Quechua words

Cuzco, Peru- This was the capital of the Incan Empire. It was the biggest political center that was located in the heart of the Incan Empire.

A lot of political needs were dealt with in Cuzco. This is where the Spanish came to conquer the Incas, but they had their whole Empire set up here already. They were not Indians sitting around in teepees like a lot of people believe.

Popol Vuh- Mayan invention of the creation story. It was their religion that they had created for their society.

Because the Mayas created their own religion, we know that their society was intelligent enough to have their own advanced religion. this is significant because the common belief is that indigenous peoples were stupid and that they didn't have anything of significance to contribute to society.

Tio de Lamina - This was an underground deity. A lot of the time the mines will have a statue at the entry points of the mines, and this would be one. This underground deity was one that the mine workers would give sacrifices of alcohol, cigarettes, or coco leaves to so that it would keep them safe while working underground.

Even though the Spanish want to christianize the natives, we see that they are still keeping their native gods. Also, the conditions that the Spanish were putting the natives in were so bad that they felt that needed to insure some form of protection while they were working underground during the mita labor draft.

pachamama- This is one of the Inca's gods. She is the goddess of earth. The Incas worshipped her by buring food and giving her sacrifices so that she would protect them. They would give her these sacrifices before they did their work.

Since the Incas had many gods, we know that they had an advanced religion. This means that they had a stratified society. they were trying to protect themselves.

Ch'uno- These were freeze-dried potatoes that the Inca used in the Andes. They used the sun, the cold, and walking on the potatoes to get the moisture out so that they would be dehydrated to make the potatoes last. They were stored in quolques. they are still served in the andes today. All potatoes come from the andes.

The Incas had longterm planning to insure success of the empire. they had strong societal structure. they figured out how to preserve food, and their techniques were required to sustain an entire empire population.

corregidores - This was the Spanish version of the kuraka. He had to spanish born. He represents the colonial needs and wants, and he is now the guy in charge therefore replacing the kuraka. He would make sure that the working men would go to the mines like they were supposed to during the mita labor draft in the 1570s

The Spanish were trying to get rid of the kurakas and replace them so that whatever the spanish wanted is what was getting done. They didn't want the natives to rely on the kurakas anymore. This was one way that the spanish was slowly gaining more political control over the incas.

chasquis- These people were the runners along the trails and pathways in the Andes mountains. They connected the whole empire and were very efficient through this relay system. They could get a message across the entire empire in 10 days. That is as good as todays postal system.

The chasquis were very important for the Incan society to function because they were how people sent messages through the entire empire. They had a very efficient system suggesting that the people of the incan empire were very smart. They knew how to train to be very physically fit and agile to be able to run such far distances.

Quolques- These were the storage conainers that were strategically located throughout the Andes. They were filled with Ch'uno.

The incas were planning for the future with these storage boxes. They were preventing famine in their empire, and promoting a strong empire. All of the potatoes came from the Andes.

Tenochtitlan- This was the capital of the Aztec Empire. it was located near the water because the Aztec people created a system of canals that supplied the people with goods. Around 150,000 people lived in this city as it was one of the biggest cities in the world at that time around 1520.

The people of the Aztec Empire were so intelligent that they figured out a small island could be expanded so that goods could be transported back and forth from this island. since so many people lived here, we know that this society was very established and a complete society capable of providing for themselves. and the fact that this was one of the biggest cities in the world tells us that as well.

Quipus- This was an device used by the Incas that recorded information. the chasquis might carry these to send messages to people throughout the empire. It consisted of variously colored threads that were knotted in different ways. the knots in the thread had different meaning, and they could tell stories.

The quipus allowed the Inca to create a way to tell their stories so that future generations would have them. they were planning for the future. This was a very smart technique to preserve and communicate information. it was highly portable and was able to be used in place of writing, so the indigenous people are not dumb like commonly thought to be

Chinampas- these were the artificial islands that were created by the Aztecs for their crops. It was their own method of farming. the islands looked like they were floating. this method allowed them to grow crops on the shallow lakes in Tenochtitlan.

These islands allowed rich soil to be provided for crops with easy access to water. The Aztec people were very intelligent to make up their own way of farming.

encomendero- This was a man who receives and encomienda. It was a reward for their service to the Spanish crown. It usually signified power and that they had gone on many explorations before. An encomendero usually had proved themselves to the crown by doing something that the king liked. these also usually allowed the encomiendero to demand tribute and forced labor from the indigenous people of that area.

This was a way for the Spanish to protect their property. it was an early form of how the the land was organized in the colonies. This system of forced labor opened the door to future exploitation of the natives.

Ayllus- This is a family group that lived in the Andes during the Incan empire in the late 1400s to the early 1500s. They are an indigenous local government model. They would work portions of land together. Everyone in the Incan Empire was a member of the ayllu. They moved around based on the need of the empire.

We are seeing the formation of social groups in society form. They also showed us how complex of a society the incas were because of the agriculture that they were able to contribute in these groups. They made up a greatly organized community that was self-sufficient and had very skilled craftsman. Contrary to popular belief, the Incan empire was a stratified society with social order.

Quechua- This was the language of the Incan Empire. The Spanish do not understand this language when they first come to the Andes. All of the official business was carried out in this language in the Incan Empire.

We know that the Inca Empire was very organized because they had their own language. They were an advanced society, and this disproves the black legend that the spansh just came and steam rolled over the incas. the spanish had to rely on the incas when they first came because they didn't understand the language.

Kurakas- These were governors of the Incan Empire. They had to answer to the the Emperor. They watched out for their area of the empire and had to report back to the emperor. they were in charge of settling disputes and solving crisis'. The people from their part of the empire would help him out by spinning his wool, pasture his animals, and work his fields. This was a job that was passed down in families, so it couldn't be just anybody in the community. They also were apart of forming the uneasy alliances with the Spanish.

Without the kurakas, there wouldn't have been any alliances with the spanish at all. There wouldn't be any leaders of the community. The Kurakas had to communicate with the Spanish because they were kind of helpless when it came to the language, terrain, and other resources. They already had an established heirarchy within their society, and this disproves the black legend. the spanish needed the help of the kurakas when they arrived, and they couldn't just steam roll over them.