HIGHLAND COMMUNITIES OF CENTRAL PERU—TSCHOPIK 39 
town into members of old families or those with 
illustrious ancestors (gente decente; gente de buena 
familia), families having Quechua surnames (on 
occasion individuals of such families are referred 
to slightingly as ‘“andigenas” or ‘indios’’), out- 
siders (foraneos or forasteros), and peones. Al- 
though these two systems of classification are 
often at variance, they cut across one another at 
many points; there are wealthy upstarts and 
impoverished aristocrats, prominent outsiders and 
rich individuals who bear such names as Huayna- 
laya, Sihuay, and Chiguan.” Of the two systems, 
that based on wealth appears, in general, to be of 
more significance at the present time. 
Actually, with the exception of the very 
wealthy and the very prominent, and excepting 
outsiders and peons, it is difficult for the observer 
to place given individuals in the proper levels 
of the social hierarchy. Most of those born 
in Chupaca share similar traditions, attitudes, 
values, and a common way of life; differences 
between the social levels are in degree rather 
than in kind. Objective criteria, which  else- 
where in Highland Peru reflect class differences, 
must here be employed with great care. Gen- 
erally speaking, no one is too proud to farm or to 
build his own house. Virtually all of the older 
people chew coca, some habitually and others 
only on festive or ritual occasions. There ap- 
pears to be little variation in kitchen parapher- 
nalia and in food habits from rich to poor. Nor 
does costume necessarily reflect class; women who 
dress in European-type clothing (de vestido) when 
in Huancayo or Lima may dress de centro in 
Chupaca. This costume, the typical woman’s 
dress of the Jauja Valley, is usually of manu- 
factured material and consists of a full, pleated 
skirt, often dark, of colored underskirts, blouse, 
shoulder-length shawl of a solid color, broad- 
brimmed white straw hat with a black band, and 
shoes (pl. 12, a). A few of the older women con- 
tinue to wear cotén, the aboriginal-type single- 
piece dress of homespun, which is usually worn 
with native-woven belt and shawl (pl. 12, 06); 
even here, however, the general feeling is not 
that the wearer is an Indian—and therefore an 
inferior in the social seale—but rather that she is 
“old fashioned.”” Men who habitually wear 
European-type suits of manufactured materials 
and shoes may don homespun clothing, hand- 
72 The above-mentioned Quechua surnames are not necessarily from 
Chupaca, but occur with frequency in other nearby Jauja Valley towns. 
woven belt, and go barefoot when engaged in 
agricultural labors, and wear a poncho when the 
weather is chilly. 
In Chupaca, wealth is calculated primarily in 
terms of land, and secondarily in terms of live- 
stock. While no stigma is attached to the profes- 
sions and to commercial enterprises (the more 
extensive, the more socially acceptable), handi- 
crafts and trades tend to be deprecated. The 
land-wealthy Chupaquinos own the larger, more 
differentiated houses, which are better furnished 
and located in the center of the town... Often 
they reside permanently in Huancayo or in Lima, 
and come back to Chupaca once or twice a year 
to visit relatives and friends. In general, the 
wealthy direct local politics. Discounting recent 
sociopolitical trends, the holding of an important 
public office appears to depend primarily upon the 
economic and/or social standing of an individual 
or his family. Because they have the means, 
and because of the prestige involved, rich citizens 
usually sponsor the more important fiestas. 
Poor Chupaquinos, although they may be vir- 
tually landless, differ from the peons in important 
respects. Since they were born in Chupaca, they 
“belong,” and many have relatives and friends 
in more comfortable circumstances upon whom 
they may call for financial assistance. 
Although prejudice against outsiders appears to 
have declined markedly in recent years, indivi- 
duals who have come to Chupaca from other 
towns: tend to form a group apart. From the 
point of view of the townspeople, anyone not 
born in the District is an outsider. Indeed, older 
residents of the town, reluctant to accept new- 
comers, will say, ‘‘So-and-so is not a Chupaquino; 
his grandfather came from Concepcidn.”’ The 
majority of the merchants of the town, who operate 
the shops and stores, as well as the hat makers, 
weavers, carpenters, and the like, are outsiders 
from Sicaya, Orcotuna, Mito, and Chongos. The 
present trend, however, perhaps due in part to the 
large numbers who have abandoned Chupaca to 
take up residence in Huancayo and in the Coastal 
cities, is to accept outsiders and to fit them into 
the life of the town. 
The peons, the landless day laborers, form, 
perhaps, the most distinctive element in the popu- 
lation. These individuals, without money and 
without ties, who come to Chupaca to stay for a 
month, a year, perhaps forever, are in the main 
from remote, impoverished villages and from the 
