Katherine Coppe's List: Incas religion

• Child sacrifice is recorded in the ceque system document, having occurred especially at those shrines related to the Sun. Numerous huacas received precious metals (gold and silver), most commonly in the form of human (Photo 3.1), llama, or alpaca figurines (Photos 3.2 and 3.3). Textiles, often described as miniature women's clothes, are frequently listed among the items offered to the Cusco huacas (Photo 3.4). From the descriptions in the document, coca offerings seem to have been more rare and were generally associated with mountain passes. The coca leaves could be burnt, presented in small bags, or offered straight from the mouth.

  • Bauer, Brian S.. The sacred landscape of the Inca: the Cusco ceque system

• • Bauer, Brian S.
• The mentioning of animal sacrifice in the Relación de las huacas seems especially sparse. It is known from other works that a large number of llamas (misidentified in most Spanish documents as sheep) and guinea pigs (called quis) were offered to huacas (Molina 1989 [ca. 1575]; Polo de Ondegardo 1916b [1585], 1916c [1571]; Guaman Poma de Ayala 1980 [1615]; Arriaga 1968a [1621]; Cobo 1990 [1653]). Nevertheless, there are no references in the ceque system document to guinea pigs being offered and only a few huaca descriptions mention sheep (i.e., llama) sacrifices.

• • Murra, John V.. The economic organization of the Inka State
• A “faultless” uniformly colored animal was thought to enhance the effectiveness of the sacrifice. At Citua time, four such beasts were selected to provide the blood needed to wet and knead the maize dumplings fed in sign of loyalty and citizenship to all the people present for the occasion in Cuzco. In situations of grave emergency when the king was dangerously ill or just acceding to the throne, during a persistent drought and the like, the Capacocha sacrifice was called for. It included “faultless” human children as well as llamas and cloth.¹³⁹

• As the legend goes, a great flood came about and whisked away all of the unruly people in the land.
   
   The flood myths are full of stories about how the Inca people were greedy and and how they didn't pay proper homage to the Gods. It was decided that the only people who didn't prove evil were the ones in the highest highlands of the Andes Mountains.
   
   As the story goes, two shepherds realized how sad their llamas were. The llamas told their owners there was a flood coming. The two shepherds gathered their families and their herds and headed to the highlands.
   
   Rain fell for two straight months until all of the land below was flooded. The Sun God appeared and his smile dried the waters. The families came down from the Highlands and repopulated the earth. 
   
   This myth continues on, saying that the llamas always remember the floods and therefore only live in the Highlands.

  • http://www.inside-peru.com/inca-creation-myth.html

• The Incas never invented the  wheel, so they had no wheeled vehicles. They did not have horses or  cows. High in the Andes, the llama was a most important animal. The  llama was used for transportation. It provided the Incas with wool and  food. So it's understandable that many Incan legends and myths were  about llamas.

  • http://incas.mrdonn.org/llamalegends.html

• At one time, people became very evil. They  were so busy doing evil deeds that they neglected the gods. Only those  in the high Andes mountains were honest and true. 

  One day, two brothers who lived in the high  Andes mountains noticed their llamas were acting strangely. They asked  the llamas why they were staring up at the sky. The llamas answered  that they were told by the stars that a great flood was coming. The  brothers believed the llamas. They moved their families and flocks  into a cave they found on the highest mountain. 

  It began to rain. The rain continued for four  months and four days. At last the rain stopped. The water receded. The  brothers and their families repopulated the earth. 

  The llamas were most grateful to the stars for  warning them about the flood. That is why llamas prefer to live on the  mountain tops, safe from floods, and near their friends, the stars.

