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Whereas the Pre-Columbian Cultures of
Mesoamerica Developed Systems of Writing, Their Andean
Counterparts Did Not. As a Result, Only Two Incan
Accounts by Native American Authors Survive. Both
Authors Wrote in the Second Decade of the 17th Century,
in a Mixture of Spanish and Native Languages. Neither
Man was Ethnically Incan; both Traced Their Ancestry to
Tribes That had Been Conquered by the Incas. Nueva
Coronica y Buen Gobierno (Translated as Letter to a King,
1978), by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, is a 1200-Page
Letter Addressed to the King of Spain, Illustrated with
the Author's Own Line Drawings. It was Lost for Nearly
300 Years and was Discovered in the Royal Library of
Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1906. The Second Work is
Relación de Antigüedades deste Regno Del Pirú (About
1615; An Account of the Antiquities of Peru, 1873), by
Juan de Santa CruzPachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua, Much of
Which is Virtually Incomprehensible Because the Author
was Only Semiliterate. A Third Figure Who Could be
Considered a Native Author is Garcilaso de la Vega,
Called El Inca. He Was Born in Peru, the Son of a
Spanish Father and an Incan Mother. However, he Went to
Spain at the Age of 21 and Did not Write Comentarios
Reales de los Incas Until 1609;The Complete Name is
Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of
Peru, ,an Account of Incan Culture and History, He was
An Old Man When he Wrote His Master Piece.
The Nature of the Universe
Like the Mayas and Aztecs, the Incas Believed in
Previous Creations and Destructions of the Universe.
However, the Division of Cosmological Time into Major
Times of Creation was not a Central Concern of Incan
Religion. Instead, the Incas Emphasized the Arrangement
of Space into a Sacred Geography. A Crucial Aspect of
This Sacred Geography was the Concept of Huaca. This
Term Referred to any Person, Place, or Thing with
Supernatural Power; Almost Anything Unusual was
Considered a Huaca. Examples;Ranged From Prominent
Features of the Landscape (Mountain Peaks, Natural Rocks
Formation , Springs) to Oddly Shaped or Colored Pebbles
and Plants. There were Countless Huacas in the Incan
World, and Major Ones Defined the Organization of Sacred
Space.
Cusco, the Incas' Capital, was the Center of Their
Universe. More than 300 of the Most Important Huacas in
the Area Around Cusco Were Conceived of as Lying Along
41 Lines Called Ceques. These Lines Radiated Outward
From the Coricancha, the Principal Temple of Incan State
Religion, and Extended to the Horizon or Beyond. Like
the Mayas and Aztecs, the Incas Also Saw the earth as
Being Composed of Four Quarters, Whose Dividing Lines
Intersected in Cusco. The Ceques Subdivided the Four
Quarters. Each Ceque Belonged to One of the Quarters,
and the Care of Each Huaca on each Ceque was Assigned to
a Particular Group of People. In this Way the Ceques
Helped to Coordinate Social Relations Among People, as
Well as to Organize Sacred Spaces.
Above the Earth were the Heavens, While the Underworld
Lay Below. Neither the Heavens Nor the Underworld Seems
to Have Had the Elaborate Vertical Layering Common in
Mesoamerican Conceptions, but the Heavens had a Complex
Geography. Like the Earth, the Heavens were Divided into
Four Quarters, Separated by a Giant Cross Formed by the
Milky Way as it Passed Through its Zenith. The Movement
of Astronomical Bodies Through the Four Quadrants
Determined the Incan Agricultural and Ceremonial
Calendars, and the Ceques Also Served as sight Lines for
Astronomical Observations.
Gods and Goddesses
As in Other Pre-Columbian Religions, Incan Gods and
Goddesses Actually Represented a Number of Shifting and
Overlapping Divine Powers. The Upper Pantheon Contained
a Creator-Sky-Weather Complex with Three Principal
Components: Viracocha, the Creator; Inti, the Sun God
and Ancestor of the Ruling Dynasty; and Illapa, the
Thunder or Weather God. The Most Important Female Super
Naturals were Pachamama, the Earth; Mamacocha, the Sea;
and Mamaquilla, the Moon. The core of Incan Religion was
Ancestor Worship. Ancestors were Venerated as Protective
Spirits, and the Bodies and Tombs of the Dead were
Treated as Sacred Objects. Many Other Important Huacas
were Also Explicitly Identified with the Ancestors. For
Example, Some of the Most Important Shrines Around Cusco
was Believed to be the Petrified Forebears of the Incas.
The Bodies of Dead Rulers were Among the Holiest Huacas
in the Inca Realm. As Sons of Inti and Embodiments of
Illapa, the Mummies of Past Rulers were the Direct,
Visible Links Between the Incas and Their Pantheon.
Maintaining These Links, and Through Them the Proper
Order of the Universe, Required Perpetual Care of the
Royal Mummies.
