PACHACUTI YAMQUI SALCAMAYGUA, JOAN DE SANTA CRUZThis indigenous, probably Aymara-speaking Andean man, who will be
referred to herein as Pachacuti Yamqui, was a native of a village southeast of
Cuzco, in the region known as Orcosuyu, between the provinces of Canas and
Canchis. It is not known what year he was born. He claimed to be a
descendant of local nobility, and he also made clear that he and many of his
family members had adopted Christianity. He is the principal author of one
text, the Relación de antigüedades deste reyno del Pirú (The Account of
Ancient Things of This Kingdom of Peru). The date is unknown but it may
have been written after 1613. Pachacuti Yamqui was probably educated and
received lessons in reading and writing Spanish by clergy. He accompanied at
least one famous priest (Avila) on inquests aimed at investigating and
destroying indigenous “idols” in Native communities.
In his chronicle, Pachacuti Yamqui constructed a history of the Incas,
interspersed with accounts of Inca rites and ceremonies, that is outside of the
norm—in tone, content, and structure—of most of the Spanish chroniclers’
accounts. He is one of our only sources for songs, or hymns, which were
presumably sung at the Inca’s court. The Relación includes seven hymns, all
in Quechua (or a Spanish-modified Quechua) as well as three drawings, each
accompanied by text. These drawings have been the subject of much
speculation by modern students of the Incas. Pachacuti Yamqui’s motive for
writing the chronicle and the significance it has for Inca studies have been
interpreted from two very different perspectives.
One interpretation seeks to read the chronicle, with its hymns and drawings,
as an account that offers deep insight into Inca symbolism, cosmology, and
history writing that, while deflected through an indigenous (thus foreign to
Westerners) mentality, is a critical, firsthand look at Inca cosmology and the
indigenous, Andean mode of making meaning. Thus, a drawing, presented by
Pachacuti Yamqui, that shows imagery evoking the sun, moon, stars, humans,
rainbows, and so forth, is interpreted by this school as explaining everything
from the Inca view of the cosmos, to the structure of Inca kinship and
marriage.
The other interpretation focuses on Pachacuti Yamqui’s commitment to the
Christian God and his attempts to show that the Incas had a tumultuous, back-
and-forth history of adoring many gods under some kings, and recognizing
monotheism under others. According to this view, Pachacuti Yamqui depicted