huailas in Peru, is occupied by estates; the Indians are left with only the val- ley edges and high areas, which yield a low return and are suprem- ely difficult to work. Community structure varies from region to region, but nearly everywhere the traditional Indian authorities, whose prestige survives intact, exist side by side with the “new” political officials, such as governor, lieutenant governor, and mayor or municipal agent. The po- litical officials are appointed from outside, from among those who can*read and write, and hence belong to a higher category; but since they have neither economic power nor prestige, it is the com- munal authorities who truly repre- sent the people. The government officials exercise a certain control, particularly the municipal agents, who collect taxes and register births, deaths, and marriages, but they must work closely with the communal authorities. The latter, elected annually, are still nominated in some places ac- cording to a strict hierarchy, by councils of elders. Among the Que- chuas of Puno Department, Peru, the lowest rung is occupied by the Hilakatas or chiefs of ayllos (the work cooperatives), chosen from among the young, recently mar- ried men; next comes the Sullka Alcalde or assistant mayor; and finally the Varayoc of chief mayor. Those who have completed this cycle are eligible for election to the post of Segunda. On the Com- munity Board, this official has the status of advisor, and, drawing on his experience, must orient and guide the new authorities. The rigid hierarchy cannot be ignored or ridicules. It leads prestige to those who have gone through all the steps and serves as a social. control. While all have an oppor- tunity to occupy these offices, the determining factor is administra- tive ability. When the Segundas, men well along in years, propose community members for office, this is kept very much in mind. In other regions, among the Ay- maras, for example, thte Hilakata, surrounded by a group of minor functioaries, rules the community. The relative position of the Hilaka- ta in the two groups is noteworthy; perhaps it stems from the con- guest of the Aymaras by the Que- chuas in ancient times. The political set-up I have des- cribed applies to the distinctly In- dian groups. Mestizo groups, at least in Peru, where there is a gov- ernment register ef recognized communities, must have someone to represent them ig dealings with the Ministry of Laber and Indian Affairs. The comm@mity is run by a board elected eagh year on the first of January, mede up of a pre- HEMISFERIO Though market is animated, Andean Indians have little to sell and thus cannot buy much, sident, a treasurer, a secretary, se- veral members, a prosecutor, tre- asury and secretarial assistants, and aldermen. If all community services are represented on the board, there may be as many as eighteen members —the head of the school board and its members, the parish registrar, the communi- ty and school librarian, the sex- ton, and the graveyard-keeper, as well as the others. These commu- nities also maintain their hierar- chy and offer all adults equal op- portunity. Where no traditional communal organization exists, au- thority rests in the hands of a lie- utenant governor, who represents the central government; an agent representing the municipality; and a justice of the peace. Community spirit is strong in all Andean communities. The topo- graphy of the cultivated areas and the low degree of economic deve- lopment do not always permit the use of modern agricultural machi- nery; the consequent persistence of traditional tools like the primi- tive taklla and traditional methods gives up farming in search of new incentives or is attracted to the cities. Thus fewer hands are left to cultivate the land intensively, and old abandoned terraces are a common sight. The women, who stay behind in the community, struggle with the heaviest labor in an effort to retain the cultivated areas. Both property and work systems are changing as the concepts of collectivism and individualism are reinterpreted. Private ownership of property is now well established; the mutual-aid pattern is weaken- ing. The old communal work or- ganization survives in many com- munities for specific tasks —sow- ing and harvesting, for example, or building and repairing roads, cleaning ditches, and constructing schools and other community buil- ings. Similarly, the landholding system is mixed— there are com- ‘munal lands where public buildings stand; cultivated areas held by the old religious brotherhoods, the schools, and the community itself; and commonly owned pasture areas Farmers on Taquile Island as their ancestors did. like terracing requires a social or- ganization based on mutual aid. Farm work is performed in an at- mosphere of merriment that ligh- tens the task, and a job to be done is an occasion for the reaf- firmation of the ties of golfather- ship, relationship, and friendship. Neither manure nor modern fer- tilizer is used to any extent, and to secure good crops the Indians follow a rigid system of crop rota- tion. Cultivated areas are divided into plots called suyos or aynokas, in which each community member has his own parcel. A suyo is plan- ted one year to potatoes, another to sorrel and beans, another to ce- reals, then it lies fallow for a year or more, depending on leal cus- tom. This means that the land is split up, and much harder to work. It means that large areas are lost to cultivation; and since the com- munity member is not exclusively a farmer, it also means that he in Lake Titicaca terrace the hillsides in the highlands. Most of the lands owned by the communities are divided among the members and used as private property, subject to all kinds of transactions. In Peru they are pro- tected against possible dismem- berment by special legislation that assigns them inalienably to the community, which has the status of a juridical person. The com- munity also holds and rents out farm and pasture lands (including a vast stretch of puna). The in- come for rental, up to thirty of forty thousand soles a year in some Peruvian communities, is managed by the communal authorities and used for public works and various other enterprises. Distribution of community property is recent, dat- ing only from the beginning of the century. The Indian craftsmanship that has left us such priceless objects from the past as Paracas textiles, DOMINGO, 9 DE MAYO DE 1954