﻿Vol.2] 
  CONTEMPORARY 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  MISHKIN 
  435 
  

  

  llamas, 
  etc., 
  are 
  famous 
  throughout 
  Perti 
  and 
  Bolivia. 
  They 
  not 
  only 
  

   fulfill 
  an 
  economic 
  need; 
  they 
  perform 
  an 
  educational 
  function 
  as 
  well. 
  

   New 
  ideas 
  and 
  news 
  of 
  events 
  are 
  carried 
  from 
  one 
  community 
  to 
  

   another 
  along 
  with 
  the 
  trade 
  items. 
  In 
  many 
  cases, 
  especially 
  before 
  

   the 
  new 
  highways 
  in 
  Peru 
  were 
  completed, 
  the 
  Collao 
  traders 
  served 
  

   as 
  the 
  principal 
  means 
  of 
  communication 
  between 
  one 
  community 
  and 
  

   another. 
  In 
  many 
  communities, 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  formal 
  status 
  

   as 
  compadres 
  and 
  on 
  their 
  annual 
  visits 
  are 
  taken 
  in 
  as 
  if 
  they 
  were 
  

   long-lost 
  relatives. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  Indians 
  who 
  dedicate 
  themselves 
  entirely 
  to 
  trading 
  are 
  

   the 
  few 
  in 
  every 
  community 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  dispossessed 
  of 
  their 
  land 
  

   or 
  who 
  have 
  found 
  a 
  profitable 
  type 
  of 
  enterprise 
  worthy 
  of 
  their 
  full 
  

   attention. 
  Many 
  of 
  these 
  traders 
  are 
  merely 
  go-betweens 
  carrying 
  

   the 
  potatoes 
  or 
  chufiu 
  of 
  others 
  to 
  the 
  valleys 
  where 
  they 
  trade 
  for 
  

   maize. 
  In 
  this 
  sort 
  of 
  transaction, 
  no 
  investment 
  is 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  

   trader 
  except 
  his 
  time 
  and 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  the 
  journey. 
  His 
  risk 
  is 
  minor 
  

   and 
  his 
  profit 
  is 
  proportionately 
  small. 
  Other 
  traders 
  are 
  entrepre- 
  

   neurs 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  right, 
  purchasing 
  goods 
  in 
  one 
  place 
  and 
  selling 
  

   them 
  in 
  another. 
  Even 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  the 
  profits 
  are 
  ridiculously 
  hum- 
  

   ble. 
  A 
  Quechua 
  from 
  southern 
  Cuzco 
  will 
  tramp 
  hundreds 
  of 
  kilo- 
  

   meters 
  to 
  the 
  eastern 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Andes 
  to 
  purchase 
  a 
  few 
  sacks 
  of 
  

   rocotos 
  and 
  sell 
  them 
  in 
  his 
  own 
  community 
  at 
  a 
  profit 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  soles. 
  

   Trade 
  routes 
  run 
  mainly 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  and 
  up 
  and 
  down, 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  

   say, 
  between 
  valley 
  and 
  Highland. 
  Products 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  Andes 
  are 
  

   exchanged 
  for 
  products 
  of 
  the 
  valleys 
  and 
  the 
  Montana. 
  

  

  In 
  recent 
  years, 
  the 
  creation 
  of 
  cross-Andean 
  highways 
  connecting 
  

   local 
  and 
  departmental 
  roads 
  with 
  large 
  urban 
  centers 
  has 
  revolu- 
  

   tionized 
  Quechua 
  trading. 
  Indian 
  products 
  are 
  finding 
  their 
  way 
  to 
  

   distant 
  markets, 
  reaching 
  their 
  destination 
  swiftly 
  by 
  motor 
  trans- 
  

   port, 
  and 
  bring 
  higher 
  prices 
  than 
  were 
  ever 
  known 
  before. 
  Quechua 
  

   agriculture 
  is 
  inevitably 
  breaking 
  through 
  the 
  barrier 
  of 
  its 
  self-suf- 
  

   ficiency 
  and 
  the 
  isolation 
  imposed 
  on 
  it 
  by 
  poor 
  communications. 
  

   According 
  to 
  preliminary 
  reports 
  received 
  (1941-42) 
  wages 
  and 
  agri- 
  

   cultural 
  income 
  have 
  doubled 
  in 
  some 
  parts 
  of 
  Ayacucho, 
  Apurimac, 
  

   and 
  Cuzco. 
  The 
  full 
  economic, 
  political, 
  and 
  social 
  consequences 
  of 
  

   improved 
  communications 
  are 
  bound 
  to 
  be 
  far- 
  reaching 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  

   near 
  future. 
  

  

  Large-scale 
  trading 
  is 
  done 
  mainly 
  by 
  men. 
  The 
  majority 
  of 
  itin- 
  

   erant 
  peddlers 
  are 
  men, 
  although 
  one 
  sees 
  women, 
  usually 
  Mestizos, 
  

   along 
  the 
  Coast 
  and 
  in 
  central 
  Perti, 
  carrying 
  their 
  wares 
  from 
  one 
  

   town 
  to 
  another. 
  Women 
  participate 
  quite 
  as 
  actively 
  in 
  commerce 
  as 
  

   men, 
  but 
  whereas 
  men 
  are 
  the 
  entrepreneurs, 
  dealers 
  in 
  wholesale, 
  

   women 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  handle 
  the 
  retail 
  trade. 
  At 
  least 
  95 
  percent 
  

   of 
  the 
  market 
  stands 
  in 
  the 
  plazas 
  are 
  run 
  by 
  women. 
  

  

  