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WEST COAST SOUTH AMERICA SERIES

Vol. XVII No. 4


(Bolivia)

THE CONCEPT OF LUCK IN INDIGENOUS AND HISPANIC CULTURES

by Ricliard W. Patch

Bolivian beliefs about luck and destiny


are clearly illustrated in the Feria de
Alacilas, when people buy in miniature
those objects they wish to possess in real-
ity. The association of Alacitas with the
Ekeko, a stylized dwarf-like figure laden
with worldly goods, links present beliefs
to precolonial ones.

FIELDSTAFF
Reports

[RWP-2-'7O]
WHSTCOASI LATIN AMKKKAS1 KIIS
Vol. XVII No. 4
(Bolivia)

THE CONCEPT OF LUCK IN INDIGENOUS AND HISPANIC CULTURES


Alacitas and the Ekeko

by Richard W. Patch
March 1970
Do you wish to have an extra $2,083 during There is no such intriguing interpretation of Latin
year? You may receive a bill of tender American Catholicism, particularly as it is mixed
mised for this amount by the Feria de Alacitas with pre-Columbian beliefs, perhaps because the
sending an addressed envelope, stamped with conclusions lead to ideas of predestined and
ivian postage (1.40 pesos), to me at Casilla unalterable fate, indifference, and resignation to
50, La Paz, Bolivia. You will receive an Alacitas the will of an unknown.
for 50 pesos (cincuenta pesos bolivianos) which
I increase a thousand times in value during the Neither concept of destiny exists in pure form
r to 50,000 pesos, or $2,083. The bills are apart, perhaps, from beliefs held by some individ-
ted according to "the law of January 24." The uals who have become marginal in their own
083 will be yours if you believe in Alacitas and societies. Especially in Bolivia beliefs in destiny are
law of January 24. The front of the bills carry uncommonly varied-from the entrepreneur who
epiction of a campesino, his head covered with a risks everything to build a thirty-story building in
UCHO, 1 issuing a stirring call by sounding the La Paz to the UKURUNA (Quechua), the out-
TUTU. On the reverse there is a genuine lander, the man who is still an Indian in the remote
iroduction of the Tiahuanaco Portal of the Sun, highlands, who will not risk changing the centuries-
I the assurance that the bill is indeed "Fifty old style of his clothing.
»os of Good Luck." Life as Luck
ck and a Dwarf Alacitas is the purest representative in the
Andes of the phenomenon of life conceived as
The miniature money is a basic part of the Fair luck, a luck which can be manipulated by cautious
Alacitas which is held each year for a week selection of miniatures which should become real-
ginning January 24 in La Paz. The basic premise ities. It is an attitude toward fate, a fate which can
that everything bought in miniature will become be influenced by small plaster objects but not by
reality during the year. A model of a house will individual effort. Fate and destiny are beyond the
come a real house. A small truck, provided it is reach of the individual and in the hands of the
ided with tiny freight, will insure plenty of supernatural, by an association of the Ekeko with
erything during the year. But beware of the Alacitas. If the theory of a Bolivian archeologist,
:eko.2 The Ekeko is a dwarf with elfin face Carlos Ponce Sanjines, is correct, the Ekeko and
lose back is loaded with packages, baskets, a Alacitas predate the arrival of the Spaniards and
oom, bales, buckets, and a feather duster. He have a special importance in persisting as an image
list be bought but not kept. Given away, he and a celebration which neither Catholicism nor
ings luck; kept by the buyer he brings ill luck. any other religion (except perhaps the ancient fear
of TUNUPA [Aymara'-god of thunder, storm, and
There exists, of course, a multitude of ideas lightning], has been able to affect.)3
iout destiny. Two quite different views are held
I United States Protestants and by Latin If Ponce is right, and his argument runs to 288
merican Catholics. Weber and Tawney have given pages plus 149 illustrations, the Ekeko was origi-
teresting interpretations of the Protestant ethic. nally an Aymara god of fertility and love, as well as
Copyright © 1970, American Universities Field Staff, Inc.
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typical indigenous and criollo boxes, bales, ant!


houshold items. It strikes me that if Ponce can link
T U N U P A with the E K A K O , I would be justified in
deriving the freighted truck, another feature ot
Alacitas, from descendents of the Ekeko.

Alacitas

There is more, below, on the origins of Alacita^


and the Ekeko. But the reader should have an idc;
of the Fenade Alacitas of today and the role lucl
plays in life each January 24 in La Paz.

The Church has little to do with Alacitas


except toilless the trucks, houses, bills, and othc
miniatures in a spectacular ceremony in the Metro
politan Cathedral of L a Paz. There is an attempt t(
identify Alacitas with Nuestra Senora de L a Pa/
but aside from the single ceremony of January 24
few persons except some older women make an;
connection between Alacitas and the Saint of L
Paz.

