﻿INDIAN 
  MARKETS 
  AND 
  FAIRS 
  IN 
  PERT} 
  

  

  By 
  Luis 
  E. 
  ValcXrcel 
  

  

  Markets, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  economic 
  practices 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  populatioa 
  of 
  

   Peru, 
  have 
  been 
  held 
  from 
  pre-Columbian 
  times, 
  through 
  the 
  period 
  

   of 
  Spanish 
  rule 
  (16th 
  to 
  19th 
  centuries), 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present. 
  During 
  

   this 
  time, 
  their 
  importance 
  not 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  communities 
  but 
  to 
  

   the 
  peoples 
  of 
  the 
  Peruvian 
  Sierra 
  in 
  general 
  has 
  not 
  decreased. 
  The 
  

   periodic 
  markets 
  are 
  now 
  adjusted 
  to 
  the 
  Catholic 
  calendar. 
  There 
  

   are 
  ordinary 
  ones 
  every 
  week 
  and 
  more 
  pretentious 
  ones 
  on 
  certain 
  

   holidays. 
  The 
  latter 
  are 
  well-attended, 
  celebrated 
  fairs, 
  at 
  which 
  

   the 
  greatest 
  commercial 
  transactions 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  take 
  place. 
  They 
  

   bring 
  into 
  contact 
  the 
  different 
  zones 
  of 
  production 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  dis- 
  

   tant 
  towns, 
  not 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  territory 
  of 
  Peru 
  but 
  even 
  of 
  the 
  

   neighboring 
  territories 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  Bolivia 
  on 
  the 
  

   south. 
  Thousands 
  of 
  persons 
  attend 
  them, 
  including, 
  of 
  course, 
  the 
  

   Mestizo 
  and 
  White 
  merchants 
  who 
  do 
  business 
  with 
  the 
  Indian 
  pro- 
  

   ducer. 
  These 
  fairs, 
  like 
  the 
  Sunday 
  markets, 
  take 
  place 
  in 
  close 
  con- 
  

   nection 
  with 
  the 
  rites 
  of 
  the 
  Catholic 
  Church: 
  the 
  former 
  at 
  the 
  fes- 
  

   tivity 
  of 
  the 
  saint 
  of 
  the 
  day, 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  at 
  the 
  weekly 
  High 
  Mass, 
  

   which 
  the 
  Indian 
  parishioners 
  have 
  been 
  obliged 
  to 
  attend 
  since 
  the 
  

   16th 
  century, 
  when, 
  as 
  today, 
  coercive 
  measures 
  were 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  

   ecclesiastical 
  authorities. 
  The 
  chief 
  purpose 
  in 
  establishing 
  settle- 
  

   ments 
  (reducciones) 
  — 
  new 
  towns 
  where 
  the 
  Indian 
  converts 
  from 
  the 
  

   villages 
  were 
  gathered 
  — 
  instituted 
  by 
  Viceroy 
  Francisco 
  de 
  Toledo 
  

   in 
  1572, 
  was 
  to 
  facilitate 
  the 
  attendance 
  of 
  Indians 
  at 
  religious 
  ceremo- 
  

   nies, 
  the 
  first 
  being 
  the 
  Sunday 
  Mass. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Inca 
  Period, 
  just 
  as 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time, 
  the 
  ordinary 
  

   markets 
  were 
  called 
  "katu," 
  and 
  in 
  Cuzco, 
  the 
  Indian 
  women 
  who 
  have 
  

   selling 
  booths 
  are 
  called 
  "gateras" 
  (kateras). 
  The 
  Spaniards, 
  intro- 
  

   ducing 
  the 
  word 
  from 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Central 
  America, 
  called 
  the 
  markets 
  

   "tianguez," 
  a 
  term 
  by 
  which 
  Colonial 
  historians 
  frequently 
  refer 
  to 
  

   them. 
  Then, 
  as 
  now, 
  the 
  town 
  plaza 
  was 
  the 
  meeting 
  place. 
  Mar- 
  

   kets 
  were, 
  according 
  to 
  their 
  importance, 
  held 
  in 
  the 
  principal 
  plaza 
  

   and 
  in 
  various 
  neighboring 
  ones, 
  e.g., 
  in 
  Sicuani, 
  a 
  city 
  located 
  in 
  the 
  

   Department 
  of 
  Cuzco. 
  

  

  In 
  former 
  times, 
  transactions 
  were 
  limited 
  to 
  direct 
  exchange 
  or 
  

   barter 
  of 
  certain 
  products 
  for 
  others, 
  e.g., 
  maize 
  for 
  quinoa 
  or 
  potatoes, 
  

  

  477 
  

  

  