Achikay

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Achikay , Achkay or Achakay ( Ancash-Quechua , in the Callejón de Huaylas also Achikee or Achkee ), Hispanic Achicay , Achcay or Achiqué is in the Andean tradition of Quechua in central and northern Peru a wicked witch who has children abandoned by their parents in her House lures and eats.

Word origin and origin of the myth

According to the linguist Francisco Carranza Romero, the name Achikay , Achakay or Achkay is derived from the Ancash-Quechua adjective askay or (in metathesis ) aksay "evil", "without compassion", "without heart". A lake in the municipality of Quitaracsa (Yuramarca, Huaylas, Ancash ) that changes its colors is called Aksay Qucha or, in half Spanish, Feo-Cocha (Hwiyu Qucha) “bad lake”. In the idolatry trials of Cajatambo in 1656, a defendant from Acas in what is now the province of Bolognesi (Ancash) explains : “And some of these Guarís had two faces, one in the back and one in front, who called themselves Guarís ascayes and ate people, Indians Boys. ” (Y unos destos [guarís] tenían dos caras, una atrás y otra delante que se llaman Guarís ascayes y éstos comían gente muchachos yndios) . Alfredo Torero sees this as a reference to the Achkay myth.

Spreading the Myth

The myth of the child-eating witch Achikay or Achkay is particularly widespread in the central Peruvian regions of Ancash and Huánuco , but also in Cajamarca , Lambayeque and among the Quechuas Lamistas in the lowlands of San Martín . In southern Peru, a version from the province of La Unión ( Arequipa ) is documented. There is also the story of the Kuku Mamita among the Inga in Colombia . Related myths in Ecuador are Mama Huaca in the Cuenca area ( Azuay province ), Ahuardona in Cañar and Chificha in Otavalo ( Imbabura province ).

The world of white became the Achikay myth through scientific publications of the Peruvian archaeologist M. Toribio Mejía Xesspe known that in the years 1933 and 1934 four versions of the story in Pomabamba at Chavin de Huantar other and in two places at the headwaters of the Río Marañón chronicled . In 1952 he published the stories only in Spanish, then in 1954 in Ancash-Quechua .

People and location

The real background of the story is a drought and a bad harvest with the following famine. Anticipating starvation, the parents only think about their own survival, sinfully eat corn intended for sowing and deliver their own children to death without any compassion. Like Achkay and her daughter, they are characterized as bad parents - aksay yaya, aksay mama . The inhabitants of the drought-plagued Yunka high zone (similar to the Quechua (s) simply called Yunka (s) after their high altitude zone ) were sometimes characterized by other Andean inhabitants as "heartless". So are Titu Cussi Yupanqui his father's words Mango Ynga again that this cruel Spaniards have said, "You are worse than even denying the [residents of] Yunka who kill their mother and father for a bit of silver all over the world “ (Peores sois que los yungas, los cuales por un poquillo de plata mataran a su madre ya su padre y negaran todo lo del mundo) .

The cruelty of the parents, the Achkay and their daughter are contrasted by the helpful and compassionate animals, which are hated by the people as field pests (mouse, sparrow, skunk, deer) or predators of cattle (condor, puma, fox) But stand by the side of rejected children. Finally, the Lord God ( Dios or Qapaq , "ruler") as a supernatural power intervenes in decisive moments in favor of the weak and enables them - unlike the evil Achkay and her daughter - to transition into his heavenly kingdom . The setting of the story are all high altitude zones of the Andes from the hot and dry Yunka to the cold Puna , which is also reflected in the animals and plant-based foods that appear, but ultimately also in the sky (Hanaq Patsa) .

action

The plot begins with the parents, in the face of a famine, eating the last of the corn intended for sowing alone and throwing their two children - a girl and a little boy - into a ravine or a raging river. By the grace of God they get caught on a branch or ledge and are brought to solid land by a condor . Here they are lured into their house by the witch Achikay, where she lives with her daughter Oronkay. The following night Achikay murders the boy and cooks his meat. The next morning Achikay leaves the house and in some versions orders her daughter to kill the girl and cook. Oronkay looks into the boiling soup and accidentally or through the active action of the girl, who was warned by a frog, falls into the soup and dies. The girl flees to the mountains with the bones of her murdered brother. Achkay spoons out the soup and only realizes too late that she has eaten her own daughter in addition to the boy. Full of anger, she sets out to pursue the girl, who is however helped by various animals - a condor, a fox, a deer and a skunk. So the fleeing arrives in the region of the Puna , where a pigeon offers her help to revive her little brother. However, she forbids the girl to look into the basket with the bones. In the meantime, Achkay has almost caught up with the girl, and out of desperation the pursued woman opens her basket in which she sees her brother's body. At that moment, he turns into a puppy. In her desperation, the little one prays to God (Qapaq) to take her and her brother to heaven (Hanaq Patsa) . In fact, a golden rope falls from the sky, to which in some versions a vicuña leads the girl. The fleeing woman climbs into the sky with her little brother, Puppy. But Achkay also prays for a rope to heaven, and so a rope falls for her too. Achkay climbs up and almost catches up with the girl. However, a mouse bites through the rope so that Achkay falls into the depths. Their cries for help can be heard as an echo to this day. With their impact, their blood and parts of their bodies splash in all directions, from which various wild plants and plant parts have become, such as the spines of the cacti and the stinging hairs of the nettles. The little brother and sister, on the other hand, are transformed into stars - or, depending on the version, constellations - and serve today as guides for travelers, shepherds or farmers.

