THE LIVING INCA

HERITAGE Peter Cloudsley witnesses Peruvian Indian fiestas

INCA and pre-Inca cultures are gener­ally assigned to the realms of history, incarnate only in Machu Picchu and other famous sites. Yet the Peruvian

Indians have doggedly preserved some of the ritual beliefs of their ancestors through fiestas, in spite of attempts to suppress them by colonial and religious authorities.

The fiestas which can be seen in Peru today are the product of a long historical process. Many have Inca or pre-Inca ori­gins, and have been gradually transformed over the centuries through persecution or adoption into the Roman Catholic calen­dar. Other fiestas date from Colonial or Republican times but, today, some are losing out in competition with television, radio and records. Nevertheless, the underlying beliefs and mythologies of these fiestas have, in many cases, persisted, with the formal sponsorship of the Roman Catholic Church.

One example of this is the pilgrimage of Qoyllur Rit'i, 'The Star of the Snow', which takes place in the bitterly cold Sinakara Valley near Cuzco, at 4500 metres above sea level. For four days and three nights, this desolate place becomes the centre of immense* activity. Over 10,000 pilgrims - Indian campesinos, or peasants and, to a lesser extent, Mestizos of mixed Indian and Spanish ancestry -unite here. Many of them have to walk for two or three days from their villages.

The pi lgr image of Qoyllor Rit'i occurs high in the bleak Sinakara Valley. For four days the people, some dressed as Chunchos or jungle Indians (top) w h o are believed t o be the Inca's ancestors, dance their way up and d o w n the valley (above r ight ) . Mestizos, people of mixed Spanish and Indian or ig in , (r ight) take a meal in a f o o d t e n t . On the t h i r d day, the pi lgr ims c l i m b t o the glacier t o cut out a b lock of ice w h i c h they carry d o w n the valley (far r ight ) , the water f r o m w h i c h is believed t o have magical and medicinal properties

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The valley is filled with a profusion of temporary shelters and smoky camp fires. The people dance tirelessly day and night throughout the fiesta. The repeating rhythm: J J J pervades the sub­conscious. Whenever I woke in my tent I would hear the drums throbbing monoto­nously and insistently. The atmosphere is truly Indian and pre-Christian. Endless troops of musicians and dancers in bril­liantly coloured costumes snake their way up and down the valley as if preparations were being made for some impending revelation. It is, in fact, preparation for the summer solstice. At night these lines of people are illuminated by candles.

A T dawn on the third day, the pil-

cier, which overlooks the festivi-

each one carves out a lump of ice which he carries on his back down to the valley. The ice is melted down and used to prepare a sweet barley drink in which everyone participates. The unused water is kept throughout the year for its magical and medicinal properties.

Throughout these ceremonies, mass is regularly held in the little corrugated iron roofed church which stands in the centre of the valley surrounded by encampments. For the Church, what is being commemo­rated is the miracle of The Apparition of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i in 1780. This was the year in which the Spanish finally crushed the Indian peasant revolt led by Tupac Amaru I I .

The nearness of the Inca ruins and the nature of the customs which persist to this day, suggest that Qoyllor Rit'i was a sacred place long before this date and that the holiday is merely a substitute for a pre-Conquest rite. This was a ploy that the Church frequently used to Christianize the Indians. Legends similar to that of Qoyllor Rit'i have been discovered in other parts of Peru - Inca beliefs were a religious threat to the Church while being a political threat to the Spanish Colony. Thus suppression or substitution of fiestas such as these were important to both Church and State.

The time of year and the geographical location of the fiesta of Qoyllor Rit'i are both significant, especially when it is re­membered that the Incas were great astro­nomers. Today the date of the pilgrimage has been suitably tied in with Corpus Christi, which is a movable feast depending on the lunar cycle. However, it seems likely that the fiesta was originally held just before the summer solstice. According to a 17th-century priest, one of the main fo­cuses of Inca worship was the Pleiades, the constellation of the Seven Sisters. In the southern hemisphere, the Pleiades dis-

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(Top, left ) f lamboyant head-dress tops o f f the co lourfu l t rad i t ional c l o t h i n g w o r n by the fu l l -b looded Indian inhabitants of Taquile at their Fiesta of San Juan. They conduct their o w n religious ceremonies ( b o t t o m , left ) . The w o m e n dance separately (near, top) f r o m the men w h o play str inged instruments and panpipes. Taquile men k n i t their o w n caps (near, b o t t o m ) , their f ine belts are w o v e n by the w o m e n

appear from sight around the end of April and return in mid-June to 'announce' the solstsice. So this was probably a key point on the Inca calendar - the birth of the New Year.