The Mayor's office (the Alcaklia) is not happ


about Alacitas. It is another opportunity fo
drunkenness, sleazy games of chance, and smal
makeshift restaurants which serve out heaping bv
possibly poisonous servings of such things as cu
A modern three inch Ekeko made of plaster (guinea pig), fried with head attached. Furthe;
and smoking an outsize cigarette. His load of more, there is no place for Alacitas except on
abundance is typical. In the center is a guitar, public thoroughfare, which in the past few yeai
although reduced to three strings. Above are has been Avenida Montes, the main artery to enU
the usual broom and parasol. Left are a or leave the city. A n d La Paz has too few tourist
suitcase, candy, a house, a silver pitcher, and a especially in this cold season of torrential rail
soup bowl. Left is a basket containing a bale of (summer), to make Alacitas into a substanti;
coca, a ceramic chato or pitcher, more parasols, economic enterprise. Thus the Fair is made u
and tied to the basket a bar of soap. almost exclusively of transactions betwee
campesinos and townspeople.
luck. I do not have the twelve volumes of The
Golden Bough at hand, but I can think of no other The stalls of Alacitas line the Avenida MonU
male god of fertility in the world, in history, or in for about a third of a mile. They are four deep i
prehistory. The Ekeko is definitely male, with the sense that there are two lines of stalls facit
early pre-Columbian figures exhibiting a pro- each other along both lanes of the avenue. Eat.
nounced phallus.4 A l l figures are of hunchbacked stall is formed by three sides of muslin or old sug;
dwarfs, with pathological spinal curvature, a slight sacks suspended from a simple frame, and roofc
hump, and hunched shoulders which make a neck with pieces of corrugated iron.
impossible. Through time the figures become in-
creasingly stylized, with only slight representation .': '
of a phallus, until it finally disappears in colonial The Fair is divided into several sections. Upc
times, and the hump is replaced by an enormous entering the Avenida Montes, one first encountt
burden of earthly goods. The present Ekeko is a miniature representations of money, and tv
plaster dwarf, a few inches high, loaded with recent innovations small checkbooks and litt
Left: A modern representation in silver of the
pre-Columbian ancestor of the Ekeko. Half an
inch high. Modern copies are rare and are sold
as "an old god of the Incas." The originals are
not only pre-Columbian but pre-Incaic. They
demonstrate the primordial fertility function of
Ekekos before and after 1781.

Bottom Left: The proto-Ekeko showing identi-


fying hunchback.

Bottom Right: Rear view of the proto-Ekeko.


R\M"

United Suites. So again I fell victim to the spirit of would be incredible in llie United Stales. Axles
Alacitas (which means "buy me" in Aymara), break, brakes fail, and about a (ruck a week t'oes
bought a truck and loaded it. This is supposed to over a precipice. Sometimes thirty persons ride
be general "good luck," and reflects what is atop the cargo. Nineteen persons were killed this
probably the greatest single aspiration of the week, including the pilot, when a truck failed to
agricultural campesino to promote his position- to make the hairpin descent into Cochabamba and
own and live by driving a loaded truck among the rolled down a precipice of 200 meters.
commercial centers of Bolivia: La Paz, Caranavi,
Oruro, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Sucre, and per- Here religion does become mixed with luck. All
haps even Potosf. However, a stranger who buys a trucks have names. Mine has the unusually religious
truck without cargo is fated to drive an empty "Apdstol Santiago" painted on the front panel of
truck and end in bankruptcy. One has to be careful the overload which extends above the cab. Other
in Alacitas. names range from "Superman" to "Flower of the
Cloves." Having names, trucks are baptized. The
Truck is Luck miniatures are blessed en iriasse in the Cathedral on
January 24, but a priest usually gives an individual
My truck (S3.00 with load) is a remarkable ceremony for the actual truck which is supposed to
miniature o f the monsters which grind up and appear during the year.
down the mountains. It is made entirely by hand,
and does not resemble toys in the United States. The "Apostol Santiago" carries a somewhat
Some campesino began with empty cans of dried larger than usual Alacitas load. On the back are
milk and fashioned an entirely credible truck with roped two five gallon tins of sugar alcohol from the
a hood that opens in the old way (from the sides) Santa Cruz mill and distillery of Guabira'. Presum-
to disclose an improbable motor. But the license ably this is for easy access by the pilot, along with
plate (27333) is in its position and, as required by the shovel and pick also roped to the back. Within
law, is painted on the doors. On the stakes is the truck are miniature cans of marmalade,
painted the "Cap.Max. 150gg. " In other words the "Campo Verde Whole Milk," with some eighty
theoretical maximum weight to be carried is 150 words of directions; "Marina" sardines packed in
quintales or 1.08 tons (not much of a monster). tomato sauce; and "Quaker" white oats, again with
But Bolivian trucks are overloaded by factors of detailed instructions. There are also packages of
two, three, and more. Drivers, called "pilots," drive "Quaker" white oats "de cocimiento rdpido";
as much as sixteen hours a day over roads which starch "Kokito" ("Puede tanto tan poquito!" [So

Flora Palza Romero with her wares


and shrine.
A-
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The "official" private Ekeko in the back of a shop conducted by Dona Flora Palza Romero on the Calle
Sagarnaga. The Ekeko is moderately old. Flora insists that he cannot be moved except on January 24, the
day when all Ekekos wander. As always he is smoking a cigarette and the ashes fall into trays in the
foreground, one borne by a stuffed lagarto or small cayman usually translated into English as "alligator."
The Ekeko is only moderately burdened with a SAMPONA, the Aymara equivalent of panpipes; a
PUTUTU, a cow's horn overlaid with silver used by Aymara"'speakers to sound a low eerie tone to announce
a death or summon a meeting. On the Ekeko's left shoulder can be seen four pegs to tune a hidden
charango. The charango is a uniquely Bolivian instrument fashioned from the desiccated plates of an
armadillo. An actual charango is double strung and requires ten pegs and a fine talent. On the Ekeko's left,
with no relation to him as an Ekeko, is a hand-woven alpaca poncho and a collection of colonial keys.
certificates of marriage. The checkbooks are evi- Fair. I was irrationally attracted to an eighteen-
dence that banks and their operations are now inch model of the University of San Andres, and
familiar to campesinos. It is tempting to think that finally bought it on the third day of the Fair! "or
the blank certificates of marriage demonstrate a S2.40. According to my sources this will getjme
persistence of the fertility and erotic characteristics nowhere. No one can own a university, and I have
of the Ekeko. The idea of some symbol of marriage no desire to be rector, dean, or professor at the
during the year may be old in Alacitas. University of San Andres. But, with a bulb inside,
the thing lights up like a Christmas tree and would
Then come row upon row of stalls offering be a remarkable acquisition for someone with
little plaster houses. Most are crudely made and sell peculiar notions of decoration.
for a peso or a peso and a half. Others are more
elaborate, with trees and outbuildings, for Interspersed among the various plaster houses
campesinos who want a small farm as well as a are roosters, chickens, sheep, and cows. These sell
house. And there comes another innovation-board for less than five cents and are intended for the
and plastic models representing the most modern campesino who wants more animals. I saw no
La Paz architecture. They are expensive, selling for horses, burros, or llamas.
a dollar and a half to two dollars. This year there
was even a model of the most modern building in Finally, one enters a section where each tall
La Paz. " E l Petrolero," complete with the exclusive brims full of trucks and their possible cont nts.
ami expensive restaurant. Las Vegas, on the top The truck may be a descender)t of the Ekeko, but
floor. This was for the really ambitious buyer and, there is no ill luck attached to buying one and, in
;il the price of five dollars, went unsold during the my case, keeping it for eventual display in] I the
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The Ekeko of the sanctum sanctorum of Dona


