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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 3 



the community or the region.'** This is apparently 

 correlated with the lack of community pride and 

 solidarity. There is, to be sure, a certain vague 

 feeling that the people are descended from an im- 

 portant culture of ancient times, but no details have 

 been elaborated, and the distinction between the 

 Incas, the Chimus, and the Mochicas, for example, 

 is not evident in the thinking of the people, even in 

 disguised form. One family named Azabache 

 (there are a large number of Azabache families ) 

 speak halfheartedly of the fact that they are 

 descended from the "ciiracas" of ancient times. 

 Other families are willing to admit this in con- 

 versation, in part at least, because it means nothing 

 to the community as a whole. The Azabaches are 

 willing to derive some prestige from their allegedly 

 noble descent, but they have no impressive details 

 with which to bolster the hazy tradition. Of course, 

 they have no explanation of the fact that they now 



^A considerably ridier body of traditional material, partly aborig- 

 inal, seems to exist in Lambayeque. See Barandarian, n. d. 



have a Spanish name. (Azabache means "jet," thci 

 black stone). 



The ruins are regarded on the whole by the 

 Mocheros as something as curious and foreign to 

 themselves as they are to foreigners and all other, 

 persons. The ancient inhabitants are usually spoken 

 of as gentiles (heathen) whereas the Mocheros are 

 distinguished from them as cristianos. As for the 

 traditional history of colonial times, it is conceivable 

 that prolonged dredging of the memories of the older 

 people would bring up something coherent, but in 

 5 months I was unable to obtain anything of signifi- 

 cance. The two important historical events most 

 often spoken of are the Chilean invasion of 1879 and 

 the floods of 1925. 



One cannot escape the conclusion that a com- 

 munity which has no strong solidarity and pride in 

 itself as a group at present cannot be expected to 

 have pride and interest in traditions concerning its 

 past. 



SOCIAL FORMS AND ORGANIZATION 



POLITICAL CONTROLS 



It was not my business to make a study of the 

 Peruvian Government agencies in Moche, other than 

 to consider their relation with the local culture and 

 social situation. Therefore, no elaborate analysis 

 will be attempted, and the following remarks have 

 to do mainly with the functional aspects of the local 

 government as seen from the point of view of an 

 anthropologist, not that of a political scientist. The 

 situation is described as of 1944. 



In brief, the political controls in Moche are as 

 follows. The town is the seat of the Municipalidad 

 de Moche (Municipality of Moche), which is in- 

 cluded within the Distrito de Moche (District of 

 Moche) which also has its seat in the town. The 

 District of Moche is a subdivision of the Province 

 of Trujillo, which is one of the 7 Provinces com- 

 posing the Department of La Libertad, which, in 

 turn, is one of the 23 Departments composing the 

 Republic of Peru. The Prefect, whose headquarters 

 are in Trujillo, is the deputy of the central govern- 

 ment and supreme political authority for the Depart- 

 ment of La Libertad. He appoints political officers 

 for the various municipalities and districts with the 

 advice of his staff and the approval of the central 

 government in Lima. The Department is repre- 



sented in the National Congress by three elected \'. 

 senators and several deputies, but there are no i' 

 elected representatives of districts or municipalities 

 as such. 



The appointed political officers in Moche are as 

 follows. The District is presided over by a gobcr- 

 iiador, who has an assistant and deputy called a 

 tcnicnfc gobernador. They appoint a number of in- 

 formal assistants, known as tenicntcs del cauipo, who 

 carry out errands pertaining to their own neighbor- 

 hoods. The municipality is in charge of an alcalde 

 (mayor), who has a deputy, the vice-alcalde, and 

 who is advised by a group of appointed conscjales 

 (councilors). The only constituted judicial author- 

 ity is a justice of the peace (juez de paz~). There is 

 a police post (puesto de la guardia civil) composed 

 of five men imder the orders of a corporal. They 

 are directly responsible to the departmental co- 

 mandant of police in Trujillo, but may be called in 

 by the political officials when needed. With the 

 exception of the police personnel, none of the political 

 officials is paid for his services. 



The municipal government is supposed to govern 

 the town and certain surrounding territory and the 

 District government governs the remaining territory 

 nf the District. Economic support is understood to 