The fiesta of Qoyllor Rit'i is noteworthy for its splendid setting in a valley over­looked by three shining glaciers. Lying due east of Cuzco, it was on one of the lines which divided the four quarters, or suyos, of the Empire. This line marked the border between Antisuyo and Collasuyo. The valley is situated on the eastern side of the Andes near their steep descent into the jungle. Here the Incas believed their ancestors, the Chunchos, or jungle Indi­ans, to have evolved.

Few fiestas are as atavistic and as easily interpreted as Qoyllor Rit'i. South of Cuzco on the Peruvian altiplano, by the shores of Lake Titicaca, there survives a practice which goes back to pre-Inca times. This is the custom of playing panpipes which is associated with nearly all the fiestas of the region. The panpipes date at least as far back as the Moche culture of the north coast of Peru (500 BC - 800 AD). This civilization developed a sophisticated technology of making ceramic panpipes. Other materials such as feathers, bones, wood and cane were also used.

It is clear from ceramic illustrations in museums, that the Mochica had already developed the technique, used to this day, of playing the panpipes in pairs. That is, the notes of the scale alternate between two sets of pipes played by two different musicians. Necessarily, the music takes on the form of a dialogue as it still does today.

PANPIPES were obviously sacred instruments to the Moche people, just as the lute is to Arabs. The duality symbolized by the dialogue

between the two halves of the instrument was probably an important aspect of its significance.

The next development in panpipe play­ing was achieved by the Nazca civilization. This was the evolution of orchestras made up of dozens of musicians and involving the use of registers, like a church organ. The pitches of the different registers differ by an octave. Therefore, going down the registers, each pipe is twice the length of the previous one in the series.

One of the best places in which to see panpipe dances today is the Island of Taquile. This lies in the legendary Lake Titicaca, a three hour journey by motor launch from the mainland town of Puno. Taquile measures approximately 7 km by

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2.5 km and its 1000 inhabitants are all Quechua-speaking Indians. The commun­ity has benefited from its remoteness. More than anywhere else on the altiplano it has conserved its collective organization. As in Inca times, the inhabitants are divided into six suyos or sub-communities, who cultivate the land co-operatiVely and practice crop rotation. The islanders do their own policing and elect their own mayors and governors by popular vote. They have managed to avoid having their tourist asset exploited by Mestizo outsid­ers, and run their own motor boat service to the mainland.

A l l the fiestas of Taquile are part of the Christian calendar, but the islanders, espe­cially the older generation, believe in pre-Columbian gods such as the God of the Sun. The players, or sikuris, occupy a central role in most fiestas and their orchestras include all four registers of the panpipes. The timbre of each set of pan­pipes is further enriched by the addition of a row of resonating pipes. These are the same length as the 'fundamental' pipes, but are open-ended and therefore produce a distinct harmonic series. The sheer volume of sound of a panpipe orchestra of some 40 sikuris accompanied by the dead thudding rhythm of the enormous sheep-skin drums

is indescribable. The fiestas on Taquile differ from most

of those in the rest of Peru in that there are no spectators - although there may be a tourist or a foreign photographer now that the island's reputation is spreading. At most fiestas there are spectators, vendors and other non-participating elements. These reflect the wide variety of social class and race which exists today in the Andes. The unusual degree of community con­sciousness which persists on Taquile has maintained an exceptional level of equality amongst the community.

The remainder of the Peruvian altiplano is divided into Aymara and Quechua-speaking zones. The city of Puno is Quechua-speaking but, at fiestas such as Manco Ccapac's day and Candelaria, both Aymara and Quechua-speaking Indians participate, bringing their distinct dances and music. The Indian culture of this region began long before the Tiahuanaco and Pucara civilizations which have left impressive ruins in Silustani, Pucara and in sites beside the lake itself.

Indeed, the Lake Titicaca basin played host to the earliest migrants from the

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(Top left ) music ensemble in the vil lage of Checacupe take part in a carnival . Tradit ional musicians are an essential element in Peruvian Indian fiestas and carnivals. (Bottom left ) Manco Ccapac's legendary landing at t h e c i t y of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca is re-enacted every year. Manco Ccapac was the f i rs t Inca and is greeted by Indians f r o m miles around. (Above) Indian fami ly rests dur ing a fiesta

Amazon River Basin who hunted wild cameloids. The descendants of these peo­ple have preserved their culture in their music and dance, and in their magnificent costumes, which are worn at fiesta time.