Flora on the Calle Sagarnaga. It is not for sale,
it is not exhibited, and it consumes three
packages of cigarettes a day. At the bottom of
of the pile of cigarettes in the foreground is a
miniature bale of coca—to be consumed, not
carried, by the Ekeko. This particular Ekeko is
the focus of belief in the Ekekos and EKAKOS
of Bolivia. His burden is light. He carries only a
suitcase, a basket, a pitcher, a silver bull, a
P U T U T U , and three items carried by no other
Ekeko. They are a scepter, a doll-child, and, on
the left shoulder, a wooden bowl with two
yoked oxen in the center. Many years ago, and
still in a few remote parts of Bolivia, the
wooden bowl with oxen is given to an Aymara
couple at their wedding, to drink from and to
symbolize their joined relation. Not carried by,
but provided for the Ekeko of Sagarnaga, is a
truck and a ship under full sail.

The same Ekeko of the sanctum


sanctorum, showing that he is pro-
vided not only with cigarettes and a
scepter, but with a woman-at his
left. The female doll is not a prerog-
ative of the other, lesser, Ekekos.

• m m
• 7- KWP

little can tin so much I); "Maizena." corn starch Probably the campesinos, as much as anyone else,
from Argentina; "Fab." " Crusader Pure Ceylon have a desire to relieve the terrible desolation of
Tea," and a tiny box of matches. There are sacks the altiplano. Yet to me it was a pathetic sight to
of sugar from "La Belgica" in Santa Cruz, "Perla" see a KM A JHAQUHEJ MANKAHANQU1UA. a
rice, wheat, flour, salt "for table use," coffee, ragged, Indian-clad, man of the furthest parts of
pellets of candy, confetti, larger pieces of candy, the altiplano, coddling a single little plant in his
coca from Yungas, three kinds of noodles, "noodle poncho for a trip which would probably take a
rice," rolled wheat, fine rolled wheat (taken from night and a day. Many, such as myself (and 1 have
the United States Food for Peace Program), more been called an UCURUNA, the Quechua equivalent
confetti, semola, and peanuts. There are bales of of the same Aymara' phrase -Ifombre de adentro)
red aji (chile peppers), and a sesto (sewn bale) of bought the cheapest plants: small pine trees, for
coca. The truck also contains burlap bags of chuiia eighteen cents. In six years they may have a
(potatoes dehydrated by freezing, on the altiplano, firewood value of thirty-eight cents. But even
for a single night, with water trampled out the next Aymaras do not live by chitno alone. They, like the
morning); tunta, (potatoes soaked, frozen, and Little Prince, cherish a tree or a flower.
dehydrated for a month); and potatoes. The load is
topped by "thirty-seven pounds of pork lard, Trees grow and flowers grow. Miniature houses
imported by Isnclda Gomez' "; five liters of and model trucks may become realities, with luck.
vegetable oil "Fina" for "table and kitchen use"; a Little banknotes may turn into fortunes. Life is
long, leaf wrapped, package of chaiwaca (unrefined luck, and luck is fertility. In Alacitas the appeal to
brown sugar); an envelope of "Na Pancha" (a
detergent from Peru); a demi-john of "Concha y fertility is not direct. The Ekekos no longer have
Toro" wine from Chile; and two bars of Fatherland phalli, there are no little plaster babies, and the
("La Patria") laundry soap. Somehow, for three small plants sold are for decoration not for crops.
dollars, this seems a bargain and a good beginning There are nearly life-size plaster black babies but
for 1970. (On the other hand, I'll sell the Univer- they are interpreted as variations of the Ekeko in a
sity of San Andres cheap.) country where Negroes are almost unknown. The
appeal for luck, fertility, prosperity, and material
possessions is general, not specific. The freighted
Down, appropriately, from the Avenida Montes truck and the Ekeko are the best examples. No
is the API section, where persons so inclined are ordinary Bolivian wants a thousand cans of marma-
served a thick liquid constructed of purple maize, lade, a thousand boxes of starch, or a thousand
flour, and water. It is supposed to serve as feather-dusters. But the truck (retained) and the
breakfast, and is indicated for inception of diar- Ekeko (given) promise general luck and prosperity,
rhea. while the plants promise a more life-like fertility.
Individual endeavor is not discounted, but the
Fertility and Flowers miniature symbols give more hope of success. And
crops, livestock, and children are success.
Up from Montes there is a narrow winding
street which tends toward the Plaza Murillo. At Alacitas is not purely a luck market. It has also
first it is a succession of small restaurant stalls, become an outlet for Bolivian handicraft. There are
some displaying outside a flayed, uncooked, un- stacks of hand-woven, brightly dyed cloth used by
eviscerated, opened guinea pig. Yet many people the campesinos to carry loads on their back; and
remained with appetites. ponchos for men and women (but only upper class
and foreign women use ponchos and they are
Further up the street, beyond the cooking becoming less common among campesino men).
stalls, begins .Mie of the strangest parts of Alacitas. There are silver objects from medallions to foot-
It consists.oi" many blocks of stalls selling nothing high soup tureens. Many stalls are filled with
but decoratiu- plants. Most of the sellers and the handmade ceramics of every description. The most
majority of the buyers are campesinos. The buyers unusual product I saw was in a stall selling
have no more use for snapdragons than they would incredibly twisted roots from the Atacama desert
have for a Picasso. But they are bought and near Arica, polished into lamp bases beyond the
nurtured as if they would yield pears and plums. dreams of most surrealists.
-8-
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The most extensive contemporary treatment o f


