Beyond the Lettered City: Indigenous Literacies in the Andes

Glossary

Glossary aquilla Silver drinking-vessel. Audiencia Representatives of the Royal Court in the Americas; after the viceroyalty, the most inclusive administrative unit in the New World. cabildo Town council or the council governing an indigenous resguardo. cacica Female hereditary chief, a member of the indigenous nobility. cacicazgo Hereditary chiefdom. cacique Male hereditary chief, a member of the indigenous nobility. capilla posa One of four chapels located at the corners of the church courtyard in some Latin American locations; see posa. capitanía Section of a Muisca community; see also parcialidad. casta Ethnic category used, in the colonial period, primarily to refer to those of mixed descent. cédula Royal decree. criollo Settler of Spanish descent, born in the New World. curaca Hereditary chief in southern Andean Quechua. doctrina Village-level structure of Christian indoctrination. encomendero/a Holder of a royal tribute grant. encomienda Royal tribute grant given to individuals who performed service to the Crown. 260 • • • gloSSary frontispicio Frontispiece of a book or the portal of a door. indio/a Indigenous person. khipu Andean knot record. ladino/a Indigenous person who could speak Spanish. letrado A man of letters. lienzo Canvas or the walls of a colonial town. limbiquiro See quero. lliclla Woman’s mantle. Also called líquida in some colonial documents. mestizo/a Individual identified or self-identifying as of mixed indigenous and European descent. muchana, mochar The making of a kissing sound in recognition of the sacred character of huacas (shrines), mummies, curacas, or the Inca himself. oidor Judge of the Audiencia. parcialidad Section of an indigenous community. portada Portal to a building or frontispiece of a book. posa Small chapel, serving as a staging place for Catholic ritual. principal A member of the indigenous nobility occupying a rank lower than that of cacique. probanza de méritos Report on services rendered to the king. Includes a list of questions (interrogatorio) and depositions by witnesses. qompi Fine Andean textile. quero Lacquered wooden drinking vessel. quillca To write or to draw in Quechua. real provisión Royal decree. Reconquista The conquest of Muslim Spain by the Catholic kings. reducción Planned indigenous town, organized in a grid pattern. reducir To bring to order. relación Colonial written genre used for reports, frequently written as responses to questions. República de Españoles Administrative and judicial division covering Africans, castas, and Spaniards. gloSSary • • • 261 República de Indios Administrative and judicial division covering native people. requerimiento Proclamation read to military rivals requiring them to submit to Christianity or die in war. resguardo An indigenous community in the New Kingdom of Granada, holding royal title to communal lands, administered by a cacique. teatro Site of Catholic ritual, sometimes marked by the church steps and sometimes by triumphal arches. visita A detailed census of native tributaries that included precise ethnographic description of the structures and customs of communities, orders to be implemented by colonial officials, and minute tabulations of the names, ages, and families of tributaries. visitador Crown official charged with compiling a visita. ...