Quechua tribe in South America. Indian tribes in Peru: Shipibo-Conibo, Yagua, Quechua, Ashaninka

2Quechua is an Indian people living in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Chile) and is the heir to the cultural tradition of the Inca state of Tawantinsuyu. The population according to the latest available data is about 25,245,000 people: 13,887,073 people in Peru, 6,018,691 people in Ecuador, 3,821,820 people in Bolivia, 1,469,830 people in Argentina, 39,100 people in Colombia and 8,480 people in Chile. Quechuas make up 47% of the population in Peru, 41.3% in Ecuador, and 37.1% in Bolivia. The name Quechua first appears in written sources 60-80s of the 16th century.

3The bulk of Quechua lives in Peru. The Indians are settled in the southern mountainous regions. The dialects of north-central mountainous Peru are the most distinct from the rest. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. They are believers - Catholics. The peasantry, agricultural and mining populations in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia are overwhelmingly Quechua Indians.

Ethnic history

4The origin and meaning of the name Quechua is explained from a geographical description of Peru dated 1586.

From these sources it is clear that the Incas, and after them the Spaniards, used the term Quechua in several senses. The first meaning of the word Quechua is an Andean mountain valley of a type such as, for example, the Cusco valley, that is, a warm valley. True, Cusco is located at an altitude of 3414 m above sea level, and the climate there is cool; The valley of Cusco and others like it can only be called warm in comparison with the highlands. The name Quechua was used by the Incas, and then by the conquerors, in relation to the tribes inhabiting such valleys (people of warm valleys), in contrast to the inhabitants of the cold plateau - the Aymara tribes. Finally, during the colonial period, the name Quechua was established for the language of these tribes.

5Based on legends, when compared with archaeological and toponymic data, the history of the formation of the Inca state is presented in the following form.

In the Cusco Valley, archaeologists identify the so-called Early Incan culture, dating from the 10th - early 15th centuries. It is distinguished by a special style of ceramics. Bronze artifacts were also found. Architectural structures indicate the organization of collective work. The term Incas, or rather Inca, later acquired several meanings: the dominant nation in the state of Peru, the title of the ruler and the name of the people as a whole. Initially, the name Inca referred to one of several small tribes that lived in the Cuzco valley along with the Aymara, Huayllacan, Hualla, Quewar, Huaroc, and Quispicanchi tribes. Like the tribes of the Anta Valley, located near Cusco - the Anta Mayo, Tampo, Sanco, Quiliscachi, Ekeco, as well as Lare and Poke - the Inca tribe belonged to the Quechua language group. The Incas during their heyday spoke Quechua.

In the first decades of the 15th century. The Quechuas were attacked from the west by the Chanca tribe and occupied part of their lands - the province of Anduailla, which therefore later received the name Chanca province. In subsequent years, the Quechua and Incan tribes probably entered into an alliance.

6 Over the next hundred years, the Incas conquered and subjugated the tribes of the entire Andean region and created a powerful power with borders from South Colombia (Ancasmayu River) in the north to central Chile (Rio Maule River) in the south, over a distance of 4 thousand km. According to Rowe's rough estimates, the population of the Inca state reached 6 million.

During the heyday of the economic and political power of the Incas and their state, the Incas spread their culture throughout the entire Andean region.
They founded the strong state of Tawantinsuyu in this territory.

7The Andean highlands abound in valleys with climatic conditions favorable for agriculture, with fertile soils, which can also be irrigated with water from numerous rivers and lakes. Agriculture remained the main economic activity of this area. The main crops were corn and potatoes. Along with them, quinua, pumpkin, beans, cotton, bananas, pineapples and many other crops were grown.

In some areas of Tawantinsuyu, in particular in Kolyasuyu, cattle breeding has reached significant proportions - breeding llamas and alpacas as pack animals, as well as for meat and wool. However, keeping these animals on a smaller scale was practiced everywhere. One of the varieties of ducks was domesticated.

8The ability of the Tawantinsuyu residents to find a huge number of color shades and combine them harmoniously with each other constitutes a whole area of ​​​​craft art. Indian weavers knew how to make various types of fabrics - from thick and fleecy, like velvet, to light, translucent, like gauze.

Ancient Quechuan metallurgists smelted and processed gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, as well as some alloys, including bronze. They knew iron only in the form of hematite; iron ore was not processed. Construction technology (construction of palaces, fortresses, warehouses, bridges) has achieved great success. For navigation, in addition to ordinary boats and rafts, special large rafts were built that had a significant carrying capacity - up to several tons. Pottery and ceramics, which inherited the ancient traditions of Chimu and Tiwanaku, were distinguished by an unusual richness of forms.

9With the formation of the state, the relationship between the Incas and other tribes of the country changed. If earlier, during the heyday of the Tiahuanacu culture, the Cola or Aymara tribes were higher in development than the Quechua tribes, then from the 15th century. the Kolya tribes - the inhabitants of the highlands - are losing their superiority.