Alacitas and the Ekeko is Ponce Sanj'meV Tunupa
y Ekako. Ponce's interpretations are not reliable,
but he is careful to cite other writers from his large
library, many of whose works are otherwise un-
available. One book of particular interest is M .
Rigoberto Paredes: Mitos, Supersticiones y Super-
viviencias Populares de Bolivia.5 Ponce paraphrases
from Paredes that Alacitas is a remnant of the
"sacred festival" of Ekeko which was observed in
pre-Hispanic times for several days centering
around the summer solstice.Ponce solstice. Ponce
also quotes the thoroughly unreliable but always
provocative Arthur Posnansky6 that the culture of
Tiwanaku (usual spelling, Tiahuanaco) carried out
its fiesta about December 22, "the date on which
they held their rogations to their gods so that they
might bring good luck, offering miniatures of
things which they wish to possess or to bring
about. On that day the sun reached its furthest
southern extremity and returned again . . . to offer
its beneficent beams, giving life, happiness,
warmth, and food to men; its sons" (my transla-
tions of Posnansky through Ponce).

More to the point, Ponce quotes Federico Diez


de Medina (1952) that a fiesta was held December
22, "the summer solstice, and the beginning of the
A modern, foot and a half high plaster image of agricultural year of the Aymarjls." Ponce proceeds
an Ekeko. He may be found on the Callc to relate Alacitas to the principal fiesta of the
Illampu after passing alleys lined with stalls Incas, or Quechuas, the KAPAJ RAYMI; to reit-
selling herbs, thistles, Scottish broom (Quechua erate the coincidence of the summer solstice; to
CARHUAS, yellow flower), and the omni- cite Luis Valcarcel (dean of Peruvian
present, wretched llama foetuses. This Ekeko archaeologists); and to cautiously note that the
carries nothing except his own pouch for coca. chronicler, Guaman Poma de Ayala makes no
The tortured facial expression is typical of mention in his extensive tome of any ceremony
present Ekekos. using miniature figures during KAPAJ RAYMI.
The variety of Alacitas-from the ancient Ponce says that Parades wrote that in the
Ekeko to the present day lamp bases-derives from colonial period Alacitas was celebrated on October
its pre-Spanish origin, its apparent demise, and its 20, the anniversary date of the founding of La Paz.
restoration in the colonial and republican periods. Only in 1781 was the date fixed at January 24, the
beginning of the week in which Alacitas is observed
The Pre-history of Alacitas today.
"AJacitas" is derived from A L A T H A or Ponce returns to Parades for the explanation,
A L A N A which, according to the very incomplete this time quoting and making a part of the
dictionary of Padre Diego de Torres Rubio, pub- connection between Alacitas and the Ekeko. "Don
lished in 1616, mean either "buy" or "sell"; and Sebastian de Scgurola, Gobemador Intcndente' of
from ALASTHA or A L A S I N A which means "buy" La Paz, who saved the city from the terrible siege
or "buy it". In modern Aymura. ALAC'ITA means of the Indians in 1781 . . . as an act of gratitude to
"huv inc." the Virgin of La Paz, to whom he was fervently
KWI'-: u

devoted and lo whom lie attributed his victory,


re-established I lie liesta in her honor, lie trans-
ferred the date of the market of miniatures from
October 20 to January 24, ordering that the
customs of the former be transferred to the later
date. The fiesta became one of much greater
solemnity and emotion than in former years. The
Indians of the countryside and the nearby villages
came bringing small objects, as had been the
custom, selling them for money of stones. They
secretly took advantage of the opportunity to
reintroduce the cult of the legendary E K H A K O ,
distributing his image in great quantity, no longer
made of stone but o f plaster." Ponce expresses
doubt about this interpretation. The doubt, I
think, is only about who gave thanks to whom.
Apparently the Governor of La Paz gave thanks to
the Virgin of La Paz and the Indians gave thanks to
the Ekeko.

