Introduction: The World tnd other items, Besides Were gathered in the que Of the field work, In administered a8 Tbegan to understand social relation better, households Hib eerent kinds of extr-household linkage. Infact the Blanes of ccs Was greatly influenced by my ease of entry But the ease study technique was very suc extensive periods of time with each group of activites and carrying out dt cisely bow many cases were coveted since, once begun, an ut to cover others, so that a “household case” soon ‘The eases presented in ths book representa very sm Studied but have been chosen fo ties. Indeed standing with people atthe mat With ambulant vendors in Lima, and participating in general. converst began t0 encourage group ses (or in Huancayo or Place in the evening and would begin municipal 's house). These took used a taperecorder the major part of fieldwork!) The ‘and again the incident with anothe |, Temma Kay bera, Florencia Mi Rosebery, Teodor Shanin, Robert Vincent, Christine Whitehead, Eric doubt remark on how they advised me, Those not mentioned memory. Joan Kate Young. Those T have Thave remembered of what aware of my poor of the Huasicanchinos 972 with the collapse of the ‘of what was by then de facto possession of id by the Huasicanchinos, 400 feet (3,780 meters) above Peruvian central sierra (see Map 1), lies (1,934 inhabitants) residing in who have migrated to the provincial ncayo, the mining towns around La Oroya to the north, and the i, Lima, This study focuses on all those people who refer to res as Huasicanchinos, ‘which run roughly from ip of desert broken by oe A plosary cam be found on 1‘TheHacienda Blas S Uf vor Lsto-ingansas rsa. Ro cela vigor If, Hea.Tuee aa Ser THE ereapunuio Mine ' ad 5 Seas er ee a Map. imap. the high mountainou land gives wey t low coastal desert. To the east, the mountains ll back onto the high jungle (the ceta de stb), This high Andean puna Is Broken up By the wide and fertile inter Andean valley ofthe Mantaro River, on which Huancayo is situated. A smaller tributary valley breaks through the Mantara Gorge in he south, toward Huasican ‘ha and the “Hocienda Bloc.” This is the Conipaco River, whose name is sometimes used to refer tothe area The Hacienda Bloc is highlighted by cross-shading Map 2. Diagram showing relative poston of Huasicancha and TucleSPREE PRR E PRR RRR Introduction the short, spasmodic rivers that drain into the Pacific, along which are many of the country’s largest settlements. Running like a backbone dova the center ‘of the country is the high mountain range of the Andes. Varying from the “uninhabitable heights ofthe permanently snow-covered summits dhrough the ‘puna grazing lands between 13,500 and 12,000 feet, tothe inter-Andean val- Jeys that descend to 10,000 fe the zone of Peru's traditional peas- antry. Moving eastward, the mounts Jungle, the third andl most easterly ofthe zones, These ea ‘Andes are refered to as the ce Sugar, rice, cotton, and fruit plantations have long been concentrated along the coast, and more recently stip mining bas taken on increasing importance in the southem desert. Copper and other metals are mined inthe central siera, fot many years arable and livestock haciendas have existed alongside It peasant farms, while in the large inter-Andean valley of the Mantaro River, commercial farmers exist alongside small manufacturing and commer- cial enterprises (see Long and Roberts 1978, 1984), Lima lies almost ex ‘ree of latitude uns direct town of Huancayo in the heart of the Mantaro Valley, ‘Lima, Huancayo isthe capital of both the department (unin) and the province (Huancayo) in which Huasicanchajs found. Iti reached by s 200ml paved rond-and railway fo which pass over the high.westem spine of the ‘Andes and: descend to the Mantaro Valley through the smelt Oroya, long assoviated with the Cerro de Pasco Company (once American point for westeast traffic from the coast to the jungle and north-south traffic ing down toward Ayacucho or Huancavelica. It has also been a supply ‘own for the various mining operations ofthe central sierra, More recently growth has been linked to its as administrative center for a vaticty (of branches of government. ‘The Mantaro Valley itself was the locus of the Huanca (or Wanka) peoples ‘who were dominated by the Incas prior to the Spanish congus whose pasture lands surrounding the valley. The er the surrounding, upla mercury mines, which were next only 10 rs, acted to reduce the influence of the Mantaro Valley, % Chongos A «88 the faldas or skirts, running down rod ‘Surrounding the Mantaro Valley are high mountainous pasture lands his- torically dominated by livestock haciendas on the edge of communities far less commercially developed than the ‘Mantaro Valley, Huasicancha is one such communi the Hacienda Tucle, itself part of a geographically consolic haciendas bordering on one another. By reference to map soe that these haciendas—Tucle-Rio de Ia Virgen, Antapongo, and Laive- Ingahuasi—form an almost perfect rectangle that is cut into by the River CCanipaco, a tributary of the Mantaro, The communities of Colca, Chicche, and Huasicancha lie on the edge ofthis valley, wi endas controlling the pasture right up to the edge of the commun all intents and purposes, restricting the villagers tothe steep hi 1s important to get a sense ofthe road connections that make Huasicen- ‘cha and the hacienda buildings of Hacienda Tucle especially remote. For many years through Yanaeancha, fo the Hacien to the hazards of the climate and was freque ‘could only be reached thus: by passing first Hacienda Antapongo, then Hacienda Rio de la Virgen, skirting not