Four Peruvian Versions of the White God Legend - Part II

Continued from the previous post regarding additional information about these “White God” legends of Peru, dating back more than two thousand years.

The fourth and last Chronicler, the legitimate grandson of Don Gonzalo Pizarro—his work is not well known—was an Indian from the southern sector of the Inca empire who prided himself on having been “Christianized.” He wrote under the lengthy name of Don Juan de Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua, and his manuscript, Relationship is a curious mixture of Spanish and Quechua words, remained unpublished until 1880.

The manuscript is a unique colonial text and one of the few to tell Andean pre-Hispanic history by the hand of a member of an indigenous community. However, while giving rise to a fairly large number of studies and reviews, it has not yet reached a full consensus whether its contents are authentically Andean or the result of a process of acculturation—assimilation to a different culture, typically the dominant one.

In this article, we re-examine this monumental work from a less studied viewpoint, that is, the possible posture adopted by Pachacuti Yamqui to write his Relationship and that he let appear through the use of discursive traditions and the subject of enunciation of the work.

Santa Cruz Pachacuti was the Viceroyalty of Peru in the late sixteenth century and a indigenous Peruvian author and chronicler of the work Relationship of the antiquities of this Reyno del Peru, of short length but of great value for the information ethnohistorical type—the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not still exist.

He was born in Layo in the department of Cuzco towards the end of the 16^th century, and based on his writing, he was a descendant of the local Aymara nobility,in an area in which the Aymara language was spoken until well into the 18th century. On the other hand, the ancestors of the Aymara never knew that they were called that. The Incas called them Collas, until the mid-sixteenth century when Juan Polo de Ondegardo y Zárate, a chronicler, trusted encomendero, and office viceregal Spanish, and second Corregidor de Charcas of Potosi, called them "Aymara" from the linguistic information obtained in Collao from a small colony of "Quechua" mitimaes or resettlements.

The actual Aymara originally called their language jaqi aru (meaning "humanity") and later they applied that name to those who spoke that language, who called themselves Jaqi.

Many critics have insisted on pointing out his primitive style, careless, incongruous in fact and even inconsistent in the reflections that accompany it; However, its importance as a historical and linguistic document is undoubtedly due to the profuse and valuable information it contains. For Luis Alberto Sánchez, Luis Alberto Félix Sánchez Sánchez was a Peruvian lawyer, jurist, philosopher, historian, writer and politician, writes that “the work of Santacruz Pachacuti has, indeed, documentary, but not literary, validity.” According to Raúl Porras Barrenechea, diplomat, historian, professor, lawer and essayist of Peru, says of Santacruz Pachacuti, that it is "the simple translation into Spanish of the historical songs of the Inca people about the exploits of their monarchs."

Sir Clements R. Markham (left), an English geographer, explorer, and writer, and the secretary, then President of the Royal Geographical Society, highlighted the Quechua hymns that appear in the play written by Santacruz Pachacuti. In particular, the "hymn of creation" or "creation of man" stands out, and which includes “Ah Uiracochan, or Viracocha, the maker and Lord of all beings, the supreme god.” He was also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqoca and Wiro Qocha, and  considered the creator god, the father of all other gods—it was he who formed the earth, heavens, sun, moon and all living beings.

Santacruz Pachacuti’s version of the white god tradition, though, is most interesting:

“Some years after the devils had been cast out of this land, there came to these provinces and kingdoms of Tabantinsuyo a bearded man of medium build with long hair, wearing a rather long tunic, and they say that he was more than a youth. He had white hairs, was slender, walked with a staff, and he taught the people with great love, calling them all his sons and daughters. But, he was not always listened to nor obeyed by all the people, and when he journeyed through the provinces he performed many miracles visibly: he healed the sick by touching them with his hands, and he didn’t bring belongings, nor did he have herds of animals. This man, they say, spoke all of the languages of the provinces better than the natives, and they called him Tonapa or Tarapaca Viracochanpa Chayachicachan or Pacchacan and Bicchhaycamayoc Cunacaycamayoc—He chastised the people with great love by the apotampo, [inn or lodging house], and they listened to him with rapt attention, receiving the stick from his hand, such that in a stick they received what he preached to them, indicating and emphasizing each chapter of the discourse. This man called Thonapa, they say, journeyed through all the provinces of the Collasuyos, preaching tirelessly. This Thonapa they say cursed a certain city to be drowned, and today it is called Yamqui Capacocha, the lake, which all the Indians say was anciently a principal city, and now it is a lake. Another thing they say is that on top of a high hill called Cachapucara there was an idol in the form of a woman, and they say that Tunapa hated this idol, and afterwards he caused fire to come down and burn the hill and the idol, destroying and melting the hill as if it had been wax, and even today there are remnants of that awesome miracle, never before heard of in the world. They say that Tunapa continued his course by the river Chacamarca until he came to the sea, and from there he crossed the strait to the other sea. This has been verified by extremely ancient Incas.”

Looking at all four Peruvian versions of the omnipotent white god tradition into one composite description, an interesting portrait of the god Viracocha emerges. He was a creator god who came to visit the men he had created, to instruct and organize them. With white skin and a medium to large build, he wore a white tunic girded at the waist that hung down to his feet. Past his youth, he was slender and had white hair. When he walked, he carried a staff and a book in his hands, and sometimes he was seen with a crown on his head. He demonstrated supreme authority, yet spoke with love and humility, calling everyone his sons and daughters. He left and eventually lesser gods were appointed to look after specific areas, but he watched over everything from afar.

Appearing long before the time of the Inca empire, the coming of this Viracocha constituted the single most important tradition of the Andean Indians. Does any of  the following sound familiar?—For many days prior to his coming, the sun was darkened and the people suffered tremendous privations from lack of sunlight. Only after intense praying and supplication was the light restored, after which Viracocha appeared. Everywhere he went in the mountains of Peru, he performed miracles. He lowered the hills and raised up the level places to become mountains. He drew water from rocks, gave life to animals and men, and walked on water. He healed the sick with only a touch of his hand, and spoke all the diverse languages of the region with equal fluency. Viracocha cursed one city so it was covered by a lake and all the inhabitants drowned. A hill he cursed, and it was consumed by fire from heaven. Speaking to a large congregation, he told them of events to come, warning them that some would come in his name, falsely claiming to be the Viracocha. Then he promised to send them true messengers and servants in future ages to teach and support them. Having no earthly possessions, Viracocha went off into the ocean after concluding his visit, and the people never heard from him again.

It is not difficult to understand why some people claim a strong correlation between the numerous versions of the white god legend found among the indigenous peoples of America and the account of the visit of the resurrected Christ to America as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Many of the details of these Peruvian versions of the legend seem to substantiate that claim. In fact, it seems to me that the Peruvian Indians who recounted it to the first Spanish historians seemed to remember the story rather well.

In addition to these four chroniclers, there are several other colonial authors, such as Garcilasso de la Vega; Bernabé Cobo; Juan Polo de Ondegardo; and Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala, an Indigenous Quechua nobleman. We should also keep in mind that prior to the Inca there were the Chimú (900 AD); Huari (500 AD); the Tiwanaku (300 AD), Moche and the Nazca (100 AD;) Chachapoyas, or the 'Cloud people' (200 BC); Chavin (900BC); Caral and Valdivia (before 2000 BC).

All of this shows that the Inca were a late-comer in the pantheon of Peruvian cultures that dominated Andean Peru. These are the cultures, especially the earliest, were the ones that built the famed structures and buildings that now appear as ruins all through Peru and Ecuador.