The Ekeko, Alacitas, and the Guerrilleros

A short historical digression will illuminate not


only the relation between the Ekeko and Alacitas
A modem, stylized, and corrupted version of
but will explain a very modern phenomenon: why
the Ekeko. Silver, one and a half inches, price
the guerrilleros in Uruguay call themselves the
S45. The facial expression is one of stupidity,
"Tupamarus" and why the Paceno guerrilleros
not of the potentially beneficent agony of
—who have robbed two banks and killed several
traditional Ekekos. He is indicated as indig-
persons in La Paz during the last few weeks-call
enous by the LLUCHO worn on his head, but
themselves the "Tupac Cataris."
this is belied by the republican silver boliviano
coin on which he stands. On his right are the
Francisco Pizarro did not kill all of the royal
usual musical instrument, house, and kettle. On
Incas when he killed Atahuallpa in the Conquest of
his back is an unusual press to make chocolate.
1532. The surviving members of the royal family
and their retinue retired to the remote mountains On his left is a shovel, a degrading implement
of Vilcabamba. It was not until forty years later, for a respectable Ekeko.
however, when the Viceroy of Peru was Francisco province of Tinta, near Cuzco. He claimed to be
de Toledo, that the Incas attempted a serious the imperial family. There was a general conflag
insurrection against the Spaniards. Viceroy Toledo tion of Indian insurrection. Jose' Gabriel Tur
was determined to eradicate all vestiges of Inca Amaru was captured, also taken to Cuzco, a
culture and the royal Incas themselves. He sent two sentenced there. But that did not end the gene
emissaries to Vilcanota, the first of which was not rebellion sweeping the Indian population. T
received by the Inca. The second of the emissaries brother of Jose7 Gabriel, Diego Cristobal Tur
was killed. Toledo was infuriated and sent an army Amaru, assumed leadership. But a more power
to crush the last of the Incas. The last Inca was figure, an Indian or criollo named Julian Apa
Tupac Amaru, whose army was decimated by that was able to dominate the Intendency of La I
of Toledo. Tupac Amaru was taken as a prisoner to and, in March 1781, proclaimed himself Viceroy
Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, and was Peru and took the name "Tupac Catari." Trip
killed there in 1572 by order of Toledo. Amaru flooded the town and destroyed the Sp;
iards of Sorata. Tiipac Catari laid siege to the c
Two centuries later a leader called Jose Gabriel of La Paz. He held it without a break for three a
Tupac Amaru inspired an uprising of Indians in the a half months when troops from the Audience
RWP-2-70 -10-

tan

A small part of a wall of the workshop on Calle lllampu. The owner and his wife work days and nights
castingfiguresin plaster and sewing garments. The shop specializes in devils not Ekekos. The diablada dance
in Oruru has reached a form of art. Costumes and masks can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars
paid by Aymara campesinos who promise their participation a year in advance, and who may spend the rest
of their lives in debt. The wall is eclectic, ranging from a devil's head in the center to an apostle at the upper
left.
La Plata briefly broke through but were obliged to Town and Country Views of Luck
retreat to Oruro. It finally took an army of 7,000
Spaniards under the command of Colonel Reseguin
Cargo cults in Polynesia are relatively recekit
to break the siege, disperse the Indians, and free La
phenomena. Indigenous restoration cults havel a
Paz.Tupac Catari suffered, in the town of Perias,
longer history, dating at least from the time iof
the same fate as Tupac Amaru in Cuzco. He was
Handsome Lake (1735(?)-1815), a Seneca religious
quartered alive. Don Sebastian de Segurola, who
prophet whose movement had a profound effect
had remained besieged in the city, might as well
among the Iroquois tribes.
have thanked the army of Colonel Reseguin as Our
Lady o f La Paz, but he chose otherwise.
But restoration cults pit an indigenous culture
The Indians had achieved the greatest and last and distinct race against "the White Man."
of their revolts against the Spaniards. Tupac Amaru •
and Tupac Catari were slain, but the Spanish Alacitas, in contrast, is an indication of the
Empire in America would never be the same. meld of cultures and races in Bolivia. A l l classes
Successful revolt against Spain would begin in the and persons participate, from the K H A J H A Q U E J
future Bolivia only twenty-eight years later. M A N K A H A N Q U I A , the conservative Indian who is
According to some writers, the Indians gave thanks now almost beyond the pale, to the "bianco," who
to the Ekeko, and when de Segurola, at the same buys a little plastic house every year until the
time, restored Alacitas and moved the date again acquires a real one worth $30,000 or more.
closer to the summer solstice and the beginning of Alacitas is also one more indication of the com-
the agricultural year, the Ekeko became a per- patibility of the Iberian belief in luck and the
manent symbol associated with Alacitas and with power of the saints, and the indigenous belief in
luck. The Ekeko and eventually the whole spirit of luck and the power of not only the saints but of
Alacitas may have been one of the earliest known the Pachamama, the Pistaco, the Ekeko, and ej/en
manifestations ol what today are called cargo culls. of the distant Zeus-like Wiraeocha.
This is iho particular lesson of Bolivia and most persons as the reason for observance ol
Alacitas. "I he cultural blend of Iberia, the Aymanf, January n. But the Black Wise Man is lucky, and
and of the Incus began long ago in the Andes. The taking him down from the creche is worth far more
races also became united in fact if not in theory. than buying the whole plaster trio in the market
Thus the Bolivian-Revolution of 1952 was able to before Christmas.
bring a great part of the speakers of indigenous
languages (Aymara' and Quechua), 60 per cent of
The significance of Lent is either not known or
the total population, into the national life without
major violence. is not observed. But the days preceding Lent are
Carnavules—fu\\ of fun, fortune, and luck. Actually
Carnival is "played" beyond Tuesday and in some
More beliefs are shared than is recognized by
parts of Cochabamba it continues through Lent
either the people of the cities or of the villages.
and, in Cliza, beyond Easter. There may be two or
The village campesinos are probably more devout
three persons in a hundred who abstain from meat
in the outward manifestation of Roman Cathol-
during Lent, among campesinos and city dwellers
icism than the folk of the cities. Yet neither have
alike. Holy Week is another period of outward
the vaguest idea of recorded Hebrew-Christian
observance by many people. A number carry palm
tradition. Christmas is the time to buy a creche,
fronds from Sunday Mass, a few bear the mark of
but the figures of the three Magi are at least as
ashes on Wednesday, but Easter is pure holiday,
important as the figures of Jesus, Mary, and
neither lucky nor luckless.
Joseph. In fact the Bajada de Reyes, the "taking
down of the Kings," on January 6, is almost as
important as the celebration of December 24-25. The catalog of practices which demonstrate the
Bajada de Reyes is the name of the fiesta centering cultural blending of Bolivia could be long.
about the disassembly of the creche in which each Campesinas and "White" women touch a small
person contributes anywhere from a few pesos to bundle of dried ears of maize before venturing to
"take down" a sheep to as much as a hundred the early morning market. Campesinos and persons
pesos to remove the figure of the black Wise Man, of the cities both take food and sometimes a brass
Baltazar. For some reason, which deserves further band to the cemeteries on A l l Saints Day. Taxi
investigation, far more importance is attached to drivers who speak broken Spanish and those
the Negro Baltazar than to the Kings Gaspa'r or dressed in suit and necktie have an image of Christ
Melchdr. The names of the Wise Men are known on the dashboard-or a bird, or a doll. And the
only to a few and their significance is as obscure to demise of St. Christopher means nothing here.

