As in our retrospect of the feminine history of Mexico, so in our review of the past of the women of South America, it is necessary to begin with a consideration of an extinct civilization,--necessary not only to the completeness but to the interest of our subject, for the chief claim of these chapters to the reader's attention rests on the consideration of those primitive cultures. Were it not for the dead civilizations of the Aztecs and the Incas, with their surrounding and dependent cultures, there would be but little to say concerning the women of Mexico or South America. For in their later aspects these American cultures represent simply a more or less decadent Spanish and Portuguese civilization, modified indeed by circumstance and the infusion of alien blood as well as custom, yet so close in all material respects to the parent stock that there is but little of variance worthy of note, while even the variations from the modern types are most frequently the result of the influence of the dead civilizations which still live in the stock which was grafted upon them, though only upon their dead trunks.
Even as for long the history of the eastern coast was that of North America, so at first the story of Peru was all of true history that we find of the southern division of our continent. Yet closer in likeness is the story of Peru to that of Mexico; there is the same tale of a high, and in many respects admirable, civilization overthrown and practically destroyed by Spanish lust for gold, and yet in some wise abiding in influence upon the race which had crushed it. There is the same record of a mild race yielding to the strength of one armed for conquest; but in the case of the culture of the Incas the contrast between conquerors and conquered is still more marked to the advantage of the Peruvians, for they were of even gentler and more refined natures than the Aztecs, influenced by a higher and purer religion and dwelling under a system which encouraged and developed the noblest tendencies of human nature. There were among the Peruvians fewer paradoxes and contradictions of culture than among the Aztecs; they were not given to even the refined forms of cannibalism indulged in by their northern brethren, nor did they include human sacrifice as a part of their cult. Their religion was a pure and somewhat simple sun-worship; indeed, the Incas themselves claimed to be children of the sun. In other respects, there were many points of approach between the civilization of the Peruvians and that of the Aztecs; they might be roughly called cultures of the same class, though where there lay advantage it was usually, especially in matters which were of the ethical rather than the material cultivation, on the side of the Peruvians.
As might be expected in such a state of culture, woman held among the Peruvians a high place; one that might, in a further rough estimate, be regarded as equal to the status of woman among the Aztecs. In this comparison, however, the advantage is again found on the side of the Peruvians, woman being, in some respects, in higher estimation among them than among their northern compeers. Without pushing the comparison,--indeed, it is less dangerous to speak positively,--let us glance at the chief features of feminine life among the people of the Incas. In the first place, we find that even in the religion of the Peruvians woman held an honored place. The sun was the chief personage in the theogony of the Peruvians; but he had his satellites, and among them the most important was the moon, his sister and wife. In this union of a god to his sister we are reminded of the Egyptian cult, wherein Osiris was married to Isis, and it is somewhat curious that in both nations, Egyptian and Peruvian, wherein there obtained this feature of incest elevated to sacred places, there was also the introduction of the same offence against nature in the royal house; for both Peruvian Inca and Egyptian Pharaoh were given to marrying their sisters, that the royal race might be preserved uncontaminated by any alien strain.
The religion thus acknowledged the status of woman by giving her a place among its deities; nor did it stop at this point, though, as is so frequently to be found in primitive cults, it mingled the sacred and the profane in a manner rather confusing to our more complex modern thought. The institution of the "Virgins of the Sun" was in some ways a most singular reproduction of the Roman Vestal and the Catholic nun, and in others the exact opposite of the intentions of these European types. The Virgins of the Sun were young maidens who from their infancy had been dedicated to the service of their deity, and who, when very young, were placed in convents. Here they were instructed by elderly matrons called mamaconas, who taught them religious theory and duty as well as the material arts of spinning, embroidery, and other occupations suited to their sex and situation. These maidens were usually selected from those of royal blood or from the daughters of the greater nobles, though a girl of great beauty would sometimes be raised from the ranks of the commonalty to the high dignity of a Virgin of the Sun. Their life was strictly conventual; no one but the Inca himself, or his queen, could enter the consecrated precincts without having duties to call them thither. Chastity was most strongly inculcated, and it is said that no lapse was ever known on the part of an inmate of these convents. This is not so surprising when the provisions of the law of the Incas on this subject are recalled. The offending virgin was to be buried alive, her lover was to be strangled, and the town or village in which he resided was to be utterly destroyed and "sown with stones," that it might be effectually forgotten. It would take an enterprising and desperate lover indeed to dare such results, even could he have overcome the difficulties of access and the reluctance of his mistress.
