The Incas: Why Did They Lose?

Did you think we were done with the Incas? I have been neglecting them lately. This is it. The last post about the Incas. I hope you learned a few things from this series, I know I did. This post isn't so much history as analysis, because after all, history without analysis isn't all that useful. 

Why did the Incas lose? From the perspective of the present, their defeat can seem obvious and inevitable. After all, pretty much the same thing happened all up and down the American continents when European colonizers arrived. But it must have been surprising for the Incas and their subjects. After all, they were the most powerful force on the continent.

Charles C. Mann offers four key points the contributed to the Incas' defeat: Technology, Factionalism, Military Tactics, and Disease.

Belleza Por Todos Lados: The View from my Homestay

Papa Cho's

On the way back from retreat, we went to Papacho's, a burger joint run by Chef Gastón, the most famous chef in Peru. It was delicous, easily making the top ten meals ever list. If we look more excited about the food than you would be, try to remember that we barely eat meat, and we pretty much never eat at restaurants. This was a super special treat.

Community Retreat

JVC requires us to hold 4 retreats each year. The fourth retreat will be Re-O/Dis-O* and will be run by Billy, our Program Co-ordinator. But the other three retreats are completely under our control. We decide when to do them, where to do them, and how to do them. JVC gives us a retreat budget each fiscal year. This past weekend, we held our first retreat.

We focused the retreat around the value of Community. Each JV led a session designed to help us better understand ourselves, each other, and to build connections. I won't tell you about the sessions. What happens on retreat stays on retreat. I will share my reflections.

Don't forget: no meat today

Source

Report from Ocongate

So you probably know that I spent the last two weeks in the town of Ocongate. Theresa and I were co-teaching and English class for 38 students at the vacaciones útiles. We stayed with Victor and Marta, two Spanish volunteers who recently arrived and will be in Ocongate all year. It was a highly enjoyable and very useful time for me. Here's what I take away from the experience

Teaching

Obviously, I went up to Ocongate to the work of teaching. From JV perspective, the vacaciones útiles offer a chance for new JVs to get some time in front of a classroom before the school year starts. Because Theresa and I were co-teaching (instead of splitting the class into two) I had a lot of opportunities to observe and learn from her teaching style, and also plenty of opportunities to try and implement what I learned as I led the class through an activity.

When I accepted a teaching placement with JVC, I had some trepidations. I'm not trained as a teacher. I wouldn't have accepted the position if I thought I couldn't do it. But after two weeks in Ocongate, I don't just think I can teach, I know I can. Of course I have much to learn and more room to grow than I understand, but I'm not clueless at this. That's a powerful feeling.

Hay que compartir lo que hay

Our two weeks in Ocongate were marked by lots of sharing. We shared meals and time. One of our first nights in Ocongate, José, a Peruvian who was in charge of the communications class, came over for dinner. He brought us a cuy (guinea pig). Cuy is delicious, and considered a delicacy; it was a very generous gift to share. When we thanked him, José said “hay que compartir lo que hay” (you have to share what you have).

I really like that saying. It reflects an attitude that is very common here. People here are quick to offer from what they have. I've talked about how impressed I was by my host family's generosity, but I am coming to realize that such generosity is a cultural norm. Generosity isn't rare in the United States, but it's less likely to reach the depths so common here in the Sur Andina. This is something that I really appreciate about this culture. As an outsider, it makes it easier to feel welcomed and accepted. It's also something that I want to take back with me.

Hay que compartir lo que hay – you have to share what you have. It's not that it's nice to share what you have, or that it's a friendly thing to share what you have. You have to share what you have. It's a reminder that we have is ours only because it under our control, our stewardship. And it's an encouragement to reach out, to welcome, and to find joy of being with others.

Cuy is very good. But I think that José felt that sharing the evening with Marta, Victor, Theresa, and I was better than eating a whole cuy by himself.

God's team

JVC works with about 400 volunteers across 7 countries. The world is much too big for JVC to be everywhere. But there are so many other programs across the globe that are equally as dedicated to doing simple, unglorified work with the poor.

