Aymara

By Anonymous

None.

The Aymara Indians are located mainly on the Bolivian and Peruvian altiplano, centering about Lake Titicaca. Their Peruvian distribution gradually contracted because of the expansion of the Quechua Indians, especially, but not exclusively, during the time of the Incan Empire. Other ethnic populations found within the Aymara area include isolated remnants of the formerly widespread Uru and Chipaya Indians (1: Tschopik, p. 502; 3: La Barre, p. 33; also cf. Vellard 1959-60).

As in the case of many other Indian groups, the Spanish Conquest had serious effects on indigenous demographic trends among the Aymara. Epidemics, warfare, and colonial exploitation led to a decline in the population. While many authors suggest that population decline has halted and perhaps even been reversed in recent times, demographic trends are difficult to assess, owing to a lack of accurate census materials as well as a lack of consensus on how to define the population. In 1987 there were 1,785,000 Aymara in Bolivia, constituting 23% of the total population, with an additional 300,000 to 500,000 in Peru (Ethnologue 1988: 85, 126).

Linguistically, Greenberg classifies Aymara with Quechua as a separate group within the Andean subfamily of the Andean-Equatorial language family. The Aymara language may be divided into a number of local dialects. The Uru-Chipaya are linguistically distinct from the Aymara and belong to a separate sub-family of the Andean-Equatorial family (Steward and Faron 1959: 22-23; Voegelin and Voegelin 1965: 77-81).

The history of the Aymara has been characterized by shifting pressures from dominant groups. Prior to their conquest by the Inca around 1430, the Aymara are thought to have been organized into a series of independent states or subtribes, which were probably also dialect groups. Their incorporation into the Incan Empire resulted in a significant degree of Incan acculturation up to the Spanish Conquest, beginning in 1535. Further fundamental changes in Aymara culture took place during the Spanish colonial period. From around 1820 to the present time, the Aymara have been under the rule of the Peruvian and Bolivian Republics, and pressures toward westernization have continued. Many dramatic changes have occurred within the last 25 years, as both the Bolivian and Peruvian governments have undertaken programs of land reform and programs aimed at rural development and the incorporation of indigenous populations into the national mainstream.

The majority of Aymara are dependent on agriculture for at least part of their subsistence. A variety of crops is grown, the most important being potatoes, quinoa, and barley. Regional variations in principal crops follow variations in the environment. Animal husbandry is a secondary activity, with sheep, llamas, cattle, and alpacas being the main domestic animals. Fishing is widespread, but its economic significance varies regionally. In a few areas around Lake Titicaca, it is the dominant activity. Migratory labor of various types, part-time craft specialization, and marketing round out the picture of major economic activities.

Important shifts in economic structure and activities have taken place in the past few decades. Previous to land reform programs, the majority of the altiplano lands were held by owners of large estates (HACIENDAS or LATIFUNDIA). Many Aymara were dependents of these estates, exchanging labor or crops for usufruct rights to arable lands. The exploitative nature of the HACIENDA system is well documented in the Latin American literature. Other Aymara lived in free communities, where they held lands, but were subject to encroachment by the landed estates. Further, much of their produce was siphoned off by profiteering middlemen on whom they were dependent for cash needs. Migratory labor, usually on a temporary basis, provided an alternative for those who could not make a living in the altiplano.

The primary productive activities (agriculture, fishing, and crafts) are responsive not only to subsistence needs but to market demands as well. Marketing has become an increasingly important activity, with Aymara replacing non-Aymara middlemen. Migration, both temporary and permanent, to obtain wage-paying jobs has increased. Like other twentieth century peasant groups, the Aymara are increasingly linked to a cash economy and respond with shifts in their adaptive strategies and consumption demands.

Special crafts include basketry, weaving, pottery making, wood working, metallurgical work in gold, silver, copper, and tin, and stone working.

Coiled basketry are occasionally manufactured by women, which in the regions of Moho and Yunguyo in Peru, are undecorated and roughly hemisperical in shape. Shallow wicker trays are also in use, but these may be of Spanish introduction and not of native origin.

Weaving is done by both men and women on a horizontal peg loom, using both cotton and wool. No broadloom fabrics are made. Wide textiles, such as ponchos and carrying cloths, are made in two halves and sewed together (l: Tschopik, p. 534). Wool is usually dyed after being spun using a variety of mineral and vegetable dyes, often with urine as a mordant.

Pottery forms include OLLAS with small strap handles, jugs, chicha jars, basins, parching trays, bowls with characteristic low ring bases, and cups. The cooking stove is also made of pottery (1: Tshopik, p. 536). A slip of finely ground pigment is mixed with water and applied to the pottery, and designs in red and white, added with a small brush. The pots are then stone polished and fired.

