"Something that was striking to me was the variety of “Inca” branded foods such as Inca Cola and Inca Chips, and many stores and items branded as “Inca”." As you may have already noticed, there are several examples of Inca appropriation. I can't help but think that Garcilaso de la Vega himself is the first to use it for his own purposes... since in reality he was originally baptized as Gómez Suárez de Figueroa but he changed his name. Are there fundamental differences between what the author of the Royal Commentaries did and who created soft drinks?
Emily, so glad you were able to rescue your phone! I learned today that guinea pigs are called Cuy Cuy here because of the sounds they make and Lima consumes the majority of them for the country. The influence of Coca Cola on Latin America in general makes me wildly upset. There’s a region in Mexico where Coca Cola manufactures its beverage and it’s actually cheaper to buy a coke than buy a water. Meanwhile, the company strips the land of its resources and hence, drive the price of water up. Boo
Thanks for your insight about the guinea pigs Morgan! I'll have to make sure to listen closely if we get the chance to see some live guinea pigs :-) The dominant presence of coca cola is also disturbing to me :(
I loved Ernesto. We should pay him another visit. He was really great, he talked about guinea pigs, spirituality, his experience of war as a child, dark energies... and we talked to him for less the 20 minutes! I think I am very lucky that he was one of my first interactions in Peru.
I feel the same way! It would be great to pay him a visit along with the other museum staff. It's always so heartwarming hearing about people's interests and experiences. I'll have to get a better recap from you though as it seems you caught a lot more info than I did!
Thank you for this wonderfully diverse post! The loss, finding, and subsequent commodification of Indigenous knowledge is something I'm also noticing around the city. The use of Inka as a marketing technique is visible everywhere. Visiting museums also begs the question of, how do we ensure Indigenous communities regain sovereignty over knowledge "found" by outside forces? How do we ensure they maintain sovereignty over cultural symbols? If I remember correctly, UBC's mascot, the Thunderbird, was used for at least a decade before any sort of effort was made to ask for permission from Musqueam Nation. And even then, I can't imagine it would have been easy to say no.
Hi Cissy! Those are some important questions indeed. I think its a shame that a lot of Indigenous knowledge has been lost and I'm curious as to how much input is considered from the indigenous peoples when reconstructing sites such as the Huaca Huallamarca. I was not aware of the conversation about the UBC Thunderbird mascot. That is an interesting example because it demonstrates the repeated exploitation of indigenous symbols and practices in societies so I'm grateful you brought that up.
"Something that was striking to me was the variety of “Inca” branded foods such as Inca Cola and Inca Chips, and many stores and items branded as “Inca”." As you may have already noticed, there are several examples of Inca appropriation. I can't help but think that Garcilaso de la Vega himself is the first to use it for his own purposes... since in reality he was originally baptized as Gómez Suárez de Figueroa but he changed his name. Are there fundamental differences between what the author of the Royal Commentaries did and who created soft drinks?
Emily, so glad you were able to rescue your phone! I learned today that guinea pigs are called Cuy Cuy here because of the sounds they make and Lima consumes the majority of them for the country. The influence of Coca Cola on Latin America in general makes me wildly upset. There’s a region in Mexico where Coca Cola manufactures its beverage and it’s actually cheaper to buy a coke than buy a water. Meanwhile, the company strips the land of its resources and hence, drive the price of water up. Boo
Thanks for your insight about the guinea pigs Morgan! I'll have to make sure to listen closely if we get the chance to see some live guinea pigs :-) The dominant presence of coca cola is also disturbing to me :(
I loved Ernesto. We should pay him another visit. He was really great, he talked about guinea pigs, spirituality, his experience of war as a child, dark energies... and we talked to him for less the 20 minutes! I think I am very lucky that he was one of my first interactions in Peru.
I feel the same way! It would be great to pay him a visit along with the other museum staff. It's always so heartwarming hearing about people's interests and experiences. I'll have to get a better recap from you though as it seems you caught a lot more info than I did!
also thank you for picking us up at the airport <3
Hi Emily,
Thank you for this wonderfully diverse post! The loss, finding, and subsequent commodification of Indigenous knowledge is something I'm also noticing around the city. The use of Inka as a marketing technique is visible everywhere. Visiting museums also begs the question of, how do we ensure Indigenous communities regain sovereignty over knowledge "found" by outside forces? How do we ensure they maintain sovereignty over cultural symbols? If I remember correctly, UBC's mascot, the Thunderbird, was used for at least a decade before any sort of effort was made to ask for permission from Musqueam Nation. And even then, I can't imagine it would have been easy to say no.
Take care,
Cissy
Hi Cissy! Those are some important questions indeed. I think its a shame that a lot of Indigenous knowledge has been lost and I'm curious as to how much input is considered from the indigenous peoples when reconstructing sites such as the Huaca Huallamarca. I was not aware of the conversation about the UBC Thunderbird mascot. That is an interesting example because it demonstrates the repeated exploitation of indigenous symbols and practices in societies so I'm grateful you brought that up.