In Ocongate I started to think about what it means to be on God's team. We may be stationed in different places, with different work, but all of us are on the same team. Victor and Marta, Spaniards who aren't practicing Catholics, have been sent to Ocongate with a Jesuit volunteer program. Theresa and I, practicing US-American catholics, have been sent to Andahuaylillas with a different program to do different work. Yet we are all working for the same end goal. We are all here to serve, all here to do what we can. 

No one person has to save the world, because there are teams of people doing little bits of the necessary work everywhere.

Ocongate viewed from the Mirador (look-out)

The Ocongate Vacaciones Útiles Team
Marta, Victor, Mireia (Spanish volunteer visiting from Tacna), Theresa and me

Migrations Update

I handed in the relevant documents on Monday and was told to call back on Friday to see where things stand. Cross your fingers for me that all is set back on track and quickly resolved.

The Incas: Ransom and Reward

Atahualpa wasn't stupid. While he may not have realized the power of the Spanish cannons and
horses, he knew what they were after: precious metals. The conquistadors weren't seeking gold and silver for their own use. In order to gain prestige back home, they had to bring back goods for the crown. There's lots of great food native to the Americas that would go on to change European cuisine (tomatoes and potatoes to name a few), but food can spoil. Gold has the virtue of not spoiling and being very valuable in Spain. Thus men like Pizarro sought it in order to gain favor with the Spanish crown.

As the immortal god-king of most of the Andes, Atahualpa had a lot of gold and silver at his disposal. It was not as valuable to the Incas as it was to the Spanish. So Atahualpa made an impressive offer to his captors: he would give them a room 22 ft by 17 ft filled with gold and two more filled with silver in exchange for his freedom. Pizarro agreed.

The city of Cusco was stripped of almost anything gold or silver. Caravans of llamas transported Cusco's precious metals to Cajamarca from December 1532 to May 1533 when the price was fulfilled. The gold and silver was melted and sent back to Spain. “To show his thanks, Pizarro reneged on his promise and ordered Atahualpa garroted in the Cajamarca town square” (Adams). Like we established earlier, Pizarro was a bastard.

Pizarro lead his forces to Cusco and took the palace for himself. He began to rule through the puppet king, Manco Inca.

Image Source

Catholic Things: Ash Wednesday and Lent

Because not all readers of this little blog are Catholics, I have decided to do a recurring series of posts called “Catholic Things.” I'll use these posts to explain various aspects of Catholic tradition, especially our calendar. I hope they are accurate and illuminating. To my fellow Catholics: if I make any mistakes, call me out on it!

Source

Today is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent. You might vaguely remember Ash Wednesday as the day in February when some people walk around with dark smudges on their foreheads. The smudges are made from ashes. Catholics who attend mass on Ash Wednesday receive the ashes as part of a special ceremony in the middle of the mass. As the priest smears the ashes on your head he says either “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” or “repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Both are rather grim messages, the first a reminder of your mortality and insignificance, the second a reminder of your sinfulness. That's intentional. Lent is a solemn time.

Taking Time to Be Blessed

Thursday, I had a rushed day. And it wasn't a good day. 

Friday, I had to go back into Cusco to redo the same task at the Migrations office. This time I did have my papers in order. But I still haven't advanced in the process. I have to draft an official letter this weekend and I'll try again on Monday. But even though Thursday and Friday were practically identical in terms of my to-do list and the lack of results, Friday was a much better day. Because I took my time. Because I didn't let the unappealing process of paperwork drive my day. Beacause I took time to be blessed.

I had been planning to eat at Mercado San Pedro, but then I remembered an even better place to hang:my host family's house. I bought half a watermelon and headed up to Alto Q'Osco (their neighborhood). My host parents were out at work, but the younger generation were all around. We had lunch (hamburgers with rice and guacamole) played Uno. 

You gotta take time to make time. I did took the time, and we made a great time of the afternoon. Hurrying is not a blessing, taking time to be with people is a blessing.

 PS-I'm going back in to Cusco today to try and settle this issue once and for all. We'll see how it goes.

Breaking News!

(Third World War is almost inevitable)

Maybe it will help clear out some of the snow in Boston.