As a result of the implementation of “expansionist” policies, the state territory of the Incas reached enormous proportions. Today, most of the territory of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as a significant part of Chile and Argentina, are located within the borders of the former Inca state.

10Physico-geographical conditions were not conducive to preserving the territorial unity of Tawantinsuyu: there was no single river artery that would connect different regions of the country, stormy mountain rivers flowed from east to west and cut the country into parts, rather than connecting its individual regions. The terrain also did not contribute to the territorial unity of the Incan power: deep gorges, high mountain ranges, cliffs, abysses. Soon after the capture of new territories, the process of resettlement of tribes began. the strengthening of the political and administrative unity of the country had a direct impact on the processes of ethnic consolidation. It would be wrong to present the ethnic fusion of various tribes and nationalities of Tawantinsuyu as a one-sided process, as a process that boils down exclusively to Quechuanization. The Incas-Quechuas were inevitably going to be influenced by their subordinate tribes. As a result of this process, the vast state territory of Tawantinsuyu turned into the ethnic territory of the large Quechua people.

The unique and colorful history of the historical Inca state was interrupted in 1531 by the invasion of the Spaniards.

11From the first period of colonization, collections of texts in the Quechua language, written in a Latinized alphabet, remained. The earliest texts are for the most part folklore materials, legends, songs and hymns. Folklore, like other types of folk art, played a large role in the spiritual life of Quechua, in the formation of a unified national identity and common culture.

After the Spanish conquest in 1531 and the campaign against paganism in the 1570s, the Quechuas converted to Catholicism, although they retained many traditional beliefs. The role of the Spanish conquerors turned out to be twofold. On the one hand, they interrupted the natural process of consolidation of the Quechua people, on the other hand, by asserting their economic and political dominance, they unwittingly contributed to the preservation and even development of some ethnic features of the Quechua people, especially the language.

12The process of strengthening the cultural community of the Quechuas was very effective during the colonial period. Literature in the Quechua language, in particular drama, was born. The dramas “Apu-Ollantay”, “The Death of Atahualpa”, “Utkha Paukar”, “Elegy on the Death of Atahualpa” not only represent highly artistic examples of literature, but also definitely influence the strengthening of the ethnic self-awareness of the Quechua Indians.

No measures could be taken to eliminate the deep imprint left on the minds of the Indians by the movement led by Tupac Amaru II. Many thousands of rebels fled from their home villages and towns to remote areas to escape persecution.

13By entering areas inhabited by Indians of a different language and culture, they definitely contributed to the further merging of other ethnic groups with the Quechua. In addition, a significant part of the rebels, having gone to very distant areas, met there a population that late XVIII V. already spoke Quechua. This circumstance contributed to the emergence among refugees of the consciousness of the unity of all Quechuas, and they became bearers of the idea of ​​national unity in new places. These phenomena contributed to the further strengthening of Indian self-awareness, interconnections and mutual trust, and consequently, mutual ethnic rapprochement between Indians belonging to different groups. remaining the largest group of the Indian population, playing the role of the main leading and driving force of broad anti-colonial protests, the Quechua occupied in this ethnic process central place. The uprisings and especially the movement of Tupac Amaru II were the final factor in the consolidation of tribal groups into a single nation.

14An attempt to restore the Inca Empire in 1780 was suppressed, but movements (including armed ones) under this slogan exist to this day.

The War of Independence and the formation of independent states of the Andean highlands - Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia - did not stop the process of unifying the language and culture of Indian tribes. By the 60s of the 19th century, the overwhelming mass of Indian tribes had already begun to merge into a single nation. This was expressed primarily in the fact that the Quechua language pushed aside and even in many areas supplanted other Indian languages.

Already at the beginning of the 20th century. The Quechua were the predominant Indian people of the Andean region. Nowadays the Quechua is the largest and most significant of the modern Indian peoples. Since the 70s, there has been a massive migration of Quechua to the cities, mainly to Lima.

Geographical characteristics

15In Peru, Quechuas make up the majority of the population in the central and southern departments. In Cusco, 98% speak Quechua, and in Ayacucho, 99%. In Bolivia, Quechuas live mainly in the departments of Oruro, Potosi, Cochabamba, and also partly in Chuquisaca. In Ecuador, the bulk of Quechua occupies the mountainous region and partly the coast. In Chile and Argentina they are found in some northern high desert regions.

Climate and vegetation vary dramatically depending on altitude and topography. In the highlands, winter reigns for most of the year with slight frosts and snow, which, however, does not accumulate in large quantities due to strong winds. The vegetation here is very poor, there are no trees at all. This is an area of ​​high-mountain steppe - the so-called puna. Summer time is rainy. The eastern gentle slopes of the Andes - the valleys of tributaries of the Amazon - are covered with dense forests, often swampy, and have a humid subtropical climate. On the western steep slopes; poor vegetation, the year is divided almost in half into two seasons: rainy and dry, arid.