  • http://incas.mrdonn.org/llamalegends.html

• Animals were important to Inca myths. The snake represented the underworld, the condor symbolized the upper world, or spiritual plane, and the puma represented the physical world in which the Incas lived. Images of these animals in their respective symbolic roles are found throughout the sacred city of Machu Picchu. In fact, the Huayna Picchu, the mountain located near Machu Picchu, is naturally shaped like a puma. Incan architects constructed small terraces high on the summit to create the impression that the puma's hair was standing up straight

  • http://www.ehow.com/info_8466158_cougars-incan-myths.html

• Page: 3
  

  Search Result:  In general, Inka settlement planning reflects both order and ties between society and the cosmos. For example, the city of Cuzco was laid out in the form of a puma, with upper and lower halves divided into moieties of Inka royalty, the HANAN and HURIN, mentioned above. A series of forty-one conceptual lines or ZEQUES radiated out from the central plaza of Cuzco where the Temple of the Sun was located, each linking a set of W'AKAS (HUACAS) or shrines to the conceptual core of the universe. Other planned settlements were arranged on orthogonal or trapezoidal grids around a large plaza containing a truncate pyramid platform [JB].

  • Bray, Tamara L.Culture summary: Inka

• The Indians said that one condor was intended for his father, who fled from Cuzco, and went to hide in the Collao, and that the other represented the Ynca Uira-ccocha, who returned flying to defend Cuzco and the whole empire.

  • Vega, Garcilaso de la, 1539-1616.First part of the Royal commentaries of the Yncas

• The Incas worshiped many sacred animals. Abroad, the best known of these is probably the condor, because of its size and its unique presence in this part of the globe.
    But the Incas worshiped other animals: the puma, caiman ...
    Some of their cities were built along the lines of the shape of animals, as is the case for the fortress of Sacsayhuaman near Cuzco, whose name in Quechua means "satisfied falcon." Contrary to what its name suggests, this fortress to the shape of a puma's head, the body being the city Cusco.
    Another city of the Sacred Valley, Pisac, whose name refers to a species of partridge has disappeared, the shape of a bird.
    At Machu Picchu, some see the city as a Cayman, as a Condor or a Puma drawn on the wall of the mountain.
    The discovery described in this article indicates that the last of these assumptions is false, namely the overall shape is identified as a condor in flight (shown in Figure 1).

  • http://tampu-tocco.com/en/machu_picchu_architectural_shape.php

• Page: 306
  

  Search Result: The usual sacrifices, however, were llamas and guinea pigs, which were offered in large numbers to all the huacas. Wild animals were not ordinarily sacrificed, except that birds were used in the war rite. (See Warfare, p. 280.) A ceremonially fixed number of llamas were chosen, each animal having a color, amount of wool, and markings appropriate to the god, the festival, and the season. Brown llamas were usually sacrificed to Viracocha, white llamas and alpacas to the Sun, and particolored llamas to the Thunder. The priest led the animal around the image, then took its head over his right arm, turned it toward the god, said the words of offering, and slit its throat.

  • Rowe, John Howland, 1918-. Inca culture at the time of the Spanish conquest
• Page: 12
  

  Search Result:  Within Andean society, ritual was an essential aspect of daily life. People engaged in private acts, such as the sharing of coca or praying to the snow-capped peaks (APU), that expressed deeply held religious beliefs everyday. Public ceremonies of the Inka were elaborate, highly formal affairs. The state ceremonial calendar corresponded closely to the agricultural cycle of the highlands, with many rituals explicitly linked to crop productivity. Public ceremonies were also performed during times of crisis and to mark important historic events such as the coronation or death of the Emperor. Most such ceremonies involved the exhibition of sacred idols and images, dancing, feasting, oratory, and the heavy consumption of corn beer (CHICHA). Sacrifices accompanied nearly every religious rite and typically involved guinea pigs, llamas, coca, or CHICHA, though children were sometimes immolated as well. Public ceremonies were typically conducted outdoors in one of the central plazas [TB].

  • Bray, Tamara L.Culture summary: Inka

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  Little Llamas

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  Llama figurines were often buried with the Inca dead, perhaps as offerings to the gods to ensure the fertility of the Inca herds.

    

  Llamas played an important role in Inca culture.  They were the primary transportation source for the empire, which had a vast mountain road system but no wheels. Hardy animals, llamas carried all sorts of loads, from water to building materials. Llamas also provided dung (which served as fuel and fertilizer) and wool for textiles. After their deaths, llamas provided hide for leathers and meat for food.

