Monday, June 22, 2009: Peguche

More Inti Raymi notes...

Beginning around 2:00 PM, we heard bottle rockets exploding. To us, they sounded like gunshots. We aren’t sure when they began, but they were exploding on and off throughout the day and night (at least until 11:00 PM when we left). We also heard music that sounded like it was coming from somewhere near Doña Carmen’s house. It was pre-recorded and being played over loudspeakers.

Around 4:30 PM, we arrived at Doña Rosa and Miguel Campo’s house, located on a street branching off from an abandoned railroad track, 1-2 kilometers north of the Cascada de Peguche. Approximately 30 meters further down the Campo’s street and to the left, was a large open arena with two sets of small bleachers on the right side of the field. An announcer’s tent was opposite the bleachers, and the restrooms were to the left of the tent, closer to the road. The rectangular field was oriented perpendicular to the road. When it is not being used for festivals, we think it is a recreational park.

Small crowds of people began to accumulate in anticipation of the celebration. Food vendors began to set up.
Around 4:45, Miguel took us on a guided tour of the various sites important to the celebrations in Peguche. The first site we visited was just down the street from the festival site. There, we saw two small pools of water, held back by stone dams. Miguel described these two ponds as places where many men will bathe tonight in celebration of the first evening of Inti-Raymi. The bathing ritual is one of purification for the season ahead.

The second important site we visited was farther down the street and to the left of the road.
1) The first site of importance was a house, built as a replica of the traditional Otavalo homes of the past. He described it as a one room house where everyone, including the animals, slept. “On one side of the room is the where they cook and sleep and on the other side is where the animals live.” The outside of the house was built with mud and sticks, while the roof was a wooden frame covered with vegetation. The style of the roof seemed quite tropical, with a large open space between the walls and the roof. Miguel noted, however, that the large gap between the roof and walls is not typical. He also said that the houses built in this style are all only one floor in height.
2) The second site of importance was a large painted boulder. Miguel told us the story: in the past, there was a huge battle between the gods of Imbabura and Cotacachi. They used sling shots to chuck these massive boulders at one another. There are three of these famous boulders than can be seen: one in Peguche, one in Quinchinche, and one in Imbabura. Locals say they believe this legend because the boulders are so huge that no human being could have put them there; it must have been the work of the gods.
The Peguche boulder was carved and painted with funding from the Dutch. Miguel explained some of the significance of the design, but we didn’t catch it.
3) While we were there, men were hanging lights to illuminate both the rock and the small stream behind it, which would be another bathing site later in the evening.

Next, we headed back to the house. Along the way, we saw dancing in the street. The group consisted of approximately 5 women and 6 men. Two women were carrying 5 chickens hanging upside down from a pole. Several men were playing guitars, while the women danced around them. A young child, perhaps 8-10 years old, was following the group with a Sprite bottle full of chicha. We are guessing the group was heading toward the field/arena.

When we heard another band playing music, we returned to the Campo home. Along the way at the arena, we saw groups of 2-5 men stringing lights from poles so the field would be illuminated throughout the night. A group of 3 men were setting off firecrackers and bottle rockets in the middle of the road. The firecrackers, approximately 50 feet long, went right down the middle of the road. They consisted of several smaller pieces, tied together with string. Because of this, the strip did not ignite continuously and had to be relit on 2 separate occasions. We found it funny yet frightening that one of the men was holding bottle rockets and a bottle in his left hand and a cigarette – which he used to light the rockets – in his right hand.
This event preceded the arrival of the large parade that consisted of dancers, a band, and 2 males on horseback. The dancers of the parade consisted of men wearing fur chaps and two-faced masks – some were clowns – and Cayambe women carrying chickens. Next were 2 males on horseback. One was an adult – presumed to be the sponsor of this year’s celebration. He was dressed as a symbol of sharing wealth, adorned in white pantsuit, covered with sparkly multi-shaped (flowers?) appliqués and gold fringe on the bottom of the pants, and a gold shoulder cape complete with gold fringe (Elvis!). There was a red sash belt on the pantsuit; he also wore white alpargatas. On his head, he wore a gold helmet with appliqués and multicolored plumage. Various golden chains hung from the helmet and covered his entire head. The horse was adorned with a satin turquoise chest blanket that had gold fringe along the edges and a golden cross in the center. The horse also wore a red saddle blanket of a light-weight material that had gold fringe along the edges. On the sides were green stair step designs; going down the middle of the back was a silver strip of some design; and across the bottom of the back it looked like 3 gold connected ictuses (Jesus fishes). Accompanying the sponsor was a young boy – perhaps his son – also on horseback. He was also dressed in all white and white alpargatas, with a white appliquéd cape. He wore a black hat with a baby-blue sash and carried a spear adorned with blue tassels and multi-colored feathers and strings. Next, came two clowns. They wore blue satin shirts and pants with designs in various colors and shapes. Their faces were painted white. They wore black hats with green sashes and gym sneakers. Then, there were the Otavalo women dancers, carrying chickens and holding onto a rope adorned with silver coin-shaped objects. The older Otavalan women walked in a large oval/rectangular formation, lining both sides of the road as they entered. Traditionally dressed older Otavalo men (white pants; alpargatas; dark ponchos; and hats with black, red, or blue ribbons on the rims) followed the women, carrying large red flags on wooden poles. At the top of the poles were multicolored tassels; they were tipped with metal arrowheads. Following these men was the band, consisting of saxophones, trumpets, cymbals, and 2 kinds of drums. People carrying fruit and breads tied to wooden structures brought up the end of the parade.

