﻿Vol.2] 
  CONTEMPORARY 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  MISHKIN 
  455 
  

  

  cided 
  to 
  marry, 
  the 
  young 
  man 
  may 
  go 
  himself, 
  send 
  his 
  parents, 
  

   or 
  his 
  padrino, 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  relative 
  to 
  obtain 
  the 
  consent 
  of 
  the 
  

   parents 
  of 
  the 
  girl. 
  In 
  Kauri, 
  the 
  parents 
  of 
  the 
  suitor 
  will 
  always 
  

   go 
  to 
  interview 
  the 
  parents 
  of 
  the 
  girl 
  on 
  a 
  Thursday, 
  for 
  that 
  is 
  the 
  

   favored 
  day 
  for 
  such 
  missions. 
  The 
  suitor 
  or 
  his 
  intermediaries 
  may 
  

   bring 
  a 
  few 
  gifts 
  and 
  usually 
  coca 
  and 
  aguardiente, 
  which 
  they 
  pass 
  

   around 
  after 
  the 
  marriage 
  has 
  been 
  agreed 
  upon. 
  t 
  [Sirvinacuy, 
  or 
  trial 
  

   marriage, 
  begins 
  immediately 
  after 
  the 
  suitor 
  has 
  been 
  accepted. 
  

  

  The 
  period 
  of 
  sirvinacuy 
  lasts 
  for 
  1 
  to 
  6 
  months 
  and 
  sometimes 
  to 
  2 
  

   or 
  3 
  years 
  while 
  the 
  couple 
  lives 
  with 
  the 
  husband's 
  family. 
  Trial 
  

   marriage 
  is 
  everywhere 
  practiced 
  among 
  the 
  Quechua 
  with 
  the 
  excep- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  restricted 
  areas 
  where 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  Protestant 
  

   missionaries 
  has 
  been 
  felt. 
  (See 
  Castro 
  Pozo, 
  1924, 
  p. 
  134.) 
  Some 
  

   communities 
  seem 
  to 
  favor 
  a 
  longer 
  period 
  of 
  sirvinacuy. 
  The 
  reason 
  

   given 
  is 
  that 
  enough 
  time 
  should 
  elapse 
  for 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  children 
  to 
  be 
  

   borne 
  before 
  the 
  relationship 
  is 
  made 
  permanent. 
  It 
  would 
  seem, 
  

   also, 
  that 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  objects 
  of 
  a 
  prolonged 
  sirvinacuy 
  is 
  to 
  postpone 
  

   establishing 
  the 
  couple 
  in 
  a 
  separate 
  household 
  and 
  on 
  its 
  own 
  plot 
  of 
  

   land. 
  An 
  additional 
  delaying 
  factor 
  for 
  those 
  families 
  desiring 
  a 
  

   church 
  wedding 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  trial 
  marriage 
  is 
  the 
  accumulation 
  

   of 
  sufficient 
  money 
  to 
  pay 
  for 
  the 
  expenses 
  of 
  the 
  ceremony. 
  

  

  The 
  church 
  wedding 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  sirvinacuy 
  and 
  the 
  begin- 
  

   ning 
  of 
  permanent 
  married 
  state 
  is, 
  as 
  one 
  would 
  expect, 
  common 
  in 
  

   those 
  regions 
  where 
  the 
  church 
  has 
  a 
  firm 
  hold. 
  It 
  is 
  almost 
  non- 
  

   existent 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  isolated 
  regions. 
  However, 
  a 
  type 
  of 
  forced 
  mar- 
  

   riage 
  is 
  known. 
  Once 
  a 
  year, 
  or 
  less 
  frequently, 
  a 
  priest 
  may 
  visit 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  recalcitrant 
  communities 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  night. 
  He 
  sends 
  

   his 
  sexton 
  and 
  local 
  appointee 
  to 
  waken 
  the 
  unmarried 
  couples, 
  lines 
  

   them 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  vacant 
  hut, 
  and 
  marries 
  off 
  the 
  assembled 
  

   pairs, 
  exacting 
  2 
  or 
  3 
  soles 
  from 
  each 
  couple. 
  This 
  is 
  done 
  regularly 
  in 
  

   Kauri 
  and 
  is 
  reported 
  from 
  central 
  Peru. 
  (See 
  Castro 
  Pozo, 
  1924, 
  

   pp. 
  143-144.) 
  

  

  Fewer 
  than 
  5 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  trial 
  marriages 
  do 
  not 
  end 
  in 
  permanent 
  

   contracts. 
  Divorce 
  is, 
  of 
  course, 
  much 
  less 
  common. 
  The 
  main 
  

   grounds 
  for 
  separation 
  are, 
  from 
  the 
  husband's 
  side, 
  inability 
  to 
  con- 
  

   ceive, 
  laziness, 
  incompetence, 
  and 
  adultery; 
  from 
  the 
  woman's 
  side, 
  

   cruelty. 
  

  

  Property 
  and 
  inheritance. 
  — 
  Land, 
  houses, 
  house 
  plots, 
  and 
  live- 
  

   stock 
  constitute 
  the 
  primary 
  possessions 
  of 
  the 
  Quechua. 
  Productive 
  

   property 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  land 
  and 
  livestock 
  is 
  unevenly 
  distributed 
  

   among 
  the 
  population. 
  A 
  large 
  percentage 
  own 
  no 
  land 
  at 
  all, 
  rent 
  

   from 
  the 
  haciendas, 
  or 
  are 
  entirely 
  dispossessed. 
  (See 
  section 
  on 
  agri- 
  

   culture, 
  p. 
  420.) 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  side, 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  places 
  in 
  southern 
  Peru 
  and 
  

   elsewhere, 
  some 
  Indians 
  and 
  Mestizos 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  who 
  own 
  sizable 
  

   farms. 
  Even 
  within 
  the 
  community 
  there 
  is 
  present 
  marked 
  differ- 
  

  

  