Ayllu
Encyclopedia
Ayllu is the traditional form of a community
in the Andes
, especially among Quechuas
and Aymaras.
Ayllus were the basic political and social units of pre-Inca and Inca life. These were essentially extended family groups but they could adopt non-related members, giving individual families more variation and security of the land that they farmed. They would often have their own huaca
, or minor god, usually embodied in a physical object such as a mountain or rock. They were usually led by a chief (called a curaca
) but could have other political arrangements. Ayllu were self sustaining units and would educate their own offspring and farm or trade for all the food they ate, except in cases of disaster such as El Niño years when they relied on the Inca storehouse system. Their primary function was to solve subsistence issues, and issues of how to get along in family, and larger, units.
Each ayllu owned a parcel of land, and the members had reciprocal obligations to each other.
In marriage
s, the woman would generally join the class and ayllu of her partner as would her children, but would inherit
her land from her parents and retain her membership in her birth ayllu. This is how most movements of people between ayllu occurred. But a person could also join an ayllu by assuming the responsibility of membership. This included minka
, communal work for common purposes, ayni
, or work in kind for other members of the ayllu, and mita
, a form of taxation levied by the Inca government.
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, especially among Quechuas
Quechuas
Quechuas is the collective term for several indigenous ethnic groups in South America who speak a Quechua language , belonging to several ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.The Quechuas of Ecuador call themselves as well as their...
and Aymaras.
Ayllus were the basic political and social units of pre-Inca and Inca life. These were essentially extended family groups but they could adopt non-related members, giving individual families more variation and security of the land that they farmed. They would often have their own huaca
Huaca
In Quechua, a Native American language of South America, a huaca or waqa is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been associated with veneration and ritual...
, or minor god, usually embodied in a physical object such as a mountain or rock. They were usually led by a chief (called a curaca
Curaca
A curaca was an official of the Inca Empire, who held the role of magistrate, about 4 levels down from the Sapa Inca, the head of the Empire. The curacas were the heads of the ayllus . They served as tax collector, and held religious authority, in that they mediated between the supernatural sphere...
) but could have other political arrangements. Ayllu were self sustaining units and would educate their own offspring and farm or trade for all the food they ate, except in cases of disaster such as El Niño years when they relied on the Inca storehouse system. Their primary function was to solve subsistence issues, and issues of how to get along in family, and larger, units.
Each ayllu owned a parcel of land, and the members had reciprocal obligations to each other.
In marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
s, the woman would generally join the class and ayllu of her partner as would her children, but would inherit
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
her land from her parents and retain her membership in her birth ayllu. This is how most movements of people between ayllu occurred. But a person could also join an ayllu by assuming the responsibility of membership. This included minka
Minca
Minka or Mink'a , hispanicized Minca or Minga is a type of traditional communal work in the Andes in favor of the whole community ....
, communal work for common purposes, ayni
Ayni
Ayni or Aini may refer to:*Sadriddin Aini, Tajik writer*Artocarpus hirsutus, a tropical evergreen tree*Ayni District in Sughd Province, Tajikistan**Ayni, Tajikistan, the capital of Ayni District in Tajikistan...
, or work in kind for other members of the ayllu, and mita
Mita (Inca)
Mit'a was mandatory public service in the society of the Inca Empire. Historians use the hispanicized term mita to distinguish the system as it was modified by the Spanish, under whom it became a form of legal servitude which in practise bordered slavery.Mit'a was effectively a form of tribute to...
, a form of taxation levied by the Inca government.
“Ayllu solidarity is a combination of kinship and territorial ties, as well as symbolism. (Albo 1972; Duviols 1974; Tshopik 1951; and Urioste 1975). These studies, however, do not explain how the ayllu is a corporate whole, which includes social principles, verticality, and metaphor... Ayllu also refers to people who live in the same territory (llahta) and who feed the earth shrines of that territory”