Water Exchange

water and exchange: the ritual of yaku cambio as
communal and competitive encounter

LYNN SIKKINKLawrence University
When the hunters were about to return, everyone who'd remained in the village, the old men and old
women, and other people as well, would gather all together to await them with maize beer.
As they were arriving there, the waiting people would say, "They're coming in exhausted!" and pour
maize beer all over the place, over the people and onto the ground.
They'd pour it out right at the very entrance gate of Llacsa Tambo.
The hunters who'd come up from the lowlands would in turn place chunks of meat on the mouths of their
hosts' jugs.
After finishing this, the whole crowd sat on the open ground and they began the dance called Aynu.
These events are called the Chanco.
When they danced the Chanco, the sky would say, "Now!" and the rain would pour down.
Huarochirimanuscript, translated by Salomon and Urioste
introduction
In the Ancles water is not only essential to human life but is also a powerful metaphor for the
ritual of community. By mixing, joining, and exchanging water from different sources, commu-
nity members recreate their ties to each other and strengthen their bonds to the land. The
Huarochirf manuscript describes a ritual like the water-exchange ritual I explore: community
members come together and join goods from different territories, liquid is spilled on the ground
in celebration, and rain comes down. In San Pedro de Condo in the ritual called yaku cambio,
Condenos told me that they hoped to bring rain, yet the staging and activities of this ritual also
bespoke a celebration of community and desire for its continued unity. Community members
accomplish this through the symbolic and fluid yaku ("water" in Quechua) that is given to and
received by members of the community in an act of cambio, which in Spanish refers to both
"exchange" and "change." Although water is prominently exchanged, the central moment of
the ritual emphasizes mixing and joining and underlines the transformation participants seek
as well as the climatic change they desire.
In this article I consider water as both a life-giving element and a symbol of community
relations. The "purpose" of the ritual"to bring rain"highlights water's ability to fertilize and
In the southern Bolivian community of San Pedro de Condo a water-exchange ritual
serves to dramatize and reorder community rights and responsibilities while rain
is sought. Focusing on water is symbolically important both for participants in the
ritual and for this analysis because of water's associations with the commons,
fertility, and sex. These elements also link water exchange to the encounter oftinku
fa "ritual battle"), analyzed here as an analogous ritual of redistribution. (Andes,
ritual, exchange, water, dual structure]
American Ethnologist 2M\):\70-189. Copyright 1997, American Anthropological Association.
170 american ethnologist
make things grow. The symbolic use of water also illustrates the prominence of redistribution
in the maintenance of communal property; the way Andeans perceive the circulation of water
through their land and cosmos; the gendered nature of water and its correspondence to sexual
reproduction; and water's mediating power. These multifaceted meanings become clear
through the performance of social relations (sometimes competitive) and celebration of com-
munity central to yaku cambio. Before the ritual Condenos gather water much as they gather
other nondomesticated resources from the landscape. On the night of the ritual, opening
exchanges of wild medicinal herbs from the Condo territory, dried fish, feathers, and shells from
Lake Poopo emphasize the wild class of goods to which water belongs. Participants collect
water from multiple sources so that during the ritual it will be mixed, exchanged, and
symbolically infused; they thereby use the encounter of community members as an aggregate
body (the body politic) or as a vessel for the action in the same way that ceramic vessels are
used to contain individual quantities of water. The human assembly circulates the water in a
manner analogous to that in which water circulates through the watershed of the commu-
nityin a continuous cycle through the sky and underground (see also Bastien 1985, 1987;
Creslou 1990:16; Urton 1981). The circulation of water through the sky (above) and under-
ground (below) points to one dualistic, or mediating, dimension in the flow of water, dramatized
in the Condeno encounter by the interaction of upper and lower halves of the community.
Another dimension is gender: the water itself is gendered according to source and context, and
the staging of the water exchange occurs within the gendered domains of "upper" and "lower"
women opposing men. Why is this ritual so prominent and elaborate, and what are the
explanations for it? Aside from "bringing rain" Condenos speak of an opposition and competi-
tion in water sources. In addition, the ritual creates social solidarity by bringing people together
and unifying the community during a time of the year that could be particularly divisive should
the rains be light and the strain on the irrigation system great.
ritual exchange: water, land, and people
The enactment of yaku cambio draws together upper and lower halves of the community,
male and female participants, opposed water sources (also upper and lower, and male and
female), and complementary resources from different segments of the community. I begin with
these structural components not as instances of the universality of binary oppositions but to
follow how they are constituted and deployed in a local context. I am concerned with what
Leach called the "verbal expressions" employed by local groups of people (1954:104); my
analysis therefore emerges from what I term structuralism on the ground (a reworking of
Cudeman and Rivera's phrase "voices on the ground" [1990:9]) and proceeds to an under-
standing of the convergence between the structural components of the water-exchange ritual
and the context of daily life on the a/f/p/ano, in which people struggle over rights to water, land,
and other people. As in Piot's analysis of the Kabre ritual-economic system (1992), the
investigation of the structure of the Condeno system is a way to understand the local models of
the populace rather than an end in itself.
In Condo, dualistic structures are prominent in rituals, especially in the division between
upper and lower.
1
One of the problems that Condenos recognize is that the divisions of
community members, while structuring their social order, may also tear it apart, as has happened
when segments of the community seceded from Condo to form their own cantons.
2
During yaku
cambio participants reengage this potential clash and lay the foundations for continuing good
relations. This aspect of reproducing and balancing the social order, while important, provides
only one explanation for the ritual (cf. Levi-Strauss 1969). As described here, dual organization
provides a convenient ordering that lies at the base of much of communal life, yet it is also the
source of conflict: yaku cambio illuminates community divisions as an attempt to blur their
water and exchange 171
boundaries and to recreate the sense of shared history and space in Condenos' reliance on their
common land.
An understanding of exchange as a central concept of the ritual also plays a role in this
analysis. During yakucambio opposing parts of the community define themselves partly through
exchange. Despite its apparent centrality, however, exchange alone is not the full story of the
water-exchange ritual. By coming together as representatives of community segments, members
exchange goods and thus recognize their continuing ties. If we focus on the watery medium,
however, we see that it is the element of change in cambioits transformative aspectsthat
takes precedence over its exchange aspects. Here it is not just a change in climate that
participants seek to effect but a change in the tense relationships that ensue during a dry growing
season. The ritual "repeats and advances," to use Bloch's terminology (1989), the bringing
together of communal propertythe "commons"in the form of water, land (symbolized
through goods such as feathers, eggs, and medicinal herbs), and people to a central location,
and the subsequent "redistribution"
3
of these to the community segments (Cudeman n.d.;
Polanyi 1957). Water symbolizes this flowing in and back again through its circulatory
properties, as well as through the fact that it is one of the scarcest resources of the commons.
In this regard the exchange aspect of the ritual is found in redistribution rather than in
reciprocity.
4
That is, although members exchange goods among groups and individuals, it is
the bringing together (joining, mixing) of their common property and its redispersal in an altered
formchanged and chargedthat give the ritual its meaning and force.
Viewing this ritual as a redistribution tells us much about the kind of change participants
emphasize. Participants bring to the ritual water from individual sources, thereby changing it
into part of the commons; the exchanged jugs of water that they take back from the ritual contain
this infusion.
5
The performance also physically links important elements of that commons:
people, land, and water. At the end of the ritual, when the participants return to their individual
water sources with the exchanged and renewed water, they connect themselves (the animated
commons) with the water (lifeblood of the community) on the landscape (their communal fields).
Along with the shared land-based commons (the manta), it is water that provides the shared
foundation of community.