Peruvian Mom Patrol Fighting Back Against Cat-calls

Piropeo or cat-calling, is all too common in Peru. I enjoy many aspect of Peruvian culture, but I won't pretend for a minute that it isn't steeped in machismo. Women are regularly cat-called on the streets. It's more common in cities than in the country. When I studied in Lima, the blonde girls in our group had a hard time going anywhere without a man sitting on the corner call out "I lov ju" in poor English (blondes are considered the most attractive in Peru).

But Peruvian women are fighting back. My sister recently sent me a Huffington Post article about Peruvian mothers disguising themselves and walking past their sons on the street in Lima. When the sons cat-call, they reveal themselves and berate their sons. It's deeply gratifying to watch.

Here's to hoping those young men learned something about the right way for a man to treat a woman.

So the Migrations office in Lima claims they don't have one of my papers...

...the paper that was the whole point of my trip to Lima a few weeks ago.

I got the email yesterday, so this morning I packed my things up and said goodbye to the kids in Ocongate after breakfast. After 2 hours of travel I sat in the Cusco office of Migrations to find out what the deal was. They need me to bring them a document that proves that I handed things in to the Lima office. I'm not sure where that document is, but it should be somewhere in our house.

If you had trouble following that, don't worry. I only asked the woman at the Migrations office to explain it to me 5 times. It wasn't for lack of language understanding, just for the complicatedness of the process.

This frustrating day has made me think about a Swahili saying Barbara, a JV Tanzania, recently blogged about: “Haraka haraka haina baraka.” (Hurrying hurrying is not a blessing). Today's rushed journey from Ocongate to Cusco illustrated that point clearly. Hurrying to deal with Migrations was not a blessing because it took me away from the joyful work of teaching in Ocongate. Hurrying when I arrived at home in Andahuaylillas to pick up papers was not a blessing because in my rush, it seems that I forgot the one paper I really needed. Hurrying to get to the Migrations office in Cusco before it closed was not a blessing because it meant spending extra money to take a car and a taxi, instead of buses. And after all this hurrying there was nothing to do but go back home and look for the paper (I'm going to wait to do that until after dinner).

But maybe I needed that. Maybe I needed to spend today rushing from something I enjoyed doing to something I dreaded because it has enforced the lesson that hurrying doesn't mean things will happen faster or better. Hurrying only means that I'm exerting more energy. It takes less energy to walk across the room than it does to run in place. Maybe I needed that reminder. 

So tomorrow, when I go into Cusco for Migrations, I'll take my time. I'll eat at my favorite place (Mercado San Pedro) and I'll take in the urban atmosphere. Maybe I'll even make time to go surprise visit my host family. Hurrying is not a blessing. So tomorrow I'll bless myself by taking my time.

Belleza Por Todos Lados: Look, flowers! (Lima)

The Incas: Captured in Cajamarca

November 16, 1532 is the day the Inca Empire began to fall to the Spanish. 

Atahualpa was aware of Pizarro's landing in Tumbez thanks to his messenger network. He had only recently triumphed over his brother in a was of succession and, understandably, did not accurately access the threat the small Spanish force posed to his power. He said that he planned to "sacrifice some of the Spaniards to the sun and castrate others for service in his household and in guarding his women." Unfortunately for him, that's not how things went down.

On November 16, Atahualpa arrived in the town square of Cajamarca with thousand of unarmed attendants to meet with Pizarro. A Spanish priest presented the Inca with a Christian breviary (religous book). Atahualpa, who may never have seen writing before (the only known Incan system of record keeping involves complicated knot tying in ropes) threw the holy book aside. The Spanish, being good Christian men, used that as an excuse to attack. They fired their cannons and the calvary, which had been hidden behind buildings, charged out into the square. In the confusion, Atahualpa was captured. The capture of the Inca was Pizarro's main objective. He had learned from his cousin Cortés's success the power of capturing or killing the monarch. Because the Incas considered the emperor to be a god, they couldn't just pick a new ruler. Pizarro would use that to his advantage, and later install a puppet government subserviant to the Spanish crown. 

And in so, in just one afternoon, 168 Spanish soldiers toppled an empire.

