User:Jmccally73/The Community Use of Chicha

The information below can be found under the Social Meaning subtitle on the Chicha page:

Chicha was incorporated into everyday life for the Incas. There was a significant relationship that the Incas had to this beverage. Chicha was important in ceremonies for boys coming to the age of adolescence. These ceremonies were also important for the sons of Inca nobility and royalty. This ceremony was important for these young men because it meant that they would get their adult names. One thing that these boys did was to go on a pilgrimage to mountains that had significant meaning to the such as, Huanacauri. The sons did this before the main ceremonies took place, this would be about a month before this maturation ceremony. After this pilgrimage, there was a substantial amount of work that needed to take place. Much of this work was boys helping prepare which was chewing the maize for the chicha they would drink at the end of their ceremony. The main ceremony would last a month for the adolescents and it was started by another trip to Huanacauri. The importance of chicha to these young men could be seen in one activity that they were involved in. This was running down the side of a mountain to get their kero of chicha that was distributed by young women to encourage the young men. Chicha played an important role in ceremonies for young men and the ceremony where these young men get their adult name is a prime example.

The use of chicha can also be seen when looking at women who lived during the Incas reign before the arrival of the Spanish. Women were important to the community of the Incas. There was a select group of women that would receive formal instruction, these women were the aqllakuna, or the Chosen Women. This group of women was extracted from their family-homes and taken to the House of the Chosen Women. These women were taught religion, weaving, cooking and chicha making by women that dedicated themselves to religious institutions. Much of the chicha they would go to ceremonies, or when the community would get to together to worship their god. They started the chicha process by chewing maize to create mushy texture that would be fermented. The product that the Chosen Women was seen as a sacred because of the women who produced it. This was a special privilege that many women did not have except for the most "most attractive women."

The Incas themselves show the importance of chicha. The lords or royalty probably drank chicha from silver and gold cups/kero. Also, after defeating an enemy Inca rulers would have heads of the defeated enemy converted into cup to drink chicha from. An example of this could be seen when Atawallpa drank chicha from Atoq's(the opposing foe) skull. By doing this it showed how superior the Incas themselves were to by leading their army to victory and chicha was at the forefront. After major military victories the Incas would celebrate by drinking chicha. When the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors met, the conquistadors would not understand the significance of chicha. Titu Kusi explains how his uncle, Atawallpa reacted when the intruders did not respect chicha. Kusi says, "The Spaniard, upon receiving the drink in his hand, spilled it which greatly angered my uncle. And after that, the two Spaniards showed my uncle a letter, or book, or something, saying that this was the inscription of God and the King and my uncle, as he felt offended by the spilling of the chicha, took the letter and knocked to the ground saying: I don't know what you have given me. Go on, leave." Another instance like this occurred between Atawallpa and the Spanish, it left with Atawallpa saying, "Since you don't respect me I won't respect you either." This story recorded by Titu Kusi shows the significant relationship the Incas had with chicha. If someone insulted this beverage they would take it personal because it offended their beliefs and community.

In the economy of the Incas, there was not an exchange of currencies. Rather, the economy depended on trading products, the exchanging of services, and the Inca distributing items out to the people that work for him. Chicha that was produced by men along the coastline in order to trade or present to their Inca. This differed from the women that were producing the chicha inland because they were doing so for community gathers and other important ceremonies. Relationships were important in the Inca community and good relations with the Inca could allow a family to be provided with supplementary goods that not everyone had access to. The Inca would give chicha to families and to the males that that contributed to mit'a.

In the economy of the Incas it was important that there was a steady flow of chicha, amongst other goods that were important to everyday life. In the fields of the Andes, there was special emphasis where maize would be planted and it was taken seriously where the maize fields would be located. "Agricultural rituals linked the production of maize to the liquid transfer of power in society with chicha." The ability to plant maize showed an important social role someone had amongst their community. Due to the significance of planting maize, the state would probably be in charge of these farms. The significance of drinking chicha together as a community was another important aspect to the way the Incas went about everyday life. It was incorporated into the meals that the Incas ate. It went as far as drinking water was a form of punishment.

The production of chicha was a necessity to all because it was a sacred item to the people. "Among the Incas, corn was a divine gift to humanity, and its consumption as a fermented beverage in political meetings formed communion between those where drinking and the ancestors, the and the entirety of the Inca cosmology."

This beverage allowed the people to go back to the story of creation and be reminded of the creator god Wiraqocha. The Incas saw this beverage in sexual way because of the way the earth produced for them. The Incas saw chicha as seamen and when dumped onto the Earth they thought that they were feeding the Earth.