The commons in the form of land, water, and people is much more than a neutral foundation
that supports the Andean livelihood on this part of the southern altiplano. In Andean cosmology
water not only flows; it circulates. Water flows down from springs and snowmelt on the peaks,
collecting more water as it goes, and, in the Condefio watershed, flows into Lake Poopo. It
would be inaccurate, however, to think of the water as ending up in Lake Poopo because
Condenos believe that from there it either passes underground and back up to the peaks in a
continuous cycle or passes through the sky along the Milky Way. Urton has described this for
Misminay (a rural community in the department of Cuzco): "the local Misminay hydraulic
system operates in conjunction with the Milky Way . . . to circulate water continuously
throughout the terrestrial and celestial spheres" (1981:69).
The circulation of water serves as a central metaphor for the ritual of yaku cambio. People
circulate across the landscape; and, in collecting, mixing, and redispersing the water, they both
s/mu/afethe circulation of water and seek to stimulate it, to create movement in the flow of this
vital part of their shared commons. The link between human bodies and the landscape further
connects humans with the water they manipulate during the ritualcirculation in both makes
for healthy systems (Bastien 1985). Furthermore, there is a homology between the ritual mixing,
joining, and circulation of water, and human sex and reproduction. During the ritual, groups
of males and females meet. In Condo, because relatives are defined quite widely, ayllu
6
exogamy is common, as in this area in general (see Molina Rivero 1986:177-178). The ritual
itself is not "about" the exchange of marriage partners, although sex and reproduction are linked
to central metaphors of yaku cambio. Like the water mixed and exchanged during the ritual,
blood and semen are mixed during sexual intercourse, potentially leading to conception. The
vessels used in the ritual also further this associationchildren grow in the woman's womb but
may be miscarried if conditions cause the fetus to be "cooked." In the Andes, the earth itself is
Pachamama, a fertile female "being" (comprised of a space/time concept), while foam and
moving water are associated with semen and the masculine fertilizing principle (Isbell
1985[1978]:143; Ossio 1976:381; Urton 1981:2O2). During the ritual mixing in yaku cambio,
the splashing, foaming water falls to the earth in a sexualized spectacle witnessed by the
participants. This message conveys the symbolic connections among the fertility of the earth,
water, and human beings. As Salomon says about practices in pre-Hispanic times, "the hydraulic
embrace of moving water and enduring earth was imagined as sex. Their embrace yielded a
biotic system [Dumezil and Duviols 1974-76] in which life forms emerge from mixed earth and
water" (1991:15). Throughout the ritual, the frequent references to feeding (participants feeding
each other and feeding the earth with alcohol libations and water) also link the ritual to sex, as
sex and eating are closely associated in the Andes (Harris 1982; Harvey 1994:82).
Water in the cosmos, landscape, and human body brings the whole together. Water canals
slice through Condefio space, separating it into named constituent parts, yet these divisions
define the parts within a whole (watershed and community). In accomplishing this, water draws
together dualisms in the way that Classen discusses for the category of the "in-between spaces"
that both divide and mediate in Inca conceptions of the body (1993:14). She particularly points
to the exchange of fluids in the body and cosmos as responsible for animating and integrating
structures into wholes, and to the role of people in activating this (1993:2425). Ossio's analysis
of an Andamarquino irrigation festival furthers our understanding of water's integrative role
through its associations with "unity" and as a "vital force" (1976:381). As in a healthy body, the
circulation of water ensures well-being within the community. I argue that during the ritual this
water is not only circulated through the communal body but is also used to emphasize the
redistribution of the commons; and in so doing, it revitalizes communal relations.
yaku cambio in context: the community of Condo
The village of San Pedro de Condo is situated on the dry and treeless altiplano of southern
Bolivia, at 3,800 meters above sea level. The colonial village, with its plaza and church,
occupies the western edge of its own canton in the province of Oruro; its surrounding territory
(wider Condo) is approximately 65 kilometers across at its widest point. With Lake Poopo and
its salt-whitened shores visible from the village, the contrast between the barren pampas and
the watery extent on the skyline is striking. Rising up on the other side of the village are the hills
and high peaks (up to 5,200 meters) where Condenos live in their dispersed pastoral settlements
(estancias). Before the Inca conquest Condo was part of the Asanaqi-Killakas federation
(Abercrombie 1986; Espinoza Soriano 1981), and it still maintains some of this structure in its
ayllu groupings and Aymara ethnicity. Today, fewer and fewer Condenos speak Aymaraal-
though some Condenos still say, "We are trilingual [in Aymara, Quechua, and Spanish]!"and
it is possible to communicate in Condo by relying on Spanish alone.
7
Condo's colonial history
was longit was one of the first Bolivian villages to be built according to Viceroy Toledo's 1570
policy decree of reducciones (the colonial forced settlement of indigenous groups). With almost
one dwelling for every Condefio family in the canton (approximately 800), the village still
presents a microcosm of Condo as an ethnic group. On most days of the year, however, this is
a ghostly representation as only 70 families are permanent residents of the village. This image
vanishes during religious fiestas and community-wide events. On these occasions the village is
filled to the bursting-point by Condenos who arrive either from their high-altitude estancias or
from the cities where some work during part of the year (see Pratlong 1989). As a village, Condo
follows a cycle of ebb and flow that furthers the metaphor of water and its link to people and
land.
The local geography is particularly important to the social structure of Condo because the
community segments called ayllus are land-based and are located in specific relationship to
each other within wider Condo and within the village of San Pedro de Condo. In addition,
features on the landscape are important to ayllu members not only as the base of their livelihood
and the resources that they share as "commons" but also as animated parts of their world with
their own histories and relationships with humans. Lake Poopo, other lakes, and the hills are
particularly important. For example, Condenos tell many stories about the highest peak, named
Azanaqueshis deeds, his fights with other peaks, and his powers over humans who try to scale
his heights. The principal peak within Condo, it is so powerful as to be dangerous; and Condenos
consider the water from the springs surrounding Azanaques to be an essential part of yaku
cambio. Azanaques's male water therefore complements the female earth (Pachamama) and
female water of Lake Poopo. Condenos say that Azanaques's "wife" is the peak of Thunapa, on
the edge of the great Uyuni salt flat, and that she fled from Azanaques's side after a violent fight.
In different versions of this story, Thunapa marks the earth with blood from her wounds and
leaves behind a miscarried fetus and several children along her escape route. The storytellers
point out these offspring as features of the modern landscape. The gendered landscape and the
representation of different body parts in the landscape (cf. Bastien 1978) advance the notion of
the body metaphor that the human community enacts in yaku cambio. Water from Lake Poopo
is integral to this ritual exchange, especially because it is complementary, and in opposition to,
the water from the high sources of Azanaques. That the lake is associated with the sea ("La mar
Qota") and, as such, has female associations (Creslou 1990:15) reveals that water is gendered.
In practice Condenos speak of this water as female. On the other hand, although the peak of
Azanaques is male the waters from its nearby springs are not necessarily male, although running
water is often associated with semen and maleness (Greslou 1990). The main opposition in
Condo's two principal water sources is therefore between upper and lower rather than between
male and female.
San Pedro de Condo is divided into seven ayllus: Kallapa, Araya-Kallapa, Tikani-Chiraga
(remnant of the Yanaque ayllu), Sullkayana, Kawalli, Araya-Kawalli, andQollana. These are in
turn represented as upper and lower halves (mitades or sayas) of the community: the first three
are usually grouped into the lower half, and the remaining four comprise the upper half. In
practice Kallapa and Sullkayana, as the biggest ayllus, come to represent the lower and upper
halves, respectively. The Kawalli ayllu, partly in protest against this exclusionary practice,
formed its own "centrist" ayllu, and, during yaku cambio, meets "across" the two big ayllus by
opposing itself to Qollana.
