MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITi'— GILLIN 



115 



them with other individuals, they are raised higher, 

 they are "better supported" socially than those of 

 their fellows with a paucity of social connections. 

 Thus they are raised above the multitude. 



It would not be fair to suggest that in social organ- 

 ization Moche is necessarily typical of all the small 

 rural communities of Peru. Its proximity to a city, 

 its rapid and recently established communications 



with the outside world, its peculiar land problems, 

 and probably certain imperfectly known features of 

 its cultural development are all factors which com- 

 bine to form a configuration the details of which may 

 be unique to Moche. The vegetative type of life 

 and a certain lack of development of community 

 enterprise and organization are not unknown, how- 

 ever, in other parts of Peru. 



NATIVE MEDICINE AND MAGICAL CURING 



GENERAL ORIENTATION 



The complex of customs concerned with the curing 

 of physical and mental ailments in Moche exhibits 

 perhaps the greatest range of '"primitive" elements 

 of any aspect of the culture, and also illustrates most 

 vividly the mixture of old and new which is so 

 striking and sometimes so confusing a feature of 

 Moche in general. Characteristic of the latter is the 

 following incident. 



One afternoon I was enjoying a leisurely causa 

 (typical Moche lunch) at the house of one of my 

 friends in the campina near the Huaca del Sol. One 

 of the "accepted jorasteros" was with me, but other- 

 wise the gathering was composed exclusively of 

 Mocheros netos — six men and their female compa- 

 jicras and seiloras. While the women were disposing 

 of the remains of the food in the outdoor kitchen, we 

 men continued sitting around the table, trading anec- 

 dotes and drinking chicha. One of the men told a 

 story concerning a discovery he had made in a 

 chichcria in Ascope, where, during his residence in 

 that community, he had for some years been in the 

 habit of eating city (guinea pig) and picante once or 

 twice a week. One day, when the proprietress 

 stepped out of the establishment to obtain some rice 

 from a nearby tienda, our friend slipped into the 

 kitchen and, to his surprise, found that the "guinea 

 pigs" which the good seilora had been in the course 

 of preparing were actually large, fat rats. The dis- 

 covery took away his appetite. 



This story stimulated a pseudophilosophical dis- 

 cussion of the sources and preparation of meats. 

 Except for the "idea of it," everyone agreed that 

 there was no reason why people should not eat dogs, 

 horses, and a series of other familiar animals not 

 actually used for meat in Moche. But rats were 

 different, because they lived in filthy conditions and 

 fed on garbage and offal. Then someone asked, 

 "How about pigs? Aren't they just as filthy?" 



One of the Mocheros replied, "Yes," and went on to 

 point out that pork must be thoroughly cooked before 

 eating, because it often contains "trichinosis." The 

 actual word was used. Discussion continued as to 

 whether or not cooking actually kills the trichina, 

 with everyone using the words and the concepts in 

 what struck me as a most educated and modern 

 manner. At the same time, however, that my 

 Mochero friends were learnedly bandying about 

 words and theories of modern medicine, the single 

 chicha glass was making the rounds in the usual 

 fashion. None of the men paid any attention to the 

 slime and the lip marks on the common glass, which, 

 to me, were only too visible. 



This tendency to use both the modern and the old 

 together, often in the same situation, but in what one 

 might call a dissociated manner,'" occurs in practi- 

 cally all aspects of Moche culture, but is especially 

 evident in curing beliefs and practices. 



First of all, the Mocheros are acquainted with 

 modern medicine and with drug stores, called boticas. 

 Although there is neither a physician nor a drug 

 store in Moche itself, those of nearby Trujillo are 

 available and are used. The general attitude toward 

 physicians is a mixture of respect and lack of con- 

 fidence, and this is true of Mocheros, old and young. 

 Although I have discussed these matters both 

 directly and indirectly with many Mocheros, includ- 

 ing some who are attending the university and who 

 hold professional positions in Trujillo, I have yet 

 to find one who seems to have wholehearted and 

 complete confidence in the medicos. Yet most Mo- 

 cheros agree that in certain conditions if anything 

 at all can be done, only a medico can do it. For 

 example, even the curanderas and midwives agree 

 that a case of complicated childbirth, such as a breech 

 presentation, must be immediately taken to the hos- 



°^ This is an example of a violation of the principle of consistency 

 in culture, or of a cultural inconsistency as between representational 

 patterns and actional patterns, as discussed in Gillin, 1944. 



