﻿Vol.2] 
  TRIBES 
  OF 
  ECUADOR 
  — 
  MURRA 
  791 
  

  

  conquest 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  by 
  Inca 
  legions 
  in 
  the 
  15th 
  century. 
  Miguel 
  

   Cabello 
  Balboa 
  (1920) 
  and 
  Sarmiento 
  de 
  Gamboa 
  (1906) 
  give 
  most 
  

   details, 
  but 
  even 
  they 
  emphasize 
  individual 
  performance 
  and 
  ad- 
  

   venture 
  and 
  are 
  not 
  rich 
  in 
  ethnologic 
  information. 
  

  

  Several 
  modern 
  writers 
  have 
  tried 
  to 
  bring 
  together 
  data 
  relating 
  

   to 
  Ecuador 
  scattered 
  among 
  the 
  various 
  chroniclers. 
  Federico 
  

   Gonzalez 
  Suarez, 
  Archbishop 
  of 
  Quito, 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  prepare 
  a 
  sum- 
  

   mary 
  of 
  pre-Conquest 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  Ecuadorean 
  Sierra 
  (Gonzalez 
  Suarez, 
  

   1890-1903, 
  vol. 
  1). 
  Published 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century, 
  many 
  

   of 
  the 
  data 
  are 
  now 
  obsolete, 
  particularly 
  the 
  ethnologic 
  correlations 
  

   of 
  local 
  groups 
  with 
  larger 
  South 
  American 
  linguistic 
  families, 
  only 
  

   barely 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  1880's. 
  Gonzalez' 
  pioneer 
  merit, 
  however, 
  can- 
  

   not 
  be 
  underestimated, 
  as 
  he 
  digested 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  original 
  

   sources, 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  unpublished 
  at 
  the 
  time. 
  

  

  In 
  1912, 
  Verneau 
  and 
  Eivet 
  published 
  their 
  summary 
  of 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  ethnography 
  of 
  the 
  area, 
  supplemented 
  by 
  a 
  wealth 
  of 
  arche- 
  

   ological 
  data 
  (1912-22). 
  In 
  recent 
  years, 
  Jacinto 
  Jijon 
  y 
  Caamano, 
  

   the 
  foremost 
  Ecuadorean 
  student 
  of 
  the 
  nation's 
  Indian 
  past, 
  has 
  

   again 
  assembled 
  available 
  data, 
  including 
  a 
  critical 
  discussion 
  of 
  

   source 
  materials 
  (1940-41). 
  His 
  emphasis 
  lies 
  heavily 
  on 
  toponymy 
  

   and 
  patronymics 
  in 
  an 
  attempt 
  to 
  determine 
  outside 
  affiliations 
  of 
  

   the 
  aboriginal 
  languages 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  tribal 
  limits. 
  

  

  Works 
  dealing 
  generally 
  with 
  Andean 
  history 
  have 
  been 
  listed 
  and 
  

   critically 
  discussed 
  by 
  P. 
  A. 
  Means 
  (1928) 
  and 
  Louis 
  Baudin 
  (1928). 
  

  

  ABORIGINAL 
  CULTURES 
  AT 
  THE 
  TIME 
  OF 
  THE 
  CONQUEST 
  

   THE 
  HIGHLANDS 
  

  

  In 
  pre-Conquest 
  times 
  the 
  peoples 
  of 
  Highland 
  Ecuador, 
  diverse 
  

   in 
  linguistic 
  affiliation 
  and 
  type 
  of 
  previous 
  environmental 
  adjust- 
  

   ment, 
  shared 
  a 
  basic 
  Andean 
  cultural 
  substratum. 
  They 
  lived 
  high 
  

   in 
  the 
  Sierra, 
  in 
  the 
  fertile 
  valleys 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  Cordilleras, 
  avoid- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  barren, 
  excessively 
  high 
  paramos, 
  or 
  plateaus. 
  The 
  adjust- 
  

   ment 
  proved 
  satisfactory 
  and 
  apparently 
  resulted 
  in 
  considerable 
  

   increase 
  in 
  numbers, 
  well-being, 
  and 
  complexity 
  of 
  organization 
  over 
  

   their 
  jungle-dwelling 
  neighbors 
  to 
  the 
  east. 
  In 
  fact, 
  by 
  1400 
  A. 
  D. 
  

   the 
  latter 
  were 
  moving 
  up 
  onto 
  the 
  Sierra, 
  displacing 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   earlier 
  settlers. 
  The 
  Spanish 
  conquerors 
  followed 
  the 
  pattern, 
  and, 
  

   even 
  today, 
  the 
  Highland 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  part 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  that 
  is 
  densely 
  

   populated. 
  

  

  The 
  Indians 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  were 
  a 
  sedentary, 
  agricultural 
  people. 
  

   They 
  cultivated 
  maize, 
  quinoa 
  (Chenopodium 
  quinoa) 
  beans, 
  and 
  many 
  

   varieties 
  of 
  potatoes 
  and 
  squashes. 
  Aji 
  (Capsicum 
  annum), 
  a 
  native 
  

   pepper, 
  was 
  very 
  widely 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  condiment. 
  In 
  the 
  lower, 
  warmer 
  

   valleys 
  fruits 
  of 
  all 
  kinds, 
  such 
  as 
  avocados, 
  pineapples, 
  chirimoyas 
  

  

  