﻿Vol.2] 
  TRIBES 
  OF 
  ECUADOR 
  — 
  MURRA 
  819 
  

  

  In 
  general, 
  we 
  can 
  distinguish 
  three 
  types 
  of 
  Indian 
  land 
  occupation. 
  

   The 
  most 
  important 
  group 
  numerically 
  is 
  the 
  hacienda 
  Indians, 
  known 
  

   as 
  conciertos, 
  or 
  peones. 
  They 
  include 
  all 
  landless 
  Indians 
  and 
  all 
  

   whose 
  holdings 
  are 
  too 
  small 
  to 
  provide 
  them 
  with 
  a 
  living. 
  In 
  the 
  

   past, 
  the 
  concierto 
  was 
  very 
  effectively 
  tied 
  to 
  the 
  land 
  through 
  a 
  

   system 
  of 
  advances 
  and 
  debts 
  which 
  he 
  never 
  managed 
  to 
  reimburse. 
  

   Imprisonment 
  for 
  debts 
  was 
  lawful 
  until 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  World 
  War 
  I, 
  and 
  a 
  

   son 
  was 
  usually 
  held 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  debts 
  of 
  his 
  deceased 
  father. 
  

   A 
  concierto 
  usually 
  spends 
  his 
  whole 
  life 
  on 
  the 
  land 
  of 
  an 
  hacienda, 
  

   cultivating 
  the 
  same 
  plot 
  and 
  inhabiting 
  the 
  same 
  house, 
  known 
  as 
  

   huasipungo, 
  which 
  is 
  provided 
  by 
  the 
  landowner. 
  In 
  exchange 
  for 
  

   these 
  facilities, 
  he 
  owes 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  5 
  days 
  of 
  labor 
  a 
  week, 
  frequently 
  

   without 
  any 
  cash 
  remuneration. 
  In 
  addition, 
  younger 
  Indian 
  couples 
  

   spend 
  a 
  month 
  a 
  year 
  as 
  huasicamas, 
  domestic 
  servants, 
  in 
  the 
  house 
  

   of 
  the 
  owner 
  or 
  administrator. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  basic 
  adaptation 
  of 
  Indian 
  life 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  suelto, 
  the 
  

   Indian 
  who 
  may 
  own 
  a 
  little 
  land, 
  but 
  who, 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  proximity 
  to 
  

   urban 
  centers, 
  prefers 
  to 
  work 
  in 
  town 
  or 
  to 
  hire 
  out 
  during 
  harvest 
  

   time 
  for 
  a 
  limited 
  period 
  and 
  a 
  well-defined 
  salary. 
  His 
  independent 
  

   status 
  is 
  much 
  preferable 
  from 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  of 
  development 
  of 
  

   native 
  participation 
  in 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  nation. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  sueltos 
  is 
  

   much 
  smaller 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  conciertos 
  but 
  is 
  increasing 
  since 
  the 
  

   abolition 
  of 
  debt 
  imprisonment 
  and 
  the 
  recent 
  opportunities 
  to 
  acquire 
  

   parceled-out 
  haciendas 
  which 
  are 
  made 
  available 
  to 
  the 
  Indian. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  several 
  intermediate 
  forms 
  of 
  native-White 
  adjustment, 
  

   such 
  as 
  sharecropping, 
  the 
  obligation 
  to 
  perform 
  agricultural 
  tasks 
  in 
  

   return 
  for 
  certain 
  rights, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  pasture 
  and 
  irrigation 
  

   water, 
  and 
  the 
  permission 
  to 
  trespass, 
  but 
  they 
  basically 
  reflect 
  the 
  

   coexistence 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  majority 
  of 
  landless 
  agriculturists 
  and 
  a 
  mi- 
  

   nority 
  of 
  huge 
  estates 
  frequently 
  absentee-owned. 
  The 
  Highland 
  pro- 
  

   duces 
  mostly 
  crops 
  for 
  internal 
  consumption, 
  depending 
  exclusively 
  on 
  

   the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  Indian. 
  In 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  the 
  estates 
  are 
  

   growing, 
  particularly 
  in 
  Carchi 
  and 
  Chimborazo 
  Provinces, 
  thereby 
  

   seriously 
  threatening 
  native 
  holdings. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  Indians 
  have 
  

   been 
  able 
  to 
  acquire 
  land 
  in 
  Imbabura, 
  Loja, 
  and 
  recently 
  in 
  Azuay, 
  

   and 
  have 
  everywhere 
  tried 
  to 
  increase 
  their 
  possessions. 
  

  

  A 
  third 
  basic 
  adaptation 
  is 
  the 
  Indian 
  comunidad, 
  the 
  isolated 
  

   mountain 
  settlement 
  that 
  has 
  managed 
  through 
  400 
  years 
  to 
  maintain 
  

   its 
  independence 
  and 
  to 
  resist 
  encroachment 
  by 
  Whites. 
  Such 
  groups 
  

   are 
  usually 
  quite 
  uncooperative, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  priest 
  has 
  to 
  be 
  es- 
  

   corted 
  in 
  and 
  out 
  on 
  holy 
  days. 
  Nobody 
  knows 
  how 
  many 
  such 
  com- 
  

   munities 
  there 
  are, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  very 
  numerous. 
  

  

  Finally, 
  in 
  recent 
  years 
  a 
  new 
  Indian 
  adjustment 
  has 
  been 
  emerging 
  

   which, 
  rejecting 
  the 
  century-old 
  dilemma 
  of 
  peonage 
  or 
  hard-shelled 
  

   isolation, 
  emphasizes 
  craftsmanship 
  as 
  a 
  new 
  source 
  of 
  revenue. 
  The 
  

  

  