This is an Electronic Appendix of documents to accompany my book Indians and Leftists in the Making of Ecuador’s Modern Indigenous Movements (Duke University Press, 2008).

Glossary

(Kichwa terms are in italics)

Alcalde An Indigenous leader or mayor of a rural Indian community; by the twentieth century this term had largely fallen into disuse in many areas.

Aparcero A sharecropping arrangement in which a person provides tools, seed, and labor in planting, cultivating, and harvesting a crop. In exchange for the use of the land, the person must give one-half of the harvest to the landowner. Sometimes called a partidario.

Apegado Literally "stuck-on," a landless person often living alongside a road. This included Indians who assisted with the harvest on a hacienda, and in exchange could collect leftovers in the field from the harvest and sometimes received a small cash payment for their services.

Arrimado An Indian who did not have a labor contract with the hacienda, but lived with a relative who did and helped cultivate that person's huasipungo plot. This person was obliged to help with tasks on the hacienda, and earned a small wage for doing so.

Cacique An Indian leader or chief. Also see kuraka.

Campesino Literally a person from the countryside (campo), usually indicating someone (often an Indian) who works the land for a living. Campesino is sometimes translated into English as "peasant."

Chagra A small plot of farmland, usually belonging to an Indian or mestizo.

Chagracama A person assigned the duty of protecting crops on a hacienda from birds and other predators. Often an Indian who was injured, too young, or too old and could not work in the fields; a chagracama was liable for any crop losses.

Comuna Established by a 1937 law, refers to a community which held resources (often pasture land and water) communally.

Concertaje A system of contracted debt which held Indian laborers (conciertos) to a hacienda under threat of prison. Conciertos received access to a small plot of land in exchange for their labor, and their children inherited their debts. In essence, the Indian laborers become property of the hacienda owner and would be purchased and sold together with the hacienda. This system was outlawed in 1918, but in essence continued in the huasipungo system.

Concierto A person, usually an Indian, who contracted the debt in the system of concertaje.

Cuentayo A person, usually an Indian, who cared for the animals on a hacienda, including milking the cows, taking the animals to pasture, and other tasks related to the care of livestock. Possible from the Spanish cuenta meaning to account for livestock on the hacienda. Also sometimes called a huagracama.

Diezmos A theoretically voluntary 10 percent tithe on crops, animals and other products that the Spanish crown and later the Catholic church charged the Indians as a tax.

Doctrina Basic religious instruction which landowners imparted to their Indian workers.

Faena An assigned task for an agricultural worker on a hacienda.

Gamonal A derogatory term imported from Peruvian indigenistas for a large landholder or local boss.

Hacendado The owner of a hacienda, also sometimes called an amo or patrón by the Indians.

Hacienda A landed estate, usually in the highlands, dedicated to production for an internal market. Also called latifundio.

Huagracama A person, usually an Indian, who cared for the animals on a hacienda, including milking the cows, taking the animals to pasture, and other tasks related to the care of livestock. From the Kichwa huagra (livestock) and cama (keeper), also sometimes called a cuentayo.

Huasicama From the Kichwa huasi (house) and cama (keeper), a domestic servant who took care of household duties in the house of the hacienda owner, either on the hacienda or in the city.

Huasipungo The service tenancy relationship which bound Indian workers to a hacienda after the abolishment of concertaje in 1918. Huasipungo also refers to the small plot of land which an Indian was allowed to use on the hacienda. Sometimes spelled guasipungo, this is a Kichwa term comprised of huasi (house) and pungo (door), but the roots of this term have been lost.

Huasipunguero The Indian who contracted a debt with a landowner within the huasipungo system. This person had access to a small plot of land in exchange for working on the hacienda.

Indigenismo Ideology of white, urban intellectuals (called indigenistas) who paternalistically sought to implement assimilationalist policies which they believed would help Indians.

Indio suelto An Indian who occasionally worked as a day laborer on a hacienda for a cash wage, but was not bound to the hacienda. Also called a peón libre.

Jefe político A representative of the central government on a regional cantonal level who was often white or mestizo and performed a variety of judicial and administrative duties.

Jornalero Day-laborer on a hacienda, paid a small wage in cash and sometimes with food.

Kuraka An Indian community leader during the Inka and colonial periods. Also sometimes spelled curaca or called a cacique.

KichwaThe language of most Indians in the Ecuadorian highlands, also known as Runa Shimi (the language of people). Traditionally spelled Quichua, and part of the large Quechua Andean language group.

Mayoral An overseer on a hacienda who was an Indian.

Mayordomo Usually a mestizo who supervised the day-to-day agricultural work on a hacienda.

Mestizo A person who represents a mixing of European and Indian cultures and often played the role of broker between white and Indian worlds.

MingaCommunal work party organized for public works projects.

Minifundio Small, inefficient agricultural land holdings usually less than five hectares in size.

Montuvio Poor mestizo peasants on the coast who tended to be mobile, migrating among export-oriented plantations during harvests and to urban areas in search of employment.

Obraje Colonial textile workshop, notorious for extremely abusive working conditions.

Ordeñadora A milk maid, usually an unpaid wife or female relative of a hacienda worker. From the Spanish ordeñar (to milk).

Pachakutik A cosmic reversal, a revolution.

Páramo High-altitude pasture lands.

Parroquia A civil parish, the most local administrative division in Ecuador, the larger units being cantons and provinces.

Partidario A sharecropping arrangement in which a person provides tools, seed, and labor in planting, cultivating, and harvesting a crop. In exchange for the use of the land, the person must give one-half of the harvest to the landowner. Sometimes called an aparcero.

Patrón Landowner, master. See hacendado.

Peón Peon; unskilled worker or field laborer.

Peón libre An Indian who occasionally works as a day laborer on a hacienda for a cash wage, but was not bound to the hacienda. Also called a peón suelto or indio suelto.

Primicias A theoretically voluntary contribution of the first fruits of a harvest that the church charged the Indians.

Quichua See Kichwa.

Quintal A hundred-weight; one hundred pounds or four arrobas.

Raya A line or hatch mark in a hacienda accounting book which represented one day of labor for a worker.

Sindicato Syndicate, peasant union.

Socorro A loan a concierto or huasipunguero received from a hacendado to cover expenses related to an illness, wedding, or funeral.

Suplido An advance of goods such as clothing, food, or seed a huasipunguero received from the hacienda owner which was charged against future wages or service.

Tawantinsuyu Land of four quarters, the Inka name for their empire.

Tarea An assigned task for an agricultural worker on a hacienda, remunerated on a piecework basis.

Teniente político A representative of the central government on a local parroquia level who was often white or mestizo and performed a variety of judicial and administrative duties.

Tinterillos Semi-professional or petty lawyers who exploited their privileged position to mediate legal or cultural conflicts in rural communities.

Yanapero An individual who lived off of the hacienda but worked several days a week for the land owner in exchange for the right to gather firewood, pasture a few animals, and use water from the estate. From the Kichwa yanapana (to help), also sometimes called ayudos (Spanish, helper).

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