FOREWORD 



Bv Julian H. Steward 



The purpKDse of the pubHcations of the Institute 

 of Social Anthropology is to further an understand- 

 ing of the basic cultures of America through mak- 

 ing generally available the results of cooperative 

 studies. These studies at present are more concerned 

 with the basic rural populations that are partly In- 

 dian and partly European than with the varied mani- 

 festations of western civilization. They are essen- 

 tially acculturational, the various communities selected 

 for investigations ranging jn degree of assimilation 

 from self-sufficient and self-contained preliterate 

 Indian groups to strongly mestizoized, literate, 

 Spanish-speaking villages, which are more or less 

 integrated into national life. 



The preceding monograph, "Cheran : A Sierra 

 T.irascan \'illage," by Ralph L. Beals, Publication 

 No. 2 of the Institute of Social Anthropology, de- 

 scribes a community which is increasingly feeling the 

 impact of European civilization but is .still thought 

 of as "Indian." The present study of Moche, a 

 coast village of northern Peru, reveals a community 

 that is in the last stages of losing its identity as an 

 Indian group and of being absorbed into Peruvian 

 national life. Insofar as these communities are 

 atypical of their nations, however, both are probably 

 more 16th-century Spain than native Indian. 



Surrounded by large, modernized haciendas, 

 Moche is "Indian" only in that its population is 

 largely Indian in a racial sense, that it has retained 

 much of its own lands, that it exists in a certain 

 social isolation from surrounding peoples, retaining 

 a community life organized on a modified kinship 

 basis, mainly of Spanish derivation, and that it pre- 

 serves a considerable belief in witchcraft and a scat- 



tering of minor aboriginal culture elements. Its 

 lands, however, are now owned individually, and 

 they are being alienated through sale and litigation. 

 It is on a cash rather than subsistence basis economi- 

 cally, and, though much of its produce is for home 

 consumption, it relies increasingly on purchase of 

 goods with money earned by sale of agricultural and 

 dairy products. Many Mocheros even work out- 

 side the community for wages, and some are in pro- 

 fessions. Moche clothing, household goods, utensils, 

 implements, domesticated animals, many crops, art, 

 music, and formal religion are all of Peruvian na- 

 tional types. The community is Spanish-speaking 

 and another generation will find it largely literate. 

 Formal aspects of native social organization have 

 disappeared, and contacts with the outside world 

 are increasing. Politically, Moche is completely 

 under national and provincial administration. 



Dr. Gillin's present excellent analj'sis of Moche 

 is the first of a series of studies projected for Peru. 

 It will help set in perspective the cultures and cul- 

 ture changes among the highland Quechua Indian 

 communities, which the Institute of Social Anthrop- 

 olog>', in cooperation with Peruvian authorities, is 

 now studying. The field work at Moche, however, 

 was done at a time when the plan for cooperation 

 between these institutions had not yet been consum- 

 mated, and, although Dr. Gillin had the greatest 

 possible assistance and all courtesies from Peruvians, 

 both officially and privately, it was not yet possible 

 to arrange their participation in the work. Thanks 

 to Dr. Gillin's part in developing the program, truly 

 cooperative field work is now in progress. 



VII 



