Yanacona

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Yanacona or Yanakuna (from Quechua yana for "black" and the plural suffix -kuna ) referred to a social class of slaves or serfs among the Inca who, in contrast to ordinary subjects ( hatunrunas ), did not belong to any family clan ( ayllu ). In the Caribbean Indian societies (e.g. in Cuba ) such serfs were called naboria .

Yanacona were originally exempt from tribute and forced labor ( mita ). They were socially more mobile than ayllu members, but at the expense of their social stability. You worked in different social classes, e.g. B. as shepherds, craftsmen, temple servants or administrators of the Inca nobility.

In the course of the Conquista , their slave-like status was revoked, and many Yanacona entered the service of Spanish colonial masters. At the beginning of the Spanish silver exploration in Potosí in the middle of the 16th century, Yanacona were the first miners.

In the later colonial period, the name referred to Indians who worked on Hazienden ( yanacona de hacienda ), as well as to wage workers in the cities: servants of state and church institutions ( yanacona del Rey ) and "free" Yanacona ( yanacona libres ), among them mainly craftsmen counted. Many Yanacona had fled their villages from Mita and Tribute. They often took on a new Spanish name and hid their origins.

Indigenous groups living in Colombia call themselves Yanacona . They are considered to be descendants of the Quechua , who accompanied the Spaniards on their way from northern Peru via Ecuador to Colombia. It is believed that they originally spoke a variant of Otavalo - Quichua .

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