Holy intoxication to drunken dissipation
Subtitle: alcohol among Quichua speakers in Otavalo, Ecuador
By: Barbara Y. Butler.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Albuquerque
Language: eng
Number of pages: 480
ISBN-13: 9780826338143
Subjects: Quechua Indians -- Alcohol use -- Ecuador -- Otavalo.; Quechua Indians -- Ecuador -- Otavalo -- Rites and ceremonies.; Quechua Indians -- Ecuador -- Otavalo -- Religion.; Drinking customs -- Ecuador -- Otavalo.; Earthquakes -- Ecuador -- Otavalo.; Social change -- Ecuador -- Otavalo.; Otavalo (Ecuador) -- Social conditions.; Otavalo (Ecuador) -- Religious life and customs.; Otavalo (Ecuador) -- Social life and customs.
Description: "On the eve of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, peoples throughout the Andes brewed beer from corn and other grains, believing that this alcoholic beverage, called asua, was a gift from the gods, a drink possessing the power to mediate between the human and divine. Consuming asua to intoxication was a sacred tradition that humans and spirits shared, creating reciprocal joy and ties of mutual obligation." "When Barbara Butler began research in Huaycopungo, Ecuador, in 1977, ceremonial drinking was causing hardship for these Quichua-speaking people. Then, in 1987, a devastating earthquake was interpreted as a message from God to end the ritual obligation to get drunk." "Holy Intoxication to Drunken Dissipation examines how the defense of drinking and getting drunk ended abruptly as the people of Otavalo reevaluated their traditional religious life and their relationship with the wider Ecuadorian society, and imbued a renewed traditional indigenous culture with increasing pride. This account presents both the local people's views of their struggles and a more general analysis of the factors involved and concludes with thoughts about how their culture will adapt in the future."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Machapashun, let's you and I get drunk; title: Huasichiy boda huasi : a ceremonial open house; title: Ufyapashunchic : let's drink together; title: Taita dios and taita imbabura; title: Cantina and boda huasi : local bar and ceremonial open house; title: Curagacuna or viejos chumados : native lords or drunk old men; title: Pachacuti : world reversal; title: Runa gente, gente civilizada : uniting the contradictions of the indigenous and the fully civilized; title: Evangelistas, catequistas, and activistas; title: Yapa ufyadur carcanchic : we drank too much; title: Transnational corazas 2000; title: Conclusion que viva runa causai : long live indigenous culture; title: Appendix 1: Issues of ethics and objectivity; title: Appendix 2: The sounds and writing conventions of Ecuadorian Quichua.