* Origin of Race*

    Historians Wiesmantel and Eisenman argue, “The origins of race, then, lie in history and not in biology” (Weismantel and Eisenman 122).   The concept of race allows one group to disregard the rights of another group for the sake of its own selfish goals.  In fact, race was developed in order to transfer the guilt onto the victims instead of blaming those who are truly guilty of mistreatment such as the conquistadors.  Thus, assumptions about the Indians' ignorance or barbarity gave the Spanish an excuse to abuse the native people.  The Spanish were able to develop their own racial superiority based upon these assumptions.  Doing so established social organization and control while creating a reliable workforce (Weismantel and Eisenman 122-23).

    While the Spanish were confident in their religion, culture, and racial superiority, their powerful status in South America was the result of their own insecurities in Europe.  Most Spaniards who arrived in South America were hoping to have a more prestigious and wealthy life.  The development of a capitalist economy and culture in Europe had created a new bourgeoisie class, who was traveling to the New World to obtain wealth and power.  In order to feel more important these people needed to place others below their own status.  The Indians, being different, were the perfect group to build the egos of the new arrivals (Weismantel and Eisenman 124).

    The concepts of racial division and superiority were established quickly between the Indian and Spanish populations.  Because the divisions and roles were so strict, the development of a mestizo population left many questions for this newly developing society.  There was a new group of people that did not fit easily into the narrow racial categories developed by the Spanish to maintain power.  The varying treatment and acceptance of mestizos demonstrates their unique status in society.

Not only did the mestizo population develop slowly, but the first generation also faced other problems.  Ninety-five percent of the first generation was illegitimate.  With two issues to deal with, it is difficult to conclude whether being illegitimate or being of mixed heritage was worse according to society’s standards.  Historian James Lockhart believes the Spanish might have considered illegitimacy to be a more serious problem than racial mixing because of their strong Catholic beliefs (Lockhart 188).

    As depicted in the novel, Huasipungo, written by Jorge Icaza, the mestizos did not perform the same menial labor as the Indians on the haciendas.  Instead, the mestizos were often in a supervisory position such as a mayordomo, or they were independent villagers working as skilled laborers (Icaza, Ramirez 62).   Although the mayordomo, who managed the hacienda, was under the direct control of the Spanish owner, he acted as the mediator between the owner and the Indians.  There were also cases of mestizo workers replacing Indian workers in traditional settings such as the mines.  With the development of new methods and technology, mestizo workers often received positions requiring a certain degree of skill and managerial duties (Kicza 10).

    The inheritance of land and property by mestizo children was another troublesome economic issue..  Because so many of the mestizo children were illegitimate, few of them received any type of inheritance.  The limited number of legitimate children were treated equally.  They were able to inherit encomiendas and property as any Spanish son would.  Also, if there was not a legitimate Spanish heir, the father would often give his property to an illegitimate mestizo son.  Although the son could not legally own the land, he could unofficially control it (Lockhart 188-189).

    The attempt by some Spanish fathers to integrate the mestizo children into their Spanish families was a source of tension.  It was not unusual for a Spanish wife to teach and care for their husband’s illegitimate mestizo child along with her own.  Although it is obvious that such a situation could lead to awkward relationships, the women often developed an unavoidable connection with these children.  Spanish women felt it was their duty or obligation to spread the Spanish language and culture to the indigenous people in order to bring them civilization (Lockhart 190).   Thus, these children grew up with only knowledge of their Spanish background.

    The mestizo children of privileged Spaniards benefited social and economically from the position of their parents.  This was particularly true if the mother belonged to a family of high Inca nobility.  These children often received a Spanish education through the use of a private tutor or priest, who would travel to the home of a wealthy family in order to teach the sons.  Others, such as chronicler Garcilaso Inca de la Vega, received an education of superior quality in Spain.  The decision to send the child home to be raised by the family in Spain was not an uncommon practice.  This solution led to less confrontation within the immediate family and ensured that the child would learn Spanish culture and ideas (Lockhart 187-88).

    Upon adulthood, the mestizo children of prominent Spaniards continued to profit from their well-known parents and family name.  Along with inheriting land, the mestizo children were often provided with enough money to live in a certain style and level of comfort.  Many were able to acquire and maintain the fashionable styles and lavish homes comparable to those of the Spanish.  Some of the mestizos were able to overcome the obstacles against them because of their wealth and prominence.  For example, the legitimate son of one Spaniard was appointed to the city council of Lima, which was a position usually reserved exclusively for the Spanish.  In particular, the illegitimate children of Pizarro and Almagro were treated well by the Spanish because of their famous fathers.  According to Lockhart, these children “were lifted by their exalted parentage right out of the mestizo category into positions of leadership among Spaniards, while still at a tender age” (Lockhart 198).  It is easy to see that the restrictions on being mestizo could be flexible, depending upon the economic and social standing of the individual.

