Within Inca society was a special class called acllyaconas, or “chosen women”. At around age ten, these young women were selected for their physical beauty and sent to schools to learn spinning, weaving, cooking, and other domestic duties. Those considered physically perfect were sacrificed to the Inca gods. Those who were not as perfect served as temple attendants or secondary wives of the Incan king. Some became mamaconas, or teachers of other chosen women.One of the most important duties of the chosen women was the production of cloth. Another was the production of “chicha”, a cloudy fermented beer made primarily from corn. Although they had no personal freedom and were strictly controlled by the government, the chosen women were highly...
Jippeikit, a shaman in Chichirat, a forested settlement of 10 families north of Tiinkias. The tribe has built a camp in the forest near the remote community of Tiinkias to offer visitors a more rustic experience.- New York Times
Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of sunset. Sunsets are quite old fashioned. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on.
Oscar Wilde
Deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, the Achuar, a local tribe, have been using limited tourism as a means to preserve and protect their land and way of life.Tsumpa lives high above the Pastaza River on a tidy clearing ringed by coconut palms, manioc plants, fruit trees and a garden of various plant medicines.
The Incas organized themselves into descent groups based on divisions that traced their lineage to a founding father. The Inca dynastic rulers all traced their lineage to Manco Cápac. Lines of succession were clear in theory but often involved trickery, violence, and even war. The history of many of the rulers especially the early rulers is unclear, because the histories recorded by the chronicles are themselves contradictory and confusing. However, we know that Manco Cápac was the first Inca that lead the beginning of the most powerful group of people in the Americas.