A oil painting by the Peruvian artist Juan Lepiani
depicting the battle of Cajamarca. Source

 

The Incas: Their Conqueror, Francisco Pizarro

Who defeated the Incas? Hopefully anyone who has taken a world history class knows enough about European colonial holdings in the Americas to say with certainty that it was the Spanish. To be more specific, the Incas were conquered by Francisco Pizarro and a force of 168 soldiers. Yes, it was really that small. So who was the man who lead such a small force to conquer the greatest empire in South America?

The Incas: At their Height

In 1463 Pachacutec - remember him from the end of Wednesday's post? - turned over command of the military to his son, Thupa Inca. Finally, Pachacutec was free to follow his true passion: building. Pachacutec ordered the building of some of the greatest Incan sites and oversaw the development of the road system. The roads, though less impressive than ruins to look at, are one of the Incas' greatest accomplishments. Runners could take messengers from Quito to Cusco (about 1000 miles) in just twelve days.

Pachacutec found the labor for these great works in his own populace. He declared all land to be the property of the state (convenient for him, since he was the head of the state). He also set up a system of vertical socialism. He conscripted peasants to work on public projects part of each year. The workers were had all their basic needs met. The empire took fairly good care of his subjects. Even Mario Vargas Llosa, no fan of the Incas, admits that they “managed to eradicate hunger.” Some people today are keen to point to such accomplishments as proof that the Incas were friendly, benevolent rulers, but one look at Machu Picchu is enough to tell you that these public works projects were no picnic to make.

So let's look at some of the most impressive Incan sites. Not all of these were constructed on Pachacutec's orders, in fact, my sources weren't very clear about who constructed most of the sites. I've used the trusty knowledge center of the people, by the people, and for the people, Wikipedia, to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. This list covers only a small fracton of the Incan ruins scattered around Cusco.

Belleza Por Todos Lados: Stained-Glass Ceiling (Lima)

From the Casa de la Literatura

The Incas: Panaqas

You're probably saying, “Pa-what, now?” Panaqas (pronounced pah-knack-ah) were royal lineages. The heir to the throne belonged to the panaqa of his father. When the heir took the throne, he established a new panaqa devoted to him. A panaqa was comprised of the Inca, his wives, and his children. Yes you read that right, wives. One of the perqs of being descended from the sun was the right to marry as many women as you wanted. Much like the Targaryen family in A Song of Ice and Fire (more widely known as Game of Thrones), the Incas had no qualms about marrying family. In fact they seemed to encourage it in order to keep bloodlines poor. Retainers and advisers were also part of the panaqa. Basically everyone aligned with the Inca in court was part of his panaqa.

Here's where it gets weird – the Inca was considered immortal. 

Belleza Por Todos Lados: Alley of Trees (Lima)

This is from the grounds of the Colegio de la Imaculada, where we stayed in Lima

The Incas: Expansion

Mann (1471) identifies the Incas' goal thusly: “The Inka* goal was to knit the scores of different groups in wesern South America – some as rich as the Incka themselves, some poor and disorganized, all speaking different languages – into a single bureaucratic framework under the rule of the emperor. The unity was not merely political: the Inka wanted to meld together the area's religion, economics, and arts.” The Incas were attempting something that had never been done in South America. They weren't just looking to expand their borders and gain riches, they had a focus on cultural imperialism as well. Much like the Spanish colonists who would one day be their demise, the Inca imposed their language and culture onto the peoples of eastern South America. This is important to note. As Mark Adams points out: “Today, perhaps because Machu Picchu is so popular among the spiritually inclined, the Incas are sometimes portrayed as a peaceful race who graciously invited neighboring tribes to join their thriving territorial conglomerate. In reality, they could be as brutal as the conquistadors.” As brutal and terrifying as the Spanish conquest of Peru was, it was not a brand new phenomenon. The Incas were just the last and most successful of many imperial states that conquered and subjugated native South American populations. I say this not to excuse the Spanish, but to remind us to be wary of seeing the Inca as passive, pathetic victims. Indeed, we will see later that some groups, unhappy with Incan rule, aided the Spanish in their march to Cusco.