Yet, with all this strict regard for chastity on the part of the consecrated virgins, it was only while the latter were inhabitants of the cloister that they were so rigorously bound. Indeed, their destiny was to be brides of the Inca; and thus the whole system was but a sort of sacred concubinage, and it may be suspected that in the eyes of the framers of the severe law above cited it was less the offence against purity than that against the Inca that called for such heavy penalties. When the Virgins of the Sun attained a fitting age, they were, if sufficiently beautiful, sent to the seraglio of the Inca. The number of these royal concubines at times amounted to thousands, and it is not improbable that to the majority of them a visit from the monarch was unknown. They lived in sumptuous seclusion at the various royal palaces scattered throughout the country, guarded and attended by the trusted officers of the Inca, until the monarch determined, as periodically happened, to reduce his establishment in this respect, when a large number of his "brides" were sent away. They did not return to the conventual institutions from which they had come, but to the home of their childhood, where they lived in state befitting those who had been the spouses, even if only theoretically, of the monarch. Nor did these ladies suffer any loss of good repute for their past; on the contrary, they were held in reverence as having been admitted into such close relation with the Child of the Sun. It does not appear whether they were allowed to contract ordinary marriages after their dismissal from the royal harem; but it is not probable that this was permitted to those who might still be termed brides of the Inca, however he might be pleased to dispense with their society for a time.
Besides the place of woman in the cult of the country, she had high position in the dynastic as well as domestic polity and customs of the land. Notwithstanding the number of concubines possessed by the Inca, there was but one legal queen, the Coya, whose eldest son inherited the crown,--at least so say most authorities, although there are some dissentients,--and it is stated by the Inca historian that the succession came down in unbroken line through the whole dynasty. The Coya was always a sister of the ruling Inca; but as to this custom there are also diverse statements, some authorities claiming that it was of comparatively modern innovation, while others assert that it was as ancient as the dynasty itself, which assertion there seems to be but little reason to doubt. The Coya received all due reverence from her people, noble and common; but she had no real authority, however great may have been her influence. The so-called Loi Salique was in force among the Peruvians, even though they had never heard of the original heresy concerning the sceptre and distaff. They acknowledged no female rule; at the death of the Inca the sceptre passed to his eldest son by the Coya, provided that the heir-apparent had successfully passed through an ordeal of great severity, imposed upon him as the test of his fitness to bear the toil of ruling, while his investiture with that which answered to knighthood among the Christian cultures was imposing and wonderfully impressive in its significance.
It is commonly said that polygamy was customary among the Peruvians; but this statement may be strongly doubted. It is entirely true that the nobles had large seraglios; but, when the open concubinage that was a prerequisite, as it were, of royalty is taken into consideration, together with the fact that polygamy was not known among the common people, it is far more likely that the real custom was that of open and legal concubinage rather than true polygamy. The confounding of nearly related facts in this wise is too common to make us chary of attributing such confusion; even to this day many well-informed writers are given to stating that polygamy among the Mussulmans is unrestrained, whereas no Mussulman can have more than a fixed and small number of wives, all the other women in his harem being merely legal concubines. Because of this rashness of statement as well as of the difficulty of ascertaining the precise facts in regard to Peruvian domestic polity, we may assume that monogamy was the legal custom, with a recognized concubinage as the privilege of the nobility as well as of the monarch, since this theory best consorts with the facts as we know them. Be this as it may, there is no doubt that among the Peruvians, speaking of them in general and not as divided into classes and castes, domesticity was on a plane fully equalling that known to any of the primitive cultures of America or even of Europe. Marriage was regarded as a sacred relation, and adultery was considered one of the most heinous of crimes, being punishable with death. In this and other places, however, it must be borne in mind that in speaking of the old Peruvian civilization, the word "punishable" is necessarily used instead of the more positive "punished"; for it does not seem that all the laws were straitly enforced. It was, for example, a singular provision of this law that made no distinction between adultery and fornication, both being equally visitable by death; yet there was a recognized, if not legalized, system of prostitution in the cities of the Incas. Such a contradiction of facts casts a very grave suspicion upon the integrity of the whole of the code in which that contradiction appears; and it may therefore be supposed that much of the legislation of the Incas was allowed to remain a dead letter. Still, the tendency of thought among a people can frequently be discovered by a study of their statute-book, even if the laws be not implicitly enforced; and we may judge from the laws of the Incas that the people over whom they ruled were straitly moral according to their lights, which is all that can justly be demanded of any people, even the most civilized.