16On the coast, fenced off from the rest of the mainland by high mountain ranges, it never rains; moisture collects only in the form of thick fog and falls in abundant dew. Then, for about two months a year, the coastal strip is covered with flowering vegetation, then the dry period begins again. With irrigation, the possibilities of farming here are very high, as the soil is fertile. Even in the times of the Incas, corn, beans, cotton and some fruits were grown here - guaiava, papaya; during the colonial period, wheat and barley were developed. In the last half century, rice, the best varieties of cotton, grapevines, as well as tropical crops have been introduced: coffee, cocoa, bananas, pineapples, citrus fruits, sugar cane.

17 In addition to llamas and alpacas, domesticated since ancient times, sheep, cattle, donkeys and horses began to be bred during the colonial period. The latter, however, acclimatized here worse than other animals. Great Application found the mules.

The Quechuas live primarily in the Sierra. Frequent earthquakes pose a great danger in mountainous areas. The strip of the greatest mountain systems on our planet is the Andes, this is the Sierra, occupying 30% of the territory of Peru. Here, from the small glacial lake Laurikocha, the most abundant river in the world, the Amazon, originates, carrying its waters to the Atlantic Ocean. Sierra formed mountain system Andes. Within Peru, 38 mountain peaks rise to heights of over 6,000 m.

18From time immemorial, the intermountain basins with their fertile volcanic soils were developed by Indian tribes.

The Sierra serves as a watershed between the Pacific and Atlantic rivers. Both flow in deeply incised valleys.

In the river valleys of the Sierra, the temperature regime allows for the cultivation of sugar cane and other heat-loving crops; on the plateau - only temperate crops.

However, the nights here are cold, the temperature at night is sometimes 20° lower than during the day. We can say that it is winter in the Sierra at night, spring in the morning, and autumn in the evening. The Sierra receives a lot of precipitation - about 1000 mm.

19The rainy and dry seasons are rather weakly expressed. Precipitation falls in the form of rain, and only in the high mountains there is heavy snowfall.

Mountain-meadow and mountain-steppe soils of intermountain basins are characterized by high fertility. They are either plowed or turned into pastures.

Shrubs and forests rise to approximately 3000 m above sea level. sea, and above there are high mountain meadows - paramos. There are many in the forests of the Sierra valuable species trees - ceiba, cinchona.

The western coast, the slopes of the Andes and the intermountain plateaus in winter are under the influence of the eastern periphery of the Pacific anticyclone. Southern and southeastern winds move masses of tropical sea air from higher and colder latitudes to lower and warmer latitudes. These masses are saturated with moisture only in the lower layers.

Description of work

Quechua is an Indian people living in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Chile) and is the heir to the cultural tradition of the Inca state of Tawantinsuyu. The population according to the latest available data is about 25,245,000 people: 13,887,073 people in Peru, 6,018,691 people in Ecuador, 3,821,820 people in Bolivia, 1,469,830 people in Argentina, 39,100 people in Colombia and 8,480 people in Chile. Quechuas make up 47% of the population in Peru, 41.3% in Ecuador, and 37.1% in Bolivia. The name Quechua first appears in written sources of the 60-80s of the 16th century.

SHIPIBO, OR SHIPIBO-KONIBO

Shipibo-Konibo is an Indian tribe, essentially a union of two tribes of the so-called river Panos. The name of the tribe comes from the animal with which it associates itself. Thus, shipibo comes from "shipi" (little marmoset monkey) and the suffix plural"-bo". Konibo - from "horse" (one of the species of large diurnal birds of prey) and also the suffix "-bo". They speak the Shipibo-Konibo language. They inhabit the Amazonian jungle in the territory of modern Peru along the rivers Ucayali, Pachitea, Cagliaria, Aguaitia and on the shores of Lake Yarinacocha, which is an oxbow lake of the Ucayali River near the city of Pucallpa. According to the 1998 census, the number is about 30,000 people, excluding those who moved to cities. The main occupations are farming in the floodplains and fishing, preparing “beer” from fermented cassava, and servicing transportation along the rivers. The tribe is famous among other Indian tribes for its shamans; the famous Peruvian artist Pablo Amaringo came from among them. Researcher Jan Kunen made the film “Other Worlds” about Shipibo-Konibo shamanism.

The ancestors of the Conibo came to the Ucayali River in the 8th century, apparently from the Amazon, moving upstream, and displaced the ancestors of the Shipibo to the tributaries. Subsequently, based on these two large components, a single tribal union. The Shipibo traditionally had a more primitive economy, while the Konibo had a significantly more complex economy. social organization, large settlements (proto-cities) with a population of up to a thousand people, developed art and significant astronomical knowledge. They were proficient in pottery and shipbuilding skills (one-shaft boats).

In the 16th-18th centuries, as a result of the crossbreeding of Shipibo and Conibo, a separate Chama ethnic group was formed within the tribe, classified as a Pano group and currently living on the banks of the Ucayali in its middle reaches.

