34 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 
Santa Cruz, Ascencién, Todos los Santos, and 
Pascua, figure importantly in the life of the com- 
munity, informants state that the Indians of the 
community continue to practice rites and cere- 
monials which appear to be largely aboriginal in 
character.® It is probable that, as in southern 
Peru, these survivals occur in connection with 
agriculture and with the raising of livestock. 
63 Bustamante’s monograph (1943) on Ayacucho contains much information 
regarding the beliefs and practices of the Indians of the Department. 
JUNIN DEPARTMENT 
HUANCAYO 
The origin of Huancayo is lost in obscurity. 
Chavez, who after extensive investigation was 
unable to discover the date of the foundation of 
the city or the name of its founder, concludes that 
originally Huancayo was merely a “long street’ 
on the King’s Highway of the Incas (Chivez, 
1926, pp. 27-28). Cieza de Leén, who surely 
passed through Huancayo in the mid-16th century 
en route to Ayacucho and Cuzco did not consider 
the town worthy of mention by name, though he 
describes the Jauja Valley in some detail (Cieza 
de Leén, 1922, pp. 274-280). Although Vazquez 
de Espinosa mentions Huancayo in the early 17th 
century, he calls it an ‘Indian village,” and 
writes of it and the Jauja Valley towns generally 
as follows: 
In this valley there are 15 [very] fine large Indian vil- 
lages, with two Dominican priorates; one is Hatunjauja, 
the first in the valley going N. and league away, where 
the tambo is today ... This priorate has two villages 
under it, Huaripampa (near Muquiyauyo) and Yauyos. 
At the 8. end of the valley is the other priorate, in the 
village of Huancayo; it has under it the villages of Sicaya 
and [that of the] Chongos, which is close to the sierra; 
both are on the other side of the river W. of Huancayo. 
Near the river is the village of Sapallanga, where there is 
an excellent cloth and grogram mill which belongs to the 
nuns of the Lima convent of La Concepcién. At the S. 
end of the Jauja Valley is a small stream which separates 
the jurisdictions of the Archdiocese of Lima and the 
Diocese of Guamanga; in the center of the valley there 
are seven more villages, under the religious instruction of 
the Franciscans. On the E. side of the river are the vil- 
lages of Apata, Matahuasi, San Gerénimo, and La Con- 
cepcién, which comes between them, and is the guardi- 
ania (seat of local superior), to which the others are sub- 
ordinate, and residence of the Corregidor of this province 
and that of the Andes, appointed by the Viceroy. Oppo- 
site this village on the other side of the river on the W. 
is the village of Mito, which is a guardianfa with two sub- 
ordinate villages, Sincos and Orcotuna. 
This Jauja Province and Valley is very fertile and 
prolific, with abundance of excellent products. They 
make very good bacon and ham here, ranking with the 
best in that Kingdom. [And rich though it is, prices are 
very low for] A fowl costs 1 real, 20 eggs are sold for a real; 
everything is on the same scale. The Sierra King’s High- 
way passes through the valley on its way from Lima and 
Quito to Cuzco, Potosf, and all the upland country. It 
contains many artisans of all crafts and many [Indian] 
silversmiths; these, with tools remarkably different from 
ours, manufacture and produce articles of remarkable 
delicacy. ... On all the heights on the W. side of the 
valley rise many of the ancient buildings erected by the 
order of the Inca kings, some as fortresses and others for 
the storage of corn, potatoes, and other provisions, On 
the E. it has the hot country Andes, whose products are 
brought to this valley, and where they get coca... . 
All the villages in the Jauja Valley have [very] fine well- 
constructed churches, with excellent towers and_ bells. 
Many Spaniards live among the Indians in this valley. 
[Vdzquez de Espinosa, 1942, pp. 474-476.] 
Hence, our first glimpse of Huancayo is that of a 
small farming village and tambo, situated in the 
heart of the agricultural Jauja Valley on the 
principal Colonial Highland highway. Basing his 
estimate on the writings of Don Francisco de 
Toledo, Chavez (1926, p. 30) deduces that in 1570 
Huanecayo had a population of only 230 inhabi- 
tants. Although this estimate seems too small, 
it appears certain that throughout the Colonial 
Period the town was a place of no particular im- 
portance; indeed it was not until early in the 
19th century, in 1822, that the title of ‘city’? was 
conferred upon Huancayo.™ 
Soon after its official elevation to the status of 
“city,” however, Huancayo emerged from Colonial 
obscurity to figure importantly in the events of 
the 19th century. The independence of Peru 
was proclaimed in its plaza. In 1830 the Con- 
egress of Huancayo gave birth to a new constitu- 
tional regime, and on three occasions during the 
troubled century the city was the provisional 
capital of the Republic. During the war with 
Chile, the region was turned into a battleground; 
Sicaya was looted, Chupaca partially destroyed, 
and, in 1822, Huancayo was occupied by Chilean 
forces.®° 
But by far the most important event in the re- 
61 Tello Devotto, 1944, pp. 8-9. In his summary history of Huancayo, 
Tello Devotto is unable to cite any outstanding historical events which took 
place in the city, or even in the immediate neighborhood, prior to 1820, 
65 For an account of Huancayo during the war with Chile, see Tello Devotto 
(1944, pp. 26-44), 