    The experience of mestiza daughters was often different from that of their male counterparts.  Instead of participating in politics or inheriting land, the women were able to take advantage of their status in order to marry.  Unlike their brothers, it was acceptable for mestiza girls to marry into Spanish Peruvian society.  To a Spanish father, this arrangement had financial and social benefits.  Often the alliances between fathers were good for support and the dowries provided new wealth for the family.  Even if a mestiza girl could not marry a Spanish man of equal status of her father, it was still possible for her to marry a respectable man of slightly lesser means.  For example, the women often married a Spanish merchant, sailor, or artisan (Lockhart 189-90).   Particularly wealthy mestiza girls, such as the daughter of the famous captain Lorenzo de Aldana, were able to marry rich Spanish gentlemen and encomenderos (Lockhart 189).

    When the first mestizo generation became adults, a problem arose in Peruvian society.  There were many mestiza girls growing up Spanish, yet they did not have enough money to find a husband.  It was a favorite form of charity to donate dowries for orphaned mestizas.  Also, philanthropic groups established shelters for the young women in cities such as Lima and Cuzco (Lockhart 190).

    It is interesting that the marriage of two mestizos was nonexistent during the beginning of the colonial period.  Thus, there was no such thing as a mestizo family or community; instead, they simply tried to attach themselves to the lower edge of the Spanish culture.  One reason researchers speculate that mestizo marriages did not exist is because in Spanish culture the men get married at an older age than the women, but there were no older mestizo men.  So, the women, who came of age first, were married to older Spanish men (Lockhart 190-91).

    One might wonder why a Spanish man would take such an interest in a mestizo child, illegitimate or not, that could bring so much tension or shame to the family.  Many Spanish fathers did not feel love for these children; instead, it was a sense of duty.  Although the Spanish were often surprised to see the strong resemblance the children had to them, the reasons for supporting and accepting these children were much deeper.  First, these wealthy and ethnocentric Spaniards could not bear the idea of their children being raised in an “inferior” way by the barbaric Indians.  So, rather than let them deteriorate among the Indians, they accepted the mestizo children into their lives, homes, and culture.  Secondly, a strong feeling of family lineage caused the Spanish to integrate the children into the family.  According to Spanish custom, there was a strong emphasis on the solidarity and unity of a family.  Also, carrying on the family name was extremely important to these people, who derived their power through tradition and reputation along with economic wealth (Lockhart 191).   A sense of obligation because of the strict system of Spanish guardianship and the culture’s emphasis on the older, wiser individuals holding power (Lockhart 186, 191).   Lastly, like many of the Mediterranean cultures, the Spanish felt a certain sense of responsibility for the protection of females.  Thus, a father felt it was his duty to protect his daughter despite her racial identity.  Also, the females were accepted more easily because the proportion of Spanish men was significantly higher than that of women in South America.  So, the women, although only half Spanish, were needed in order to sustain a viable Spanish population (Lockhart 191).

    The narrow definition of adulthood according to Spanish standards made it even more difficult for the first generations of mestizos to assert any type of opinion or voice within society.  By 1560, only a small minority of the mestizo population was over the age of twenty.  Spanish society generally did not trust young people with significant responsibility.  The law stating that people were minors until the age of twenty-five.  So, young people in general had little power within society, and the mestizos were no exception (Lockhart 186).

    Despite his success, Garcilaso Inca de la Vega did experience some frustration over the Spanish misinterpretation of the native language, Quechua.  He uses the example of the word huacca in order to demonstrate the ignorance of the Spanish concerning the subtleties of the language.  The term had a variety of religious meanings including temple, burial, something extraordinary, or something of great beauty.  On the other hand, the Spanish thought it simply meant idol.  So, they thought anything called huacca was considered a god.  Garsilaso Inca de la Vega explained how this inaccurate translation caused the Spanish to completely misunderstand the indigenous religion (Ramirez 143-44).   As a man knowledgeable of both languages and cultures, he was frustrated by the simplistic and condescending attitude of the Spanish..

Additional Sources Used for Mestizo Section (not in annotated bibliography):

Icaza, Jorge.  Huasipungo.  Translated by Bernard Dulsey.  Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press,
    1964.

Ramirez, Susan Elizabeth.  The World Upside Down: Cross-Cultural Contact and Conflict in Sixteenth-
    Century Peru.  Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996.

Weismantel, Mary and Stephen Eisenman.  "Race in the Andes: Global Movements and Popular Ontologies."
    Bulletin Latin American Research 18 (1998): 121-142.

Zamora, Margarita.  Language, authority, and indigenous history in the Comentarios reales de los incas.
    New York: Cambridge Press, 1988.