They parade marched right into the field designated as the arena for Inti Raymi events in Peguche. There, the sponsor began distributing fruit. He pulled oranges, mandarins, and little bananas out of black plastic shopping bags and began throwing them around the arena, while still mounted on the horse. Children and young adults called for him to throw fruit their way, ran after the fruit rolling on the ground, rejoiced when they caught or obtained fruit. It reminded us of a parade at home when the Homecoming Queen or Fire Chief threw candy to excited children on the sidewalks.

Meanwhile (5:30 PM), dancing had begun. The dancing was similar to the dancing at Moraspungo, best described as a two step dance in a circle to a 2/4 strong double beat song. Everyone faced and moved in the same direction, and then, at some random interval, everyone turned 180 degrees and did the same dance facing the opposite direction. It began very disorganized, dancing first in one place and then moving rapidly toward the center of the field to dance there instead. Soon, this dancing, however, became much more structured than at Moraspungo. Women held onto a rope that established the outer perimeter of the circle. Men and women danced in the same manner, very close together in the middle of the circle.
Most of the female dancers, regardless of age, were dressed traditionally. All of the dancers on the perimeter were female, most of them being older women. They were all Otavalan, with the exception of two women who looked as though they belonged to a different indigenous tribe.

The outside of the inner ring of dancers was comprised mostly of women, many of them from Cayambe. Katie, “Who are those women?” Stuckart, “They’re from Cayambe.” Katie, “Oh. Then, why are there Cayambe women here?” Stuckart, “They must be friends; I don’t know why else they’d be here.” Also on the outside of the group inside the rope were the gaucho-wearing clowns. They flailed and shook when they danced, as if free of cares. They encouraged others to dance, to drink, to have fun. They made fools of themselves so that others – and perhaps they themselves – might enjoy the evening more.
The inner-most ring was mostly men. The sponsor and the clowns dressed in blue were at the very center. The traditionally-dressed men also danced in the center, still carrying the red flags. Some men and women carried buckets or bottles of chicha and distributed it while everyone else danced.
Around 6:15 PM, the group paraded back out of the field, up the street, and to the left, returning to the sponsor’s home.

We walked to another bathing site. Miguel told us that this location was very important in years gone by, because in the times before there was public water available to each home, the people of Peguche would come to this spring and fetch their water. Miguel said, “The path was very narrow and the water moved very rapidly” The same site today, however, has a long and wide cement sidewalk and stairs. It can be assumed that the area was dug out and widened to make access to the spring easier. At the bottom of the roughly 30 foot deep ravine, a small creek passed through the middle. The actual spring where they collected the water was now cemented in. This is where the ceremony took place.
At the ceremony, there was an acting priest who spoke mostly in quichwa and every so often in Spanish. It was hard to understand what exactly was going on, because the crowd was so big, but every once in a while, we caught glimpses of ceremonial objects, such as a very small deer antler, candles, incense and a pot of burning leaves which created the source of the incense scent.

We went back to Miguel’s house to eat dinner.
After dinner, we went to la Cascada de Peguche.
We encountered another group of people celebrating Inti Raymi near la Cascada de Peguche. We met one of Don Miguel’s friends and were served more food.
We returned to the Campo home and danced at a neighbor’s house.