﻿494 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  aggrieved 
  ayllus 
  or 
  curacas 
  to 
  buy 
  their 
  land 
  back 
  from 
  the 
  Crown 
  if 
  

   it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  had 
  seized 
  it 
  for 
  more 
  

   than 
  10 
  years. 
  Thus 
  the 
  Crown 
  was 
  substituted 
  for 
  the 
  individual 
  

   who 
  had 
  seized 
  the 
  land 
  and 
  received 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  the 
  seized 
  land, 
  

   although 
  it 
  had 
  never 
  owned 
  it 
  and 
  had 
  even 
  ordered 
  that 
  its 
  bound- 
  

   aries 
  be 
  respected. 
  

  

  Thus 
  the 
  titles 
  to 
  land 
  were 
  torn 
  away 
  from 
  a 
  multitude 
  of 
  small 
  

   landowners. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  Conquest, 
  the 
  territorial 
  rights 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  remained 
  

   in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  encomenderos, 
  repartimenteros, 
  towns 
  and 
  their 
  

   founders, 
  settlers, 
  buyers 
  or 
  those 
  who 
  had 
  received 
  their 
  land 
  through 
  

   the 
  mechanism 
  of 
  the 
  "composici6n," 
  churches, 
  saints, 
  abbeys, 
  ayllus, 
  

   and 
  curacas. 
  All 
  these 
  lands 
  were 
  worked 
  by 
  the 
  mitayo 
  Indian, 
  

   who 
  was 
  enslaved 
  in 
  the 
  reductions, 
  encomiendas, 
  workshops, 
  and 
  

   repartimientos 
  and 
  served 
  as 
  a 
  valuable 
  help 
  to 
  the 
  oxen 
  and 
  horses 
  

   in 
  plowing 
  and 
  working 
  the 
  despoiled 
  land. 
  

  

  The 
  system 
  of 
  labor 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  native 
  was 
  forced 
  to 
  submit 
  in 
  

   Colonial 
  times 
  was 
  completely 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  under 
  which 
  he 
  

   had 
  worked 
  in 
  the 
  Inca 
  regime. 
  As 
  a 
  mitayo 
  he 
  was 
  forced 
  to 
  work 
  

   in 
  the 
  mines, 
  workshops, 
  caballerias, 
  farms, 
  repartimientos, 
  and 
  

   peonias; 
  he 
  was 
  utilized 
  as 
  a 
  servant 
  and 
  beast 
  of 
  burden; 
  in 
  short, 
  

   he 
  was 
  used 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  tasks 
  of 
  industry, 
  commerce, 
  and 
  transport, 
  

   but 
  without 
  any 
  remuneration 
  whatever 
  but 
  his 
  food, 
  which 
  consisted 
  

   of 
  a 
  few 
  potatoes 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  maize 
  and 
  some 
  coca 
  leaves. 
  

  

  The 
  native 
  had 
  been 
  accustomed 
  to 
  obligatory 
  work 
  without 
  pecu- 
  

   niary 
  remuneration 
  under 
  the 
  Inca 
  regime, 
  but, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  he 
  

   was 
  provided 
  with 
  all 
  his 
  necessities. 
  In 
  this 
  way, 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  

   the 
  Empire 
  attained 
  full 
  self-development, 
  fulfilling 
  its 
  ends, 
  and 
  con- 
  

   stituting 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  cultural 
  center 
  of 
  South 
  America. 
  The 
  

   conqueror, 
  however, 
  provided 
  only 
  the 
  minimum 
  of 
  food 
  necessary 
  

   for 
  his 
  servants, 
  and, 
  ignoring 
  their 
  other 
  needs, 
  not 
  only 
  placed 
  the 
  

   Indian 
  population 
  in 
  economic 
  slavery 
  but 
  also 
  put 
  into 
  effect 
  a 
  new 
  

   and 
  successful 
  method 
  for 
  destroying 
  it. 
  Despite 
  the 
  order 
  that 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  be 
  paid 
  a 
  wage, 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  know 
  enough 
  to 
  take 
  advantage 
  

   of 
  this, 
  partly 
  because 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  know 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  money, 
  partly 
  

   because 
  their 
  "employers" 
  paid 
  them 
  in 
  three 
  ways: 
  late, 
  badly, 
  or 
  

   not 
  at 
  all, 
  as 
  the 
  Spanish 
  refrain 
  runs. 
  In 
  paying 
  wages 
  for 
  their 
  

   work, 
  the 
  master 
  first 
  deducted 
  the 
  tribute 
  due 
  the 
  King, 
  the 
  mayor, 
  

   the 
  inspectors, 
  the 
  judge 
  who 
  was 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  collection, 
  the 
  

   other 
  officers, 
  and 
  the 
  hospital. 
  (See 
  Law 
  14, 
  ch. 
  15, 
  bk. 
  6, 
  Recopil- 
  

   aci<5n 
  de 
  Leyes 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  de 
  las 
  Indias.) 
  These 
  deductions 
  always 
  left 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  in 
  debt, 
  depriving 
  them 
  of 
  the 
  only 
  resource 
  which 
  they 
  could 
  

   obtain 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  their 
  labor. 
  Nonetheless, 
  they 
  were 
  supposed 
  to 
  

   satisfy 
  all 
  their 
  personal 
  and 
  family 
  needs 
  with 
  their 
  wages. 
  

  

  