  • http://www.nationalgeographic.com/inca/inca_culture_4.html

• The Inca worshipped the dead, ancestors, founding culture heroes, their king whom they regarded as divine, nature and its cycles. The worship of nature and its cycles suggest that for them time and space were sacred, and consequently the calendar was religious and each month had its own festival. The most important cult was directed to Inti the god sun who nourished the earth and man with his rays. The most important feast was the one dedicated to Inti, called IntipRaimi. This rich ceremony, with its splendid costumes, and gold and silver offerings and decoration, was opened by the Inca emperor, his family and the curaca. After the opening the emperor made a libation to the sun and drank chicha (a maize drink) with his family, then led a procession, followed by every one into the sun temple, where the imperial family made offerings of precious vessels or images to the god. Following this, omens were read and llamas were sacrificed. The ceremony ended with eating and drinking.

  • http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/inca.html
• They practiced daily offering and sacrifices. However, human and animal sacrifices were held only on special occasions such as the enthronement of the Inca(the king), when 200 children would be killed, or in times of crises such as famine, or epidemics. Such critical situations were actually considered, most of the time, a result of disobedience to the Taboos and would therefore call for confession of sins. By confessing they would prevent or allay private and public disasters. At the beginning these confessions were done in public, becoming secret after some time.

  • http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/inca.html

• The Bhils are the third-largest (after the Gonds and Santals)  and most widely distributed tribal group in India

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• While the original Inka homeland was the Cuzco Valley of south-central Peru

  • InkaTamara Bray, Sarah Berry, and John Beierle
• “Bhils” as covering a number of subtribes  that include the Barelas, Bhagalia, Bhilalas, Dhankas, Dholi, Dublas, Dungri, Gamits or  Gamtas, Garasias, Mankars, Mavchis, Mewasi, Nirle (Nilde), Patelia, Pathias, Pavadas, Pawra,  Rathias, Rawal, Tadvis, Talavias, Vasavas, and Vasave.

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• Most Andean villages contained fewer than 100 families
• The areas inhabited by the  Bhils remain some of the more remote and inaccessible parts of India today. Their unique  scattered settlement pattern has hindered government efforts to provide services as has  their general distrust of government officials.

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• he Blackfoot were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in tipis.The bison was the mainstay of their life, providing food and the raw material for shelter and other aspects of the material culture. Much of the ceremonialism focussed on the importance of bison for survival.
• n traditional times the bison was the primary source of food as well as hides for tipi covers, bedding, parfleche containers, and shields, and sinew for sewing.
• There was a strict division of labour based on sex.
• The Bhil erect their houses on the tops of the hills with their fields  surrounding them, thereby allowing them to maintain constant security over their crops

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• Kin terms were of the Hawaiian type. The term "clan" is used by the Blackfoot to refer to a level of sociopolitical and kinship organization which integrates nuclear families.
• As hunters and gatherers, the Bhils traditionally  relied primarily on the bow and arrow, although spears, slings, and axes were also used

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• he subsistence base of the Inka Empire (TAWANTINSUYU) was agricultural and production was tightly controlled by the state
• n the Inka Empire, taxes were paid in the form of labor rather than in kind. Each community was required to cultivate the lands appropriated by the state in their district.
• raditional Blackfoot understand that human beings coexist with spiritual beings who live in the sky, on earth, and under the water. The holy (sacred) bundles, and the ceremonies which featured them, are manifestations of human links to these other beings.
• n Inka society marriage was obligatory at the age fixed by law -- eighteen to twenty for girls and twenty-four to twenty-five for men
• The Bhils' history of interaction with the British imperial  government is characterized by alternating periods of submission and of sporadic, isolated  rebellion.

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• The Bhils have traditionally been  classified as animists; this classification is reflected in the 1901 census, wherein 97.25  percent were labeled as animists and the remainder was associated with the Hindu faith.

  • BhilBy Angelito Palma
• One of the key factors in the rapid rise of the Inka state was the military
• Within Andean society, ritual was an essential aspect of daily life. People engaged in private acts, such as the sharing of coca or praying to the snow-capped peaks (APU), that expressed deeply held religious beliefs everyday. Public ceremonies of the Inka were elaborate, highly formal affairs.

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