8
The distinction between upper and lower is used in practical and
symbolic ways to construct space and activities and to channel and mediate rivalries. The area
of wider Condo is spatially divided into these land-based ayllus. The ayllus even have distinct
neighborhoods within the village of San Pedro de Condo that, when mapped out, represent the
relative positions of the ayllus in wider Condo. The cemetery itself is divided into upper and
lower portions, so that community members are opposed to each other in death as they are in
life. It is at Condefio fiestas that the opposition (actualized as a form of competition) between
segments of the community becomes most apparent. Carnival is the fiesta during which this
opposition between upper and lower is most formally expressed, and Condenos use the word
for "competition" to describe the interaction of the two groups and the informal evaluation that
occurs after the fiesta to determine which group was better.
9
Condefio households are typically inhabited by a husband and wife and their children, but
often include extended family. The composition of the household is linked not only to the land
that the household works together but also to the animals that they jointly oversee. The
livelihood of the household, then, depends on the "outside" resources of land, the crops
produced there, and the animals. Most agricultural tasks are performed by both men and
women, sometimes with the help of children: the sexual division of labor is not strict to the point
of total complementarity. The house itself serves as the primary point of reference for work, as
women tend to do more of the work within its walls (including crop processing and cooking);
men tend to do more of the work outside, including the bulk of the heavy agricultural labor.
10
Women additionally manage the household's resources, a task that includes seeing to the stores
of food, maintaining the seed stock, and trading or selling some of the household's base for
specific purposes (Sikkink 1994). Despite these general characterizations, there is much overlap
and sharing of household and agricultural chores, and it is common to see both men and women,
together or individually, clearing fields, weeding, irrigating, and harvesting.
Perhaps 50 percent of the fields scattered around the village of San Pedro de Condo are
irrigated by systems of gravity-powered open canals whose source is the Azanaques River, in
turn fed by several high lakes, mountain glaciers, and springs. These irrigated fields are highly
productive and have sometimes been incorporated in a system of private ownership. In contrast,
many of the fields that make up the communal land base (manta) of individual ayllus are
unirrigated and depend on annual rainfall. Each ayllu's manta is administered collectively by
ayllu members and comprises the "commons" for these community segments. These large tracts
of land are farmed on a "communal rotation" or "sectoral fallowing" system (see also Brush
1977; Orlove and Codoy 1986). Each ayllu has about ten plots of communal land (mantas); in
any given year three or four of them are under cultivation, and each year community members
move to one new manta plot, abandoning to lie fallow a plot they have cultivated for the
preceding three years. The irrigation of individual fields and some of the manta fields requires
tremendous cooperation and occasions frequent disputes. To facilitate a smooth operation,
there is one water judge in Condo who, with arreadores (herders) from each ayllu, sees to the
rotation of turns among all community members.
Only in the worst years does the water in Condo's river dry up entirely. In years of abundant
rainfall the river reaches flood proportions; before Condo's cement bridge was built, the river
sometimes became impassable. On average years the river has enough water to sustain constant
use as the source of irrigation, although, just as rain is seen as a limited resource, so is the river
water replenished by rain and the snowmelt from Condo's high hills. Sullkayana, the upper
ayllu through whose territory the Azanaques River passes before it reaches the village, holds
the ultimate water authority by virtue of its land base. Members of other ayllus speak somewhat
resentfully of Sullkayana residents as "owners of the water." The system of water distribution is
fraught with difficulties. Disputes over taking turns, and even over the right to participate in the
rotation, are frequent when irrigation is in full swing during the planting season. Because of this
it is particularly important for all the ayllus to legitimate their claims to water within the context
of the ritual exchange of water.
a community performance of exchange: the ritual of yaku cambio
We know that rituals to bring rain have been practiced since at least the 16th century because
they were described by the Spanish chroniclers (e.g., Calancha 1978[1638]:1969; Murua
1946(1590):281; both are also cited in van den Berg 1990:68). In his book about agricultural
rites, van den Berg (1990) details the great variety of contemporary rituals to bring rain, including
those in which agriculturalists in the Andean region bring lake frogs into the hills; take water
from alpine lakes to water agricultural fields; throw rocks taken from high hills into local lakes;
"call the clouds"; and conduct various kinds of animal sacrifice aimed at ending dry spells. One
ritual from the Lake Titicaca region, similar to the one I describe here, centers on taking water
from this lake and transporting it to a high mountain lake, after which water from the mountain
lake is returned to Lake Titicaca.
The ritual of yaku cambio receives its name from a combination of Quechua and Spanish."
Yaku means "water" in Quechua, and cambio means "change" or "exchange" in Spanishboth
of these meanings emerge during the ritual. The ritual is usually given this hybrid name; it is
also sometimes called "intercambio de agua" (exchange of water) or "cambio de aguas"
(exchange or change of waters) by Condenos. The idea of exchanging waters (that is, in the
plural) is perhaps more accurate, because water is brought from multiple sources, and it is the
very differences among these waters that make the ritual effective. Describing them as "water
sources" underlines Condenos' perceptions of water as being varied and changing. Participants
in the ritual draw on water from the lake, snowmelt springs, mountain lakes, and brackish ponds
on the pampa. Condo's river, the source of irrigation water, is understood as a combination of
these water sources.
Yaku cambio is enacted once a year in the rainy season when the rains should be falling but
have not arrived in full force, but not when the rainfall is considered sufficient. One Condeno
told me that if it does not rain by the festival of San Andres (November 30), community members
may become worried and decide to do yaku cambio. After this it may take several weeks before
enough people have talked and complained for the authorities to consult with each other and
collectively plan the ritual: the caciques of all the ayllus must come together in the planning
and enactment of yaku cambio. The ritual therefore takes place only in the driest years, after
the people have waited a couple of months for the rains to begin. It is a crisis ritual rather than
a regular part of the ritual cycle. (I witnessed it in 1991 but not in 1990, a year of sufficient
rainfall.)
Rainfall during the growing season is not only important because it waters the earth, but also
because cloudy skies raise the temperatures and reduce the risk of frost. During this time of the
year the Condenos anxiously watch the skies for the protective cover of clouds that will keep
away the frost. Before the 1991 yaku cambio there were several untimely frosts, and in one
especially bad week frosts fell every night, damaging the potato crop in several areas. The yaku
cambio is thus important as a way to bring protective clouds, even if they do not always shed
rain. Condenos schedule the ritual for the beginning of the agricultural year because this is the
riskiest time, when the crops can be damaged or totally lost to frosts or drought. In 1991 the
ritual was scheduled for December 20, a day that had the added benefit of being on the eve of
the solstice, when a new half of the year begins and changes are considered more likely to
occur.
On the day before the main events of the ritual, groups of men from six different ayllus make
trips to collect water from sources within their respective territories. As the three smallest ayllus
unite into one group (with Kawalli), this provides an arrangement of four principal groups that
correspond to the four cardinal directions of the landscape.
12
From the larger ayllus (Sullkayana
and Kallapa) various groups of men may separately collect water, often from several different
sources. The groups consist of men from either the same hamlet (estancia) or they may be
neighbors within the same ayllu from the village. The men use small ceramic jars (p'unus
[Quechua] or ca'ntaros [Spanish])
13
for collecting water. They depart early in the morning
accompanied by the music of t'arka and pinkillu flutes. According to one Condena, the pinkillu
is the most important instrument because its sound is the "liveliest" of all instruments. The use
of the pinkillu is interesting because the people in many nearby areas (e.g., various parts of
Northern Potosi) claim that it is exclusively a rainy season instrument since it attracts rains and
scares away frosts (Harris 1980:73; Stobart 1993). On the other hand, charango music (which
is played on stringed instruments that resemble miniature guitars) is played in Condo only during
the dry season and might scare the rains away.
