1 Research for this paper and the
dissertation on which it is based ("Indigenous Politics, Local Power, and the
State in Peru, 1821-1968") was partially funded by a Fulbright-Hays
dissertation grant, 1991-1992.
2 Indigenismo[ was a movement concerned
with the welfare of indigenous people. ]Indigenista[ attitudes ranged from a rejection of creole culture in favor of
indigenous Andean culture to modernization approaches which sought a solution
to the Indian "problem."
3 For some of the many literary denunciations see Pásara
(1988:19-30).
4 See also Davies (1974, ch. 2).
5 A year later Borah (1983) published a landmark study evaluating Spanish law
regarding Indians and indigenous legal activities in colonial Mexico.
6 For a literature review of Peruvian research on law and society see Yrigoyen
Fajardo (1994).
7 Legal pluralism has become an increasingly popular area of study among legal
scholars in various parts of the world, see for example Just (1992), Merry
(1988), Moore (1986), Nader & Todd (1978), Renteln & Dundes (1994), and
Stavenhagen & Iturralde (1990).
8 Brandt, the only non-Peruvian legal scholar cited here, also deals with
customary law in native communities in the Peruvian jungle. Another
sophisticated legal scholar, Francisco Ballón (1978, 1990) has also
written on this subject.
9 "Rights" is used here advisedly to convey meaning to Western readers. There
are no studies of the concept and language of rights in Andean political
thought. Generally, speaking the language of customary law in the Andes has
been the language of (reciprocal) obligations. The concept of "rights" entered
indigenous thought through the Peruvian political system.
10 It should be noted that such privatization did not normally in and of
itself lead to the dissolution or deterioration of communities.
11 In a few communities there were also parallel women authorities (Mayer
1974:242; Silverblatt 1987; Valderrama & Escalante 1988).
12 In the past, community assemblies are usually meetings of all heads of
household, male or female, though in some communities all community members,
men and women traditionally participate (Revilla & Price 1992:137).
13 The information in this paragraph is based on Brandt (1987), Peña
Jampa (1991a), and Revilla & Price (1992).
14 Lieutenant governors also had duties as regards
]faenas[ called by local elites. In this
activity, they clearly represented the system of domination, whether willingly
or unwillingly.
15 In the case of conflicts with outsiders, equilibrium is not a criteria
(Brandt 1987:163).
16 Fines as an punishment was an innovation brought by the Spaniards (Valdez
de la Torre 1921:63).
17 For detailed information on types of punishments see Ambia (1989), Brandt
(1987), and Peña Jampa (1991a).
18 See Brandt (1987:156) for the phases in the disappearances of this type of
punishment.
19 For indigenous people/peasants in Peru the term "peasant" means more than
just class status or occupation. It also has connotations of ethnic identity
(see Drzewieniecki forthcoming).
20 Legal culture is defined as "the generalized set of lay and professional
values and attitudes towards law and the role of legal process in society"
(Karst & Rosenn 1975:57-58).
21 Even the agrarian reform law of 1969 that so greatly changed land tenure
in Peru and affected the life of all indigenous people and peasants was drafted
by a well-known (and well-meaning) Peruvian jurist over drinks with friends one
evening. Or so legend has it. The fact is that peasants had no input whatsoever
on this legislation.
22 Karst & Rosenn (1975:59) give the difficulty of collecting taxes in
Latin America as an example.
23 The ]mestizo[ governor of Cay-Cay,
Paucartambo and defender of Indians wrote in 1930 to the subprefect of
Paucartambo describing ]tinterillos[ as
"...the true bird of prey (...) a starving thief whose various pretexts corrupt
and suck them without mercy. Therefore, I ask that the departmental political
authority and the Supreme Government dictate the most severe measures to
exterminate this pernicious element. They should [be] fought without truce, for
this is the only way the Indian can shake the yoke that oppresses him and
become an element for the country's progress" (Rénique 1988:19).
Translation Rénique's.
24 All these features of the Peruvian legal system have been a constant
source of indigenous and peasant complaints which grew more and more vocal from
the early years of the 20th century (e.g. ]Rimanakuy
'86[ 1987; Sivirichi 1946). There was little reform
and, in fact, the corruption of the judicial was one of the reasons that
Fujimori gave for his auto-coup of 1992!
25 Not all radical lawyers were above exploiting peasants (Dew 1969:66).
26 There has generally been more than one level of justices of the peace. For
general information see, for example, García-Sayán (1987a),
]La justicia de paz..[ 1987,
Martínez G. (1967), and Revilla & Price (1992).
27 It should be kept in mind that municipalities at this time had two
]alcaldes[. In some municipalities, one
]alcalde[ was indigenous while the other
was ]mestizo[ (see Drzewieniecki 1995a).
28 Since 1975 Peruvian law has specified that preference should be given to
candidates nominated by peasant groups (Pásara 1988:222-223).
