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Glossary
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glossary Unless otherwise noted, my usage reflects the Andean meaning of terms during colonial times. The following list explains only the terms that are used in this book. Finally, a note on spelling. Spellings in Quechua are often variable. In general, I follow the source’s convention. altomisayuq: The contemporary term designating the highest and most esteemed religious specialist in the southern Andes. apus: Certain mountains in the Andes that were and are worshipped for providing protection, well-being, and water. Apus are considered the most powerful huacas. ayllu: A kinship group or lineage. ayni: The Andean principle of reciprocity. Members of an ayllu were expected to help each other by sharing both material possessions and labor. bezoar: The kidney stone of a llama or vicuña. Sometimes it was considered to be an ylla. Early modern Europeans and Creoles believed that the bezoar was potent against poisons. camaquen: The life spirit that imbued objects and other entities with life. camasca: A religious specialist held in high esteem in colonial Andean society. He or she was considered to be a healer and someone who had the power to adapt non-human powers. chaquitaqlla: The foot plow used in the high Andes to plant potatoes. chicha: A drink made from fermented maize (maize beer), often used in rituals. The Quechua term is aka. coca: Erythroxylon coca. Religious specialists chewed the herb or offered coca leaves to huacas in various rituals. colegio: A Jesuit residence that provided education as well as pastoral ministries. The school was usually a preparatory school for university studies or ordination into the priesthood. conopa: Usually small stone figures in the shape of llamas, corncobs, and coca leaves. It was and still is believed that these stones contain powers. corregidor: Chief magistrate in charge of an Amerindian province (corregimiento). coylla: An Inca princess. curaca (cacique): A native political lord. curandero: The Spanish term for healer. cuy: A guinea pig. doctrina: A parish of an indigenous community administered by the secular or regular clergy. Doctrinas were beneficios curados, benefices to which a curacy was attached. encomendero: A Spaniard (often a former conquistador) who received land grants, tributes, and Indians for his service in the New World. In exchange for this Indian labor, he was expected to evangelize “his” Indians. enqa: The life-giving force contained in a given object. hanan, hurin: The Andean and Inca concept of social ordering that divides society 370 The power of huacas and the world according to a principle of duality. Hanan refers to the upper half or moiety of an indigenous community. Hurin refers to the lower half or moiety of an indigenous community. hechizero: Spanish term for sorcerer. Every religious specialist who performed “superstitious” rites and worshipped an “idol,” thereby allegedly communicating with a demon, was considered an hechizero. hechizos: Evil spells. huaca (guaca, wáka, wak’a): A sacred space, mountain, or object in Andean culture. huacanqui: Spanish chroniclers disagreed widely on the form of the huacanqui. It was said to consist of coca leaves, feathers, and several other objects. Allegedly, religious specialists used the huacanqui in a ritual to unite men and women. ídolo: A Spanish term used to describe any object that is worshipped as God; in practice , any kind of non-Catholic object that Andeans worshipped. Illapa: The Andean god of thunder and lightning. Since precolonial times, Illapa (also called Catequil) had been worshipped as a provider of water. During colonial times, Santiago “replaced” Illapa. Inca: The title of the rulers and social elite that established the greatest precolonial empire in South America from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. Inti: The Inca term for the Sun, one of the principal Inca gods. Janaq Pacha: The modern Quechua term for the upper world. Kay Pacha: The modern Quechua term for the world of human beings. lliclla: A woman’s (wedding) mantle. magus: In colonial Spanish terminology, a magus was an erudite person who drew on the European tradition of magic, often by using astrology or by studying the writings of Hermes Trismegistus. maleficio: The Spanish term for evil sorcery. manta: The Spanish term for a woven textile used like a shawl. mallqui: The mummified ancestor of a kinship group. mesa: Literally, “table,” but it is also the modern Spanish term for the arrangement of personal items that a religious specialist uses in his or her offerings to a huaca. mestizaje: The term employed by modern scholars instead of “hybridity” to signify the fusion of two or more cultures into...