Religious Leadership and Rituals
The Incan Ruler and the Mummies of His Predecessors
were the Most Important Religious Leaders. They were
Assisted by a Hierarchical Priesthood Headed by the High
Priest of the Coricancha. Important Shrines Also had
Staffs of Female Attendants Who Wove Cloth and Brewed
Chicha (Fermented Corn Beverage) to use in Festivals.
Most Ceremonies Involved Sacrifices of Fabrics, Chicha,
Plants, or Animals. Human Sacrifice was Practiced, but
Only on the Most Solemn Occasions and in Times of
Disaster. An Elaborate Ritual Life Surrounded the
Mummies of Deceased Rulers, Who Were Treated as if They
were Still Alive. They were Maintained in State in Their
Palaces, and they Continued to Own the Property They had
Accumulated During Their Lifetimes. Their Descendants
Managed the Mummies' Property for Them, Consulted Them
as Oracles (Bearers of Messages From the Gods), Made
Sacrifices to Them, Ate and Drank With Them, Took Them
to Visit One Another, and Brought Them Out of Their
Palaces to Participate in Major Ceremonies. Much Simpler
Rituals of Ancestor Worship were Practiced in Rural
Areas.
The Destination of Souls
The Incas Had a More Optimistic View of the
Afterlife Than the Mayas or Aztecs. As Protective
Ancestral Spirits, Dead Incas Continued to Play an
Active Role in the World of the Living. They Revealed
Themselves Through the Huacas and were Cared For and
Worshipped by Their Descendants. The Incas were Strongly
Moralistic, and They Believed the Souls of Virtuous
People Joined the Sun in Heaven. Those Souls had Plenty
to Eat and Drink. They Remained Connected to Their
Descendants, and Their Lives Continued Much as They had
on Earth. The Souls of Evildoers went to the Underworld,
a Cold and Barren Place Where There was Nothing to Eat
but Stones.
NATIVE RELIGIONS TODAY
In the Centuries Following the Spanish Conquests of
Mexico and Peru Most Native Americans were at Least
Nominally Converted to Catholicism The Blending of
Native and Catholic Beliefs was a Complicated Process
and it Followed Different Courses in Different Areas. In
general, the Aztecs Made Catholicism the Core of a New
Religion That Also Incorporated Native Beliefs, While
the Mayas Retained Native Beliefs as the Core of Their
Religion and Added Catholic Elements. The Incan Case,
Perhaps the Most Complicated of the Three, Represented
an Intricate Blending of Native and Catholic Beliefs,
Aided by Certain Parallels Between the Two. In Essence,
the Spanish Conquest of 1519-1521 Destroyed the Core of
Aztec Religion, the Cult of Warfare and Human Sacrifice.
The Aztecs were no Longer Able to Feed the Sun, Yet the
Universe Survived, and Huitzilopochtli was Discredited.
Aztec Religion had Lost its Focus by 1531, When,
According to Catholic Tradition, the Virgin of Guadalupe
Appeared to an Aztec Man Named Juan Diego. Devotion to
the Virgin Spread Rapidly, and Within Six Years 9
million Indians had Been Baptized as Catholics in
Central Mexico. Worship of Some Aztec Gods and Goddesses,
most Notably Ancient Agricultural Deities, Persisted.
These Deities were Blended with Catholic Saints in the
New Religion. In Contrast to the Aztec Case, When the
Spanish Began Their Conquest of the Maya Area, Maya
Religion was Already Fragmented. The Great Religious and
Political Centers of the Classic Period had Been
Abandoned More Than 600 Years Earlier, and Even the
Post-Classic Centers were in Decline. The Religion
Practiced in Villages Emphasized Ancient Agricultural
Deities—Such as the Rain Gods (Chacs)—Who Proved to
Endure. Maya Folk Religion Still Centers on These
Agricultural Deities, and Catholic and Native Beliefs
are More Distinct from Each Other than They are Among
the Descendants of the Aztecs. The Incas, Like the
Aztecs, Had a Central Imperial Cult: the Worship of the
Royal Mummies. However, the Incan Imperial Cult, Like
the Mesoamerican Worship of Agricultural Deities, was an
Expression of the Ancient and Widespread Religious
Tradition of Ancestor Worship. The Spanish Destroyed the
Royal Incan Mummies and Their Cult, but Not the
Underlying Tradition of Ancestor Worship. During the
16th and 17th Centuries, Incan and Catholic Beliefs were
Blended, Revealing Parallels Between the Two Traditions.
For Example, Both the Incas and Their Spanish Conquerors
Made Special Commemoration of the Dead During the Month
of November and Had Penitential Rites That Involved
Confessing Sins to Priests. In Recent Decades
Evangelical Protestantism, Especially in the Form of
Pentecostalism Has Been Spreading Rapidly Among Latin
American Indians. At the Same Time, Community Based
Social Action Movements Are a Growing Force Within Latin
American Catholicism. Whether These are Short or Long
Term Trends, and What Effects They Will Have on Native
Religious Traditions, are Unresolved Questions.
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