In Konibo mythology, an important place is occupied by the plot of the Feathered Serpent and the thesis of the duality of the soul (there is a dragon in every person), while among the Shipibo the central place is occupied by the legend of global flood. The Shipibo believe that in the beginning the world was one, but the primary god, “Father Sun,” seeing that his children were disobedient, punished them with a flood, during which only the Shipibo managed to escape. After this, the original world was divided into four: the world of water - Hene Nete, with a guardian spirit living in it; the animal world - Non Nete, where there are animals that Shipibo eat, various plants, trees, minerals, birds and all other living creatures; yellow world - Pansin Nete, the world of sins and bad spirit; the wonderful space where the Sun is located, Hakon Nete - the world into which chosen souls arrive after death, who lived according to the rules in life. If a man behaved unworthily during life, he turns into a jaguar or caiman. And if a woman has been unfaithful, she becomes a possum or an armadillo.

Among other Amazonian tribes of Peru, as well as among mestizo Peruvians and travelers, the amazing Shipibo-Konibo pottery has become widely known. Its production, like that of most other Indian tribes of the Amazon, is carried out exclusively by women. The clay used - "mapo" or "neapo" - is particularly flexible. Before starting to sculpt, women mix it with ash obtained after burning the trunks of the apacharama tree, otherwise known as pachaco. Pieces of broken ceramics are also added to the clay. This is done in order to make it less plastic. Large round ceramic vessels, called "Maya", have a cylindrical shape in the middle part and are made using a technique known as "colombina". All ceramics are traditionally made without the use of a potter's wheel. First, the base is made - the bottom. Then “sausages” are stuck on the flat bottom in a spiral, which actually form the walls of the vessel. During sculpting, Indian women smooth them out both from the outside and from the outside. inside a special scraper called "tutumo".

In cases where a particularly large pot is being molded, it is done in two or three approaches, with breaks to allow the raw clay to set slightly. The finished product is dried for some time in the shade, under no circumstances in direct sunlight. Immediately before firing, the entire vessel is polished with a special stone, which is called “renkati” in the Shipibo language. After firing, all ceramics are painted with characteristic patterns using paints also made on the basis of white and black clay. In traditional oral culture, Konibo is very popular among Shipibo. mythological cycle“About the Three Incas”: about Joashchako Inca - the Stingy Inca, about the Chesher Inca - the Black Inca and about Schana Inca - about the Bird Inca. These myths are curious because the Shipibo-Conibo tribes lived and still live at a considerable distance from the territories that the Incas controlled before the appearance of the Spanish conquistadors. The plot of one of the stories about the Inca-Bird is as follows: “Long ago, the Inca-Bird lived in Kumaria and ruled the conibo. This Inca taught his people many occupations and showed how to make different things. He was a potter and knew a lot about different types clay. He knew what kind of clay to make large pots of “tinaja” from, what kind of clay to use for cooking, and what type of clay to make bowls from. He knew everything about white and yellow clay. In addition, he knew how to spin and make patterns. This Inca knew how to paint bowls with different patterns, which he himself sculpted. The Inca and his people often went to the most remote places to get the necessary material. After all, he knew all the corners.

The wife of this Inca taught women to make pots for cooking, for beer from cassava - "chichi"; taught me how to make plates and bowls. She also showed them how to mix blue clay with apacharama tree ash and then knead it. She taught Konibo women to “bathe” bowls in clay paint, polish them, paint them with patterns and fire them.

After this, Inca's wife showed how to spin the thread and how to weave fabric with patterns. She was very skilled in various crafts.

The Inca left Kumaria, leaving the Konibo alone. After him they remained to multiply and live on the banks of the river."

YAGUA

The Yagua are an Indian tribe in the province of Mariscal Ramon Castilla in the department of Loreto and neighboring areas of Colombia. The total number is estimated at 4,000 people. They speak a language included by linguists in the Peba-Yagua language family.

The long history of the jagua is very eventful. In ancient times, before they went deep into the jungle, they lived on the banks of the Amazon. Then the first Spanish conquistadors appeared, followed by migration waves of large Omagua and Cocama tribes, rising up the Amazon. Even later - detachments of Portuguese slave hunters - "bandeirantes", from which the Yaguas found protection in Jesuit missions until this church order was expelled from the Spanish colonies in the New World.

After the disappearance of the Jesuit missions, the Yagua, like many other Indian tribes, became dependent on the owners of large land plots- "cartridges". All of the above-mentioned misfortunes, which befell one after another on the tribe until the middle of the 20th century, forced the Yaguas to go to inaccessible corners of the Amazon jungle, fleeing extermination, slavery and imported infections. The Yagua's life is based on the cultivation of cassava, bananas and other cultivated plants, as well as the collection of wild fruits, hunting and fishing. Among the crafts, the manufacture of clothing from palm fiber, weaving of hammocks and baskets are highly developed. Currently, some villages are hosting non- a large number of tourists, which also helps maintain the existence of the tribe. A tribe consists of several clans, members of which can only marry a person from another clan. A curious feature of the Yagua is that not all clans can become related to each other. Thus, plant clans can exchange wives with land animal clans, while bird clans can only exchange wives with other bird clans.

