Religion In The Andes Summary

In her book, Religion in the Andes, Sabine MacCormack describes one common religious practise in which the Indigenous population of Peru would partake in. As part of the colonization process, the Spanish attempted to rid Peru of any pre-colonial religiosity and implement the worship of Christ and the saints within Catholicism. During the Christian festival of San Pedro de Hacas, many Indigenous people participate by offering the Statue of Saint Peter coca leaves, a fermented corn drink called chicha, and guinea pigs sacrificed in his honour. Before starting the celebrations, they would also be sure to pay respects to their huacas, an Andean religious idol, by offering them coca leaves and drinks. Offerings of coca leaves, chicha, and blood sacrifices are all traditional Andean religious practises that the Spanish friars and

In this book, Ricard states his belief that the expediential rate of conversion of the indigenous people resulted in their complete Christianization. Though the analysis of indigenous conversion during colonial times had been previously seen prior to Ricard, the publication of The Spiritual Conquest brought the spotlight back towards Spain and her colonies. Ricard concludes his discussion by stating that the indigenous groups had assimilated into the dominant Spanish culture fully around 1650. It has been suggested by scholars that the conclusions Ricard reached in his book are problematic in nature. Since the publication, the discussion of Indigenous conversion grown significantly. Mark Christensen, a rising scholar who studies the colonial period in New Spain, believes that the majority, if not all scholarly literature since The Spiritual Conquest has been written in opposition fully or to specific aspects of Ricard’s