Memorias Antiguas Historiales del Peru

Fernando Montesino's Memoriales antiguas historiales del Peru is a tricky source. The manuscript translated by Philip AInsworth Means includes a critical introduction by Clements R. Markham indicating that the chronicle was likely based on a lost text by the Jesuit mestizo, Blas Valera. However, Montesinos endeavored to force the long history of Peru into a Christian timeline based on the arrival of Noah's son, Ophir, in Peru and reckoning years by 1000 year periods since the Flood. It also appears that Montesinos frequently confused ancient, pre-Inca kings with those better known from other sources on the Inca period. Nonetheless, despite the clearly legendary character of many of the pre-Inca kings and the problems with the chronology suggested by Montesinos, his work is an invaluable source on how, filtered through his own bias, the amautas and quipucamayocs possibly conceived the ancient history of Peru. Furthermore, the idea of the Incas rendering time through cycles with new suns in which, after every 500 years or so, a Pachacuti reigned, is a fascinating one that could point to Mesoamerican influences. Alas, the more reliable work of Blas Valera is lost, forcing us to make sense of the Montesino's work with what has survived from various other Spanish chroniclers, Garcilaso de la Vega and Guaman Poma de Ayala. 

In some respects, the chronicle is mainly a long list of names with some receiving great detail on events during their reigns. This brings to mind sources like the Diwan of the Sayfawa in Kanem-Borno. Like this African dynasty, a number of critical questions has arisen with regard to the chronology used, the possibility of telescoping or confusion, the inclusion of early kings who are of a more legendary character, and the function of such long lists. Sadly, unlike Kanem-Borno, we lack written sources from the pre-conquest period that corroborate it. But, in accordance with the chronicle of Guaman Poma de Ayala, one can also see how a chronicle written as a long list would be likely based on oral traditions preserving history through songs and genealogies while also, perhaps, reflecting the use of quipus. Indeed, Montesinos himself states this, as he claims amautas and quipus were the sources of his chronicle. However, unlike any other source, this is the only one that delves deeply into the matter of pre-Inca kings, before the Inca state of Cuzco developed into a powerful empire that dominated Peru and surrounding areas. It even alludes to migrations and invasions from the Amazonian region and north that, if even remotely true, show how well-connected Peru was to other parts of South America. 

Were some of these pre-Inca kings, also said to have been based in Cuzco and having the same origin as the Incas in other creation myths recorded in the chronicles, actually references to Wari and Tiwanaku kings? Why were they then later remembered as kings based in Cuzco? Was this simply an example of Inca-period amautas transforming the past in a way that affirmed the ultimate Inca authority over Peru based on antiquity? Or was this a reflection of a cyclical view of the past, with similarly-named kings assuming to have ruled over various periods of greatness and decline for thousands of years? Undoubtedly, the chronology used here reminds one of that used by Guaman Poma de Ayala, who, instead of multiplying the number of kings, extended the reigns and life-spans of the Inca emperors and rulers back to about 2000 years ago. However, the traditions recorded by Montesinos allude to interesting events that, while perhaps mainly of an apocryphal character, include a loss system of ancient writing, wars and migrations with people from the East and North and across the sea (including "black" people in their ranks), and the earlier expansion of the Peruvian kings into Quito. Again, Montesinos confuses some of these earlier kings and their exploits with the better known (and significantly later) Inca period of imperial expansion, but perhaps these tales reflect earlier Tiwanaku, Wari, and Chimu states. 

Ultimately, we are of the view that the long list of 93 kings or more of Peru likely does reflect earlier periods in which Wari and Tiwanaku were major powers in the region. The extended chronology and the possibility of collateral succession probably indicate that the extended chronology of Montesinos is far too long. Nonetheless, some of the details reported here are fascinating though difficult or impossible to prove. The idea of the ancient Peruvians having a system of writing using parchment and leaves is fascinating, especially since other traditions about Viracocha (sometimes confused with St. Thomas the Apostle) mention him carrying a book. Whether or not it was actually true that an oracle demanded they cease the use of this writing system seems more legendary, but it would suggest that the Incas developed quipus (including the phonetic ones) from an earlier system based on a writing script. Why Guaman Poma's sources did not include this extensive list of pre-Inca kings may have also reflected his different sources, not based in Ecuador, as well as the influence of Christianity on his conception of time. Perhaps thinking of the Biblical stories and Christian traditions of long-lived patriarchs and the way other traditions in Peru stretched out the chronology of Inca rulers, Guaman Poma instead followed the traditional list of Inca-period rulers based at Cuzco while attempting to preserve the longer time period with inexplicably long reigns. Guaman Poma then was freed from the long list of others who, to be even somewhat accurate for the pre-Inca period, must have been referring to Wari and Tiwanaku rulers whilst forcing that earlier period into a history of the Cuzco-based kings. 

Aztec Human Sacrifice

Although we remain rather ignorant about the Aztecs and Mesoamerican civilizations, we found this detailed video to be quite informative and interesting. The question of human sacrifice is an important one since the scale of it in prehispanic central Mexico was said to have been of epic proportions. Like our ongoing interest in the Incas, their practice of human sacrifice was also used by the Spaniards to justify colonialism. This video helps dispel some of our preconceived notions about the practice and what it actually looked like on the ground. 