Because of the lack of trees on the altiplano, woodworking is restricted in scope. KEROS, double vessels and bowls with carved oxen designs in the center, are used in rituals. Utilitarian objects include wooden spoons and ladles, and small wooden bowls used as food containers. Most objects of wood are obtained in trade with the Quechua, the Cochabamba, or from other Aymara groups living in the more forested regions north of Lake Titicaca.

Many of the metals in use today are still being extracted from ancient mines pre-dating Spanish times. Traditionally the Aymara smelted gold in pottery ovens built on hilltops to catch the wind. The gold was then cold-hammered or cast as copper-gold alloy. Metal objects in use include semi-lunate knives with handles, pins with flat heads, tweezers, ear spatulae, bells, and long needles (1: Tschopik, p. 537).

Stonework includes the manufacture of stone bowls, small mortars, and spherical pestles made of basalt. These objects are first pecked into rough shape, and then ground with cobbles of porous basalt. Other objects made of stone are net sinkers, clod crushers (used in agriculture), and formerly spindle whorls. A rocker-type mano is also used today in conjunction with the metate.

Trade is well developed among the Aymara, who employ a great deal of magic and divination to insure the success of a trading expedition. Exchange transactions are usually conducted by barter, the transaction depending in large part on the abundance of the goods being exchanged. Fishing communities will frequently barter fish for animal and vegetable products, while those specializing in livestock will trade wool, meat and hides for fish and farm produce. In the same manner communities specialized in handicrafts and manufactured goods, will exchange them for foodstuffs and other objects. Trading expeditions often take place over long distances.

In the pre-Spanish period land was the inalienable communal property of the AYLLU (lineage/community) and was redistributed yearly among the heads of the families. Only that piece of land on which the house was built was considered to be permanently in possession of the family. At marriage, a young man would receive a share of the AYLLU land, which he farmed for a year, retaining full rights to its produce for himself and his family (1: Tschopik, p. 546). A decree by Viceroy Toledo in the sixteenth century abolished communal AYLLU lands, and distributed these lands permanently to members of the AYLLU. This land was then passed on by a father to his eldest son. Women were not allowed to own land, but were supported by their brothers and fathers. In those areas less under the influence of the Spanish, the aboriginal system of land ownership continued, and has persisted in such areas as Bolivia to the present day. In the modern period, under Peruvian Republican law, women can own land, and all children inherit equally, regardless of sex. "New Republican concepts that permit land to be bought and sold and allow women to own it have contributed to the break-down of the extended family and AYLLU" (1: Tschopik, p. 546). Bilateral inheritance of land has led to much confusion in modern Aymara society. Often a man will find himself unable to work the several widely separated plots of land that he has inherited, and consequently a group of heirs will trade their holdings.

Traditionally, the basis of Aymara social organization was the AYLLU, a kinship unit generally identified with the lineage. "In modern times the AYLLU is thought of as a group of families and not as a kin group, and not all the members of a given AYLLU are considered to be related to each other by blood. Nevertheless, there is incontestable evidence that in colonial times the idea of consanguinity was present" (3: LaBarre, p. 141). In the towns, moieties functioned in the same manner as the AYLLU did in the countryside. Perhaps as the result of more frequent personal contacts made in an urban setting, moieties seemed to possess a greater solidarity than an AYLLU. Competition between moieties at fiestas often led to inter-moiety brawls. Moieties tend to be endogamous in nature although there are no strict rules forbidding moiety exogamy. Among the modern Aymara, each moiety has its own cemetery, and often its own church. In the towns, dances tend to be organized along moiety lines more strongly than is true in the AYLLU. Each moiety possesses an informal council similar to that of the AYLLU, and its own headman. Today this headman is usually designated by the term "Maestro Mayor" (1: Tschopik, p. 541).

The patrilineal emphasis in Aymara kinship relations seems to be undergoing a change to bilaterality. Fictive kinship ties are formed through COMPADRAZGO (the establishment of co-parent and god-parent ties at baptism, marriage, and other events). These ties may be horizontal (linking equals) or vertical (linking the poorer to the richer and cross-cutting ethnic boundaries).

Kinship terminology, which is a modified Hawaiian type, gives equal importance to relatives of both lines of descent. Cousins on either side are called by the same terms as brothers and sisters. "Mother's brothers and father's brothers are equated terminologically, as are father's sisters and mother's sisters. All relatives of the second ascending generation are equated with grandmother and grandfather, allowing, of course, for differentiation according to sex. On the first descending generation, all are referred to by the same terminology as that used for one's own son and daughter" (11: Carter, p. 56).