Within each ayllu there is one principal water source, but there may be several others from
which water is also collected for the ritual. For the members of the Sullkayana ayllu, the principal
water source is the water on the high peak of Azanaques, which sits among a chain of peaks
where snow, ice, and small lakes all contain the water of Azanaques. Members of the Qollana
ayllu (the small upper ayllu) have a principal water source in Quenwa Qota (Aymara, "Quenwa
[a native tree, Polylepisl Lake"), the largest alpine lake in Condo's territory, located at the base
of the Azanaques ridge. Members of Kawalli (the small "centrist" ayllu) collect water from
around Jan Chaga, the most prominent peak in their ayllu's territory. In Kallapa (the lower ayllu),
Lake Poopo is the principal source of water, and it is from here that the men take the large jug
of water for yaku cambio. Lake Poopo is also important because of its associations with the
sea
14
and the circulation of water (see also Sherbondy 1982).
The waters from the four principal sources are collected in larger vessels and are absolutely
necessary for the moment of mixing. Other water sources are secondary and may not be
represented. Condenos collect water from their secondary water sources out of a sense of
protectiveness; the water sources, no matter how small, belong to the community members who
take the responsibility to have them represented in the ritual, where the jugs themselves will be
exchanged and transported to opposing water sources.
The main activities of yaku cambio begin around 8:00 or 9:00 P.M. Members of the ayllus
coordinate their activities so that they arrive together at the temple of Para Jullke, situated on a
rocky rise, about one kilometer from the village and within Sullkayana's territory. The territory
is located on the main axis that leads from the upper-to lower-half of the community and is the
origin of the principal irrigation canals; it is the meeting place for water distribution and the
scene of water disputes.
Before assembling at the temple in Para Jullke, the members of the separate ayllus themselves
come together. Each ayllu first meets at the house of the cacique where the members together
make libations of alcohol and chew coca. At the cacique's house participants also assemble
medicinal herbs that they have collected within their ayllus. These are for exchange at the
ceremony. They may also burn a mesa (ritual offering), consisting of herbs, misterios (stamped
tablets), coca leaves, and llama fat. Next, the ayllu members go to the outskirts of their
neighborhoods in the village. There they assemble with other neighbors who arrive directly
from their houses. In their procession to the ritual site, either the cacique or the ayllu's water
authority carries the large water jug, decorated with serpentine streamers (like those used in
carnival) or plants, from the ayllu's principal water source. The procession moves toward the
ritual site accompanied by music and a fast shufflingdance step called "La Anata" or "Ayawaya,"
which is the same dance that is danced at the beginning of carnival. Importance is given to
dancing rapidly, enthusiastically, and gaily; and some of the dancers precede the musicians in
running, weaving steps. Upon arriving at the meeting place in front of the temple, the
participants stop first at the large irrigation canal that traverses the site. (Before the gathering
begins, the authorities divert all the river water through this canal so that it is filled to overflowing,
surges through the village, and flows along the route of Chaupi Calle [Quechua and Spanish]
or "Half Street.") It is in this canal that the arriving Condenos leave their jugs of water during
the encounter at the temple.
15
In fact, to get to the meeting place in front of the temple, everyone
has to jump the wide irrigation canal in the dark, which leads to splashing, wet feet, and laughter.
The participants return to the music and dancing again. Newcomers greet the others but at first
stay in their ayllus and dance in tight circles within an expanding crowd of people.
16
The dancing continues for only about 15 minutes after the last ayllu arrives, because there is
a move toward the more specific encounter of the yaku cambio. To begin with, the members
of what I will call here "opposing ayllus" come together: the upper ayllu of Sullkayana with the
lower ayllu of Kallapa, and the small upper ayllu of Qollana with the central ayllu of Kawalli
(joined by Araya-Kawalli and Araya-Kallapa). Women and men separate into adjoining groups
so that the arrangement becomes a group of men from one ayllu facing a group of men from
the opposing ayllu, and the women from the first ayllu sitting on the ground facing the women
from the opposing ayllu. Everyone begins to share drink and coca; but at this stage the ayllu
members are sharing only among themselves (and now further subdivided by gender), not with
the members of the opposing ayllus. They are thus engaged in an intra-ayllu exchange.
After the exchange within ayllus, exchanges of a different nature begin. The first items that
participants exchange are coca and trago (alcohol). Then, after freely sharing food and drink
with members of opposing ayllus, pairs of people begin to align themselves to continue specific
exchanges. Most important, the authorities meet: the caciques of opposing ayllus meet, and the
same is true for the alcaldes (mayors), camayos (field watchers), jueces de agua (water judges),
and arreadores. Likewise, the wives of these authorities come together. Other pairs (formed by
nonauthorities) meet, too, but sometimes these other participants simply attach themselves to
a principal pair and wait as the exchanges occur between pairs of authorities.
The camayos have important roles because they are the authorities who watch over the
agricultural fields. There are four different kinds of camayos in each ayllu, and they are named
after the sections of the communal manta they protect and what grows there: fava beans,
potatoes, quinoa, and barley. Each camayo oversees the one manta planted in his crop that
year. Although there are ten manta parcels, only three or four are planted in any given yearthe
rest are in fallow.
17
Although these four camayos meet one on onethe men with the men and
the women with the womenthey may first announce themselves by calling out, for instance,
"papa camayo, papa camayo!" ["potato camayo . . . " ] . This simultaneously calls their counter-
parts from the opposing ayllu, and makes their presence public.
It is also the camayos who have brought along a pot of food, usually a dish called jallpa made
of stewed barley with hot pepper and organ meat (tripe, kidney, heart, etc.) and prepared by
the camayo's wife or mother. The camayo serves out jallpa to all present, but this is done
separately for the men's and women's groups. The pattern is for the Kallapa camayo to serve
jallpa (usually just a soupspoonful) to the camayo from Sullkayana and vice versa, and the
camayo's wife or mother serves her female counterpart. This same pattern is repeated between
those from Qollana and Kawalli. After the camayos have served each other, they serve the others
present, so that no one goes without the symbolic feeding of at least one spoonful. I interpret
this feeding as an attempt to create community feeling in the sense that Weismantel intended
by arguing that kinship is created through food: "food, not blood, is the tie that binds"
(1988:171). This feeding may also indicate bigger kin units who exchange marriage partners,
while also hinting at the sex act (Harvey 1994:82).
While these ayllus are exchanging food and making themselves comfortable in a small
space,
18
another exchange is taking placethat of the herbal medicines that the ayllu members
have brought to give to the members of the opposing ayllu. Typically they give wild herbs
gathered by women in the territories of their respective ayllus. Kallapa members also bring
ch'uru, tiny white shells rice-like in appearance, from the shores of Lake Poopo. They sometimes
give these along with flamingo eggs to the people from Sullkayana. The people from Kallapa
tell their exchange partners, "Now you can cook rice with egg." Participants sometimes also
offer pink flamingo feathers as these are used as medicine or in rituals. That participants
exchange medicinal herbs and shells (from specific locales) supports the idea of economic as
well as symbolic circulation: these items are also traded or sold in the marketplace. These items
also suggest, on the one hand, water products (shells, feathers, and eggs from lake fowl) and,
on the other, a class of gathered wild goods that are important both in the exchange system and
in healing contexts, where they regulate the body. Participants give large bunches of the plants,
and those who receive them fill entire bags with the sweet-smelling herbs.
