﻿Vol.2] 
  THE 
  AYMARA 
  — 
  TSCHOPIK 
  539 
  

  

  special 
  dress 
  and 
  ornaments, 
  was 
  carried 
  about 
  in 
  a 
  litter, 
  and 
  had 
  an 
  

   exceptionally 
  elaborate 
  household. 
  He 
  was 
  given 
  special 
  burial. 
  

  

  Present-day 
  political 
  organization. 
  — 
  Today, 
  the 
  Aymara 
  have 
  no 
  

   feeling 
  of 
  national 
  unity 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  a 
  common 
  language 
  and 
  similar 
  

   customs. 
  The 
  pre-Spanish 
  states 
  have 
  broken 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  extent 
  

   that 
  the 
  Aymara 
  of 
  one 
  village 
  look 
  upon 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  all 
  others 
  as 
  

   outsiders. 
  This 
  lack 
  of 
  national 
  feeling 
  is 
  manifest 
  by 
  fights 
  during 
  

   fiestas 
  and 
  frequent 
  arguments 
  among 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  adjacent 
  towns 
  

   over 
  grazing 
  land. 
  

  

  The 
  largest 
  political 
  unit, 
  the 
  district, 
  is 
  administered 
  by 
  a 
  White 
  

   governor. 
  Districts 
  are 
  divided 
  into 
  comunidades, 
  each 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  

   under 
  an 
  alcalde 
  and 
  his 
  assistant, 
  the 
  segundo, 
  who 
  are 
  appointed 
  by 
  

   the 
  Governor 
  and 
  who 
  serve 
  as 
  contact 
  men 
  with 
  the 
  Whites. 
  Each 
  

   comunidad 
  is 
  divided 
  into 
  ayllus, 
  which 
  are 
  the 
  largest 
  units 
  with 
  

   which 
  the 
  average 
  Aymara 
  has 
  to 
  deal. 
  8 
  

  

  The 
  ayllu. 
  — 
  In 
  pre-Hispanic 
  times, 
  the 
  ayllu 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   the 
  largest 
  political 
  unit 
  next 
  to 
  the 
  State 
  itself, 
  and 
  was 
  probably 
  

   utilized 
  then 
  as 
  now 
  chiefly 
  for 
  administrative 
  purposes. 
  In 
  some 
  

   outlying 
  districts, 
  remote 
  from 
  towns, 
  the 
  ayllu 
  is 
  the 
  community 
  for 
  

   all 
  practical 
  purposes. 
  

  

  The 
  ayllu 
  is 
  a 
  social 
  and 
  geographical 
  unit 
  and 
  usually 
  bears 
  a 
  de- 
  

   scriptive 
  place 
  name. 
  An 
  individual 
  takes 
  the 
  ayllu 
  of 
  his 
  birth, 
  but 
  

   if 
  he 
  moves 
  permanently 
  to 
  another 
  locality 
  he 
  may 
  change 
  it, 
  or 
  if 
  

   a 
  woman 
  marries 
  outside 
  her 
  ayllu, 
  she 
  usually 
  joins 
  that 
  of 
  her 
  hus- 
  

   band. 
  Although 
  an 
  ayllu 
  occasionally 
  has 
  a 
  myth 
  which 
  claims 
  a 
  

   common 
  place 
  of 
  origin 
  for 
  its 
  inhabitants, 
  the 
  people 
  do 
  not 
  claim 
  

   descent 
  from 
  a 
  common 
  ancestor. 
  The 
  early 
  writers 
  are 
  not 
  entirely 
  

   clear, 
  however, 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  these 
  origin 
  legends 
  applied 
  to 
  ayllus 
  as 
  

   a 
  whole 
  or 
  to 
  lineages 
  within 
  them. 
  The 
  ayllu 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  several 
  

   unrelated 
  extended 
  families, 
  each 
  of 
  which 
  traces 
  its 
  descent 
  from 
  a 
  

   separate 
  tunu, 
  the 
  most 
  remote 
  ancestor 
  in 
  the 
  male 
  line 
  whose 
  name 
  

   is 
  remembered. 
  Ayllu 
  affiliation 
  does 
  not 
  formally 
  govern 
  marriage, 
  

   but 
  ayllus 
  tend 
  to 
  be 
  endogamous. 
  

  

  The 
  members 
  of 
  an 
  ayllu 
  have 
  little 
  group 
  feeling, 
  unless 
  the 
  ayllu 
  

   is 
  very 
  small, 
  and 
  seldom 
  operate 
  as 
  a 
  unit. 
  They 
  tend, 
  however, 
  to 
  

   resent 
  an 
  outsider 
  who 
  takes 
  up 
  permanent 
  residence 
  and 
  may 
  unite 
  

   to 
  oust 
  him. 
  Occasionally, 
  they 
  construct 
  a 
  road 
  under 
  the 
  super- 
  

   vision 
  of 
  the 
  headman 
  as 
  they 
  formerly 
  united 
  to 
  cultivate 
  the 
  lands 
  

   dedicated 
  to 
  his 
  support. 
  Although 
  many 
  ayllus 
  possess 
  common 
  

   grazing 
  land 
  and 
  although 
  all 
  arable 
  land 
  was 
  formerly 
  common 
  prop- 
  

   erty 
  of 
  the 
  ayllu, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  communal 
  agriculture. 
  The 
  ayllu 
  as 
  a 
  

  

  8 
  Present-day 
  political 
  organization 
  and 
  Indian 
  administration 
  in 
  Perfi 
  and 
  Bolivia 
  differ 
  in 
  detail. 
  Al- 
  

   though 
  the 
  ayllu 
  has 
  been 
  abolished 
  theoretically 
  in 
  Bolivia, 
  the 
  modern 
  comunidad 
  corresponds 
  to 
  the 
  

   aboriginal 
  ayllu 
  unit 
  (La 
  Barre, 
  ms.). 
  

  

  