﻿34 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  Inca 
  added 
  their 
  own 
  caste 
  to 
  the 
  political 
  superstructure, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   formalizing 
  the 
  government 
  organization. 
  

  

  Many 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  Inca 
  social 
  culture 
  took 
  place 
  during 
  the 
  Colo- 
  

   nial 
  Spanish 
  Periods. 
  Although 
  the 
  simple 
  naming 
  ceremony 
  was 
  not 
  

   disturbed, 
  baptism 
  was 
  added. 
  Inca 
  age 
  grades 
  lost 
  their 
  signifi- 
  

   cance, 
  and 
  the 
  Inca 
  schools 
  for 
  the 
  upper 
  caste 
  were 
  no 
  longer 
  main- 
  

   tained. 
  Marriage, 
  insofar 
  as 
  possible, 
  was 
  controlled 
  by 
  the 
  Church, 
  

   which 
  also 
  took 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  burial 
  services, 
  although 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  total 
  

   elimination 
  of 
  Indian 
  customs. 
  However, 
  under 
  the 
  new 
  economic 
  

   regime, 
  the 
  Indians 
  were 
  unable 
  to 
  maintain 
  the 
  elaborateness 
  of 
  

   burial 
  practiced 
  before. 
  Mummy 
  worship 
  was 
  eliminated 
  in 
  the 
  

   Early 
  Colonial 
  Quechua 
  Period. 
  

  

  The 
  immediate 
  effect 
  of 
  the 
  Conquest 
  Period 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  leveling 
  

   the 
  class 
  distinctions 
  of 
  the 
  Inca. 
  Whether 
  the 
  Indians 
  submitted 
  

   to 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  or 
  joined 
  the 
  separatists, 
  the 
  leveling 
  process 
  was 
  the 
  

   same. 
  The 
  ayllu 
  continued 
  within 
  the 
  encomienda 
  system, 
  since 
  it 
  

   was 
  a 
  convenient 
  unit 
  to 
  tax. 
  Indian 
  villages 
  still 
  had 
  native 
  chiefs, 
  

   but 
  since 
  these 
  chiefs 
  also 
  became 
  the 
  tax 
  collectors, 
  their 
  interests 
  

   often 
  differed 
  from 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  group. 
  The 
  majority 
  of 
  Indians 
  

   were 
  reduced 
  to 
  hatunrunus, 
  or 
  tribute 
  payers, 
  or 
  yanaconas, 
  the 
  

   wandering 
  peon 
  class, 
  who 
  escaped 
  tax 
  payment. 
  In 
  effect 
  the 
  com- 
  

   plicated 
  Inca 
  class 
  structure 
  and 
  political 
  system 
  broke 
  down 
  into 
  a 
  

   simple 
  pattern 
  of 
  foreman 
  and 
  workers. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Early 
  Colonial 
  Period, 
  the 
  corregimiento, 
  or 
  crown 
  control, 
  

   replaced 
  the 
  encomienda. 
  Indian 
  self-government 
  was 
  replaced 
  by 
  

   Spanish 
  officials. 
  The 
  ayllu 
  community 
  continued 
  as 
  a 
  convenient 
  

   source 
  of 
  mita 
  labor 
  for 
  the 
  mines. 
  

  

  Today 
  the 
  hacienda 
  has 
  replaced 
  the 
  corregimiento. 
  The 
  present- 
  

   day 
  Indians 
  live 
  either 
  in 
  independent 
  communities 
  subject 
  to 
  tax- 
  

   ation, 
  or 
  on 
  plantations 
  as 
  peon 
  laborers. 
  The 
  ayllu, 
  as 
  a 
  loosely 
  

   organized 
  village 
  unit, 
  continues. 
  The 
  simplified 
  Indian 
  customs 
  

   associated 
  with 
  the 
  life 
  cycle 
  continue, 
  although 
  the 
  Church 
  has 
  for- 
  

   malized 
  the 
  rituals 
  of 
  baptism, 
  marriage, 
  and 
  burial. 
  Indian 
  chiefs 
  of 
  

   local 
  groups 
  are 
  still 
  recognized, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  some 
  who 
  claim 
  wider 
  

   authority, 
  although 
  in 
  reality 
  the 
  power 
  of 
  any 
  chief 
  is 
  definitely 
  

   limited. 
  Wealth 
  distinctions 
  and 
  differentiated 
  age 
  groups 
  are 
  still 
  

   recognized, 
  but 
  class 
  distinctions 
  are 
  not 
  formalized 
  nor 
  sharp. 
  

  

  RELIGION 
  

  

  Formalized 
  religious 
  organization 
  and 
  elaborated 
  practices 
  are 
  char- 
  

   acteristic 
  of 
  the 
  Central 
  Andean 
  cultures. 
  The 
  Inca 
  established 
  their 
  

   sun-worship 
  religion 
  throughout 
  the 
  Empire, 
  but 
  local 
  religious 
  cults 
  

   were 
  not 
  entirely 
  eliminated. 
  In 
  -pie-Inca 
  times, 
  the 
  number 
  and 
  

   variety 
  of 
  cults 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  enormous, 
  and 
  in 
  all 
  periods 
  religious 
  

   activities 
  played 
  a 
  prominent 
  role 
  in 
  the 
  lives 
  and 
  energies 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  