i8 INDIAN COMMUNITIES OF BOLIVIA 



the unprotected prey of the land-hungry, and often entirely 

 unscrupulous, Bolivian cholo (half-breed). By such procedure 

 they free themselves, too, from the burdensome oppression 

 exercised by the petty officials of the government. On such 

 fincas, and in fact on many others, there persist many of the 

 communal features from days when they were independent. 



DEPARTMENT OF ORURO 



In the Department of Oruro, Indian communities still hold 

 much of the land lying west of the Desaguadero River, particu- 

 larly in the Province of Carangas. There the parcialidad is the 

 prevailing unit. It corresponds to the holdings of a community 

 and has come to be recognized as a political as well as an agrarian 

 unit. Each canton is divided into so many parcialidades, usually 

 two or three, and each of these, in turn, contains a group of ayllus 

 (from two to ten). In many cases, as on other parts of the 

 plateau, the ancient division of the people into aransaya and 

 urinsaya (upper and lower town) is still retained. 



In the Province of Abaroa many communities exist, particu- 

 larly in the far western section of the altiplano, on the piedmont 

 beyond Lake Coipasa. In this region, far removed from roads 

 and railroads, and in the secluded mountain valleys and basins 

 westward to the Bolivian-Chilean boundary, are timid and 

 primitive Indian groups which preserve their ancient customs, 

 and white people seldom visit them. 



In the Province of Cercado, especially in the canton of Paria, 

 there are also found many surviving communities, though here 

 contact with the whites along roads leading from Oruro to La Paz 

 and Cochabamba has favored the absorption of communities 

 by ad]oimng fincas. 



In Poopo, about Lake Poop6, communities hold a large share of 

 the land. The inhabitants here divide their time between farming 

 and mining, receiving good wages in the silver mines near by 

 and returning to their fields only for planting and harvesting.^^ 



i« Pedro Aniceto Blanco: Diccionario geografico de la Republica de Bolivia, 

 Vol. 4: Departamento de Oruro, La Paz, 1904. 



