There are similarities between Conrad and Demarest and
Stern. Conrad and Demarest primarily focus on religious ideology and how it
influenced and shaped indigenous cultures. Stern looks at ideology in a
slightly different way. Stern focuses on the creation of the new colonial
society among the Andean people following the conquest (xvii). He focuses on
how the Indians adapted to the changes, how they met the challenges of the
conquest, and how the consequences developed a new society (xix). That is the
main goal for Stern. He starts off the first chapter of the book focusing on
reciprocal relationships that developed Andean culture. This ideology shows
that kinship groups depend on one another to get what they want. Basically, out
of every action that is put in in there is an output. Andean class structure was based on
self-sufficiency and community (p.4). Through kinship relationships a sense of
identify and survival was developed. In respect to religion and society, Stern
argues that religious rituals reinforced the kinship relationships in the
community (p.13). Conrad and Demarest focus on how the Inca honored their dead
and that religious practices were necessary to maintain balance in the
universe. Therefore, Incan society revolved around such practices, from labor
ritual to taxation to property rights.
Stern agrees to a certain extent that religious practice played a
unifying role in local society. For example, how there were big Gods known
as huacas in Andean belief system, but that there were also certain deities
known as conopas that were worshipped in households (p.14). Each ayllu had its
conopa that demonstrates the importance of the close-knit community structure
the Andean natives had. Stern would agree with Conrad and Demarest that
religious practices were for maintain balance in the universe and everyday
life. Nonetheless, Stern has not yet gone into extreme details into the
religious aspect of Andean life like Conrad and Demarest do. Therefore, Stern
argues a kinship/reciprocal ideology for the Andean community while Conrad and
Demarest argue a religious ideology for the Inca.
Conrad and Demarest do focus more in-depth on the concept of religious ideology in their chapter about South American and how the role of ideology was the core factor in the Andeans way of life. Stern however focuses on how community ideology came about, how other ideologies such as self sufficiency and reciprocal interchanges of the kuraka lordship, and also how the religious ideology was incorporated into that of the religious ideology of the conquering Incas.
ReplyDeleteStern focuses on how the ideology came about by mentioning how important membership was in the ayllu by the way each person in the group were able to help sustain each other as a whole community no matter their physical state and age. They were all regarded as “brothers” and each had a part to play to enrich one another (Stern 9). Being in an ayllu gave one a sense of identity and purpose. It gave their lives meaning and they glorified in their kinship with one another all because they shared a common ancestor (Stern 6).
They expounded upon the simple ayllu by joining other ayllus and thus having a bigger and wider network of labors to support the large task of managing the vast land domains of the combined ayllus. Thus they came up with a new system, kuraka lordship. Where the Kuraka lord would protect and manage the land and protect the people in return the people would receive gifts of surplus necessities as well as items needed for daily survival such as water and food. The workers for the kuraka lords tended were more willing to perform labor for the lord if the lord would send them corn beer and food for festivities (Stern 11).
When the Incas had finally conquered this region they knew the importance of each ayllu and their loyalties to their gods. So the Incas built upon the local gods in order to gain the loyalty of the newly conquered territories in order for them to gain the trust and willing labors of the newly conquered territory (Stern 20).