The Incas: Origins

Wiraqocha Inca

According to myth, the Incas trace back to a hill with three windows called Tampu Tocco. Three tribes came out of the hill and eventually settled in the Cusco valley and founded the Incan Empire. Anyone who has been to Machu Picchu will probably remember the Temple of Three Windows IMAGE. Hiram Bingham III, the man who introduced the modern world to Machu Picchu, believed for some time that the lost city may have been Tampu Tocco. But Machu Picchu is much too young a city to be the place where the Incas first came from.

According to Charles C. Mann, author of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the most likely theory about the origins of the Incas is that they were a relatively unimportant tribe in the Lake Titicaca region. Somewhere around 1200, they migrated to the Cusco valley and settled. Whether they came from Tampu Tocco or Titicaca, the Incas didn't become a real power to reckon with until the 1400s.

Belleza Por Todos Lados: Sunset in Surco (Lima)

The Incas: Setting and Scale

The Incan Empire at its height ranks as one of history's most impressive empires. They controlled more  land than the Ming Dynasty, Ivan the Great, the Ottomans, the Aztecs, and any European state. They extended in a thin North-South direction that covered over 32 degrees of latitude. That's comparable to St. Petersburg to Cairo. The control by one power over so much land is even more impressive when one considers the variety of environments within the Incan borders: of the thirty-four types of climatic zones, Peru contains twenty. In Turn Right at Machu Picchu, Mark Adams describes the experience of on hike as walking through “four seasons in one day.”

Belleza Por Todos Lados: Pink Flowers (Lima)

Away in Ocongate

(That title is clever because it rhymes if you pronounce everything correctly. It's Oh-con-gah-tay. See? I'm cross lingually witty.)

I'm spending the next two weeks an hour away from Andhuaylillas in a small town called Ocongate (MAP). Theresa and I will be teaching English at an academic summer camp. It gives me a chance to see an even more rural part of the Andes. But it also serves as a kind of warm-up for the school year. Although it isn't clear exactly what Theresa and I will be doing at the school this year, it will probably involve teaching in some capacity. By spending two weeks teaching in Ocongate, I will face the first day of school with some experience under my belt. It won't be much experience, but it's something. At least the first day of school won't be my first day in a Peruvian classroom. I'll let you know how Ocongate goes.

Andahuaylillas is just to the left of Urcos. Ocongat is down the road to the right. Cusco is North of both, so this map is sort of flipped on its side from how we usually view maps. Source

In the meantime...I've learned something very exciting (to me, at least). I now know how to queue up posts! So even though I'll be gone for two weeks, there will still be new posts with photos to see and things to read. I've decided that this is a good chance to dive into Incan history.

My information for the series on the Incas comes almost exclusively from two books:

•         Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams. This book is primarily a travelogue. Adams is a huge fan of Hiram Bingham and decides to follow his footsteps and hike around the Andes to see Incan ruins. Not only is he very funny, he is also well informed, and slowly spells out the history of the Incas from their origin myth until the defeat of Tupac Amaru I in 1572. 

•       1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Colombus by Charles C. Mann. I haven't actually read this book. I only read chapter 3, In the Land of Four Quarters, which focuses on the Incas' demise and the factors that contributed to it. Minn is interested in the Americas in general, so the Incas are just part of the story he is trying to tell with his book. But the chapter was highly useful, and had plenty of information that Adam's book did not.

I hope you find this series of posts informative and interesting. The imprint of the Incas is obvious here. We pass some ruins every time we go to Cusco. As I've said before, I see each post as a “window” into my life here. Thankfully I'm not caught between the Spanish invaders and the Incan imperialists, but I'm living in a place where their stories, much like the stories of English colonists in Jamestown and Plymouth are for the US, are something of an origin story for the wider culture.

As always, feedback is welcomed and encouraged. 

What the Andahuaylillas JVs are doing tonight

There are a few unfortunate Seahawks fans living in the Mountain House. We've got a bet on the game. The loser will only be allowed to use chopsticks for eating for a month. If you want to find us, we'll be at Paddy's pub (the highest 100% owned Irish pub in the world) on the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. Let's go Pats!