Account of the Fables and Rites of the Incas

Introduction

xiv Introduction This is an English translation of Cristóbal de Molina’s manuscript titled Account of the Fables and Rites of the Incas (Relaci ón de las fábulas y ritos de los incas). Written around 1575 at the request of the third bishop of Cuzco, Sebastián de Lartaún, the report describes various rituals that were conducted in Cuzco during the last years of the Inca Empire. Molina was a priest of the Hospital for the Natives of Our Lady of Succor in Cuzco and he served for nearly twenty years as the preacher general (predicador general) of the city. Molina was also an outstanding Quechua speaker, and his advanced language skills allowed him to record both the prayers and the religious celebrations of the Incas in unprecedented detail. Molina’s account was written during a period of growing Spanish domination and accelerated violence against the so-called idolatrous religions of the Andean peoples. Soon after the Spaniards took control of the imperial city of Cuzco (1534), they began to discourage the ritual activities of the Incas. Over the next several decades, as the Europeans gradually increased their power in the Andes, they pressured the indigenous peoples to stop practicing their religious activities. Polo de Ondegardo (1916: 31) indicates that only a few vestiges of the most important Inca celebrations remained in the city during his first term as chief magistrate (1558–1560), and many of those were being practiced in secret. By the mid-1570s, indigenous ceremonies had all but disappeared in the former capital. Within this context of rapidly changing cultural practices, Molina’s Account of the Fables and Rites of the Incas is exceptionally important. Brian S. Bauer introduction [ xv It is based on the testimonies of the older indigenous men of Cuzco who were among the last surviving eyewitnesses of the rituals conducted at the height of Inca rule. Molina begins his work, after a brief introduction, by recording various Andean myths. These are followed by short discussions of quipus, the knotted recording devices of the Incas, and the early life of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the ninth ruler of Cuzco. Information is also provided on the major gods and shrines (huacas) of the Incas, as well as on different classes of sorcerers, healers, and fortune-tellers. He then discusses the major rituals that occurred in Cuzco during each month of the year. These accounts are perhaps the greatest of Molina’s contributions, as he offers many details that are not provided by other writers. Most importantly, he provides rich descriptions of the Cuzco solstice celebrations as well as the Citua celebration, during which the city was ritually cleansed, and the annual male initiation ritual. Readers of Molina’s work must, however, be careful as they compare his ritual accounts to those offered by other early colonial authors, because all of Molina’s ritual descriptions are off by one month. For example, those rituals that are generally thought to have occurred in June, are listed by Molina under the heading of May, and those celebrations that are thought to have occurred in December are listed in his description for November. Once this adjustment is made, comparisons between Molina and other sources can confidently be made. After describing the ritual calendar, Molina offers shorter descriptions of several Inca rites that were not tied to a specific month (e.g., birth rituals, first hair-cutting celebrations, female initiation rites, and marriages). The manuscript ends with concise descriptions of the Capacocha ritual, in which all the shrines of the empire were offered sacrifices, as well as the Taqui Onqoy movement, a religious cult that spread across the Andes during the late 1560s–early 1570s. Throughout the manuscript, Molina also provides transcriptions of various Quechua prayers.1 The manuscript is not dated, and it is not known for certain when the Account of the Fables and Rites of the Incas was completed. xvi ] Account of the Fables and Rites of the incas Nevertheless, most researchers who have worked with the document believe it was written between 1573 and 1575 (e.g., Romero 1943; Porras Barrenechea 1986; Urbano 2008a, 2008b). Since the text refers to the fall of Vilcabamba and the death of the last Inca, it is certain that the manuscript was written after 1572. However, the earliest date for the document is more precisely set by Lartaún’s ascension to the Cuzco bishopric. Larta...