Now the ch'alla (libation) sequence begins. Its purpose is to offer ch'allas to various water
sources. As on other occasions when trago is served, small cups of alcohol are shared. At yaku
cambio the drinking generally occurs in pairs,
19
with one person offering a cup to a partner,
and the partner offering one in return. One member of the pair pours a cup of alcohol and speaks
the name of a water source in the appropriate ayllu, beginning with the major ones. The partner
in the pair accepts the cup, pours out a libation on the ground while repeating the name of the
water source just invoked, and drinks the rest of the alcohol. The first partner makes .) libation
for the water source already named and then drinks a cup in turn. The second partner then
begins a new ch'alla by pouring alcohol into a cup and naming an ayllu water source of equal
importance to the one named by the first partner. In this way the partners work their way through
the numerous lesser sources, often aided by the attendants in the task of remembering. During
this time the partners are intent on their task. They do not converse much and, as one Condena
said, this time is only for libations.
This part of the ritual may take almost two hours: the ch'alla is basically about remembering
and "memory pathways" (Abercrombie 1986), and the long performance of naming water
sources underscores the actors' dependence on them. Tambiah (1985) elucidates this process
through his analysis of the role of ritual as "symbolic communication" or "communicative
action"; it is an act that does something through its saying. In yaku cambio the recalling of the
water sources emphasizes their importance and safekeeping, at least symbolically. Using
Tambiah's terminology, yaku cambio is a staged "performance" during which the recall of
important peaks, water sources, and saints is given prominence in the ritual theater (1985:128).
After ch'allas have been made for all the water sources, the people begin to make ch'allas for
"Tata San Pedro" (the patron saint of Condo), "Tata Pasion," "La Virgen de Copacabana," "Tata
Bombori," and other saints. One young Condeno told me that this drinking was actually a kind
of competition to see which person could get a partner drunk first. Although the heart of the
ch'alla sequence revolves around remembering the water sources, hills, and saints, and around
demonstrating a common dependence on water by performing it publicly, an element of these
ch'allas is certainly the competitive aspect this young man mentioned. Not only is there
competition in the drinking, but everyone subsequently makes comments about whose music
was best and which ayllu brought the best medicines and food.
By the time the libations are finished it is after midnight. Participants go to the canal to collect
their water jars, which have been clustered in the flowing water all this time. At this point the
crowd walks about half a kilometer into the bofeda/ (marsh) adjacent to the temple. In ecological
terms the bofedal is characterized as wetlands and it serves as an area for animal grazing but
not for agriculture. The sodden ground and hummocks of grass make for difficult walking after
the lengthy ch'alla session. The Condenos also call this area a q/iocb/(Aymara for "a cistern for
rainwater" and Quechua for "a boggy place"), thereby giving the land itself a concrete
correspondence with the jars of water that are being brought there and emphasizing its natural
ability to hold the rainfall that is being sought. As a body, the assembled community takes on
this aspect as it continues the circulation of water in this ritual. Another name given to this
particular part of the landscape is "Azanaques Pirwa," which was translated for me as "natural
reservoir"in this case, a natural reservoir of Azanaques, whose basin is the source of most of
the irrigation water. Along with this, the qhochi's association with permanent wetness and green
forage, even in the dry season, makes it an appropriate spot for the actual exchange of water.
At this point in the ritual the authorities head into the center, leading their ayllus with white
flags, the men again playing their instruments. The others arrive with their jugs of water and
place them close together (by ayllu) on a spot where their respective ayllus' flags have been
planted. The caciques place the principal water jug centrally, close to their ayllus' flags. The
water jars from Sullkayana are placed in a tight group facing those from Kallapa, and the jugs
from Kawalli are placed facing those from Qollana. Most of the ayllu members position
themselves in a similar manner, around the clustered jugs and facing the opposing ayllu.
It is the water mayor
20
who takes a leading role when the actual water exchange begins. He
first directs the "mixing of the waters." As the musicians continue to play, the water mayor picks
up the large water jugs that have been filled with water from each of the ayllus' principal water
sources. He first takes the large jugs from Sullkayana and Kallapa, the principal opposing ayllus
in this ritual, and, aided by the arreadores from those ayllus, he holds them high in the air as
he pours water from one jug to the other, repeating the process several times. Since both vessels
are completely full at the start, the water falls to the ground at first but is then mixed within the
partially empty vessels. As the water mayor continues to "mix" them with violent movements,
however, all the water is eventually spilled on the ground. He completes this process again by
mixing the water in the jug brought by the Kawalli ayllu with that from the Qollana ayllu. Again
the mixing is violent. When I asked about this, people told me that at this point the waters "are
fighting" and that the abrupt, sharp movements of the water mayor indicate their resistance.
21
Others confirmed this by alluding to the "opposition between the waters," both when they are
mixed together at this point in the ritual and later, when foreign water is poured into one of the
original water sources. The idea is that mixing the water provokes the other water sourcesthat,
in a sense, it "awakens" themand leads them to fight with each other; this brings on stormy
weather and rain.
22
After the mixing of the waters, the water mayor proceeds to the next step of yaku cambio,
which involves the exchange of the small jugs of water that people have brought. The arreadores
and the water judges take a more active role in this part of the exchange, since they are the ones
who know the provenance of each jug and must name each water source as the jugs are
exchanged. The water mayor oversees the exchange; but it is the arreadores, as representatives
of the two opposing ayllus, who actually distribute the water jugs. They enact the exchange jug
by jug; first the arreador from one ayllu holds up a jug and says the name of the water source
from which it came; then he passes it to the arreador from the other ayllu. The second arreador
then responds by picking up a jug from his collection, names its provenance, and passes it over
to the first arreador in exchange for the jug already received. This continues until one or the
other of the ayllus has distributed all its water jugs. With this the cambio ends, and, with a final
ch'alla, everyone walks back to the temple and from there to the village. Those who have
brought jugs return with the jugs they have received in exchange. The musicians play on the
way home along the same route. The dancing has ceased because the ritual is over; it is now
about 3:30 A.M. Commenting that now their responsibilities have been fulfilled, the people retire
to their houses in their respective corners of the village.
In yaku cambio part of the process of redistribution (here, a joining and a dividing) is effected
through the small changes in water sources and rights. After the night of the ritual, the process
of change continues when the exchanged water is mixed at the original sources. When the men
arrive at these various locations they unstop the new jugs and pour the water into their sources.
One Condefia told me that the waters at the source (whether Lake Poopo, certain springs, or
other sources) "get angry"
21
when the new, foreign water is added. She told me that "the waters
begin to boil" because it is a "challenge" to have the new waters mixing with them. This is
similar to comments that were made when the water was mixed at the ritual. As semen and
blood are mixed in conception, and the fetus must "cook" but not "overcook" (that is, as if in
a vessel) in order to develop, mixing waters within water jugs has symbolic associations with
the sex act and sexual reproduction. Carried out among various ayllus, yaku cambio is an act
of social reproduction. Also, in the same way that fights may erupt in Condo when two ayllus
come together, especially in the past during tinku (described below), the opposition or mixing
of waters from two different territories is perceived as a conflict. Condenos consider that a
physical fight between the opposing waters wi l l lead to a change in the environment (change
in climaterainfall), just as the blood spilled from men from two opposing ayllus during tinku
"waters" Pachamama (the "earth mother") and increases the fertility of the soil for agriculture.
Directly in keeping with this perspective, the numerous ch'allas that Condenos drink during
yaku cambio "water" the ground in the same way as the desired rainfallthere is a link between
rainfall, the ch'allas, blood spilled in tinku, and the mixing and exchange of waters.
24
tinku and communal exchange
The Andean ritual battle called tinku sheds light on yaku cambio in that it is simultaneously
a joining, a social encounter, and a fight among people that vividly demonstrates that communal
exchange concerns struggle and change. The word tinkuy is a Quechua verb that means "to
join through a violent meeting, to encounter" (Allen 1988:262).