Cacibajagua

Although not remarkable musically, it is nice to hear Haitian and Dominican musicians in a collaborative project that commemorates the island's indigenous past.

Caonabo Tribute

Another beautiful music tribute to our caciques. This one, by Yoyito Cabrera, features some amazing percussion and a catchy chorus. 

Cacica Catalina of Mayama

Although our descent from a man said to be of converso origins is through the Delgado Manso of Puerto Rico, he came to Hispaniola in 1514. The son of Diego Guillen and Mayor Gutierrez, he apparently, he enjoyed connections at court and was promised an encomienda. However, in the 1514 Repartimiento in the island, his name appears as one of the vecinos of Santo Domingo who received, in encomienda, 30 service Indians from the cacica Catalina of Mayama. In addition, ten naborias de casa were also assigned to Guillen. However, the same cacica Catalina de Mayama was also assigned to Gomez Diaz, which, if true, meant that Guillen had to share the 30 or so Indians with another vecino.

Guillen's daughter, Isabel, stayed on the island of Hispaniola. She married a Gonzalo de Guzman who first came to Hispaniola in 1502, with Ovando. However, Guzman had married Isabel with the expectation of a large dowry and access to more encomienda Indian labor. This did not materialize, although it does appear that Isabel father did indeed receive some Indians in the 1514 Repartimiento. According to Ida Altman, the daughter Isabel Malaber (Maraver) was the head of a poor household in the 1530s after her husband died. Her elderly father, Juan Guillen, was still alive, but the household also included mestizas, black slaves and an old Indian naboria women.

Although Altman believed Isabel Maraver possibly ended her days as a poor widow, it turns out she married a second time with Francisco Ruiz de Oviedo. References to her and this second husband can be found in Historia y Geografía Cuentas de las Cajas Reales de Santo Domingo 1544-1549. Now, our descent from Juan Guillen is via another daughter, Eufrasia Maraver. She came to Hispaniola in 1514 with her parents, but ended up in Puerto Rico as the wife of a Pedro Espinosa. According to research in the archives by Luis Burset Flores, the Delgado Manso family were descendants of Eufrasia Maraver through the Manso. Indeed, in 1568, a chubby Spanish soldier, Francisco Delgado, married Juana Manso de Espinosa, daughter of Alonso Díaz Manso and Isabel de Espinosa. Isabel de Espinosa, according to the sources cited by Burset Flores, was the daughter of Eufrasia Maraver, a child of Juan Guillen and Maria de Maraver.

Our descent from the Delgado Manso is actually the result of a descendant of this family marrying a woman of color in 1727. And while we are more interested in the African and indigenous contributions to the making of the Caribbean, it reveal how the events and places in the early Spanish Caribbean directly involved our ancestors, who came from all social classes. Some of our forebears, for instance, were living on Hispaniola during Enrique's revolt. Some, such as the father of Eufrasia Maraver, were apparently recipients of encomiendas in Hispaniola. Who was the cacica Catalina of Mayama? Presumably located somewhere not too far from Santo Domingo, what happened to the Indians? Were some of them among the mestizas and the old naboria living in Isabel Maraver's household in 1531? Was the cacica Catalina someone exercizing the position of cacica before the Spanish conquest or was her rise to power a result of the brutal Spanish invasion?

Jamaican Tainos

 

Chief Kalaan Nibonrix Kaiman of Maroon and indigenous descent speaks with Wendy Aris about what it means to be Taino in Jamaica today. Since ethnographic and genetic evidence does support the idea that some of the Maroons in Jamaica do indeed possess indigenous ancestry, it is interesting to watch an interview with an informed person with this heritage.

Prehistoric Haiti

Michel Aubourg's Haïti préhistorique: mémoire sur les cultures précolombiennes, Ciboney et Taino is too outdated and far too brief to offer much for modern researchers interested in the indigenous past of the island. Nonetheless, the first part of the text is a nice overview of the history of Haitian archaeology with copious references to studies by professional and amateur archaeologists. In fact, the major value of Aubourg's brief study is the overview of these past excavations and surveys. Many of the studies cited by Aubourg, unfortunately, are dated articles from the Bureau d'Ethnologie's bulletin (often too short) or other studies offering antiquated information and theories about the indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles. However, the references to findings by archaeologists who reported Indian findings in areas such as La Gonave, Ile a Vache, the Artibonite Valley, Fort Liberte or other areas in the North are worthy of reading and deserve subsequent visits by archaeologists. For instance, the reports of ballcourts in Haiti and the possible archaeological proof of irrigation canals in Xaragua should be expanded upon to enhance our knowledge of indigenous cultures on the island. Alas, the second half of the text is a quick summary of Ciboney and Taino periods using a chronology based on that of Rouse. Much of the information is rather outdated, particularly with evidence of earlier ceramic traditions in the Archaic period in the Antilles. Still, the many references to sources on archaeological research in Haiti are of use, particularly for those interested in understanding the history of archaeology and the indigenous past in the development of Haitian ethnology.