Central to the beliefs of the Yagua Indians is Oriknan, the supreme being and creator of the world. The time it takes for a person to become a shaman and maintain close relationships with spirits reaches five years among the Yagua. The Yagua holidays last for several days and are accompanied by songs performed by a male and female choir in turn.

Yagua quite favorably host both tourists and scientific expeditions. IN Lately In connection with the development of tourism in this area of ​​​​the Amazon, some groups of Indians who once went deep into the jungle are again beginning to move closer to the shores of the Amazon in order to facilitate access for tourists. However, the most traditional jagua continue to live on small tributaries in the jungle, and to reach them requires some effort and at least five days of free time.

QUECHUA

Quechua, or Quichua, is an Indian people in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. Number of more than 12 million people. Belong to the American race Mongoloid race. They speak the language (a number of researchers identify several closely related languages) of Quechua of the Ando-equatorial family. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. By religion they are Catholics, but among the Quechuas traditional beliefs, witchcraft, shamanism and sacrifices during field work remain strong.

The main occupation is terraced irrigation farming (potatoes and other tuber crops, grains such as millet - quinua, canyahua, in the valleys - corn, barley, wheat. The main tool is "chakitaklya" - a spade with a transverse protrusion for the foot; in the valleys a primitive plow is used. In the mountains, cattle breeding is of great importance (llama, alpaca, vicuña, sheep). Nowadays, crafts are at a more primitive level than in the Inca era. The greatest importance is the production of textiles: in the mountains - from wool, in the valleys - from cotton. Spinning men, women and children weave, both women and men weave. A primitive loom is widespread. The manufacture of felt hats, weaving of Panama-type hats, products from reeds - "totora", production of molded ceramics, calabashes, gold and silver jewelry are developed. , wood carving.

The village is a community, mostly endogamous, governed by an elected elder - "kuraka" and his assistant - "varayok". Marriage is neolocal. Settlements in the valleys are cumulus, in the mountains - scattered. The dwelling is adobe, rectangular, with a gable roof. One large room serves as housing, the rest of the rooms have storage rooms.

Traditional men's clothing- short pants to the knees, short coat and a homespun wool poncho. Headdress - wide-brimmed Felt hat with a shallow crown, under which a knitted helmet - “chulyo” - is often worn. Women wear several skirts with colored borders, with the lower skirts being longer than the upper ones, and a woolen shawl, pinned at the chest with a large silver brooch. Jewelry - made of metal, stone, bone, shells. Most Quechuas walk barefoot or wear leather sandals.

An alliance of Quechua tribes led by the Inca tribe (Incakuna), subjugating neighboring tribes, formed the Inca Empire of Tawantinsuyu (1438). During the Inca period, the Quechua people formed and a high culture was created. The Spanish conquest caused fierce resistance, and Indian uprisings continued into the 20th century.

Today, many Indians, especially in places of mass pilgrimage for tourists - Cusco and the surrounding area, Machu Picchu and other Incan “ruins” - live mainly by selling souvenirs and providing porterage services on the Inca Trail.

ASHANINKA

Ashaninka, Ashaninga, or Campa are a group of Indian peoples within the Arawaks of Peru (mainly in the Ucayali, Apurimac, and Pacitea river basins). A small group of Ashaninka also lives in Brazil on the Jurua River.

They belong to the American race of the large Mongoloid race. They speak the Ashaninka language of the Maipure subgroup. Dialects: Ashaninka proper, Anti, Autaniri, Kamatika, Katongo, Kimbiri, Karinairi, Pangoa, Tampa, Ugunichiri, Unini and Chicheren. Quechua and Spanish are also common languages.

The Ashaninka are formally Catholic, but in practice shamanism and magic are widespread.

Contacts with the Spaniards from the late 15th or early 16th centuries. They live in the interior regions of the Peruvian jungle. Traditional activities- manual slash-and-burn farming (sweet cassava, corn, beans, sweet potatoes), hunting, fishing. Weaving and pottery are developed among the crafts. Traditional dwellings- hemispherical huts for one couple family. The village consists of several such huts and a bachelors' hut. Clothing - a long tunic-like shirt without sleeves - "kushma", woven from wild-growing cotton.

The traditional social organization is a community of several related pair families. Marriage is patrilocal, kinship is bilateral. In mythology, a creator god is known who retired to heaven and does not interfere in the affairs of people.

Despite the fact that the first contacts of the Ashaning with the outside world took place several centuries ago, individual communities lived in almost complete isolation until the middle of the 20th century. In this regard, many stories have been preserved about the meeting of two civilizations, which today have turned into myths and fairy tales. Here is one of these tales, for example, which we heard and recorded during one of the research expeditions to Peru. “In the old days, our grandfathers did not know the airplane. And then one day it appeared. The grandfathers said to each other: “What kind of bird was that flying past? It would be great to catch it and pluck its feathers. We would decorate our arrows with them.” They immediately grabbed it their bows and began to shoot: “so-so,” but could not hit. And the plane flew away towards a high hill. And so one man, because he had never seen the plane before, thought that it had landed somewhere on the hill so that to sleep. He said to his wife: “Fry me a yuki, and more. I want to see what kind of bird it flew past. I want to shoot it, pull out the feathers and decorate my arrows.” And he left with his two brothers, taking with him a lot of fried yuca. They didn't know that the plane had flown to where it needed to go. Finally they came to a mountain where there lived little animals that were killing everyone. That's why no one could get through there. One of the brothers said: - The bird is where- then here. I saw her the day before. You go downstairs and look where she hid. After all, this big bird. When you see her, call me to kill her. Then we will eat the meat and pull out the feathers.

