MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMLMTi— GIl.I.IN 



C9 



niu tho official vital statistics quoted on page 9 are 

 accurate in detail, it seems certain that the rate of 

 natural increase is high. This pressure of popula- 

 tion upon the fixed land area, already too restricted, 

 will doubtless lead either to population shifts or to 

 cuftural changes of a radical nature. There are only 

 a*te\v apparent possibilities: (1) The excess popu- 

 lation may be squeezed out of the community, dis- 

 inherited, as it were, and forced to settle elsewhere. 

 The large haciendas of the Chicama \'alky with 

 their chronic labor shortages are glad to accept the 

 Mocheros into the barrack life. This eventuality 

 would make it possible for the remainder of the popu- 

 lation to carry on a small-scale farming life as at 

 present, although the repercussions of intrafamily 

 and interpersonal antagonism might be serious. (2) 

 The bulk of tiie Mocheros would continue to main- 

 tain their homes in the community, while an increas- 

 ing proportion earned its livelihood by outside effort. 

 (3) The whole of the irrigated land, with its in- 

 habitants, might be absorbed into some large hacienda 

 which would then redistribute the ])opulation 

 throughout its lands and, probably, destroy the whole 

 structure of Moche life as known at present. 



Other possibilities, involving developments in com- 

 munity organization, might well avoid or change any 

 of these rather stark pictures, but these aspects of the 

 matter must be discussed in a later section. 



MOCHEROS IN TUF. PROFESSIONS OUTSIDE 

 OF MOCHE 



An increasing number of Mocheros are seeking 

 higher education and entering the professions, often 

 to practice outside of the community. In 1944 there 

 were about 10 Mocheros enrolled in the University in 

 Trujillo. 1 in Mexico, and 1 in Lima, and it is said 

 that there is a colony of about 30 Moche families in 

 Lima. This tendency to enter the so-called liberal 

 professions, provided the candidates are successful, 

 also relieves the economic pressure inside Moche, and 

 it may be expected to increase unless some block is 

 placed in the way of successful careers by Mocheros. 

 Insofar as the young men become lawyers, the trend 

 has certain disruptive features in the sense that the 

 tendency seems to lead to increased litigation, which 

 will be discussed later in the consideration of property 

 matters. 



As a sample of the sons and daughters of Moche 

 who have made successful professional careers outside 

 the community, I give the following list, culled from 

 various informants. Except for a few, T do not know 



the individuals personally. In Moche. at least, they 

 are regarded as distinguished personages. 



A doctor ol laws, accountant, and professor of mat he- 

 matics in the Colegio Nacional de San Juan and propriitor of 

 tlie Colegio dc Rcnaciiniento, botli of Trujillo, 



A doctor of medicine (surgeon), practices in Lima and 

 is on the staff of the Hospital 2 de Ma\o of Lima. 



A professor in the Colegio Nacional de Nueslra Sei'iora dc 

 Guadelupe in Lima. 



.\ doctor of laws and catedrdtico in the Universidad 

 Nacional de Trujillo. 



.•\ doctor of laws, practicing in Lima. 



.\n accountant employed by the customshousc in lea. 



.\ lawyer, accountant, auxiliary caledrdtico in the Uni- 

 versidad Nacional de Trujillo, and professor in the Colegio 

 Nacional de San Juan in Trujillo. 



Two lawyers. 



.\ lawyer practicing in Lima. 



A ])rofcssor in the normal school. 



.\ school teacher and professor. 



A professor of domestic sciences in the Colegio Renaci- 

 miento, Trujillo. 



Pedro Azabache, perhaps the most famous of all, is a 

 distinguished young jiainter who had a successful one-man 

 show in Lima in 1944; he studied in the ILscuela de Bellas 

 .•\rtes in Lima and was a pupil of the famous Peruvian 

 painter, Jose Sabogal. He has maintained his headquarters 

 in I.inia. hut plans to open a studio and school in Moche. 



PROPERTY 



We are often accustomed to think of a "primitive," 

 "peasant." or "folk" economy as predominantly co- 

 operative in economic activities and propertv con- 

 cepts, although various studies have shtuvn that 

 cooperation is not invariably characteristic of both of 

 these aspects of economics, even on the primitive 

 level ( Mead. 1937) . However, all the evidence seems 

 to indicate that cooperation in work and a commu- 

 nistic or socialistic attitude toward property, whether 

 voluntary or forced, were characteristic of the 

 aboriginal communities of ancient Peru ("X'alcarcel, 

 1943. p. 143 flF. ; Baudin. 1943, chs. 6-10), at all 

 events was insisted upon by the Inca conquerors. 

 Moche is in many respects a "peasant" or "folk" com- 

 munity (Redfield, 1941. pp. 338-370). as well as be- 

 ing an heir of the ancient cultures of Peru, but cultural 

 concepts regarding property, particularly land, are 

 definitely individualistic. Even relatives of the closest 

 degree do not hesitate to engage in feuds and litiga- 

 tions with each other over questions of land rights. 

 This matter deserves a rather extended discussion 

 because it is the source of many of Moche's troubles 

 and upon the form of its solution depends much of 

 Moche's future. 



