Colca Dignity: the rebelion of the incas

by Anthropologist Mariella Sanchez.

The rebelion of the incas has started in Colca Canyon. Tired of the abuses done by irresponsible travel agencies from Arequipa ,an association of local tour guides from Colca Canyon called ASGUIP TUCAY (Association of tour guides from Caylloma Province) has created a movement called COLCA DIGNITY ,a movement whose main goal is to defend the rights of the locals in order to have a sustainable tourism in the area.

COLCA DIGNITY movement has at the moment many followers in the Colca Valley and the Colca Canyon area ,and it was organized according to the incan principles.

The creator and the leader of the movement is the Mallku Jaqe or Condor Man ,a mestizo leader who has inherited the inca knowledge from a woman elder Maria Asunta Ninataypi ,born in Yanque village in Colca valley area,straight line descendant from Diego Goro Inca Ninataypi.

The Mallku Jaqe is a Chaka -Runa , a "man bridge". According to the inca tradition,somebody that keeps the knowledge of the mother (inca) culture, and the best of the father (spanish) culture. Somebody who joins two civilizations.

The presence of "the bridge peoples" was prophetised by the inca priests in the legend of the 5th generation.

The mission of these elders is to pass the lost knowledge to the natives, knowledge that the conquerors tried to prohibit and to abolish, a knowledge they could not dissappear at all. After the conquest TAKI ONQOY movement appeared,a movement of rejection against the catholic religion and the abuse done by the spanish authorities.

Taki Onqoy or "sick dance" movement had many folllowers in those times. The ceremonials were performed on the top of the sacred mountains and they asked their inca gods to take the white devils away. After the rituals they performed the "sick dance", an in trance dance.

Catholic church fought Taki Onqoy movement and it was kept secret until 1970! Simply incredible.

Nowadays that we have freedom of speech,little by little the keepers of the ancient ways from the different ethnic groups are coming back to give the knowledge back to their peoples who have forgotten to "live in armony with nature".

According to the Mallku Jaqe,the inca knowledge is not for making money but to live life. It is terrible that travel agencies are turning our sacred land into a circus,our culture is used to cheat tourists who are looking for the true traditions,our peoples are exploited,many of them are being taken to other countries to give speeches and to perform rituals and the representatives exploit our people.We don´t want that anymore -said the Mallku Jaqe.

As a man bridge he was chosen by the elders as spokesperson and representative of his people.

The actual situation is critical for the locals of Colca Valley and Colca Canyon and the presence of the Mallku Jaqe is important for the people.The Mallku Jaqe is protected by his local followers and his name is kept secret like in the old times.

The local authorities have to work more in order to preserve the traditions and culture of peoples in Colca Canyon. It is necessary to protect the environment from contamination provoked by tourism.In order to have responsible tourism the needs of the locals should be taken into consideration. In that way tourism will really benefit the people of Colca Canyon,so the new authorities have much to do now!

Good luck Mallku Jaqe. You have all our support and thanks for all.

Wiraqocha: The Creator

In Inca mythology, Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqocha, commonly known today as Con-Tici Viracocha or simply Viracocha, was the creator of civilization, and one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon. Encyclopedia Mythica defines Viracocha as "The supreme Inca god, synthesis of sun-god and storm-god."[1]

In one legend he had one son, Inti, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pachamama. In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca with a Great Flood called Unu Pachakuti, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world, these two beings are Manco Capac, the son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), which name means "splendid foundation", and Mama Ocllo, which means "mother fertility". These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called ‘tapac-yauri’. In another legend, he fathered the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife called Mama Cocha.

In another legend [2], Viracocha (The Creator) had two sons - Imaimayna Viracocha and Tocapo Viracocha. After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the Northeast and Northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Viracocha himself traveled North. During their journey, Imaymayna and Tocapo gave names to all the trees, flowers, fruits and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous. Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imaymayna arrived at Cuzco (in modern day Peru) and the seacoast where they walked across the water until they disappeared. The word "Viracocha" literally means "Sea Foam[3]."

According to one source, legends of the Aymara Indians say that the Creator God Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca during the time of darkness to bring forth light. Viracocha was a storm god and a sun god who was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar and wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created. Viracocha made the earth, the stars, the sky and mankind, but his first creation displeased him, so he destroyed it with a flood and made a new, better one, taking to his wanderings as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble.

For the meaning of Tiqsi Huiracocha, tiqsi means foundation or base in Quechua, huira means fat (which the Inca knew as a source of energy), and cocha means lake, sea, or reservoir. His many epithets include great, all knowing, powerful, etc.

Huiracocha was also the name of an Inca, father of Pachacutec.

Another name for Viracocha is Con-Tici Viracocha[5], and he is identifiable with the Polynesian sun god. The Kon-Tiki took its name from this alternate theonym.

Graham Hancock has speculated that Viracocha was in some way related to Quetzalcoatl[6], a deity of the Mexica (Aztecs). While the mythology of the two deities is quite similar, many respected Aztec historians, archeologists, anthropologists, and other Aztec experts do not agree, mostly due to a lack of orthodox historical evidence.[citation needed]

His role as creator and civilizator is similar to the Colombian myth of Bochica.

It can be speculated that because of Viracocha/Kukulkan mythology the Spanish, arriving in galleons, fitted with muskets, dressed in foreign arrays of shining metal and bright livery, were mistaken for emissaries of their own gods. One such incident was at the famous site of Cholula where the Aztecs welcomed Cortez and the Spanish as demi-gods, preparing a great feast and allowing them to ascend the ziggurat; once inside, the Spanish barred all the doors and systematically slaughtered their hosts inside; a total of six thousand Aztecs died.

There is a striking resemblance to the Staff God image found in Andean archealogical sites; Tiahuanaco being a famous one. A recent discovery of perhaps the oldest image of the Staff God was found near the Supe Valley.[citation needed]

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa noted that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist, and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands." [7]