One of the brothers looked for the bird below, but could not find it. He climbed higher up the mountain. Where the little palm trees grow. And suddenly everything around went dark, as if night had fallen. Clouds began to roll in and a strong wind rose on the mountain. Dry twigs and branches fell to the ground, which immediately began to turn into large and small squirrels, monkeys and other animals. These were the animals that are called killer animals. Seeing that the pieces of branches were turning into killer animals, the man ran away. And when he had already passed half the way, they caught up with him and killed him. These animals are very small, but their teeth are very sharp. The second brother also ran to escape. Like the first one, he ran halfway, and then went to sleep. Then the killer animals caught up with him and killed him. But the last brother ran to the river and jumped into the water: “ok.” So I was saved.

So they talk about the day when our old people found out about the plane. And since they had never seen him before, they hunted him to shoot him and pull out his feathers."

In the Inca state (see chapter “Culture of the Ancient Peoples of the Andean Region”), the Quechuas formed a group of tribes settled in a compact area around the Cusco Valley. They occupied a privileged position and were exempt from the most severe duties. Quechua was the official language. Thus, the Quechuas and their language, as perceived by the subject tribes, were inseparable from the Inca system of centralized government, which opposed the ancient clan organization of the conquered tribal groups.

During the colonial period, significant changes occurred in the life of the Indian population and in the relationships between tribal groups. If during the time of the Incas the tribes under their control looked at the Quechuas as oppressors, now, when under the iron boot of the Spanish conqueror all the Indians were equal in their lack of rights, the Inca state, especially the so-called New Inca state, which fought the Spanish conquerors for about 40 years, became symbol of independence. If in the Inca state the Quechua language was the language of the oppressors, then after the Spanish conquest it became a symbol independent development original Indian culture.

The Quechua language is agglutinative in structure: grammatical changes are formed by adding affixes. Dialectological differences in the Quechua language are so small that they do not interfere with the mutual understanding of individual local groups. This is a single language common to the entire Quechua people, which, however, has undergone certain historical changes. Text language folk drama“Ollantay,” from the 18th century, is no longer well understood by modern Quechuas.

Missionaries used the Quechua language to teach the catechism when converting Indians to Christianity, as well as to record traditions and legends. From the first period of colonization, collections of texts in the Quechua language, written in a Latinized alphabet, remain. The earliest texts are mostly folklore materials, legends, songs and hymns. Folklore, like other types folk art, played a large role in the spiritual life of Quechua, in the formation of a unified national identity and common culture.

During the period of feudal colonization, the Indian population of the Andean Highlands underwent significant changes in its development. Most of the small tribes began to speak the Quechua language, the idea of ​​restoring freedom and independence that united them arose, and common literature emerged.

The War of Independence and the formation of independent states of the Andean highlands - Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia - did not stop the process of unifying the language and culture of Indian tribes. By the period of development of capitalist relations, i.e. by the 60s of the 19th century, the overwhelming mass of Indian tribes had already begun to merge into a single nation. This was expressed primarily in the fact that the Quechua language pushed aside and even in many areas supplanted other Indian languages. Of the four main language families widespread in the Inca state, no traces of the Mochica language remain at present*. In the language of the Pukina family in the 30s of the XX century. spoke only a few hundred people of the Uru and Chipaya tribes on the coast of the lake. Titicaca (Peru - Bolivia). But in general, the Aymara language continues to dominate in the region of this lake. In Ecuador since the 18th century. local dialects began to die out, giving way to the Quechua language. Currently, most of the Indians of Ecuador - about one and a half million, who in the past belonged to dozens of small tribes, speak the Quechua language and in culture are almost no different from the Quechua of Peru and Bolivia, although these Indians, like the Otavalo, sometimes retain local names . Already at the beginning of the 20th century. The Quechua were the predominant Indian people of the Andean region.

Number and settlement

Information about the number of Quechua Indians does not coincide with each other. Various numbers are given - from 3.5 to 1 million. From a comparison of various data, we can conclude that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but closer to the last figure / Comparison of these figures with data regarding ethnic groups in other parts of the American continent shows that the Quechua is the largest and most significant of the modern Indian peoples.

Quechuas are settled in five countries - Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. The political border between these states passes without regard to the settlement of the Quechua, as well as other ethnic groups, cutting into parts a people of a single language and a single culture.