29 Those early Republican indigenous ]alcaldes[ who performed the roles of justices of peace (see above) were, of
course, not incorporated into the power structure. There is no information on
how they may have related to other community leaders.
30 For a very interesting contemporary analysis of how a justice of peace
"established his authority by his appropriation of the language of power
[Spanish] and by negating its use to the accused" see Harvey (1987:117);
translation mine.
31 Not all solutions dealing with livestock were solved so easily. Livestock
theft was a perennial problem in the Andes.
32 One of the reasons it is virtually impossible to get information on many
aspects of the work of justices of the peace in the 19th and early 20th century
is that in general their decisions were not written. This was still the case in
the 1970s (DESCO 1977b:249).
33 On ]haciendas[, the landowner
traditionally dispensed justice. Interestingly, "captive communities" that
lived within the borders of ]haciendas[
also had their own traditional authorities that also administered justice
(Tamayo Herrera 1982:172-173).
34 A few representative works that advance these arguments and present
evidence include Celestino (1972), Contreras (1991), Degregori & Golte
(1973), Fonseca (1988a), Instituto Indigenista Peruano (1967-1969), Mallon
(1983), Urton (1992).
35 See also Gálvez (1987). This is a legal application of the question
of the individual and communal or the familial and communal that is often
addressed in studies of indigenous communities Andes.
36 These conflicts are covered in Drzewieniecki (forthcoming).
37 The information in this section is based on Brandt (1987), DESCO (1977b),
Forman (1972), Pásara (1987), a variety of historical sources, and the
others sources cited.
38 This is a fascinating subject which is beginning to receive increasing and
highly interesting treatment. For various aspects of these issues since the
colonial period see ]Andean..[ (1992),
Forman (1972), Lienhard (1992), Radcliffe (1990), Tamayo Flores (1992), and
Valderrama & Escalante (1992). For work on Colombia with important
implications for Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador see Rappaport (1994, 1994a,
1994b).
39 Evidence for this kind of behavior is provided in Contreras
Hernández (1985:210), Housse (1946:287-291), Kapsoli (1989:74),
Martinez-Alier (1977:90, nt.1), Smith (1975:358), Stavig (1991:165), and
Valderrama & Escalante (1992). Sorcery was also sometimes used to try to
influence indigenous and Peruvian administration of justice (Gow 1981:241;
Valderrama & Escalante 1992).
40 The other two major commandments are: don't be lazy and don't rob.
41 Another crime punishable under Peruvian law that was frequently taken to
Peruvian authorities although some cases were handled by communities was
]abigeato[ or banditry including livestock
rustling. For information on this subject see Aguirre & Walker (1990),
Brandt (1987); DESCO 1977b; Poole (1994a), and Valderrama & Escalante
(1992).
42 See, for example, Albo (1976:83-84), Brandt (1987:155-157), DESCO
(1977b:246-247), Skar (1982:226), and Ossio & Fuenzalida (1983).
43 Platt (1982a) theorizes that indigenous people, a least in the 19th
century, saw their relations with the state as pact of reciprocity in which
they exchanged tribute payments (abolished in Peru in 1854) and labor for their
rights to the land.
44 For conflicts between communities see Brush (1974), Contreras (1991),
Hünefeldt & Altamirano (1989), Urrutia, Adriano Araujo, & Joyo
(1988).
45 The legal basis for the registration of land in the Republican period was
established only in 1891 (Jacobsen 1982:353).
46 Martinez-Alier (1977:87) points out, for example, that landlords "were not
strong enough to have the property titles cleared up, nor to have the
communities' land brought into the market."
47 Research carried out by Bourricaud (1967:142) suggests that some
landowners backed down in some disputes with indigenous people because of the
prospect of a long and costly legal process.
48 For suits in the first half of the 19th century see, for example,
Hünefeldt (1982) and Urrutia, Adriano Araujo, and Joyo (1988).
49 See, for example, Burga and Flores Galindo (1984:128), Flores Galindo
(1988b:357), and Palomino (1978).
50 It also substantially increased suits between communities (Contreras
1991).
51 Poole (1990) notes the affinity of Indigenistas for action through legal
means; Smith & Cano (1978:169-170) demonstrate the same for members of the
APRA party.
52 Some examples can be found in Deere (1991), Hünefeldt &
Altamirano (1989), Jacobsen (1982), Laite (1978), Manrique (1988a:116-118),
Tullis (1970:122-128), and Whyte & Alberti (1976:159).
53 In my opinion, it also had considerable influence on the political culture
of the majority of Peru's population, but that is a topic that must be treated
elsewhere.
54 To be fair the Peruvian state never sought such a monopoly. On the other
hand, it has never been capable of achieving it.
55 For additional indigenous views of the Peruvian legal system see DESCO
(1977a). In the Aymara community in which Peña Jampa (1991:47) did his
research one of the punishments was to take a case to government authorities!
56 See footnote 7 above.