25
Other researchers have
described tinku as part of a wider semantic fieldas mediation within Andean aesthetics
(Cereceda 1987) and as a symmetrical relationship (Platt 1987). Schuler associates tinku with
other rituals through its "motive of restoring vital fluids to Pachamama" (1987:27). The events
of tinku are linked to the competitive encounters of carnival through colonial descriptions of
men who, during carnival week, encountered and "played" with hard fruits and slingshots in
Cuzco (Gutierrez de Santa Clara 1943(1574], cited by Hopkins 1982:170). Tinkus take place
on fiesta days and, although these specific dates vary throughout Bolivia, in Condo (before tinku
ended around 1972) it was practiced at three fiestas during the year.
26
At the time of Condo's last tinku, one Condefio almost died from a head wound after a
particularly violent encounter. The battle had been extreme because it had moved out of the
realm of ritual battle and into the realm of practical dispute.
27
What happened is that Condo's
largest ayllu at the timeYanaquehad been dominating Condefio politics and land disputes.
Because of this, instead of pairing off in the orderly, prescribed fashion of the ideal tinku,
28
the
other ayllus joined forces in that year's encounter, converting it into a battle between Yanaque
and all the other ayllus. When the fighting was over, both sides signed an agreement to abandon
tinku. Soon afterward Yanaque split from the rest of Condo, forming its own canton. This case
is not unique: the violence with which it is enacted in different parts of Bolivia (e.g., Abercrombie
1986; Platt 1987; Schuler 1987) demonstrates that it is a method of airing real disputes. In many
regions tinku is fought at locations that mark the disputed borders between groups (Schuler
1987; called ch'axwas in some cases, see Platt 1987); the groups are not bound together in
solidarity, as ayllus of the same community would be. Therefore it is easy to see that these fights,
although still marked by some formality, are often best described not as "ritual battles" but as
ritualized frameworks in which disputes of a serious nature are sometimes pursued to the end.
In this way tinkus differ from rituals of solidarity like yaku cambio: tinku is institutionalized
conflict that often focuses on real disputes rather than on ideal solidarity.
Like yaku cambio, tinku hinges on notions of redistribution, but in tinku the dramatic results
may take the form of displacement of land from one group to another. When practiced within
the community, tinku draws on a structure similar to that of the ritual of yaku cambioit brings
together segments of the community in a prescribed fashion over questions of the commons
and then disperses them again. Rituals such as tinku underline this structure, which Bastien
describes as a "ritualized and symbolic opposition between the ayllus" (1989:74). Bastien has
discussed the way in which people are both opposed and united in the ritual, thus establishing
their interdependence (1989:76). Although tinku as a battle no longer continues in Condo, it is
still enacted in various ways (such as dances) during the year, and these transformations of tinku
serve to perpetuate its status as a formal, combative encounter in which the problems of
community members may, in some instances, be expressed and alleviated. Participants no
longer spill blood, however, and fertility must be replenished in rituals like yaku cambio. Some
tinkus, such as that described by Rasnake as a "water battle," actually deploy water as a weapon
that competitors fling at each other (1988:180). This underlines water's simultaneous capacity
for destruction (as a weapon) and fertilization (as it takes the place of spilled bloodthe usual
result of a tinku battle).
In Condo, although tinku has lost its meaning of doing battle, it has retained its aspect of
competition and formal encounter. These encounters are not simply peaceful meetings that
create social solidarity but are community performances in which certain problems are explicitly
foregrounded. At yaku cambio Condenos allude to their struggles over their rights to land and
water, just as in past tinku battles they battled over boundary lines and other land disputes.
Redistribution is a unifying theme in both these ritualsinstead of the egalitarian give and take
of reciprocity, the struggle that accompanies the reestablishment of the commons (either in
terms of rights or in a physical reconfiguration) points to an exchange in terms of power relations,
in which authorities and powerful individuals are able to influence the outcomes of the fate of
the commons.
summary and discussion
One important aspect of yaku cambio is its power to bring about changenot only a shift in
the weather patterns, but change in other domains as well. The pooling and mixing of resources
permits this transformation. The first step is to gather together certain elementswater is
collected in jugs, medicinal herbs are gathered from within the ayllu's territory, and other wild
resources are gathered for the purposes of the exchange. Like the water, these items originate
from specific places in the Condeno landscape while also representing the commons as a whole.
At the same time participants prepare food to be taken to the ritual along with alcohol, cigarettes,
and coca. Finally, the ayllu members themselves assemble in a group, bringing with them all
the collected goods to be exchanged, and creating a social body in which to enact the ritual
communally. Exchange between individuals in pairs concretely and symbolically reorders
Condeno resources, so that by the final step of yaku cambio participants have achieved the
alteration of the landscape and social relations through redistribution: it is as though the water
flowing among people and its redispersal on the land symbolically reopen the lines of social
and economic exchange. The exchange of these goods reinforces the need for the ayllus to
interact and to trade; and the exchange of water emphasizes Condo as an integrated territory,
where water from the lake and various springs is important as the river water (controlled by only
one ayllu) inasmuch as both are part of an overall system that brings rain and so allows crops
to grow in many different locations. Within this system, the transposition of water from the high
peaks to the lake and from the lake to the high peaks underlines the continual cycling or
circulation of water that Condenos recognize as a necessary aspect of their water system. These
ideas have been suggested for other parts of the Andes in Bastien's "hydraulic system" (1985)
and Sherbondy's "ethnohydrology" (1992).
Notions of unity and interchange are "repeated and advanced" (Bloch 1989) throughout the
ritual. For instance, the exchange of ch'allas, in which the names of all the water sources are
invoked by the participants, maps out the social geography that participants carefully and
lovingly remember and voice, bringing these water sources to the attention of those from other
territories and emphasizing the totality of the community. The jugs of water that the ayllus
interchange also symbolize the participation of the members of various ayllus as necessary to
the functioning of the community as composed of people who work together, participate in
fiestas, intermarry, enact rituals, and soon. All exchanges include the idea of change. In a social
sense, "change" more specifically means the reproduction of the group through the redistribu-
tion among interdependent ayllu segments. In the ritual these social units are brought together,
matched, and "mixed" in a similar fashion to the exchange of water, thus balancing and
sustaining the social order. This does not so much produce harmony as generate an ordered
tension or friction (as when the mixed waters begin to "boil"), setting the scene for a change in
the climate and the appearance of fertilizing rain.
As a symbolic medium in this ritual, water carries multiple meanings based in Condenos'
concern for their community and its well-being. First, although water symbolizes fertility, it can
be a destructive force in the case of flooding. In discussing numerous water references from the
Huarochirf manuscript, Salomon summarizes them in terms of sex and marriage and argues that
destructive lust is associated with flooding, while productive marriage is associated with
irrigation. Laden with allusions to gender mythology, water represents "a conflict model of
society" (1991:10). In Condo, water from the river is the mixed result of various water sources
and the origin of all irrigation water. The irrigation canals are, therefore, a spatial focus of the
ritual as well as a symbolic conduit for the orderly mixing of people through productive sex and
marriage. Water, moreover, is symbolically linked to other fertile fluids such as semen and blood
and carries both male and female reproductive powers. Isbell (1985[1978]) notes that moving
irrigation water is semen-like; during yaku cambio this is marked by the rushing, foaming water
that is forced through one central irrigation canal. Placing their jugs of water together in this
canal, participants draw on the sexual and reproductive notion of water. In other instances water
is linked to blood, as in the link between fertilizing water falling to the ground in yaku cambio
and blood being spilled in tinku to fertilize the earth. But water does not only fall to the ground;
it moves and circulates, even returning to its source through underground canals, the Milky
Way, or the actions of humans in yaku cambio. Finally, this aspect links it also to the wind,
which Condenos also see as a fertile, circulatory force. For example, in a harvest ritual during
Pentecost called Espiritu (Holy Ghost), Condenos honor their harvest places, crops, and saints
and make libations to a southerly wind that is seen as integral to the completion of the harvest.