Marriage restrictions ideally extend out to second cousins. Those related by COMPADRAZGO are also prohibited from marriage. The traditional form of marriage, where the parents made elaborate arrangements, has declined, while elopements have become the most common form. Monogamy is the rule, but there is a sort of trial marriage period, during which the couple live together before going through the formal wedding ceremony. Marriage marks adulthood; after marriage a man can participate in the decision-making processes of the community. Infanticide and abortion are frowned upon, but practiced.

Divorce is relatively easy. The wife returns with the younger children either to her father's or brother's home. The older children remain with their father. The most common causes of divorce are the wife's infidelity or sterility. At the death of the husband, the wife usually remains with his family, especially if she has children. Since the Aymara consider children a great asset, widows with children have little trouble remarrying.

The most common domestic unit is the patrilocal extended family, residing in either a single household or a compound. Composition of this unit changes with time. Daughters tend to marry out, while newly-married sons tend to reside with their fathers until they can establish separate households, either within the compound or elsewhere. Traditionally, new houses were built on land supplied by the fathers, but increasing access to economic alternatives has led to a shortening of the period of dependency and an increase in neolocal residence. Economic cooperation among extended family members is usual, but the amount of interdependence again is variable, and changes have resulted from changes in economic activities and the land tenure system.

There is little specific information available regarding the political and social organization of the Aymara prior to their subjugation by the Inca, although the available evidence seems to indicate that they were divided into a number of states, each under the leadership of a ruler or chief. Because the names of all the rulers of each Aymara state seemed to be almost always the same, it is likely that the chieftainship was hereditary, and probably in the male line. There is a faint suggestion of former dual chiefs who operated respectively in the spheres of war and peace (1: Tschopik, p. 538).

Community organization and linkages to the national government are variable. There are differences both between and among Peruvian and Bolivian communities, HACIENDA communities, ex-HACIENDA communities and free communities, and towns and villages. The Buechlers, on the other hand, compare the differences in organization between a free community and a HACIENDA community, before and after government reform programs, and note that the structures they have described are but two of the many variants to be found in Bolivia (12: Buechler and Buechler, pp. 5-7, 50-67, 104-107). Access to leadership roles within communities tends to be based on prestige. Traditional routes to prestige included community service, sponsorship of rituals, and becoming a specialist in magic. Newer routes to prestige mobility include accumulation of wealth, military service, and an ability to manipulate extra-community ties and organizations.

Currently the Aymara have no feeling of national unity despite a common language and similar customs. The pre-Spanish state has disintegrated to such an extent that one village looks on the people of another as outsiders. This lack of national feeling is evidenced by the frequent fights during fiestas.

In the modern political structure of the Aymara, the largest political unit is the district, headed by a white governor. These districts are then divided into COMMUNIDADES, each under the authority of an ALCALDE and his assistant the SEGUNDO. These individuals are appointed by the governor and function as contacts between the Aymara and the whites. The COMMUNIDADES in turn are divided into AYLLUS, the largest units with which the Aymara have to deal. Although the present-day political organization and Indian administration differs somewhat between Bolivia and Peru, with the AYLLU being theoretically abolished in Bolivia, the modern COMMUNIDAD closely approximates the aboriginal AYLLU unit (1: Tschopik, p. 539).

Historically, warfare was very common among the Aymara states. The large number of soldiers involved in such conflicts suggest that warfare was organized along AYLLU lines. Raids were conducted chiefly for loot and slaves. On occasion formal alliances were made not only to facilitate raiding activity, but also as protection against the invading Inca. Women are said to have accompanied the soldiers in the field, carrying slingstones for the warriors, and assisting in communications. Tactics consisted primarily of surprise attacks and ambush. The primary weapons used in warfare were slings, stone-headed clubs, lances, and bolas. Even through the bow and arrow was known to the Aymara, there is no archaeological evidence to show that they were ever important weapons. In recent Aymara revolts in Peru and Bolivia, prisoners were tortured, but there is no evidence to show that this was an ancient practice. Following a battle during early historical times, captives were often roasted and eaten in the field, and the blood of slain enemies drunk. This cannibalistic practice was carried out for both revenge and to gain the valor of the victim.

Aymara supernatural beliefs and practices are a blend of aboriginal (Aymara and Quechuan) traits with elements derived from Christian missionaries. The imposition of Spanish Catholicism was the most widespread and influential of the missionizing efforts, but it is worth noting that Protestant missionaries have made inroads during the twentieth century. Aboriginal traits include beliefs in a number of nature spirits. Magicians, who become so by "being called by God," serve as mediators with the supernatural realm by performing magical rituals (e.g. seances, weather magic, and fertility rituals) and by divination. They may also take part in curing when the disease is diagnosed as having a supernatural aspect. They also perform sorcery.