Care lavished on the devil on Calle


Illampu is illustrated by this two
and a half inch model of a Satanic
mask. Money forthcoming, a life-
size mask will be produced.
R\\T-2-'7O .12-

Limited Opportunities England, toilet soap from Argentina and England,


shoe polish from Argentina and England, Worcest-
The Ekeko, the loaded truck, the miniature shire sauce from South Africa, gas stoves from
house, and Aiacitas mean much to everyone in La Italy, telephones from Sweden, trucks from Japan
Paz and to those within traveling distance of the and Czechoslovakia, cars from Germany, prescrip-
capital. True, a man may work and must work. tion drugs from Switzerland and Italy. These
Most often the product is not merely insufficient articles, produced on a mass scale for a large
for a modest house, but suffices only to provide a market, can make it over the Ancles and into
meager diet of bananas, rice, and sometimes Bolivia more cheaply than they could be produced
potatoes. Guinea pigs, relished by campesinos and in La Paz. The government even had to take firm
Spanish speakers, are now a luxury. Kitchens are action to prevent contraband and sale of Peruvian
bare of the scraps which were the staple of cuys. matches (produced in Sweden) in Bolivia. And the
Traditional foods, used by all highland Bolivians, government has now almost entirely stamped out
are disappearing. Chuno, a partly dehydrated pota- contraband in North American cigarettes and
to, now costs 30 U.S. cents a pound. Tunta, a Scotch whiskey. Legally imported products are
dehydrated potato which requires a month of impossibly expensive.
processing, is prohibitive at S1.20 a pound. Chick-
ens are raised by campesinos for sale, not for Thus, the governments of Paz, Barrientos, Siles
consumption. A medium size chicken costs $3.00. Salinas, and of Ovando have attempted to clear the
Campesinos and the majority of city residents way for industry in Bolivia; but the road is steep
cannot even eat eggs, which cost eight cents each. and even potential rewards are not great. Arab-
The monthly wage of most residents of La Paz Bolivians have made a success in textiles (although
hovers about the minimum legal wage of 205 most textiles are still imported). A match factory
pesos, or $17.00. Rice and bananas are cheap, but has finally become a going concern, but the
the head of an average family of five, earning matches are dangerous and the profits are small.
perhaps $20.00 a month, needs a lot of luck. The Bolivian cement plant in Sucre cannot cover
demand for construction in La Paz. In agriculture,
Roads to economic improvement and rewards rice, bananas, and sugar are in oversupply and there
for economic initiative are not closed in Bolivia. is no economic way of exporting them. The rice
One of the great fortunes of the world was and banana planters of the Yungas and Chapare,
accumulated by Simon Patino, a Bolivian "cholo," and the sugar planters of Santa Cruz, feel that luck
(a lower part of the class of "mixed-bloods")-The has failed them and there is no bottom to the
fortune was based, however, on the accidental depth to which they can descend. Even an Eco-
acquisition of the first important tin source in nomics Minister under Victor Paz Estenssoro de-
Bolivia precisely at the time when tin became an clared that devastating fires in unharvested sugar
important world commodity. There was luck there,
but the cutting edge of the wedge was used to cane were a national blessing.
build an international financial empire. There are a *
few smaller, simpler, routes, such as the family What then is the fate of a wage earner who
which has prospered on soft drinks, the persons brings $20 a month to his family, or perhaps $35 if
who established the National Brewery, and a large he has an elder son working, or if his wife spends
quantity of individuals (mostly foreigners) who half a day selling vegetables in a market or working
made a success of importing firms. half a day as a domestic? The normal pater familias
is neither desolated nor more than faintly angry.
Although Bolivia is a large country, however, its His life is according to his luck. And luck is nearly
population and its market are small, and operations everything. So he spends ten pesos, or nearly a
other than importing require great imagination, dollar, on a third or a sixth part of a lottery ticket.
skill, persistence, and usually an unavailable If God, the saints, Tunupa, the Pachamama, the
amount of capital. Only a part of the city dwellers Ekeko, or a truck named "Apostol Santiago" wills
and a few of the campesinos use products con- it, he will become rich beyond dreams. Otherwise
sidered basic in other parts of the world. For these he has made some mistake or "has no luck" and
few people toothpaste must be imported from must try again.
KUI"