Data on Quechua demographics are fragmentary and imprecise. The Quechua living within Peru have been better studied. Regarding Bolivia we have to be content with only general information: their number there, according to the 40s of the 20th century, reached 1,400 thousand people. They make up more than a third of Bolivia's population 1 .

There is only vague information about Quechua in Chile and Argentina.

In Peru, according to the 1940 census data already cited, the number of Indians speaking the Quechua language was slightly larger than the number of Spanish-speaking Peruvians (the former - 46.8, the latter - 46.7%) 2 . If we consider that a significant part of the Quechua, especially in northern Peru, as well as in coastal cities, speak Spanish, then the predominance of the Quechua population over the Creoles becomes quite obvious.

In Peru, Quechuas make up the majority of the population in the central and southern departments. In Cusco, 98% speak Quechua, and in Ayacucho, 99%. In Bolivia, Quechuas live mainly in the departments of Oruro, Potosi, Cochabamba, and also partly in Chuquisaca. In Ecuador, the bulk of Quechua occupies the mountainous region and partly the coast. In Chile and Argentina they are found in some northern high desert regions.

In general, the Quechuas make up the main population of the highlands, the so-called sierra, and the adjacent valleys.

Classes. Agriculture

The main occupations of the Quechua remain agriculture and cattle breeding, and to a lesser extent - crafts, handicrafts and work in industry, mainly in mining.

In the highland areas, Quechua peasants to this day cultivate plants that have been cultivated here since ancient times: potatoes, other tuber crops (oca, ulluca), then grains such as prosaquinoa and cañahua. In temperate valleys, corn, barley and wheat are grown. The best lands captured by Creole landowners, who own the vast majority of cultivable land. The Quechua peasants are left with small plots of infertile and, moreover, depleted land due to lack of fertilizer. Backward technology and primitive crop rotation, patchwork and striping with scarce land reduce yields to the lowest limits.

The farming techniques of the Quechua peasants remained much the same primitive as they were in the 16th century. True, in the valleys plowing is practiced with oxen, but the plow is wooden and very primitive. In high mountain areas, draft power is not used. The modern Quechua peasant, as in the times of the Incas, cultivates the land with the so-called chaquitaclya. This is a narrow spade with a transverse protrusion for the foot at the bottom of the handle. For its time, the invention of the chakitaklya, with its device for resting the foot to facilitate digging, was a significant achievement. But at present, its preservation as the main weapon indicates extreme backwardness. They also use several more primitive tools - a taklya (hoe) with an iron blade, a club for breaking clods of earth with a stone or iron tip, a sickle and a stick for threshing.

Quechuas usually work in arable land in family groups of three, of which two (men) lift the soil with chaquitaclya, and the third (woman or boy) follows and breaks the thrown clods of earth. After drawing several longitudinal rows, they dig across. Crossing furrows helps retain rainfall on mountain slopes.

There is enough moisture in the valleys and along the banks of rivers, but on the mountain slopes and plateaus artificial irrigation is required. The Quechuas use an irrigation system inherited from ancient times, combined with a terraced arrangement of fields. Each community digs a narrow ditch from the river, from the mountain stream. During the dry season, the ditch dries out and becomes comparable with the surrounding soil, so that work has to be resumed. Landowners, whose lands are mostly located close to rivers and streams, also use more advanced technology. In some cases, they even divert river beds in the direction they need, leaving the peasants without moisture. In all Andean countries there is a continuous struggle for water, most often between communities and landowners, and the latter, with the assistance of the authorities, always emerge victorious.

Animal husbandry, also present in Andean countries ancient history, still plays an important role in mountainous regions. The llama serves as a beast of burden and provides wool and meat. Alpaca and cowpea, which produced excellent wool, are now becoming extinct. Currently, sheep brought here during the colonial period are bred for wool. But on peasant farms, sheep are small and poorly nourished, and their wool is usually of low quality.

Quechua, Quichua, Indian people in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. The population is 14,870 thousand people, including in Peru 7,700 thousand, Bolivia 2,470 thousand, Ecuador 4,300 thousand people. They speak Quechua languages. The dialects of north-central mountainous Peru are the most distinct from the rest. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. Believers are Catholics.

In the second quarter of the 15th century, a centralized state arose in the Andes (the Inca Empire or Tawantinsuyu). During the Inca period, the Quechua people formed and a high culture was created. After the Spanish conquest in 1532 and the campaign against paganism in the 1570s, the Quechuas converted to Catholicism, although they retained many traditional beliefs. An attempt to restore the Inca Empire in 1780 was suppressed, but movements (including armed ones) under this slogan exist to this day. Since the 70s, there has been a massive migration of Quechua to the cities, mainly to Lima.

The main occupation is terraced irrigated agriculture (potatoes and other tuber crops, grains such as millet - quinoa, cañihua, in the valleys - corn, barley, wheat). The main weapon is chakitaklya - a spade with a transverse protrusion for the leg; in the valleys a primitive plow is used. In the mountains, cattle breeding is of great importance (llama, alpaca, and in the colonial period - sheep). Before the advent of trucks in the mid-20th century, the llama had great transport importance. Among folk crafts, the production of fabrics is widespread: in the mountains - from wool, in the valleys - from cotton. Spinning is done by men, women and children; usually men weave. A primitive loom is widespread. The production of felt hats, the weaving of hats such as Panama, cane products, the production of molded ceramics, calabash, gold and silver jewelry, and wood carving are developed.

