Country: Peru
Group: Aymara
Date: 10/30/2020
Team: Alexa Hager (lead), Arisha Khan, Thomas Chia
Content Warning: forced labor
Approximate Time Period: 1542-1824
The Aymara have faced forced labor in Peru. However, this was last documented at the end of the colonial period in the early 1800s. We rated the information regarding forced labor a 1 as there is a small amount of information regarding the colonial period (1542 – 1824) and generally nothing if we look at more recent times.
The Aymara Indians that reside in Peru make up 3.0% of the total population. They are a large South American Indian group living in the central Andes of Peru and Bolivia. Some Aymara also reside in Argentina and Chile (Bhutia, 2016). In colonial times the Aymara tribes included the Canchi, Colla, Lupaca, Collagua, Ubina, Pacasa, Caranga, Charca, Quillaca, Omasuyo, and Collahuaya (Bhutia, 2016.). The Aymaran territories used to make up a large portion of the Inca empire, however the Aymara continually revolted for their land (Vergara, 2019). When the Spanish arrived, the colonial agrarian economy thrived off of the exploitation of Aymara agricultural labor. The Spanish systematically exploited the Aymara through agriculture, mining, and servant work (Bhutia, 2016), and the Aymara often worked alongside African captives (Ali, 2014). Many Aymara also worked on coca plantations in the jungles within this colonial agrarian economy (Bhutia, 2016). This treatment finally ended after a period of rebellions starting in 1780 that led to their independence in 1821 (Bhutia, 2016). In addition to disease, many Aymara died of harsh labor conditions under Spanish rule in the silver mines. Today, the majority of Aymara are still laborers as farmers in high-altitude environments (Vergara, 2019).
The evidence quality is rated as a 1 because sources explained past conditions of forced labor but failed to provide further detail. One of the sources was scholarly, however the other two sources were less reliable. These articles lacked evidence about forced labor of Aymara today.
Sources
- Ali, O. (2014). Afro-Peru: A Legacy of Black Labor and Culture. Revista: Harvard Review of Latin America, Vol. 14, Issue 1. Retrieved October 30, 2020, from https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/afro-peru
- Bhutia, T. (2016). Aymara | people. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aymara