)thcr Forms of Luck o\' the neighbor means dial the Iwo will lose their
friendship and become enemies. (The Iberian and
The lottery is a faint modern cousin of Alacitus. Indian concept of "friend" and •'enemy'" is a
t is played by both campesinos and city dwellers, theme which would require another paper of
ome of wliom insist upon playing the same considerable length, and has been treated in part
lumber for as many as twenty years. Selection of a by the anthropologist, John Gillin.)
lumber comes from a dream, a wife's dream, a
©incidence with a birthday, a hunch, or by the Various cacho games are played by Spanish and
icket seller's machinations. The lottery ticket by indigenous language speakers. The cacho is a
ellers are either old professionals who carry leather cup containing five dice. It is used for a
Kindreds of dollars worth of tickets for selection, variety of games. In all of them the cacho is shaken
>r children who may try to sell S10 during the day. by the player and the dice rolled on the table.
Sometimes the seller is a child hardly out of arms From poker dice to generala, the dice are always
,vho carries a folded, ten peso third of a single replaced in the cacho only by the player. The range
icket, thrusting it at possible buyers for most of a of games is stunning: dice, ordinary playing cards,
iay for his small comission on its sale. and the ancient Spanish naipes—the forty-eight
card deck with large medieval figures, used to play
Some sellers are very sophisticated. They will such games as rocambdr, an ancestor of whist, and
;hoose a likely looking face and clothing and the source for much of T.S. Eliot's punning
'accidentally" drop a ticket. The supposition is imagery in "The Wasteland." Craps has also been
that the hopefully honest man will believe the introduced to Bolivia and there are a number of
ticket has fallen at his feet, perhaps from heaven, known fanatics, mostly Arab-Bolivians, who have
ind will pay for it to make sure of his reward. Only lost their automobiles, houses, and their wives in a
i few days ago 1 witnessed a Bolivian who spent single game.
many years in the United States grab an entire
ticket blown by the wind into his lap, probably
released from the clipboard by a skillful seller who Any generalization about the popularity of
until that time had been repeatedly refused by games of chance, however, must be tempered by
upraised index fingers making silent negatives in consideration of the unusual popularity of games
metronome motions. The recipient of the windfall of wit. Rocanbor remains popular in the more
ticket paid $3 because, rather than despite, his remote villages, and chess is played, and played
debts of thousands of dollars and pesos. Luck is his well, by nearly every male, from tired hamlets to
way out. The lottery ticket went into a billfold La Paz. It is constantly irritating to me that I am
which also held a number of Alacitas notes. The beaten not only by my friends but by my friends'
old and the relatively new had come together in children. Luck is much, but mind is not dis-
the pocket of a man who would be called counted.
"White-Spanish-upper class" by any criteria. In the
same way Alacitas notes and lottery tickets are
bought by campesinos who speak no Spanish. By Good Luck, Bad Luck, and No Luck
the way, the "White" who bought the windfall
ticket for $3 had enough luck to "sacar la Therein lies the ambivalence of "life as luck" in
termination." (hold a winning terminal digit), and Bolivia. Schools are poor, the National University
to be paid $5.50. This was hardly enough to be of San Andres is a national disaster. Economic
called "luck," however, and only whetted the opportunities are few, and a job once found is held
appetite (as it is meant to) to try again to "sacar el tenaciously. There are unions of ex-workers, fired
gordo " (get the big one). from their jobs, which do nothing more than try to
regain lost jobs which would pay them $20 a
No one plays lightly with luck. Even at a formal month. In law there is an elaborate social security
dinner with "Whites" one does not pass the salt system, but it does not function. Often the life of a
directly to his neighbor. The salt cellar is picked up man, his wife, and his children, depends on the
and placed again on the table within reach of the hoped-for stroke of good luck, or the feared "lack
neighbor. Otherwise, giving the salt into the hands of luck."
R\\T-2-'7O -14-

"Good luck" and "bud luck" arc fair transla- discover what was happening by way o f a battery
tions of the Spanish "buena suerta" and "mala radio- only one of the sixteen stations of La Paz
suertc. " But in both Aymara and Qucchua there is was still on the air, and it played music while it
a difference. In both cultures the Spanish "suerte" also tried to find out what was happening. Then I
or "fortuna" have either replaced an older word, or was informed, by word of mouth, that the Central
have been added to the languages as something Arsenal of the Armed Forces, located near the
different from the "will of the gods," much in the center of town, was in the process of blowing up.
Greek tradition. Thus, in Aymara'and in Quechua, The explosions continued for three and a half
it is easy to say "good luck" as an equivalent of the hours. Eventually the light came back and radio
will of God, or of a good destiny, or of an stations returned to the air. The official version
acceptable fate. It is almost impossible to say "bad now is that four soldiers in the arsenal dropped a
luck" in Aymara' or Quechua. The opposite of box of detonators, which set off mortar shells,
good luck is lack of luck, not bad luck. In other threw grenades high in the air, ignited incendiary
words, if one does not have good luck, it is still the bombs, and generally sprayed the northern part of
will of God, one's destiny, and one's fate. It is not the city with all types of projectiles. President-
"bad," it is predestined. There are charms, prac- General Ovando declared that the city was very
tices, and rites against witchcraft, against hail, and lucky. The aircraft bombs did not explode, and the
against cold (all of which practices seem European estimate today is that there are only four dead and
in origin). But there is no charm, behavior, or rite thirty wounded. Luck seems relative, and it does
directed against bad luck in general. seem that the declared version is a small toll for a
government stupid enough to locate its main
The best illustration is in language. In Aymara'a arsenal in the middle of the capital city, between
c o m m o n ^ expression is S U M A SUERTE the railway station and the old Customs House, in
AHPSUSINANI ("we will have good luck"). The a crowded residential district which had to be
usual opposite is J A N I U SUMA S U E R T E u f j I T I totally evacuated.
("there is no good luck"). In both phrases the key
word "luck" or "suerte" is taken bodily from President Ovando discounted sabotage, but
Spanish. It required ten interviews with persons chances are he is not correct. There is irony in the
who speak Aymara every day of their lives to fact that by presidential decree, yesterday was the
finally produce the word K H E N ' C H A which is first day in my memory that it was impossible to
associated with "bad luck," but which is a rare and publish newspapers. As one of the first steps
seldomly used word. The same phenomenon exists toward press control the President has ordered that
in Quechua, in which the term for good luck is all newspaper workers shall not work on Sundays.
SUMAC S U E R T E . Again "suerte" is taken from This means, of course, no newspapers on Monday.
Spanish, and SUMAC means simply "good" or The news media have protested but they are
"beautiful." The normal opposite is M A N A M guarded in their criticism of the government.
K A P U H U A C H U F O R T U N A , or "I have no luck"
or "I am unfortunate." "Fortuna," of course, is Luck and Destiny
taken directly from Spanish. In La Paz, where
Quechua is not commonly spoken, I was unable to Blowing up of the military arsenal is a digression
find a Quechua word meaning the same as the with only a tangential bearing on what will now be
Aymara K H E N ' C H A . my concluding statement-that hope for good luck
and resignation to "destiny" flourish on this
Is Blowing Up the Arsenal Good Luck or Bad Luck? bedeviled highland.

