Quechua

by Aly F.

Room 207

     The Quechuas are a large South American ethnic group even though most people here have not heard of them. No one really knows what the real meaning of the word Quechua is. There are two ways to spell it:
Q-U-E-C-H-U-A or Q-U-I-C-H-U-A.

     The Quechua people were very peaceful. They did fight when it was mostly needed. They created a large empire that covered all the Andean region from Colombia to Northern Argentina and Chile, taking over land from other cultures like the Moches and Chimús in Perú and the Aymaras (Collas) in Bolivia.

     The Quechuas worshipped the sun, but also the moon, stars, thunder, rainbows, mountains, ice from the highlands; and rainbows were good luck. The supreme god's name was Viracocha.

     The priests of temples both wise, men and teachers. Women were chosen be sacrificed the sun god or dedicate their whole life to worship it.

     The Quechuas were wonderful farmers but they had no use for animals in farming. They grow potatoes and corn. In the countries of the Andean region, now there are at least 2,000 varieties of potatoes and dozens of corn, all sizes and colors. The meat was provided by local camelids like llama, alpaca and vicuña. They also used their wool to make extraordinary weavings. The extension of the empire was so big that they had trade with sea people from the coasts as well as natives from the neighboring rain forest. That made the Quechua diet a rich diet.

     Women prepared the food while men dedicated to agriculture, but women also provided great labor for the farming necessities of the community. There was individual work but also collective work that each citizen had to give to the estate and the local government. Women and children watched the herds of llamas.

     One way the decisions were made is the people first decided as a group and then the people told the elders their decision for them to decide if it was good or bad.

     Children played a game similar to marbles, but they did it with round rocks. The children learned their culture by their parents telling them and teaching. Sometimes the priest taught them.

     One of the legends of the Quechuas is about how they came to be, they said whenever it rained a child was born. Since it rained so much the group was born.

     The Quechuas who were the founders of the Inca empire and culture were taken over by the Spaniards. They fought for their survival hiding in small villages that were never found until the twentieth century.

     The Quechua population now divided between six South American countries is that of several millions. By the time the Spaniards reached the cost of Perú in the sixteenth century the Inca empire had a population of 9,000,000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Dad 11/19/03

2. Andrien, Kenneth G. Andean Worlds. New Mexico: University of New Mexico, 2001

3. Martin, Noblet and Deltenre, Chantal. Peru and the Andean Countries. Hong Kong: Barron;s, 1995

4. Pitkänen, Matti A. The Grandchildren of the Incas. Minneapolis: Carol Books Inc., 1991

5. McKissack, Patricia. The Inca. Chicago: Children Press Chicago, 1994

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