Water is vital to the landscapeit is vitality itself. Condenos have long accused their neighbors
in Huari of capturing the water from a Condeno mountain lake for use in a local brewery in
Huari. This accusation vividly represents the growth of Huari at the expense of Condo: while
Huari grows in importance, Condo's prestige ebbs.
In this discussion of the ritual of yaku cambio, I have focused on how Condenos manipulate
water both physically and symbolically during a ritual that serves to bring community members
together and to redistribute their commons in a changed form. Water stands for the larger
commons of land and people in this ritual, and by joining, mixing, and redistributing it, members
allude to the struggles, such as disagreements over irrigation rights and boundary disputes, that
ensue over their commons. The excerpt from the Huarochirf manuscript at the beginning of this
article illustrates a staged performance similar to yaku cambio in which groups of people (old
and young, men and women, lowlanders and highlanders, and hunters and agriculturalists)
congregate to exchange and dance until the tension is broken ("When they danced the Chanco,
the sky would say'Now!' ") by the rain pouring down. Thus the activities of these groups indicate
that the joining and mixing integral to the ritual are more important than the dualistic ordering
of their societies. By performing yaku cambio Condenos seek a similarly ordered tension, as
well as the rain that will follow from the competition and "boiling" of the water sources when
they are brought together and mixed. In addition to seeking rain, Condenos seek the ordered
tension of community segments (land and people) that are both brought together through the
medium of water and inextricably linked to it as the base of their livelihood and as the system
through which water continually circulates. In other words, Condenos redistribute their com-
mons through this ritual. The "change," indicated by one translation of cambio, is brought about
by a transposition of water that not only connects the watershed of the community of Condo,
but reorders it through mixing waters from different ayllus.
The encounter of tinku, formerly a ritual battle in Condo and now danced as an encounter
among members of different ayllus, also illustrates some of the joining, tensions, and provisional
solutions to community problems that Condenos stage in rituals. Similar to yaku cambio, tinku
is an encounter filled with community apprehensions, although in tinku (especially in the past)
these tensions are more explicit, while in yaku cambio participants strive for a sense of
community harmony by sharing food, drinks, coca leaves, and other goods. The competition
and tension are present in yaku cambio in the actual mixing and exchange of water and in the
introduction of foreign water sources into specific locations. The language describing how the
waters perceive this as a "challenge" and "begin to boil" illustrates that the encounter is, like
tinku, competitiveand potentially violent. In tinku, however, boundary lines and access to
resources may physically shift as a result of the encounter, while in yaku cambio the redistri-
bution "shifts" through the infusion of the ayllu commons with water from the greater community
and as a result of the expectation of a climate change. Both yaku cambio and tinku are linked
through notions of fertilitywater is a fertile lifeblood of the community, sexualized (male and
female waters), and metaphorically linked to reproduction; during tinku, the blood drawn and
spilled fertilizes Pachamama when it falls to the ground.
Water is a particularly significant medium of exchange in this ritual, not only because of its
associations with fertility, sex, and reproduction, but also because of its central location in the
daily politics of the community of Condo. Condenos focus on water because it is a precious
limited resource, controlled by communal power structures. Community members must share
it, and they emphasize this by physically circulating it through their watershed and sharing the
responsibilities and rights amongst themselves during the rituala practice they hope will
continue during the rest of the year. Disputes over water will nevertheless continue, but yaku
cambio provides a conceptual framework for their peaceful resolution. The goods that change
hands and circulate during the ritual and afterwards further the notion that this is a material as
well as a symbolic flowing, and that community members are linked through economic
networks as well as social and symbolic ones. By circulating water in this ritual, Condenos
reopen and reinvigorate their communal exchange channels and emphasize connectedness
and integration. They do this with water, which aptly symbolizes the redistribution of communal
resources. More than other shared resources, water can actively represent the commons. In so
doing it draws individuals together, locating them as members of a human community on a
common landscape.
notes
Acknowledgments. The fieldwork on which this article is based took place between March 1990 and
January 1992. During that time I was supported by a University of Minnesota William W. Stout Fellowship,
the McMillan Travel Grant, a Research Abroad Grant, an anthropology department fellowship, and a
Fulbright Grant (HE). The University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship provided write-up funds
in 1992. I thank my advisers, Christine Hastorf and Stephen Gudeman, for their help in all stages of the
work. I presented an earlier version of this article at the International Conference on Kinship and Gender in
the Andes in St. Andrews, Scotland (September 1993), and I appreciate the comments and conversation
provided by conference participants that led to the next rewriting. For insightful comments on several drafts
of this paper I am especially indebted to Stephen Gudeman. Christopher Chiappari also provided helpful
comments on a recent draft. The anonymous reviewers for AE and editor Michael Herzfeld gave much-
needed critiques, suggestions, and encouragement and deserve special thanks for their attention.
1. Dual organization has been studied in many parts of the world and has been interpreted in diverse
ways (e.g., Levi-Strauss 1969; Maybury-Lewis 1989; Needham 1980; Zuidema 1989). Performances that
draw upon dual organization may have distinct meanings and goals and, as LeVi-Strauss emphasizes, dual
organization is not an institution but is instead "a method for solving multiple problems" (1969:82). In the
Andes, dual organization may spatially portray hierarchical social and religious divisions, as was true in the
cequesystem of Cuzco (Zuidema 1964), and it may draw our attention to temporal aspects, as when spatially
segregated groups map out responsibilities for different fiestas throughout the annual calendar (Zuidema
1989). Gelles (1995) also argues that dual organization was an imperial method of resource extraction,
co-opted by the Spanish colonists for similar purposes.
2. Bolivia is divided into departments, provinces, and cantons. San Pedro de Condo is simultaneously a
(changing) ethnic division and a nationally recognized canton. The formation of cantons is the result of
internal struggle, land disputes, and pressures from the state.
3. I use the term redistribution in a specific way to emphasize the pooling and redivision of water during
the ritual. Although many economic anthropologists use redistribution to describe exchanges overseen by
a centralized authority (the New Guinea Big Man is a classic example [e.g., Sahlins 1963]), the term is also
descriptive of the flow of goods from the center of the community and back again, here dramatized in the
ritual. Well aware of these alternative uses of the term redistribution, I follow general definitions such as
Polanyi's, emphasizing "collecting into, and distributing from, a center" (1957:254), and Sahiins's, in which
"goods collectively procured are distributed through the collectivity" (1972:189). Because water is an
essential part of the commons, the act of redistribution here "marks the limits and defines the borders of a
community" (Gudeman, n.d.).
4. I thank Stephen Gudeman for directing me to this point.
5. See Durkheim (1965) on the creation of community solidarity through ritual.
6. Anayllu is a land-based community segment, typically composed of families sharing a limited number
of surnames; men tend to stay within their ayllus, while women move to their husbands' ayllus. The system
is patrilineal in terms of name inheritance. (For example, a child [Susana] inherits both her father's iPillco]
and her mother's [Mamani] surnames, but her future children will inherit only Susana's father's surname
IPillco].) As the system is virilocal, certain surnames of males (who bring wives into their ayllus) characterize
the ayllu. The extent to which "matrilineal practices" shape kinship and ideology, however, is also important,
as has been demonstrated by Arnold (1988) for neighboring Qaqachaka. The term ayllu can designate
different sized segments of society. For instance, as Abercrombie (1986) outlines for the contiguous ayllu of
K'ulta, in Condo the overall society can be designated an "ayllu," so that the whole territory of Condo with
its people is the ayllu. This corresponds to Platt's definition (1985) of maximal ayllu. Platt calls the division
of the maximal ayllu into upper and lower sections, or moieties, major ayllus; these are also a feature of
Condo's social organization. The next smallest units in Condo, those most often designated by the term ayllu
by Condenos themselves, are the named segments of the community. This grouping is called minor ayllu
in Platt's scheme. Condo's smallest unit of organization is the estancia, which is a hamlet or ranch,
corresponding to Platt's notion of minimal ayllu.