Despite a continual process of evolution, which has destroyed and created many new dances, more than 100 dances are still performed today. Some have variants which take different names according to where they are performed. For example, the sikuris mentioned above is elsewhere called morenada or diablada.

Other dances, such as carnaval, extend across the barrier of the Quechua and Aymara languages. It is possible to disting­uish between indigenous dances and dances which have evolved from colonial times. It is not, however, thought that the Spanish brought folk dances to the New World. They only brought popular dances, such as the waltz, mazurca and the minuet, for their own pleasure.

Nearly all the dances of the altiplano are Indian in that they are danced by campesi-no Indians. Only the 'pandilld' is a Mestizo dance, and therefore more often found in

towns and villages. Such distinctions can become blurred at fiestas in Puno itself as many Indians come in from outlying areas.

As on the Island of Taquile, life in the Indian communities of the altiplano is highly collectivized. Peasants organize themselves into groups, and work on one another's land, common land, or in public works. The community assures the future of each individual. Similarly, when it com­es to the organization of festivities, the whole community takes responsibility and provides the food and drink. The same spirit also operates in the choreography of the dances. Unlike the dances of the West, which can be performed by a couple or even an individual, fiesta dances require the participation of everyone present.

The significance of most dances is rooted in the myths and legends of the pre-Columbian religion. Cintak'ana is a dance in homage to the sacred bird Lulli, a symbol of peace. According to Aymara legend, Lulli would come to announce good news but, since it has no longer been seen, man has constantly suffered from terrible disasters.

THE puli is a dance which cele­brates quinua, the most important and ancient crop of the altiplano. Fiestas take place on Church holi­

days dedicated to the Virgin Mary or the patron saint of the village. Processions dance to the village church where mass is heard. The clergy, of whom more than half are foreigners, adopt a tolerant and amused attitude. They leave the more

| indigenous ceremonies to be conducted by the Indians themselves; in their sermons at

! subsequent masses, they may try to inject a [ Christian interpretation into the events of

the day. I once heard a sermon in which the priest suggested to his congregation that they ought to invest some of the immense effort and cost of the day's festivities in more permanent and bene­ficial work.

As in the case of Qoyllor Rit'i, it is hard to tell what the Indians really believe. While continuing to worship the sun, the moon and the mountains, they have been forced into adopting Catholic ritual prac­tices.

WHEN Indians kneel in church before the altar, and kiss the ground, who can say whether they are worshipping Christ or

Pachamama, the Goddess of the Earth? Similarly, while the dances appear to be honouring the Virgin and the Saints, who can say what the dancers are really thinking?

Many 'pagan' rituals, such as payment to the Pachamama, are openly practised to­day. Gone are the days of the Inquisition which severely punished such activities. In recent years the clergy have stopped pre­tending that these rituals do not take place, provided that the Indians also take part in official Church ceremonies.

The Pope's planned visit to Peru in February this year has been anticipated with great enthusiasm. It will be celebrated by innumerable fiestas. The people of Paucartambo are preparing to bring their Virgin of Carmen to Cuzco so that the Pope may bless her. Paucartambo is about four hours by lorry from Cuzco. The much venerated Virgin of Carmen plays a central role in a myth which is enacted every year by the inhabitants of Paucartambo. The drama, which involves local history, takes the form of a ritual battle between Collas, Indians from the high Puna, and the Chunchos. The Chunchos invariably defeat the Collas and succeed in abducting their beautiful Virgin.

Despite the humiliation that Indian peo­ple have suffered over the centuries, they have managed to retain their dignity. The living traditions which can be observed at fiesta time represent an important aspect of the self respect of these serene and gentle people. They have managed to avoid the worst excesses of Western life which are so often evident in other parts of the conti­nent. Many factors contribute to the gra­dual break-up of traditional Andean socie­ty, but it is certain that the rich folklore which exists today, plays a vital role in the equilibrium of their society.

Peter Cloudsley is carrying out research for the Museum of Mankind on Andean musical traditions in southern Peru and the expedition on which this article is based was funded in part by the Emslie Horniman Anthroplogical Scholarship Fund and the Rivendell Trust

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