o. LDIANA any The Ethnobotany of Chinchero, an Andean Community in Southern Peru Christine Franqueniont Timothy Plowman Edward Franquemont Stoen R. King Christine Niezgoda Wade I) Calvin R. Sperling March 30, 1990 Publication 1408 PUBLISHED BY FIELD ML ISTORY 'nation for Contributors to Field iana Ability to jv submitted :rs before all m Museum of Natural I i 1 i mdard-weight, 8 /?- by 11-inch paper with wide n '\l-compatible computer using MS-DOS, also subm.: > & 4, Wang PC, Samna, Mien authors arc requested to submit a "Table of Contents, page. In IT i he text should be pn ,:ny) and "Literature Cited." he metric system (periods are not used after abbreviated measurements i : ecent issues of Fieldiana. Manual of Style (13th ed.), published by The I k and journal titles should be given in full. Where abb: :Jy should follow Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum and :omic (botanical papers) or Serial Sources for the Biosis Data : >rmation Service. Names of botanical authors should follow the "Draft Index of Author <4 edition, or 77 cd in the t rm: >rado Island. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif., 943 pp. id T. D. Pennington. 1963. A comparison of montane and lowland nomy, and floristics. Journal of Ecology. 51: ina: Cultural patterns in visions, pp. 63-80. In Bro ton Publishers, The Hague, Netherlar dor, pp. 785-821. In Steward. J. H., ed.. Handbook ol vilizations. Bulletin 143, Bureau of American I Guatemala. Part II. Polypodiaceae. Fieldia (no! as "pi.. Pen and in!- OBLIGATION IS PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER. FIELDIANA Botany NEW SERIES, NO. 24 The Ethnobotany of Chinchero, an Andean Community in Southern Peru Christine Franquemont fTimothy Plowman Institute of Economic Botany Department of Botany New York Botanical Garden Field Museum of Natural History Bronx, New York 10458 Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496 Edward Franquemont Steven R. King Christine Niezgoda Institute of Andean Studies Board on Agriculture Department of Botany P.O. Box 9307 National Research Council Field Museum of Natural History Berkeley, California 94709 Washington, D.C. 20418 Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496 Wade Davis Calvin R. Sperling Institute of Economic Botany Germplasm Services Laboratory New York Botanical Garden U.S. Department ofAgriculture Bronx, New York 10458 Agricultural Research Service Beltsville, Maryland 20705 Accepted November 1, 1988 Published March 30, 1990 Publication 1408 PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 1 990 Field Museum of Natural History Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 89-85570 ISSN 00 15-0746 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TIMOTHY PLOWMAN 1944_1989 We dedicate this volume with love and gratitude to Tim Plowman, who brought us all together and showed us the way Table of Contents 9. Schematic map of Chinchero 12 10. Mountain reflected in a pond on the pampa of Yanacona 13 PREFACE vii 1 1 . Puqpuq waterfall said to be inhabited ABSTRACT 1 by sirena (Sp.), the malignant female INTRODUCTION 1 spirit 15 CHINCHERO: THE SETTING, AN ANDEAN TOWN 1 2. Mother and daughter peeling potatoes 2 in house courtyard 16 LOCAL GEOGRAPHY 10 13. An ayni group accomplishing first METHODS 14 hoeing of potato field with attendant rit- CULTIVATED PLANTS IN CHINCHERO 19 ual 20 EXPLANATION OF FORMAT 14. Harvest of maway (irrigated) fields 21 Species Information 29 15. Tops of plants from maway (irrigated Informant Biographies 31 field) used as fodder 22 Note on Quechua (Qichuwa) Orthography 16. A woman adding to a pile of potatoes 32 being harvested by a group of people LIST OF CHINCHERO PLANTS working in minkha 23 Fungi 32 1 7. Anisette Huaman and his wife posing in Lichens 33 front of Anisette's household garden of Algae 34 herbs and ornamentals raised for use, Mosses (Musci) 34 sale, and curiosity 26 Liverworts (Hepaticae) 35 18. A ch'asti, an adolescent role in dance Ferns and Fern Allies 36 groups and fiestas, cleaning wheat 28 Gymnosperms 40 19. Woman displaying lisas (Ullucus tubero- Angiosperms 41 sus) for sale or barter in Chinchero Sun- CONCLUSION 107 day market 44 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 107 20. Woman washing quinua (Chenopodium LITERATURE CITED 108 quinod) grains 50 INDEX OF LOCAL NAMES Ill 2 1 . Graciano Pumaaylli assembling stalks of for GENERAL INDEX . 