﻿294 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  B. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  Viracocha, 
  the 
  Creator, 
  was 
  the 
  theoretical 
  source 
  of 
  all 
  divine 
  

   power, 
  but 
  the 
  Indians 
  believed 
  that 
  He 
  had 
  turned 
  over 
  the 
  adminis- 
  

   tration 
  of 
  his 
  creation 
  to 
  a 
  multitude 
  of 
  assistant 
  supernatural 
  beings, 
  

   whose 
  influence 
  on 
  human 
  affairs 
  was 
  consequently 
  more 
  immediate. 
  

   He 
  lived 
  in 
  the 
  heavens, 
  and 
  appeared 
  to 
  men 
  at 
  crises. 
  He 
  was 
  also 
  

   a 
  culture 
  hero, 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  believed 
  that 
  after 
  the 
  creation 
  He 
  had 
  jour- 
  

   neyed 
  through 
  the 
  country 
  teaching 
  people 
  how 
  to 
  live 
  and 
  performing 
  

   miracles. 
  He 
  finally 
  reached 
  Manta 
  (in 
  Ecuador), 
  and 
  set 
  off 
  across 
  

   the 
  Pacific 
  Ocean 
  walking 
  on 
  the 
  water. 
  28 
  

  

  The 
  Sun. 
  — 
  The 
  most 
  important 
  servants 
  of 
  the 
  Creator 
  were 
  the 
  

   sky 
  gods, 
  headed 
  by 
  the 
  Sun, 
  who 
  was 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  divine 
  an- 
  

   cestor 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  dynasty. 
  The 
  Sun 
  protected 
  and 
  matured 
  crops, 
  

   and 
  his 
  cult 
  was 
  naturally 
  preeminent 
  among 
  an 
  agricultural 
  people. 
  

   He 
  was 
  thought 
  of 
  as 
  male, 
  but 
  seems 
  usually 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  represented 
  

   by 
  a 
  golden 
  disk 
  with 
  rays 
  and 
  a 
  human 
  face. 
  There 
  were 
  several 
  

   images 
  of 
  the 
  Sun 
  in 
  Cuzco, 
  and 
  the 
  official 
  Inca 
  worship 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  carried 
  out 
  in 
  his 
  name. 
  Indians 
  and 
  Spaniards 
  called 
  the 
  

   great 
  Government-built 
  sanctuaries 
  "sun 
  temples," 
  and 
  the 
  fields 
  

   which 
  supported 
  the 
  religious 
  officials, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  Chosen 
  Women 
  

   who 
  served 
  in 
  the 
  temples, 
  are 
  repeatedly 
  mentioned 
  as 
  "of 
  the 
  sun." 
  

   On 
  detailed 
  examination, 
  however, 
  it 
  becomes 
  apparent 
  that 
  the 
  Sun's 
  

   position 
  was 
  not 
  as 
  imposing 
  as 
  appears 
  from 
  these 
  attributions. 
  The 
  

   "Temple 
  of 
  the 
  Sun" 
  in 
  Cuzco 
  housed 
  images 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  sky 
  gods 
  of 
  the 
  

   Inca 
  and 
  a 
  host 
  of 
  lesser 
  supernaturals 
  besides; 
  its 
  most 
  important 
  

   image 
  was 
  not 
  of 
  the 
  Sun 
  but 
  of 
  Viracocha. 
  The 
  fields 
  attributed 
  to 
  

   the 
  Sun 
  supported 
  the 
  whole 
  Inca 
  priesthood, 
  not 
  just 
  the 
  ministers 
  

   of 
  the 
  Sun, 
  and 
  the 
  Chosen 
  Women 
  served 
  all 
  the 
  deities 
  in 
  the 
  tem- 
  

   ples, 
  not 
  the 
  Sun 
  alone. 
  Although 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  power 
  in 
  Inca 
  

   religion, 
  the 
  Sun 
  was 
  merely 
  one 
  of 
  many 
  great 
  powers 
  recognized 
  in 
  

   official 
  worship, 
  and 
  his 
  importance 
  was 
  more 
  theoretical 
  than 
  real. 
  29 
  

  

