Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 1 (of 8): Aboriginal America
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 1 (of 8): Aboriginal America
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
The second myth of the Peruvians refers to the origin of the Incas,
who derived their descent from the kings of Tampu Tocco, and had their
original home at Paccari-tampu, in the valley of the Vilcamayu, south
of Cuzco. It is, therefore, an ancestral myth. It is related that
four brothers, with their four sisters, issued forth from apertures
(_Tocco_) in a cave at Paccari-tampu, a name which means “the abode
of dawn.” The brothers were called Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Uchu,
and Ayar Sauca, names to which the Incas, in the time of Garcilasso
de la Vega, gave a fanciful meaning.[1159] One of the brothers showed
extraordinary prowess in hurling a stone from a sling. The others
became jealous, and, persuading Ayar Auca, the expert slingsman, to
return into the cave, they blocked the entrance with rocks. Ayar
Uchu was converted into a stone idol, on the summit of a hill near
Cuzco, called Huanacauri. Manco then advanced to Cuzco with his
youngest brother, and found that the place was occupied by a chief
named Alcaviza and his people. Here Manco established the seat of his
government, and the Alcaviza tribe appears to have submitted to him,
and to have lived side by side with the Incas for some generations. The
Huanacauri hill was considered the most sacred place in Peru; while
the _Tampu-tocco_, or cave at Paccari-tampu, was, through the piety of
descendants, faced with a masonry wall, having three windows lined with
plates of gold.
There is a third myth which seems to connect the ancient tradition
of Titicaca with the ancestral myth of the Incas. It is said that
long after the creation by the Deity, a great and beneficent being
appeared at Tiahuanacu, who divided the world among four kings: Manco
Ccapac, Colla, Tocay[1160] or Tocapo,[1161] and Pinahua.[1162] The
names Tuapaca, Arnauan,[1163] Tonapa,[1164] and Tarapaca occur in
connection with this being, while some authorities tell us that his
name was unknown. Betanzos says that he went from Titicaca to Cuzco,
where he set up a chief named Alcaviza, and that he advanced through
the country until he disappeared over the sea at Puerto Viejo. It is
also related that the people of Canas attacked him, but were converted
by a miracle, and that they built a great temple, with an image, at
Cacha, in honor of this being, or of his god Illa Ticsi Uira-cocha.
This temple now forms a ruin which in its structure and arrangement is
unique in Peru, and therefore deserves special attention.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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