﻿414 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  Here 
  we 
  have 
  any 
  number 
  of 
  differing 
  types 
  of 
  Quechua-Sy&msh 
  

   bilingualism 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  made, 
  if 
  so 
  desired, 
  to 
  correspond 
  to 
  the 
  

   various 
  shades 
  of 
  Indian 
  or 
  Mestizo. 
  In 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  these 
  considera- 
  

   tions, 
  the 
  precise 
  proportion 
  of 
  Indians 
  to 
  Mestizos 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  

   of 
  minor 
  significance. 
  

  

  None 
  of 
  this 
  denies 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  Quechua 
  Indian 
  as 
  a 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  reality 
  of 
  contemporary 
  Peru. 
  In 
  the 
  popular 
  sense, 
  the 
  

   Quechua 
  Indian 
  signifies 
  a 
  social 
  problem 
  of 
  national 
  import. 
  Ethno- 
  

   logically 
  speaking, 
  the 
  label 
  is 
  applied 
  loosely 
  to 
  a 
  Highland 
  folk 
  whose 
  

   culture 
  is 
  an 
  intricate 
  complex 
  of 
  native 
  and 
  foreign 
  elements, 
  the 
  

   end-product 
  of 
  historic 
  growth 
  and 
  change. 
  The 
  Quechua 
  Indian, 
  it 
  

   may 
  be 
  said, 
  constitutes 
  the 
  peasantry 
  of 
  a 
  nation. 
  Hence, 
  the 
  eth- 
  

   nologist 
  confronts 
  not 
  only 
  a 
  distinct 
  culture 
  but 
  a 
  distinct 
  class. 
  The 
  

   Quechua 
  Indian 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  primitive 
  tribalist 
  keeping 
  to 
  his 
  circumscribed 
  

   corner 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  He 
  has 
  spread 
  out 
  through 
  practically 
  every 
  

   Department 
  and 
  Province. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  past 
  decades, 
  Quechua 
  Indians 
  have 
  appeared 
  in 
  large 
  

   numbers 
  in 
  the 
  Coastal 
  centers 
  and 
  industrialized 
  towns. 
  Movement 
  

   in 
  another 
  direction 
  was 
  observed 
  by 
  me 
  while 
  making 
  a 
  brief 
  survey 
  

   of 
  the 
  La 
  Merced 
  District 
  in 
  1942. 
  I 
  noted 
  that 
  the 
  Quechua 
  of 
  Cen- 
  

   tral 
  Peru 
  have 
  begun 
  slowly 
  to 
  infiltrate 
  into 
  the 
  jungle 
  area 
  and 
  take 
  

   up 
  agriculture 
  in 
  the 
  sparsely 
  settled 
  lands 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Andes. 
  Que- 
  

   chua 
  settlers 
  have 
  pioneered 
  in 
  the 
  Amazon 
  Basin 
  from 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   times. 
  However, 
  there 
  is 
  reason 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  past 
  few 
  years 
  

   have 
  witnessed 
  a 
  systematic 
  and 
  determined 
  migration 
  in 
  that 
  direc- 
  

   tion. 
  Such 
  a 
  migration 
  had 
  already 
  begun 
  in 
  the 
  16th 
  century. 
  (See 
  

   this 
  volume, 
  p. 
  337.) 
  The 
  ease 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  Quechua 
  are 
  adjusting 
  

   to 
  conditions 
  of 
  fife 
  and 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  Montana 
  suggests 
  that 
  under 
  

   slightly 
  favorable 
  conditions 
  the 
  change 
  of 
  altitude 
  and 
  climate 
  is 
  not 
  

   so 
  disastrous 
  as 
  has 
  so 
  often 
  been 
  pointed 
  out. 
  2 
  

  

  CULTURE 
  

  

  SUBSISTENCE 
  ACTIVITIES 
  

  

  The 
  Quechua 
  are 
  basically 
  agricultural. 
  To 
  a 
  lesser 
  or 
  greater 
  

   extent, 
  herding 
  is 
  associated 
  with 
  cultivation 
  of 
  crops, 
  though 
  in 
  some 
  

   instances, 
  mainly 
  in 
  the 
  punas 
  of 
  southern 
  Peru, 
  the 
  herding 
  of 
  domes- 
  

   ticated 
  animals 
  becomes 
  the 
  major 
  activity 
  of 
  the 
  community. 
  

   The 
  land 
  in 
  these 
  regions 
  is 
  left 
  uncultivated 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part. 
  The 
  

   best 
  agricultural 
  lands, 
  in 
  the 
  valleys 
  (pi. 
  93, 
  top), 
  are 
  little 
  suited 
  

   to 
  the 
  breeding 
  of 
  llamas 
  and 
  alpacas, 
  while, 
  in 
  contrast, 
  the 
  punas 
  are 
  

   not 
  capable 
  of 
  effective 
  agricultural 
  utilization. 
  Hence, 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  

   altitudes, 
  agriculture 
  is 
  the 
  main 
  activity, 
  with 
  herding 
  relatively 
  

  

  » 
  See 
  map 
  6, 
  vol. 
  3.— 
  Ed. 
  

  

  