The other facts pertaining to the status of women in that wonderful civilization which Pizarro destroyed may be well summed up within the scope of a paragraph. The women of the Peruvians knew a domestic lot which was strongly akin to that held by their Aztec contemporaries. They were reared in affection, though with some severity, and they were early taught the principles of chastity, modesty, and reverence for parents and religion, as well as the more material knowledge that enters into the life of the normal woman of all cultures: housewifery, needlework, and certain of the arts pertaining to the household. The Peruvian maiden was well fitted for the responsibilities and dignities of wifehood ere she was allowed to assume that place of honor; and the occasion of her marriage was marked by a ceremony so quaint and original that it deserves special mention. The Peruvian maidens could not choose their own marriage day; this was appointed by law, and only once did it come in a year, so that each twelvemonth there was a season of bridal rejoicing throughout the land. Those who were desirous of being married assembled on this stated day in the public square of their respective cities, and their hands were joined by a cacique in face of the people. This simple ceremony, together with the pronouncement of the contract by the cacique, constituted a marriage. The gentile system was, in some sort, in force among the Peruvians, and no one was allowed to contract marriage with any but a member of his or her gens; but this rule was capable of broad extension, even to including those residing in the same province. The ceremony was followed by festivities lasting several days; and the fact of all weddings being simultaneous turned the whole land into a festal place. We are not told what was done when some one was so inconsiderate as to die during this period and thus interfere with the merriment of his particular kindred; probably the corpse was compelled to wait until its turn came and grief could legitimately take the place of joy. However this may be, it is certain that marriage was in all ways held in high respect by the Peruvians, and divorce was almost or quite unknown. For the rest, the lot of the Peruvian woman was practically the same as that held by the woman of the Aztecs and does not call for amplification.
There is, however, another primitive civilization of South America which calls for notice, as being in its way as interesting as that of the Peruvians, and moreover of greater importance to the present, since in some aspects it still survives. This was the civilization of the Araucanians, to adopt the general, though not absolutely correct nomenclature. While the more remarkable civilization of the early Peruvians has centred general attention upon itself among the primitive cultures of South America, that of the Araucanians was hardly less wonderful in certain aspects, though as an absolute culture it was far below the standard of its more northern compeer. The Araucanians were simply Indians, but Indians of a very remarkable class. Among the tribes of North America their nearest peers would probably be found among the Navajos; but the Araucanians were in many respects far superior to their brothers of the northern plains. They were, above all, warriors, and for long they successfully resisted the Spanish invasion. They were a free, restless, brave, and highly independent people, and far better fitted for survival than their more highly cultured neighbors, and this they have proved by resistance to the ill effects of eastern civilization and a persistence unto this day.
It may be succinctly said that, while the status of the Araucanian woman was far from being equal to that of her Peruvian or Aztec sister, she was yet held in higher esteem than was usual among most Indian tribes. One of the manifestations of the racial instincts of the Araucanians is to be found in their delight in that which is generally and contemptuously denoted "finery." The women as well as the men painted their faces: not after the manner of civilization, but after that of savagery, the colors used being red and black, and with pigments of these hues the Araucanian belle decorated her face, using the black chiefly for emphasis of the eyebrows, eyelashes, and eyelids, much in the manner in which henna is used by Oriental women. A curious use of the black paint was the occasional depiction of sable tears rolling down the cheeks. Silver and beads were much worn,--for silver was almost as common as stone among the aborigines of Chili,--and bright colors were profusely used in the dress of the Araucanian lady of social standing. The most distinctive part of the costume of the Araucanian belle was her headdress and the manner of wearing the hair, the former being composed entirely of beads, and coming low upon the forehead, while it passed over the head and descended quite low on the back; the hair was worn in two queues, which were wound with bright colored beads, the ends falling over the face or sticking out in front like horns.