Description:
Presents the story of the Chanka people of Peru, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, told through a narrative of the crimes committed by a priest, Juan Bautista de Albadán, in the early 1600s.
Brief description: Sabine Hyland is Reader in Anthropology at the University of St. Andrews. She is the author of Gods of the Andes: An Early Jesuit Account of Inca Religion and Andean Christianity, also published by Penn State University Press.
Review Quotes:
"Based on an amazing wealth of documentation gleaned from archives and private collections on three continents, this marvelous microhistory brings to life the world of the Andean villagers of Pampachiri as they fall under the ruthless exploitation of a sadistic priest. Beginning with a series of events in this small village during the late sixteenth century, Sabine Hyland weaves a vivid story of the foundations and persistence of Chanka ethnicity, the role of the church and its clergy, and the nature of Spanish colonialism. In so doing, she provides a more balanced evaluation of the construction of a new social order."
--Noble David Cook, author of People of the Volcano: Andean Counterpoint in the Colca Valley of Peru