1 22 huamanpito (Columellia obovata) use in basket-making 51 22. Graciano Pumaaylli using hands and List of Illustrations toe to begin weaving a basket 52 23. Nilda Callanaupa gathering the flowers of kiku (Bidens andicola ssp.) to use for 1 . The town of Chinchero, built on Inca a yellow dye 54 ruins 3 24. Children carrying kindling after a day 2. The site of a Sunday barter and com- with flocks or in fields 61 mercial market in Chinchero 4 25. Inflorescences of awarunkhu (Puya we- 3. Two teams of three men plowing with berbaueri), woody stems and leaves of chakitaqlla (Andean footplow) in field tayanqa (Baccharis tricuneata), and suy- above Lake Piuray 5 tu (probably Eupatorium volkensii) are 4. Map of Chinchero, showing location of gathered and burned and their ashes zones and communities 6 made into llipta. an alkaline admixture 5. A river cut dividing the western plains chewed with coca 68 and the eastern hills of Chinchero 7 26. Maria Huaman and daughter pulveriz- 6. A minkha labor group, assembled for ing ashes of plants to make llipta 69 the day, resting after harvesting potatoes 27. Liquid being added to the pulverized 8 ashes so that they may be shaped into 7. Members of an ayni group work togeth- patties of llipta 70 er, hoeing in a potato field, in a lifelong 28. Formed masses of llipta drying 71 relationship of labor exchange 9 29. Melchior Cusihuaman and neighbor lay- 8. An ayni group works together to con- ing bundles of thatch onto a new roof . 73 struct a new house . .11 30. Anisette Huaman thatching a roof 74 31. Simeona Jaimes using a gourd as ladle List of Tables to test chicha 75 32. Maria Livita straining boiled jora into a raki a of ichu (chicha jar) through layer i. wild plants forming part of diet 24 on a basket ... 76 (high-altitude grass spp.) 2. Origins of Chinchero cultigens 27 33. Oca (Oxalis tuberosd) cultivated for edi- 3. Minor cultivated plants . 29 ble tubers 90 34. Tools used to cultivate tubers are locally made, especially of chachaquma (Escal- lonia resinosa): plow (usually Eucalyp- tus), kutiq (hoe and potato hook), qha- suna (clod-breaker), and chakitaqlla (footplow) 97 VI Preface with Chinchero residents to establish a center for The goal of the Chinchero ethnobotanical proj- traditional culture located in Chinchero (C. Fran- ect was to document, from an interdisciplinary quemont, 1 982), a living museum designed to speak perspective bridging botany and anthropology, the for traditional Quechua life in dialogue with the flora of a human community whose boundaries Spanish-speaking school system oriented to coast- are political and cultural as well as geographic. The al culture. Segments of the project were dedicated project developed from the long-term research in to agricultural systems, textiles, fiestas, music, sto- this town in the high Peruvian Andes of two of us rytelling, and finally, plants. In 1982 we began a (C.F., E.F.) which began with an exploration of survey of the flora of the community of Chinchero the cognitive and practical worlds of Andean as an extension of the ongoing work toward cul- weavers (C. Franquemont & E. Franquemont, op. tural preservation. It was clear that low esteem for cit.). During a long period of association with traditional knowledge of the environment was Chinchero, we worked with members of the com- working to put the people of Chinchero at a dis- munity in support of a range of projects, including advantage with their more technologically ad- cultivation of potatoes, laying of pipes for a po- vanced compatriots in a number of ways. First, table water system, and activities of the school and prestigious wheat (in bread) and rice, both expen- the soccer league; in 1980 we took two cargos sive imported commodities, were replacing locally (sponsored the participation of two dance groups) grown foods such as quinua and even potatoes in for the town's annual celebration of the patron the Quechua diet. Second, farmers' need for cash saint (Spanish, fiesta patronat). and the consumption patterns of the larger re- Two problems illustrate our (C.F., E.F.) moti- gional economy caused changes in agricultural vations in studying the ethnobotany ofChinchero. strategies. Large areas of land were being planted A specific question arose in conversations with to barley rather than Andean tubers, since the Cus- Chinchero weavers. The town is home to one of co beer factory provided seed and guaranteed pur- the community-specific textile traditions that chase of harvests. Farmers were restricting the di- characterize the Cusco area (C. Franquemont, versity of their potato crops, in some cases 1979, 1986; E. Franquemont & C. Franquemont, influenced by government agricultural programs. 1986, 1987). Like many other researchers, we Many farmers sought short-term gains in ignoring wanted to understand the meaning of the woven the traditional seven-year rotation system, relying designs. Since the designs had names, an obvious on chemical fertilizers to maintain productivity. place to start was to translate those names. Several Third, the awe of modern medical technology such of the pal/ay (Quechua, 'design') names were said as injections and pills progressive and lifesaving also to be the names of plants. One plant, chili in some situations was devaluing the daily prac- chili, was particularly common; we were told that tice of herbal medicine long used to maintain the it grows "right around here anywhere," always fol- health of the community.