Private rituals and feasts mark life crisis events, the most important being baptism, the first haircut, marriage, and death. Elaborate fiestas dedicated to the devotion to particular saints and the pursuit of more secular enjoyments (drinking, dancing, eating, visiting, and marketing) are community events, although sponsorship and organization of the fiesta fall to particular individuals known as CARGUEROS. In some communities the cargo offices are arranged in a prestige hierarchy based on the importance of the fiesta and the costliness of sponsorship.

The classical civil-religious hierarchy, in which a man achieves high prestige and community importance by serving alternately in hierarchically ranked civil and religious offices, may be found in some Aymara communities, but for the most part the two systems are separate.

The modern Aymara culture is extremely utilitarian in nature and lacks formal art styles. The expression of artistic impulses today are through textile designs in weaving and in elaborate dance costumes, although today many of these costumes are of mestizo origin. Archaeological evidence from Chucuito reveals an ancient and highly decorated pottery style, that existed well into the colonial period. Vessels, primarily bowls, were painted with plant, animal, bird, fish, human and geometric motives in several colors. Large jars or OLLAS had chiefly floral but sometimes zoomorphic designs (1: Tschopik, p. 553).

Traditionally, when a person was gravely ill, a diviner was called in to determine whether or not the individual would recover. Generally the dying person was made as comfortable as possible and his relatives summoned. At one time the individual was strangled so as to release his soul and prevent it from coming back as a ghost. At death all present wail loudly. The mourners, who are the immediate relatives of the deceased, don black clothes and hoods, while the more distant relatives and friends prepare the body for burial. A wake is held on the night following the death, and all present drink, chew coca, and extol the virtues of the deceased. At this time a llama is sacrificed so as to accompany the dead person to the next world. Burial today is in cemeteries, which in remote regions are often located at crossroads. Following the funeral all return to the home of the dead person by a new route to avoid misfortune and prevent the ghost from following. Here a mortuary feast is prepared accompanied by the usual drinking and coca chewing, and sometimes by dancing. Mourning lasts a year during which remarriage is forbidden. The house of the deceased is not abandoned after death, nor is the name of the dead tabooed. After a year, a mourning anniversary is held, which today coincides with the fiesta of Todos Santos. Among the Peruvian Aymara this anniversary is observed for three successive years, after which the soul of the dead is said never to return to earth.

Formerly chiefs and other important individuals were buried in CHULLPAS. These were burial towers, located on hills near towns. They were constructed of dressed stone or stone and adobe, with roofs of various kinds. If the deceased was of high status, many llamas were sacrificed as well as some of the wives and children of the dead.

Among the Aymara, soul concepts are confusing. The soul and ghost are clearly defined and while the ghost is generally feared, the soul is not. On occasion the soul of a living person may leave the body and be lost or captured. After death, the soul survives in the afterworld, sometimes returning to its former habitat to protect its living relatives, or, if they merit it, to punish them. As noted above, ghosts are greatly feared. They may appear to the living as corpses or dogs. "Desiccated human flesh from old graves is sometimes eaten when prescribed by a doctor as a prophylactic against ghosts and sickness caused by ghosts" (1: Tschopik, p. 553).

The ethnographic literature on the Aymara may be divided spatially between works focusing on Peru and those focusing on Bolivia. This division reflects important differences between these two countries in terms of political linkages and government policy affecting the Aymara. The literature may also be divided temporally, with the major break in the twentieth century ethnographic accounts of the Aymara falling between those studies done from 1900 to 1942 and those done in the 1950s and 1960s. This temporal aspect is important, both in relation to shifts in government policies toward the Aymara and also in relation to changes in ethnographic interests and methods.

The SF05 Aymara collection consists of 16 documents, two of which are translations - one from French and one from Spanish - the remainder all being in English. The basic works are 1: and 2: Tschopik supplemented by 3: LaBarre. 1: Tschopik presents a comprehensive survey of Aymara history and culture, and is probably the best available culture summary despite its length. It incorporates data from the author's own field works as well as that of LaBarre, who allowed Tschopik to use his manuscript prior to publication. However, 12: Buechler and Buechler is also a good summary for Bolivian Aymara culture.