7. I should clarify that I worked mostly in Spanish, although I have studied both Aymara and Quechua
at various times. I worked with Spanish-speaking Condenos and used a translator when necessary for
conversations with monolingual Quechua- or Aymara-speakers.
8. During yaku cambio, Araya Kallapa joins with Kawalli because its water sources are close to Kawalli's.
Its location on the landscape is more important than its ayl/u ties with Kallapa in determining its inclusion.
9. Carnival is a fiesta enjoyed particularly by young adults who often live in the cities and return in droves
"to dance" at this time of year. The young people organize the dancing troupes, bands, decorations, food,
and drink, and, in addition to their ability to dance enthusiastically and involve others, these contributions
help to make a successful carnival. The occasion entails a great deal of work and expense for these young
Condenos, but they are su pported by fami ly members because their efforts represent the very I ife and identity
of the ayllus. As a reason for carnival people often told me, "The young people want to dance." But the
same people acknowledged that, if they did not sponsor a dance troupe at carnival, the other group would
taunt them during the fiesta, saying "jAbajefio esta muerto! jLos de abajo al cemeterio! [Lower is dead! To
the cemetery with those from below!]." So in a very real sense this competition between those from below
and those from above signals the vitality and pride of their groups and the young generation's efforts to
reproduce their community and ayllus.
10. Arnold et al. 1992 discusses matrilineal practices in Qaqachaka partly in terms of the centrality of
the woman in and around the house.
11. The mixture of Spanish and Quechua in its name indicates the degree of linguistic flexibility in this
region as well as the move away from Aymara to Quechua and Spanish.
12. Members of Tikani-Chiraga do not participate in yaku cambio because they do not have fields around
the village; they are principally a herding group.
13. These water jugs are about the size of two fists held together, are glazed black or green, and are made
outside Condo. They are generally obtained at the Sunday market in Challapata where they are sold filled
with sweet cana mizque, a corn or sugar cane syrup.
14. In neighboring Salinas de Garcimendoza, yaku cambio participants bring water from the Pacific
Ocean (brought by someone who visited the Chilean coast during the year, about 300 kilometers away). In
Salinas they perform the ritual "so that it will be a good year" and "to bring water." In one large ceramic
container they collect water from different sources: the Pacific Ocean, Lake Poopo, and the peaks and springs
in the area. All this water is mixed in one large ceramic vessel and it is covered with pieces of cotton
representing clouds. This is done "to bring clouds and rain." Apparently there are water-exchange rituals in
Uyuni as well as in the region of the salt flats.
15. Isbell (198511978]) points out the sexuality and fertility embodied in irrigation canals. The rushing,
foaming water, likened to semen, acts upon the clustered jugs of water in a sexual and reproductive way.
16. The music, the sounds of rushing water, and human voices together constitute a powerful component
of this ritual that it is difficult to record in text. Classen (1993) describes the importance of sound and hearing
in Andean ritual, and this strikes me as a fundamental aspect of yaku cambio.
17. In Aymara, the fava bean camayo is called "jach'a lakani camayo," which alludes to the "big mouth"
of the fava beans, partly because they require the most water to grow. The name given to the potato camayo
is "tunka layrani camayo," which alludes to the "ten eyes" of the potato. For the quinoa camayo the name
is "ch'isiwayu camayo," a name that alludes to quinoa's hardiness in withstanding cold. The barley camayo
is also called "chheqhan tayka camayo," translated for me as "its mother has wings"an allusion to the
spikelets of the barley plants. These names, based on body metaphors, symbolically associate plants and
humans, emphasize the plants' needs for food, and suggest the vitality of the Andean landscape.
18. Because everyone tries to sit close to the temple's centerline, people push for space and crowd
together, a practice that actually serves to keep the group warmer in the cold night.
19. Drinking in pairs occurs occasionally, for instance during the fiesta to mark the changeover of
authorities. At these events the authority who is leaving office and the one who is entering drink one-on-one,
as do their wives.
20. There is only one water mayor in all of Condo. This is an important position, given that irrigation
water is highly prized and that it is difficult to distribute it fairly. Each ayllu also has an arreador (herder)
who literally rounds people up when it is time for water to be distributed to that particular ayllu, as dictated
by the water mayor. The water mayor position changes yearly, but it is almost always filled by a man from
Sullkayana, because this upper ayllu controls the sources of the river water (whence the irrigation water
comes) and has traditionally had special rights to water (see Celles 1994 for a case study of the political
organization of Andean irrigation).
21. This illustrates the notion, discussed by Creslou (1990), of waters as living beings and associates the
mixing of waters with the ayllu members who in the past met to fight in tinku (a ritual encounter described
below).
22. Van den Berg, in describing "rituals to bring rain" (1990:108), notes several rituals that share
similarities with this one. In one interpretation (which van den Berg credited to Xavier Albo) the mixing of
the waters causes "conflict and fighting," while a second interpretation likens this mixing to "marriage." The
first interpretation fits my case more directly, although the second is suggested by the gendered opposition
also present in this yaku cambio and by marriages across ayllus (which join people as the waters are joined
in yaku cambio).
23. In outlining a water ritual in rural Peru, Peter Cose described how an authority used his leather whip
(a symbol of office) to whip the water to bring rain (Cose, personal communication, 1993; see also Cose
1991, 1994).
24. There also exists a conceptual link to the holy water that the priest sprinkles on the people who come
to mass, which is similar to the ch'alla.
25. The meanings stemming from a similar root in Aymara are the following:
Tinktanato compare, to compare strength;
Tinkt'anato compare strength, to compete;
Tinkunafall, action of falling // to encounter between opposing factions;
Tinkusinato conform, for something good to come of something else, to make equal; and
Tinkuyanato bring down (to fell), to demolish, to throw down//to compare, to collate, to confront (from
Diccionario Practico, Manuel De Lucca 1987; my translation).
26. The two most important dates were May 3 (for the fiesta of the Cross) and November 3 (Todos Santos),
but a third date for tinku was during the Easter fiesta, when it was hosted by Sullkayana sponsors. Bastien
(1989) similarly describes tinkus (or nuwasis) in Qaqachaka as occurring on May 3 and November 3.
27. Orlove (1994) questions the use of the term ritual battle for violent encounters in the provincias altas
of the Department of Cuzco. He argues that although this term, an "uneasy conjunction" of ritual and
violence, may attune us to varying interpretations, these events are important as displays of strength among
competing groups and as powerful demonstrations to outside audiences.
28. Condenos described to me how men would line up in two opposed lines paired off in dyads.
According to these accounts, before the fighting began the men shared drinks, shook hands, and called each
other "brother." At a signal they all started to fight in a "pufio limpio" [" 'clean' fist fight"] and, after a
prescribed time, another signal halted the fighting. The men stopped, complimented their "brothers" on their
good punches, shook hands, and shared more drink. Any blood spilled made Pachamama happy because
blood, like rain, increased fertility (See also Schuler 1987).
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submitted August 11,1994
revised version submitted August 8, 1995
accepted December 23, 1995

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water and exchange: the ritual of yaku cambio as

communal and competitive encounter

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