Relationship with Hansel and Gretel

The Achikay myth has striking parallels to the European fairy tale Hansel and Gretel , which makes it easier to assimilate the stories. In three stories about the child-eating chificha, which Roswith Hartmann recorded in La Compañía and Peguche (Canton Otavalo) in 1973 and 1975, the captive children succeed in pushing the witch into the oven so that she burns. Hartmann recognizes here a clear influence of the narrative material by Hansel and Gretel, which came to Ecuador from Europe and merged with Andean content.

Link with moral message

The evangelical editors of SIL International of a version of the story recorded in Callejón de Huaylas link it to a Christian message. In this version Achiquë - La vieja que comía niños , the little sister meets her little brother again in heaven, where they “will live happily” in paradise, where “those who suffer on this earth come”. Unlike in the text version, however, in the accompanying illustration the little brother is shown as a puppy, as in other versions of the story. As a moral - as a part that does not belong to the actual story - it is added that just as the animals saved the girl from death, Jesus also saved us from the death that persecuted us and led us to the fatherland in heaven .

literature

Texts in Spanish

  • M. Toribio Mejía Xesspe (1952): Mitología del Norte Andino peruano . América indígena, XII (1), Nº 3, pp. 235-251. Instituto Indigenista Interamericano, México DF

Texts in Quechua

  • Juan Julio Vergaray Tarazona (Comp.): Achkay (Quechua del Norte del Callejón de Conchucos) . Instituto Lingüístico de Verano ( SIL International ), Huaraz branch, Ancash. Primera edición, Huaraz 1991. (Story by Achkay from Callejón de Conchucos, PDF)
  • Hacinto Montalvo Tucto: Achakay . In: Walter Atencia Villanueva et al .: Unay Runakunapa Kwentun (Quechua Huamalíes) . Instituto Lingüístico de Verano ( SIL International ), Filial de Huánuco. Primera edición, Huánuco 1985, pp. 34-44. (Story by Achakay from the province of Huamalíes / Region Huánuco, PDF)

Texts in Quechua with Spanish translation

  • M. Toribio Mejía Xesspe (1954): Lingüística del Norte Andino . Letras 50-53, pp. 204-229. Lima 1954.
  • David J. Weber, Elke Meier (eds.): Achkay - Mito vigente en el mundo quechua . Series Lingüística Peruana 54th Instituto Lingüístico de Verano ( SIL International ), Lima 2008. (12 stories by Achikay from different Quechua-speaking regions of Peru, PDF)
  • Próspero Colonia Macedo (Comp.): Achiquë - La vieja que comía niños . Instituto Lingüístico de Verano ( SIL International ), Huaraz branch, Ancash. Primera edición, Huaraz 2002. (Story by Achikay from the Callejón de Huaylas, PDF)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Francisco Carranza Romero: Achicay: Un relato andino vigente . In: David J. Weber, Elke Meier (eds.): Achkay - Mito vigente en el mundo quechua ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) . Lingüística Peruana series 54. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano ( SIL International ), Lima 2008, pp. 13-19.
  2. ^ Alfredo Torero : El quechua y la historia social andina . Ricardo University of Palma. Lima, 1974, p. 77. 240 pages.
  3. ↑ a b Roswith Hartmann (1984): Achikee, Chificha y Mama Huaca en la tradición oral andina . America Indígena 44/4, pp. 649-662.
  4. ↑ a b Toribio Mejía Xesspe (1952): Mitología del Norte Andino peruano . América indígena, XII (1), Nº 3, pp. 235-251.
  5. ↑ M. Toribio Mejía Xesspe (1954): Lingüística del Norte Andino . Letras 50-53, pp. 204-229. Lima 1954.
  6. ↑ Titu Cusi Yupanqui (1570): Relasçion de cómo los españoles entraron en el Piru y el subçeso que tubo Mango Ynga en el tienpo que entre ellos biuio . [Relación de cómo los españoles entraron en Perú y el subceso que tuvo Mango Inca en el tiempo que entre ellos vivió.] With introduction and English translation by Catherine J. Julien: History of How the Spaniards Arrived in Peru . Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 2006. Parlamento del Ynga a los españoles , p. 74.
  7. ^ Próspero Colonia Macedo (comp.): Achiquë - La vieja que comía niños . Instituto Lingüístico de Verano (SIL International), Huaraz 2002, p. 23.

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