﻿818 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  Colonial 
  Ecuador 
  lasted 
  for 
  almost 
  three 
  centuries, 
  and 
  in 
  that 
  

   time 
  Indian 
  life 
  underwent 
  gradual 
  and 
  consistent 
  change. 
  The 
  

   native, 
  pre- 
  Inca 
  languages 
  died 
  out 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  18th 
  century, 
  

   and 
  Quechua, 
  the 
  idiom 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  conqueror, 
  became 
  the 
  

   "lingua 
  franca" 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  Highlands. 
  Though 
  seven 
  priests 
  were 
  

   assigned 
  in 
  1593 
  to 
  study 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  native 
  languages 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  be 
  

   prepared 
  to 
  preach 
  in 
  the 
  vernacular, 
  no 
  catechisms 
  or 
  confession- 
  

   aries 
  have 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  us 
  as 
  evidence 
  of 
  their 
  labor, 
  and 
  the 
  lan- 
  

   guages 
  are 
  almost 
  completely 
  unknown. 
  Native 
  political 
  organiza- 
  

   tion 
  decreased 
  in 
  importance 
  and 
  eventually 
  disappeared 
  for 
  all 
  

   practical 
  purposes. 
  Native 
  landboldings 
  decreased 
  everywhere 
  as 
  

   the 
  encomienda 
  gave 
  way 
  to 
  outright 
  Spanish 
  ownership, 
  the 
  implied 
  

   temporary 
  tutelage 
  being 
  replaced 
  by 
  permanent 
  serfdom. 
  Some 
  of 
  

   the 
  Indians 
  learned 
  how 
  to 
  read 
  and 
  write, 
  some 
  were 
  now 
  skilled 
  

   artisans, 
  and 
  many 
  more 
  had 
  learned 
  how 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  White 
  man's 
  

   efficient 
  tools. 
  But 
  in 
  time, 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  meanings 
  were 
  

   lost 
  and 
  only 
  very 
  few 
  new 
  ones 
  were 
  added. 
  

  

  Independence 
  from 
  Spain 
  and 
  republicanism 
  meant 
  little 
  to 
  the 
  

   Indian. 
  In 
  1830, 
  Ecuador's 
  first 
  president, 
  Flores, 
  continued 
  the 
  

   validity 
  of 
  the 
  royal 
  Laws 
  of 
  the 
  Indies, 
  in 
  which 
  many 
  noble 
  thoughts 
  

   are 
  expressed 
  and 
  through 
  which 
  basic 
  serfdom 
  is 
  sanctioned. 
  An 
  

   attempt 
  in 
  1833 
  coercively 
  to 
  educate 
  the 
  Indian 
  collapsed 
  when 
  the 
  

   only 
  means 
  of 
  financing 
  the 
  program 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  sale 
  at 
  public 
  

   auction 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  remaining 
  native 
  holdings. 
  For 
  35 
  years 
  after 
  

   independence 
  and 
  the 
  proclamation 
  of 
  equality 
  for 
  all, 
  Indians 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  to 
  pay 
  tribute 
  as 
  in 
  1550. 
  And 
  not 
  until 
  1918 
  were 
  imprison- 
  

   ment 
  for 
  debt 
  and 
  the 
  son's 
  inheritance 
  of 
  the 
  father's 
  financial 
  

   obligations 
  abolished 
  by 
  law. 
  

  

  Indian 
  life 
  today 
  brings 
  the 
  native 
  into 
  close 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  dom- 
  

   inant, 
  Ecuadorean 
  civilization. 
  Fifty 
  percent 
  and 
  maybe 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  

   population 
  is 
  Indian 
  and 
  at 
  least 
  half 
  of 
  it 
  is 
  landless, 
  totally 
  dependent 
  

   on 
  employment 
  by 
  Whites. 
  The 
  rules 
  governing 
  Indian-White 
  re- 
  

   lations 
  were 
  set 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  ago 
  and 
  have 
  survived 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  the 
  

   recent 
  legal 
  changes. 
  

  

  As 
  in 
  aboriginal 
  and 
  Colonial 
  times, 
  the 
  modern 
  Quechua-speskmg 
  

   Indian 
  continues 
  in 
  agricultural 
  pursuits, 
  cultivating 
  maize, 
  beans, 
  and 
  

   potatoes 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  accessible 
  valleys 
  (pi. 
  165), 
  with 
  barley 
  becoming 
  

   important 
  at 
  high 
  altitudes 
  (pi. 
  161). 
  Sheep 
  herding 
  is 
  also 
  important 
  

   in 
  certain 
  areas. 
  Indians 
  live 
  in 
  settlements 
  called 
  parcialidades, 
  or 
  

   anejos, 
  which 
  are 
  as 
  of 
  old, 
  distributed 
  widely 
  through 
  the 
  hills. 
  The 
  

   houses 
  are 
  most 
  frequently 
  thatched 
  adobe 
  huts 
  built 
  by 
  the 
  natives 
  

   themselves 
  with 
  neighborly 
  help 
  (pi. 
  164, 
  top). 
  Around 
  the 
  house 
  the 
  

   Indian 
  plants 
  his 
  crops 
  and 
  keeps 
  pigs, 
  sheep, 
  chickens, 
  and 
  guinea 
  pigs. 
  

   The 
  house, 
  the 
  land, 
  and 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  part 
  are 
  the 
  

   most 
  important 
  items 
  in 
  the 
  Indian's 
  life. 
  

  

  