MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

This presentation deals with the survival, the persistence of pre-Hispanic mythic beings in the popular imaginary, and the reality of Indigenous/Andean peoples in Peru.

The Wamanis, the gods of the mountains, are everywhere; and the cult to Pachamama (Mother Earth) is also present throughout the Andean region. What about other beings? How do other supernatural beings and their survival and transformation give us insights into how Andean culture dealt with the colonization of its territory, and in the present, how does Andean culture deal with the marginalization present in Peruvian society?

This presentation argues that to counter unequal power relations Andean culture created the Pishtako (Throat Cutter), who embodies the negative aspects of Western culture. The Andean sirena (mermaid) represents the survival or persistence of Andean cultural practices in daily and ritual life. The danzaq, the dancer, is becoming a mythic character, and he represents not just the survival but the flourishing and spreading of Andean culture beyond its traditional borders. After all, as Rafael Varon Gabai wrote about Andean culture, “only a society convinced of and in its own beliefs and history can attempt to survive.”