1. The Human Tradition Biographies By: Ben Brazil

3. Continued… Don Melchior faced many problems caused by Spanish colonial rule. The first of these hardships was that as his population declined, he still had to pay the same amount of tribute demanded by the colonizers. He either had to have his people pay more money, or he had to dip into his own resources to curb the monetary thirst of the Spanish. This became increasingly harder for him to achieve. The second problem he had to undergo regarded religion. The Spanish brought with them Christianity, and the values associated with this creed. The Franciscans established a monastery in 1549, and with it they attempted to eradicate any traces of the indigenous Andean religious beliefs. They baptized the indigenous, gave them Christian names, and attempted to replace the deities they had been worshipping for years with their one God. Don Melchior really had no choice on the matter. However, he did allow there to be secret underground societies that still celebrated the traditions of their ancestors. The third problem don Melchior faced was that he was questioned by his people after they realized that the Spanish regarded the indigenous Andean beliefs as savage and infantile. His “throne” was then taken from him, and a Spanish supreme court judge named Dr. Cuenca bestowed the title of lord onto the head of Alonso Chuplingon. It is apparent that don Melchior’s term as kuraka was one filled with hardship and conflict.

6. Dona Isabel Sisa The story of Dona Isabel Sisa is one melded with gender stratification. Under the Castilian law, the Andean society was steered towards a more patriarchal state. Men maintained much of the power, and even had control of most material wealth due to the law’s use of genealogical inheritance. The narrative of Isabel Sisa is that of a battle between her and her husband, don Domingo Itquilla. It was a battle over land rights. Rather than direct confrontation, the two used their wills to dismantle the other’s rights to the land. These owned lands were the estates of Chulcane, Vilcaparo, and Otavi. Dona Isabel Sisa used marrital law to further her argument.

10. Zumbi of Palmares The life of Zumbi of Palmares was one of a rebellious man that fought for freedom. Born in 1655, Zumbi fought relentlessly against the Portuguese until his death in 1695. His story began in 1654, when an expedition of 600 Portuguese men was led to attack the Palmarinos. The troops took prisoners and a newborn baby, Zumbi. He was given to Antonio Melo, a Portuguese priest. The child was named Francisco and was baptized in the name of Catholicism. He was taught the ways of Catholicism, living in the home of a Christian leader. Then, at the age of fifteen, the child fled the home and established himself in Palmares in 1670. He soon became a man of influence, as he rose quickly in the community. This was possibly due to his knowledge regarding the outside world and the literature taught to him by the priest.

14. Pedro de Ayarza Pedro de Ayarza was above all, a very dedicated father. He provided his three sons with the best available education, and tried to provide them with as many opportunities as possible. Unfortunately, being a Panamanian family presented them with a series of racist roadblocks throughout their social ventures. This was not going to stop Pedro though. He fought for his boys in any way he could. The first dispute began when when Pedro’s oldest son, Josef Ponciano, was unable to graduate from school due to racial barriers. Pedro responded by sending in a petition in 1795 to the Camaristas to provide his son with the title of “don,” and give him the race of “whiteness.”

16. Jose Antonio da Silva The life of Jose Antonio da Silva reflects the politics of marriage within colonial Latin America. Jose Antonio was a commander of the militia in the Pualista area of Santana. Therefore, he was a man of high social stature. His life was filled with numerous sexual activities lying inside and outside of marriage. These sexual encounters also resulted in the births of his illegitimate children. An important aspect of Paulista society that came into play in Jose Antonio’s life was that marriage was largely driven by endogamy, meaning, people married others who were their social equivalent. Jose Antonio’s true wife was a woman named dona Clara Maria Ribeira.