  The 
  Thunder, 
  or 
  Weather 
  God. 
  — 
  After 
  the 
  Sun, 
  ranked 
  Thunder, 
  God 
  

   of 
  Weather, 
  to 
  whom 
  prayers 
  for 
  rain 
  were 
  addressed. 
  He 
  was 
  

   pictured 
  as 
  a 
  man 
  in 
  the 
  sky, 
  and 
  identified 
  with 
  a 
  constellation. 
  He 
  

   held 
  a 
  war 
  club 
  in 
  one 
  hand 
  and 
  a 
  sling 
  in 
  the 
  other, 
  and 
  wore 
  shining 
  

  

  28 
  The 
  title 
  of 
  Wiraqoca 
  was 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  and 
  is 
  still 
  used 
  to 
  address 
  White 
  men. 
  There 
  is 
  

   little 
  doubt 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  16th 
  century 
  it 
  implied 
  divinity, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  were 
  regarded 
  with 
  a 
  certain 
  

   amount 
  of 
  awe. 
  Polo 
  says 
  that 
  after 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  Huascar 
  , 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  his 
  party 
  made 
  frantic 
  sacrifices 
  

   to 
  the 
  Creator 
  for 
  deliverance 
  from 
  Atahuallpa's 
  vengeance. 
  When 
  the 
  news 
  arrived 
  almost 
  immedi- 
  

   ately 
  that 
  strange 
  White 
  men 
  from 
  over 
  the 
  sea 
  had 
  captured 
  Atahuallpa, 
  Huascar's 
  party 
  concluded 
  that 
  

   the 
  White 
  men 
  had 
  come 
  in 
  answer 
  to 
  their 
  prayers, 
  and 
  so 
  called 
  them 
  Wikaqoca. 
  Polo 
  adds 
  that 
  Ata- 
  

   huallpa's 
  followers, 
  until 
  long 
  after 
  the 
  fight 
  at 
  Cajamarca, 
  called 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  not 
  Wiraqoca 
  but 
  Sonrha- 
  

   sapa, 
  "bearded 
  men" 
  (Polo, 
  1940, 
  p. 
  154). 
  On 
  the 
  attributes 
  of 
  Viracocha, 
  see 
  Cobo, 
  1890-95, 
  bk. 
  13, 
  chs. 
  2, 
  4; 
  

   Molina 
  of 
  Cuzco, 
  1913, 
  pp. 
  122-127; 
  Sarmiento, 
  1906, 
  chs. 
  6, 
  7; 
  Cieza, 
  1884, 
  bk. 
  2, 
  ch. 
  5; 
  Betanzos, 
  1880, 
  chs. 
  1-3. 
  

  

  » 
  The 
  Sun 
  was 
  called 
  inti, 
  "sungod," 
  and 
  p'oncaw, 
  "daylight" 
  (modern 
  p'oncat). 
  Polo 
  and 
  his 
  disciples, 
  

   Acosta 
  and 
  Cobo, 
  say 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  three 
  images 
  of 
  the 
  Sun 
  called 
  apo- 
  inti," 
  lord 
  sun," 
  cori-inti, 
  ''son 
  

   sun," 
  and 
  inti-wawqi, 
  "sun 
  brother," 
  for 
  which 
  different 
  explanations 
  were 
  given. 
  (See 
  Cobo, 
  1890-95, 
  bk. 
  13. 
  

   ch. 
  5.) 
  While 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  these 
  three 
  statues 
  is 
  perfectly 
  possible, 
  they 
  look 
  suspiciously 
  like 
  a 
  conscious 
  

   imitation 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  Trinity 
  made 
  up 
  for 
  the 
  benefit 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  missionaries. 
  For 
  the 
  Sun 
  in 
  gen- 
  

   eral, 
  see 
  Cobo, 
  1890-95, 
  bk. 
  13, 
  ch. 
  5; 
  Pachacuti, 
  1879; 
  Molina 
  of 
  Cuzco, 
  1913, 
  p. 
  127; 
  Cieza, 
  1880, 
  bk. 
  2, 
  ch. 
  27; 
  

   Poma, 
  1936, 
  pp. 
  79, 
  258, 
  264, 
  etc. 
  

  

  