far from the buildings of Hacienda ‘Tucle, and arriving eventually, via the pampa, at the village. For villagers, of course, this route was never taken, Instead mules, Hamas, and donkeys ‘were driven down the pass of the Canipaco and Mantaro. Another lie of com- for them was southwest up the Rio de la Virgen into Huan- the town itself or branching west fo descend to the coast se River ive isolation contrasts with even the neighbors aravity, as sicancha and Hacienda’ these lands lie on the edge of three departments: Lima, Huancavel Junin Tn the 1930s this remoteness was greatly reduced wl he Cereapuguio from the south of the Mantaro Valley and then ran around the edge of the Canipaco Valley through Colca and Chieche to Chon- 1g0s Alto and the mine. From’here, once more, Huasicancha or Hacienda ‘Tuele could be reached by crossing the Rio de la Virgen near the mine and climbing up to the high pampa (see Map 2). Vehicles taking this route could be seen from Hussicancha the moment they brake out into the Canipaco Vs ley above Chieehe, some six or seven hours before they could reach the com- “1 aaaaaaaasataaaaaaaaasaaaaaei aerate.= =. ‘Alto, fording the river, and then climbing up into that village. This fortress Historically distr quality of Huasicancha was greatly reduced soon after the major land inva breakaways by aneros from ‘ions of the mid 1960s when the government built a bridge directly from Huasicancha and Chongos Alto had broken away from the Distrito of (Gee Map 1) and Chongos Alto had received recognition as a Distrito, with“ 1930 the same process occurred again, up as a distito "The gobernador of the di in fact chosen in the general assembly in Huasicancha and then sent to juancayo to receive recognition. He is supposedly the state's representative offer the most imate for potatoes, wheat inthe village and, as such he acts as the local sheriff in solving minor conflicts ‘Andean crops of mashué the village. Since the guardia civil post was besieged by Huasicanchinos the southeast reach up fo well over 16,000 in 1959 and thereafter removed, the gobernador fulfills most policing func ractice, in Huasicancha the gobernador has often arbi seen specifically as the pueblo's represer Canipaco, lie the commu varies from rainy temperate days from October to Ay \d nights from May through to September. These sh pasture feet and the edge of vegetation growth, On the lower levels strong breed double-purpose cattle ean be raised, although the harsh co hazardous. Sheep are well suited to these ecolog! in charge of seeing to it that poli iy are observed. jeutenant) for each of the anexos and a ‘body of deputies numbering from six to twelve to help maintain the peace in the village” These men are used for contrelling the meetings of the general a8 and for damage to gave a special ing 1s and alpacas) by the local pastoralists despite the expansion ‘The people of Huasicancha, which means cha), consider themselves to be descendents to speak Huanca which, they argue, is different from imperial Quechua, Al- for an older and respected man in the ty speak Spanish too, the For the people themselves, however, position requires firmness and tact as well ole. As such itis usually reserved ‘as such by the national go ff Huasicanchinos are regarded as comuneros once they 2 hhousebotd, and since theo is very litte marrying out of the comms ‘comuneros form a fairly clear-cut group, People who do ma membership after a few years an ial revenue; andthe conta of the huschols ave obliged to contribute labor soa! municipal vor teams (aenas) devote to puble works. By inating public works of Tasting value alaldes tr to establish something of a lasting reputation inthe vould not be asepted.) Onee comuneros, those who migrate remain co-ef expressed as the rediscovery of ade facto past. Before going further ity, [need to review the background to this who were able fo buy o began t0 reverse if & program for the recognition of “indigenous comma ‘own land as corporate bodies from ‘whom alienation through sale or otherwise would be illegal. Comi ‘were urged to register any legal tile they may have had to lands during that ‘year, and sales thereafter were declared ilegal. Huasicancha rushed to register its deed in the same year register as such with the Secciém de Asuntos Indigenas, It was es some 5,000 communities existed, but the costs of going through the red tape 5, Which in principle 1 open pasture. Some arable land was held by the community and farmed by the faenas, and a small flock of communal sheep was kept also to cover various community costs. In practice, however le communal pasture, since the haciendas had taken control of most arable plots were actually ‘passed on from one generation to the nex! ile reference to the perso- nero, though sales of land betwee recognized and sales t0 outsiders exp When the tary government headed by General Velasco overthrew the nity was to be used as the bas ting up of production cooperatives, ‘Though elected in the General Assembly ofthe community, these officers had ies in Huancayo, Development aid was only by the need for the new author cayo. During the time of fi the people of Huasicancha were first and foremost ‘who engaged also in arable farming, muleteering, and a variety today migration has become so thoroughly a part of“ sof the city and bby a varity of other occupations, so that each inthe village lands in the slack agricultural season where they lodge with friends or Strawberries inthe suburbs of the Most villagers, then, are familiar with the and the migrants, for their part, maintain ‘uming to the village when the opportunity prese