﻿Vol.2] 
  CONTEMPORARY 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  MISHKIN 
  421 
  

  

  Within 
  the 
  larger 
  sections 
  laDd 
  is 
  set 
  aside 
  for 
  the 
  municipality 
  

   while 
  other 
  land 
  is 
  worked 
  in 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  a 
  saint. 
  In 
  each 
  district 
  

   capital, 
  the 
  land 
  of 
  the 
  municipality 
  held 
  in 
  every 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  communi- 
  

   ties 
  of 
  that 
  district 
  is 
  auctioned 
  off 
  in 
  usufruct 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  bidder. 
  

   Often 
  several 
  Mestizos 
  of 
  the 
  town 
  will 
  take 
  over 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  the 
  

   municipal 
  plots 
  in 
  a 
  particular 
  community 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  distributed 
  

   in 
  all 
  or 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  suertes. 
  The 
  proceeds 
  from 
  the 
  rental 
  

   go 
  to 
  defray 
  the 
  expenses 
  of 
  district 
  administration. 
  A 
  parallel 
  is 
  

   found 
  to 
  this 
  in 
  the 
  pre-Columbian 
  system 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  Emperor's 
  lands 
  

   and, 
  later, 
  the 
  tribute 
  paid 
  the 
  curacas. 
  

  

  The 
  Saint's 
  lands, 
  also, 
  hark 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  Sun's 
  lands. 
  However, 
  

   the 
  Church 
  receives 
  no 
  direct 
  benefit 
  from 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  these 
  lands. 
  The 
  

   land 
  is 
  generally 
  worked 
  by 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  Indians 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  

   appointed 
  to 
  officiate 
  at 
  the 
  fiesta 
  of 
  the 
  saint 
  with 
  whose 
  name 
  the 
  

   plots 
  are 
  associated. 
  Calling 
  upon 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  community, 
  

   these 
  religious 
  officers 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  are 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  planting 
  and 
  

   harvesting 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  grown 
  on 
  the 
  plots. 
  Later, 
  the 
  harvest 
  is 
  used 
  

   for 
  the 
  feast 
  consumed 
  by 
  the 
  community 
  during 
  the 
  fiesta. 
  Although 
  

   Saint's 
  lands 
  is 
  a 
  universal 
  institution 
  among 
  the 
  Quechua 
  of 
  Perti, 
  I 
  

   have 
  visited 
  some 
  communities 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Cuzco 
  where 
  Saint's 
  

   lands 
  were 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  found. 
  Apparently, 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  shortage 
  of 
  

   land, 
  these 
  communities 
  have 
  appropriated 
  the 
  Saint's 
  lands 
  to 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  landless 
  families. 
  Since 
  the 
  Saint's 
  lands 
  are 
  

   often 
  of 
  sufficient 
  size 
  to 
  provide 
  a 
  livelihood 
  for 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  families, 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  unnatural 
  for 
  Indians 
  in 
  desperate 
  circumstances 
  to 
  flout 
  the 
  

   authority 
  of 
  the 
  Church 
  in 
  this 
  way. 
  Conceivably, 
  other 
  Quechua 
  

   communities 
  have 
  attempted 
  to 
  relieve 
  the 
  land 
  shortage 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  

   way, 
  though 
  other 
  cases 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  recorded. 
  

  

  Practically 
  all 
  arable 
  land 
  in 
  Perti 
  is 
  individually 
  owned 
  today. 
  

   Usually 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  true 
  ejido, 
  or 
  commons; 
  nor 
  are 
  there 
  pasture 
  

   commons 
  in 
  many 
  communities. 
  Through 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  historic 
  steps, 
  

   collective 
  landholdings 
  have 
  been 
  transformed 
  into 
  privately 
  owned 
  

   plots. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  Kauri, 
  the 
  rapid 
  increase 
  of 
  population 
  during 
  

   the 
  past 
  75 
  years 
  has 
  compelled 
  the 
  Indians 
  to 
  divide 
  every 
  bit 
  of 
  land 
  

   for 
  cultivation, 
  the 
  poorest 
  hillside 
  strips 
  having 
  gone 
  into 
  house, 
  

   garden, 
  and 
  arable 
  land 
  plots, 
  all 
  individually 
  owned. 
  A 
  sharp 
  in- 
  

   crease 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  livestock, 
  with 
  the 
  resultant 
  competition 
  for 
  

   pasturage, 
  has 
  removed 
  any 
  vestige 
  of 
  pasture 
  commons. 
  The 
  end 
  

   result 
  — 
  complete 
  individualization 
  of 
  property 
  in 
  land 
  — 
  has 
  had 
  far 
  

   reaching 
  effects 
  on 
  the 
  economic 
  organization 
  and 
  social 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  

   Quechua. 
  

  

  The 
  above-mentioned 
  "repartici6n" 
  of 
  arable 
  land, 
  held 
  about 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  March, 
  is 
  an 
  important 
  event 
  in 
  Kauri. 
  The 
  geographical 
  

   distribution 
  of 
  this 
  institution 
  is 
  nowhere 
  recorded, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  doubtless 
  

  

  