The Message

If the Spaniards Don't Like It

"By natural right, the Indian chiefs of Peru ought to have authority over the Spaniards. The newcomers from Castile have entered into the physical jurisdiction of the Indians who are the proprietors of the country and they owe obedience to our laws. If the Spaniards do not wish to be subject to the Indians, they can escape from their predicament by leaving Peru." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 127.)

Just as Gifted

"The Indians in our country are just as gifted as Castilians in their artistry and workmanship....Some of them know Latin and study literature. If they were allowed to, they could perfectly well be ordained as priests." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 186.)

Mutual Assistance

"Among our Indians from the earliest times until the present there has been a tradition of mutual assistance involving both rich and poor.....No other race of people has developed such compassionate customs, which favour the old and infirm and regard work for the community as a means of earning the food necessary for life." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 189.)

God Is Going to Demand an Account

"And here is a further reflection for Your Majesty. Someone who has given his toil and sweat to the acquisition and preservation of a flock of sheep is bound to feel for them and try to shield them from death or sickness. He looks after his animals because he knows that he and his family are dependent upon them; and he wants to increase their numbers so as to become rich. If the sheep are good, fat, healthy ones, they are bound to give him a fine return on his investment. Now let us compare this flock with the sheep of God, in other words the people of our country. They were handed over to your care by your father, and to his care by your grandfather. They have brought you considerable wealth and added greatly to your fortune. But God is going to demand an account of how they have been looked after, since he has placed them under your protection. Therefor Your Majesty needs to look into all the ills from which these poor human sheep are suffering." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 200-1.)

You Would Eat Your Tormentors Alive

"Our Indians ought not to be thought of as a backward people who yielded easily to superior force. Just imagine, Your Majesty, being an Indian in your own country and being loaded up as if you were a horse, or driven along with succession of blows from a stick. Imagine being called a dirty dog or a pig or a goat. Imagine having your women and your property taken away from you without any semblance of legality. What would you and your Spanish compatriots do in these circumstances? My own belief is that you would eat your tormentors alive and thoroughly enjoy the experience." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 203-4.)

We Are the Masters

"So, to conclude this argument, it is not the Spanish administrators and employers who are the rightful owners of Peru. According to the laws of both God and man, we Indians are the proprietors. With the exception of Your Majesty alone, the Spaniards are only foreign settlers. It is our country because God has given it to us. We are the masters." (Guaman Poma in Dilke, page 203-4.)

Beginning of this page.

Beginning of document.