Yesterday (March 3, 1970) I was about to Now, as we look toward the end of summer and
conclude this paper with a general statement about the beginning of a short autumn in April, the rains
the importance of luck in the face of lack of beat down with the fury of demons. The dreaded
opportunity and widespread misery in the city of hail falls once a week, sometimes crushing into the
La Paz and on the ultiplano. I was interrupted by ground the last of summer's crops. The green of
two great explosions, the whine of bullets, the the altiplano fades to a vast expanse of srey-brown,
disappearance. i>i cicctricilv, and when i tried to except around Lake Titicaca where the totora
KU I'-:-'70

flourishes and the lake, on clear days, extends in a it is a fated destiny, circumscribed by limited
flashing, brilliant, blue. But it is cold, with a long opportunities and reinforced by teachings of the
lingering morning mist which burns off only Catholic Church.
seldomly leaving a warming sun at noon. Then the
clouds gather again and the cold afternoon rains Destiny and the Catholic Church
begin. By May the clouds and rain will disappear,
leaving a bright azure dome and a relentless sun. In In the Church, man's fate is in a bewildering
winter the difference between sun and shade is that variety of hands God, the Mother of God, and the
between heat and cold. Nights are glacial but the saints. Among the Spanish speakers there is little
sun-filled days crack open the cheeks of even the thought given the value of good works or of any
browned Ay mara'children. morality based upon the teachings of Jesus. It
often seems to me that Christ does not exist in the
The real victim of the combination of high Latin American Catholic Church, except as a little
altitude and harsh weather is that "hole in the plastic luck token, or a picture, or a crucifix all of
altiplano," the city of La Paz. The contour of La which are more symbols for appeal in time of
Paz is rather like a bowl, with steeply rising edges. trouble than reminders of doctrine.
In colonial times life was not impossible at the
bottom of the bowl. Even fifteen years ago, as the The spirit is somewhat contagious. I was born in
poorer people began to build up the sides of the the United States Middle West, raised as an almost
bowl, care was taken to build substantial founda- puritan Congregationalist, and was taught to be
tions on sites as level as possible and removed from shocked by any representation of a cross in
the summer-gushing streams. Today poorly built cemeteries. Now 1 have spent the greater part of
adobe houses cling to virtually any available space nineteen years in Latin America and my children
on all but the steepest precipices. A heavy rain are baptized Catholics. My arrival in La Paz five
brings water rushing down the sides of the bowl months ago, after weeks of frantic work and a
and the streams pour out in every direction. Entire direct flight to La Paz (altitude 12,000 feet),
sections of the mountain sides become dislodged culminated in a short collapse. I was taken from
and turn into a mush, along with the houses, the airport to the Catholic Clfnica Santa Isabel.
sliding toward the bottom and destroying other The electric power had failed, there was no water,
houses in the process. The explosions at the arsenal and in the evenings I could have no light, not even
were no help. They fractured not only windows a candle. The room was clean, whitewashed, and
but house walls as far away as the upland barrio of rather like a chapel, with a crucifix in shadows high
Villa Victoria. Now, if there is another torrent of on the wall opposite. In years past I would have
rain, as there have been several in the past weeks, asked that it be taken away, but then, half
houses may collapse in many of the barrios of La conscious, it seemed a comfort. I am not sure
Paz. The Mayor and the President have already said whether 1 prayed or whether I simply asked for
the situation is an emergency and are seeking better fortune. When I was conscious a priest came
millions of dollars to at least confine the streams to and I was grateful for his short talk about life and
channels. death, and was glad that he offered no advice,
made no sacrament, but left me with the relaxed
This is not a digression on the unfortunate feeling that someone had wished me well. In three
situation of La Paz. It is an illustration of one of days and nights the fever left and I was well.
the many unfortunate aspects of life to be endured
by Pacenos, along with hunger, the lack of cloth-
ing, and the lack o f even a single telephone in most The experience may be similar to that of many
barrios to call for help. Bolivians. There are objects on which one may fix
his attention, objects which, although commanding
There is no recourse except through some no universal belief, are not derided and are not
stroke of luck. Thus Alacitas, the lottery, and abused. And there is a body of belief which is
prizes offered by most large stores. There is always ancient beyond the knowledge of the believers.
a chance for good luck. But "bad luck" is not
really an operating concept among the Aymara and Here there is good luck, and one's destiny. The
Quechua speakers. Rather, if there is no good luck, destiny may be unfortunate, but it is not bad luck,
R\\T-2-'7O -16-

nor fault of initiative, nor the result of transgres-


sion of a moral code. The fate is preordained, but,
illogically, one may have beliefs and practices
designed to make sure that the best of preordained
fate comes to pass.

NOTES

1. Throughout the Report, indigenous Aymara' and


Quechua phrases are all capitalized. Familiar foreign lan-
guages are in italics.

2. The Aymara word is EKAKO, the Spanish rendition is


EK.EKO.

3. Carlos Ponce Sanjine's, TUNUPA y EKAKO, Los


Amigos del Libro, La Paz, 1969.

4. Regional Museum of the Center for Archaeological


Research in Tiahuanaco, catalog number 1218/1166.

5. (Imp. Atenea, La Paz, 1936).

6. "El Ekeko y la Fiesta de Alacitas." Revista de


Antropologia de Bolivia, vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 19-20, La Paz.

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