2: Tschopik is a complete monograph focusing on magical beliefs and related behavior. Tschopik and his wife resided in the Aymara community of Chucuito (Department of Puno in southern Peru) for approximately two and one-half years in 1940-1942, and spent an additional period of time in Arequipa, revisiting Chucuito about once a month. The author spoke Spanish but "very little Aymara", and employed as his interpreter and field assistant a young Mestizo who spoke fluent Aymara (2: Tschopik, p. 143 A). 3: LaBarre is a good general ethnography based upon the author's field work in 1937-1938. His research seems to have covered a broad geographical area in Bolivia, primarily in the Department of La Paz, and secondarily southward and eastward in the Departments of Oruro and Cochabamba. Documents 4, 5, and 6 by LaBarre are articles covering respectively, the classification and use of potatoes, folktales, and animal and mineral remedies, including some data on sorcery.

7: Forbes is by a traveler who observed the Aymara during the years 1859-1863. He describes the area, material culture, and has a long section on anthropometry. 8: Chervin is a secondary document incorporating previously unpublished primary data on living facilities and means of livelihood obtained by questionnaires in the early 1900s. Data on physical anthropology, gathered in the field in 1903, are also included. 9: Metraux presents field data collected in 1930-1931, and is devoted to the religious practices and beliefs of the Aymara living in the province of Carangas, Bolivia. 10: Bouroncle Carreon is a translation of two long articles in Spanish written by a physician who participated in a medical program on the Peruvian altiplano for six months in 1960. This is an important document presenting a fairly comprehensive study of the Aymara in the Department of Puno.

11: Carter is by an ethnologist who did field research in 1953 and 1960-1961, mainly in Ingavi Province on the Bolivian altiplano. This is a functional study of cultural differences between the HACIENDA and the "free" community system, both prior to and following the Agrarian Reform Movement of 1953. The field work focused on the "free" community of Irpa Chico and the landed estates of Huacullani, Rosapata, and Viliroco, while archival data were gathered on the HACIENDAS of Chacoma, Kakani, Causaya, and Korpa. Carter used a team of Bolivian field assistants from various government agencies, and an Aymara assistant who also functioned as a key informant. The author obviously spoke fluent Spanish, but his only comment concerning the indigenous language is a mention of his "still quite rudimentary Aymara" (11: Carter, p. 4). 13: Hickman is a doctoral dissertation in anthropology from Cornell University based on fieldwork in Chinchera, Peru, in 1961 and 1962. Chinchera is a community adjoining Chucuito, the locale of Tschopik's fieldwork and much of the same cultural pattern pertains to both communities. The work contains a general ethnographic description of Chinchera, emphasizing ceremonies, magic, divination and acculturation. 14: Cole, a doctoral dissertation in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, is based on fieldwork in the community of Pumasara near Lake Poopo in central Bolivia, in 1957-1959. This document contains extensive data on dreams, their meaning and social significance, the soul, death, funeral customs, and eschatology. 15: Collins examines a particular process of Aymara market participation in southern Peru, in which peasants travel long distances to produce coffee for sale, but on a seasonal basis and in conjunction with continued self- provisioning cultivation in their home communities. Collins reviews the history of this migrational pattern and examines the nature of the social relationships in the highlands that make such migrations both necessary and possible. 16: HRAF is a bibliography on the Aymara.

• AINI -- reciprocal labor -- Categories 431, 476, 571

• Agricultural social interest societies -- Category 474

• ALCALDE -- a local official -- Category 624

• ASUTI -- a childbirth ritual -- Categories 846 and 851

• CACERAS -- special trading relationships -- Category 437

• canton -- a district --Category 634

• CORPUNO -- a departmental development corporation -- Categories 179, 654

• CORREGIDOR -- Category 693

• INTENDENTE -- Categories 634 or 693 (depending on context)

• MESA -- burnt offerings -- Category 782

• PRESIDENTE DE LA JUNTA VECINAL -- Categories 622 or 624

• TAWANTINSUYU Pro-Indian Rights Society -- Category 668

Grimes, Barbara F. editor. Ethnologue: languages of the world. 11th edition. Dallas, Texas, Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1988.

Plummer, John F. Another look at Aymara personality. Behavior Science Notes, 1 (1966): 55-78.

Steward, Julian H. Native peoples of South America. By Julian H. Steward and Louis C. Faron. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1959.

Vellard, Jehan. Etudes sur le Lac Titicaca, VIII, Origine des populations indigenes actuelles du haut plateau [Studies about Lake Titicaca, VIII, Origin of the contemporary indigenous populations of the high plateau]. Travaux de l'Institut Francais d'Etudes Andines, 7 (1959-60): 1-27.

Voegelin, Carl F. Languages of the world: native American fascicle two. By Carl F. Voegelin and Florence M. Voegelin. Anthropological Linguistics, 7 (Oct. 1965).