The rural community, largely endogamous, is governed by an elected elder and his assistant (warayok). Marriage is neolocal.

Settlements in the valleys are cumulus, in the mountains - scattered. The dwelling is adobe, rectangular, with a gable roof. One large room serves as housing, the rest of the rooms have storage rooms.

Traditional men's clothing is short knee-length pants, a short jacket and a poncho made of homespun wool. The headdress is a wide-brimmed felt hat with a shallow crown, under which a knitted helmet (chulyo) is often worn. Women wear several skirts with colored borders, with the lower skirts being longer than the upper ones, and a woolen shawl (lyiklya), pinned on the chest with a large silver brooch. Jewelry - made of metal, stone, bone, shells. Most Quechuas walk barefoot or wear leather sandals.

Among traditional rituals, the festival of cleaning irrigation canals is of greatest importance. The veneration of mountain peaks, mother earth Pachamama, shamanism, sacrifices during field work, building a house, etc. are preserved. In folklore there is a combination of local (for example, stories about a trickster fox) and European stories; millenarian ideology is reflected in the myth of Inkarri ("Inca King"), who must come to life and destroy the European newcomers. Based on the musical traditions of Quechua and Aymara, modern Huayno music has become world famous.

Yu. E. Berezkin

QECHUA LANGUAGES, a group of Amerindian languages ​​spoken in western South America in the following countries (from north to south): Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina. In Ecuador the name "Quichua" is used. The Quechua language complex is considered differently in different works. There is often talk of a single language, Quechua, which has many dialects. There are from two to four dialect groups. The northern dialect group of Ecuador and adjacent areas of Colombia and Peru, as well as the group of southern Peruvian dialects around the Cusco dialect, are relatively clearly distinguished. In another interpretation (adopted in this article), groups of dialects are considered special languages ​​of the Quechuan family. The number of distinguished languages ​​varies from 6 to more than two dozen.
External Relations Quechua languages ​​are not entirely clear. The most plausible hypothesis is that Quechua is related to the Aymara language (see AYMARA). The Quechumara macrofamily uniting these two families is often postulated, but other researchers explain the similarities between the Quechua and Aymara by areal diffusion.

The Quechua languages ​​are the heirs of the language of the Inca Empire, which was formed in the territory of modern Peru and reached its greatest power in the 15th century. Classical Quechua, the language of the rulers of the Incan Empire, is usually considered a special (now extinct) language. The Incas quickly spread to neighboring regions and assimilated local Indian tribes. Later, during the process of Spanish colonization, Quechua - the language of the Incas - turned out to be a means of self-identification for the Indians of the Andean Highlands (regardless of their ethnicity), and for the Spaniards - a convenient means of communication with the Indians.

Quechua languages ​​are spoken approx. 8.5 million people (according to some sources, up to 13 million). Central or South Bolivian Quechua is the largest native American language in terms of the number of speakers: it is spoken by more than 3.6 million people. Other largest Quechua languages ​​are Cusco in southern Peru (about 1.25 million speakers; this version of Quechua enjoys the greatest prestige, since the capital of the Inca Empire was located in Cusco), Ayacucho in southern Peru (about 1 million), Chimborazo in Ecuador (about 1 million) (in total, the Ecuadorian languages ​​Quechua is spoken by more than 40% of the population of this country), Ancash in central Peru (about 800 thousand). Quechua has the status of an official language in Bolivia and Peru (along with Spanish). In some areas there are significant numbers of monolingual Quechua speakers, but Quechua-Spanish bilingualism is more common (in some places also Quechua-Aymara-Spanish trilingualism). Quechua languages ​​are also spoken by speakers of a number of minor Indian languages.

Quechua has been documented since the 16th century, when writing on a Latin basis was created. Quechua is a well-learned language, taught in school. There is a spelling standard.

As was shown in the studies of E.I. Tsarenko and V.S. Pestov, from a typological point of view, Quechua belongs to the languages ​​of the so-called Altai type: agglutinative suffixal morphology, big number specific and fulfillment categories, accusative construction of sentences, word order “subject - object - predicate”, a large number of non-finite dependent predications.

A large number of borrowings came from Quechua to Spanish and further to other languages, especially the names of plants, animals, etc. In Russian, the most famous among them are: coca (the name of an evergreen Andean shrub, the leaves of which contain cocaine and other alkaloids), condor, puma , llama, pampa (grassy treeless plain, steppe; hence also pampas), gaucho (South American shepherd). The word inka in Quechua means "ruler, representative of the ruling family." Interesting story English word jerky "smoked meat" - from Spanish. charqui, which, in turn, comes from the Quechuan chark "i. From the English jerky, the verb to jerk “to smoke meat” was formed by reverse derivation.

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