48 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 5 
Although the majority of the land of Muqui- 
yauyo is owned by residents of the town—for 
there are no haciendas within the District—each 
Institution owns tracts which were formerly 
cofradias of the church and which have since been 
purchased by the community. The fields of each 
Institution are planted, cultivated, and harvested 
communally by the members of the Institution, 
and either the produce is divided or the crops 
are sold and the profits shared among those who 
have contributed their labor. In addition, the 
Institutions own communal grazing lands in the 
mountainous annex of Los Andes and elsewhere 
within the District, and taxes are collected from 
members who herd their livestock in these 
pastures. This revenue, plus the fines collected 
from those who do not attend the faenas, is used 
to pay the operating expenses of the Institution. 
Since 1901 Muquiyauyo has authorized its 
treasurers to make short-term loans of community 
funds at monthly interest rates of from 10 to 20 
percent on the security of crop expectations and 
livestock (Castro Pozo, 1924, pp. 65-66). The 
interest from such loans as well as the revenue 
derived from the municipal electrie power plant 
furnishes the community with considerable funds 
for public works. As a consequence, Muqui- 
yauyo has schools which are said to be among the 
best in Highland Peru, an adequate irrigation 
system, substantial municipal buildings, and 
funds for such charitable works as the support of 
orphans and old people. 
The community attaches much importance to 
education, and it is compulsory for all children 
of the town to attend the primary schools. In the 
school for boys, for which there are 9 teachers, 312 
pupils are enrolled and, in addition to the usual 
curriculum, manual training, trades (tailoring, 
pottery making, shoemaking, and carpentry), 
agriculture, and animal husbandry are taught.” 
The school for girls has 5 teachers and a total of 
some 250 pupils. In addition, the town also has 
a Rural Normal School, which has 80 students and 
4 teachers. Together the teachers of Muquiyauyo 
form the Patronato Escolar, a teachers’ association 
which, on the basis of competitive examinations, 
grants municipal scholarships to the most promis- 
In addition to teachers furnished by the Government, the community 
hires additional ones at the expense of the municipality. 
ing students of the town. These students are 
then sent to high school in Jauja or Huancayo, 
and those who show exceptional ability receive 
university education at the expense of the com- 
munity. There is in addition considerable public 
pressure within the town which compels all citizens 
to learn to read and write, with the result that 
few—even of the older people—are illiterate. 
Few in Muquiyauyo habitually speak Quechua, 
and parents are anxious for their children to 
speak Spanish well. 
The economic life of Muquiyauyo differs in no 
important respects from that of other Jauja Valley 
towns. While the people of the town proper are 
predominantly farmers, those of the annex of Los 
Andes tend to specialize in the raising of livestock. 
In contrast with Sicaya and Chupaca, most 
tradesmen and artisans in Muquiyauyo are local 
people; outsiders are less numerous here than in 
the former towns, and there are said to be far 
fewer peons. With the exception of the annex of 
Muqui, which manufactures pottery and tiles, 
Muquiyauyo appears to have no specialized in- 
dustries, and although a small market is held on 
Saturdays, the community is not primarily a 
market town. 
Unlike the towns at the southern end of the 
Jauja Valley, few people from Muquiyauyo seck 
employment on the Coast. While some work in 
mines for periods of a year or two at a time, many 
go seasonally to the mining centers of La Oroya, 
Morococha, Cerro de Pasco, Huarén, and to 
Huancavelica Department.* These — seasonal 
miners seldom go accompanied by their entire 
families, but usually take their wives or some 
female relative to do the cooking and housekeeping. 
Religious festivals in Muquiyauyo appear to 
receive less attention than in other Jauja Valley 
towns. There is no resident priest, and the fiesta 
of the patron saint, San Juan, is no longer cele- 
brated. In addition, there are said to be many 
Protestants in the community as well as a Seventh 
Day Adventist mission. Perhaps as a conse- 
quence of this apparent lack of interest in religious 
fiestas, the principal feast days of the town are 
reported to be Carnavales (elsewhere a semi- 
secular celebration) and Christmas. 
83 The preference for mine work rather than for employment on the coastal 
haciendas is also typical of the townspeople of Paca. 
