Yanaconas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yanacona or Yanakuna (in quechua yana, a loan from the Muchik), is a word whose meaning in Spanish is servant. However, this Spanish translation is misleading about their identity and function.[1] They were originally individuals in the Incan Empire who left the ayllu system and worked full-time at a variety of tasks for the Inca, the Coya (Inca queen), or the religious establishment. A few members of this serving class enjoyed high social status and were appointed aracas by the Inca.[2] They could own property and sometimes had their own farms (before and after conquest).

Inca Empire

In the Inca Empire yanacona was the name of the servants to the Inca elites. It is important to note that they were not forced to work as slaves.[citation needed] Some were born into the category of yanacona (like many other professions, it was a hereditary one), some chose to leave ayllus to work, and some were selected by nobles.[3] They were to care for the herds of the nobles, do fishing, and were dedicated to other work, like the making of pottery, construction, and domestic service. Yanaconas were sometimes given high positions in the Inca government. Mitimaes is a term commonly associated with yanaconas, but its meaning is different, as the mitimaes were used as labor for large projects. Yanaconas were specifically not a part of an ayllu and were relocated individually instead of in large labor groups. An example of the differences of the classes is that mitimaes were labor that built Machu Piccu, but yanaconas lived and served the Inca there.[4]

Spanish Empire

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in modern-day Peru, the yanaconas declared themselves “friends of the Spaniards”, as most peasant societies are very sensitive to changes in power balances.[5] They then assisted the Spaniards to take control of the empire. These people, who The Spaniards, during Conquest of Peru, began to use the name for the indigenous people they had in servitude, in encomiendas, or in military forces as indios auxiliares (Indian auxiliaries). After conquest, the yanacona population exploded with people leaving ayllus in correspondence with mining. Spaniards favored the individual yanaconas (as they were an alternative labor force) instead of the ayllu-based encomienda system, so the population continued to increase. The Spaniards did not share the same views of yanaconas as the elites did in the Incan Empire. Sometimes, Indians had to ayllus to pay off debts and other forms of economic dependence. The population was not large enough, however, to replace the encomienda system but rather to supplement it.[6] The term yanaconas also was used during the conquest of Chile and other areas of South America.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Inca and Aztec States 1400-1800. Anthropology and History by George A. Collier; Renato I. Rosaldo; John D. Wirth.
  2. ↑ Childress, D. (2000). Who's who in Inca society. Calliope, 10(7), 14.
  3. ↑ Malpass, M. A. (1996). Daily life in the inca empire. (pp. 55). Greenwood Publishing Group.
  4. ↑ Bethany L. Turner, George D. Kamenov, John D. Kingston, George J. Armelagos, Insights into immigration and social class at Machu Picchu, Peru based on oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic analysis, Journal of Archaeological
  5. ↑ Stern, S. J. (1982). Peru's indian peoples and the challenge of spanish conquest. (pp. 30-55). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
  6. ↑ Stern, S.J. (1982). Peru's indian peoples and the challenge of spanish conquest. (pp. 155). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Sources

  • Ann M. Wightman, Indigenous Migration and Social Change: The Forasteros of Cuzco, 1570-1720, Duke University Press, 1990, ISBN 0822310007. Pg. 16-18
  • Translation of Spanish Wikipedia Page
  • The Inca and Aztec States 1400-1800. Anthropology and History by George A. Collier; Renato I. Rosaldo; John D. Wirth.
  • Childress, D. (2000). Who's who in Inca society. Calliope, 10(7), 14.
  • Malpass, M. A. (1996). Daily life in the inca empire. (pp. 55). Greenwood Publishing Group.
  • Bethany L. Turner, George D. Kamenov, John D. Kingston, George J. Armelagos, Insights into immigration and social class at Machu Picchu, Peru based on oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic analysis, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 36, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 317-332, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2008.09.018.
  • Stern, S. J. (1982). Peru's Indian peoples and the challenge of Spanish conquest. (pp. 30–55). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Stern, S.J. (1982). Peru's Indian peoples and the challenge of Spanish conquest. (pp. 155). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
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