In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

75 The Ayuscay, Rutuchico, and Quicochico Rituals Besides the ceremonies that they hold during these months, they performed others, as we have mentioned, called apuscay [birth celebration], rotuchico [first hair-cutting rite], [and] ticochico [female initiation rite]. Although in these no . . . [sic] . . . so that the traditions that these people had can be understood.1 The ayuscay [birth celebration] [was held] on the fourth day after a woman gave birth. On this day they placed the infant in a cradle, which they called quirao [cradle], and they summoned the uncles and relatives so that they could see the infant. On arriving, they drank that day, though they did not carry out any other ceremony.2 The rutuchico [first hair-cutting rite] is when an infant, be it a male or a female, turns one year [and] they gave it the name that it was to have until it came of age. If it was a male, [this was] when he was armed as a warrior and was given a guaraca [sling]. This is when they were given the names that they kept until death. If it was a female , she received the name that she was to keep forever at the time of her first menstruation. Thus, on its first birthday, they sheared the infant’s hair.3 To do the shearing, they asked the closest uncle to be the first to cut the infant’s hair, and he would present [an offering] to the child. This was repeated until [all] the relatives made the[ir] offering[s] and then the parents’ friends would do it. [On] this day, they would drink, and the principal uncle would give [the infant] the name that it was to have until it came of age, as was mentioned above.4 The quicochico [female initiation rite] is when a woman has her Chapter 6 76 ] Account of the Fables and Rites of the incas first menstruation. [This celebration] lasted about three days, from the first day that [the menstruation] began until it was finished. The first two days they fasted, without eating anything. The next day they gave her a bit of uncooked maize, telling [her] not to die of hunger, and she rested quietly in a place within her house. On the fourth day, she would bathe and put on clothes called angallo axo [a female skirt] and ojotas [sandals] of white wool. They would do her hair and place a toca [unknown term] on her head that was shaped like a bag. This day, her most principal [relative] and the rest [of her] relatives would arrive, and she would come out to serve them food and to give them beverages. This lasted two days. Her most principal relative [then] would give her the name that she was to have [thenceforth], and would warn and counsel her on how she was to live and obey her parents. This they called coñanaco [unknown term]. They also gave her what they could, according to their means, and all the other relatives and friends gave her the fine items she would need for a household. And this was done without any particular idolatry, being established in this form by Inca Yupanqui.5 When the Inca gave wives to them, which they received, the man would go to the house of the young woman’s father to tell him that the Inca had given her to him, and that although [this] was ordered by the Inca, [the man] wanted to serve him. And thus the relatives [blank space] of her would gather and try to earn each other’s goodwill. And [then] the young man would go to his father-in-law and mother-in-law’s house for a period of four or five days, bringing them straw and firewood. In this way an agreement was reached. [So] he would take her as wife because the Inca, who was giving her to him, told [the young man] that he was giving her to him until death. And with that condition he received her, and there was no one who dared to leave her.6 ...

Share