﻿THE 
  CONTEMPORARY 
  QUECHUA 
  

  

  By 
  Beenard 
  Mishkin 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

   POPULATION 
  AND 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  (SEE 
  MAP 
  1, 
  NO. 
  4) 
  

  

  Of 
  Peril's 
  total 
  population 
  of 
  7,023,111 
  (Census 
  of 
  1940), 
  2,847,196, 
  

   or 
  40 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  population, 
  were 
  classified 
  as 
  Indians, 
  and 
  3,283- 
  

   360 
  as 
  Mestizos. 
  In 
  the 
  1876 
  Census, 
  the 
  Indian 
  component 
  of 
  the 
  

   population 
  was 
  put 
  at 
  57.6 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  total. 
  These 
  figures 
  re- 
  

   veal 
  a 
  noteworthy 
  trend. 
  Peru, 
  like 
  other 
  of 
  its 
  neighbors 
  in 
  the 
  

   "Indo-American" 
  bloc, 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  road 
  to 
  becoming 
  a 
  Mestizo 
  country 
  

   (Censo 
  Nacional 
  de 
  1940, 
  Resultados 
  Generales, 
  Primer 
  Informe 
  

   Oficial, 
  Lima, 
  1941). 
  

  

  It 
  should 
  be 
  pointed 
  out 
  that 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  1940 
  Census 
  do 
  

   not 
  pretend 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  racial 
  composition 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  in 
  

   exact 
  terms. 
  No 
  elaborate 
  biological 
  criteria 
  were 
  used 
  to 
  set 
  off 
  one 
  

   group 
  from 
  the 
  other, 
  but 
  rather 
  an 
  effort 
  was 
  made 
  to 
  indicate 
  the 
  

   larger 
  divisions 
  in 
  the 
  population 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  rough 
  common-sense 
  

   judgments. 
  It 
  was 
  ascertained 
  that 
  13 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  per- 
  

   sonally 
  filled 
  in 
  the 
  blank 
  on 
  race; 
  87 
  percent 
  were 
  entered 
  in 
  one 
  or 
  the 
  

   other 
  racial 
  categories 
  by 
  the 
  census 
  taker. 
  Generally 
  speaking, 
  sub- 
  

   jective 
  factors 
  such 
  as 
  personal 
  preference, 
  or 
  arbitrary 
  choice, 
  seem 
  

   to 
  have 
  played 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  in 
  determining 
  race 
  designation. 
  Cul- 
  

   tural 
  criteria 
  doubtless 
  were 
  utilized 
  to 
  some 
  extent. 
  But 
  the 
  cultural 
  

   criteria 
  that 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  considered 
  in 
  separating 
  the 
  Indian 
  

   from 
  the 
  White-Mestizo 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  were 
  left 
  to 
  the 
  ana- 
  

   lytical 
  ability 
  of 
  each 
  individual 
  census 
  taker. 
  The 
  difficulties 
  in 
  the 
  

   way 
  of 
  drawing 
  up 
  a 
  usable 
  list 
  of 
  such 
  criteria 
  are 
  clear 
  enough, 
  

   so 
  that 
  no 
  objective 
  formula 
  for 
  classifying 
  the 
  population 
  in 
  terms 
  

  

  i 
  This 
  summary 
  of 
  Quechua 
  ethnology 
  is 
  based 
  mainly 
  on 
  field 
  data 
  collected 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Bernard 
  Mishkin 
  in 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  study 
  of 
  a 
  Quechua 
  village 
  in 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  in 
  1937-38, 
  and 
  on 
  briefer 
  personal 
  sur- 
  

   veys 
  in 
  1938 
  and 
  1941-42. 
  The 
  village 
  of 
  Kauri 
  is 
  situated 
  in 
  the 
  high 
  Andes 
  of 
  Quispicanchis, 
  between 
  the 
  

   valley 
  of 
  Urcos 
  and 
  the 
  Marcapata 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  mountains. 
  It 
  may 
  or 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  a 
  typical 
  

   Quechua 
  community; 
  there 
  is 
  little 
  published 
  material 
  with 
  which 
  to 
  compare 
  it. 
  Among 
  the 
  few 
  sources 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  drawn 
  upon 
  for 
  comparative 
  data 
  is 
  the 
  work, 
  "Nuestra 
  Comunidad 
  Indlgena," 
  by 
  Hilde- 
  

   brando 
  Castro 
  Pozo 
  (1924). 
  Three 
  little-known 
  papers 
  of 
  great 
  value 
  which 
  are 
  quoted 
  frequently 
  in 
  the 
  

   following 
  pages 
  are: 
  "Los 
  Varayocc," 
  by 
  Pastor 
  Ordonez; 
  "Sistemas 
  de 
  Arrendamiento 
  de 
  Terrenos 
  de 
  

   Cultivo 
  en 
  el 
  Departamento 
  del 
  Cuzco 
  y 
  el 
  Problema 
  de 
  la 
  Distribucion," 
  by 
  Francisco 
  Ponce 
  de 
  Leon; 
  and 
  

   "El 
  Ayllu 
  de 
  Qqueros," 
  by 
  Luis 
  Yabar 
  Palacios. 
  All 
  three 
  works 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Revista 
  TJniversi- 
  

   taria 
  of 
  Cuzco. 
  

  

  411 
  

  

  