Inca Family Structure

Children Cont. (girls)

Children Cont. (boys)

At about the age of 10 the most beautiful girls were selected to be chosen women or Aqllakuna. They were taken from their families and sent to a house of chosen women or Aqllawasi. They were taught the Inca religion and skills like cooking and weaving. When they were about 14 some of the girls became priestesses or they married important Incas or even the Sapa Inca himself (the Sapa Inca often had hundreds of wives).

Girls left behind learned skills like cooking and weaving from their mothers. When they reached their teens they were old enough to marry.

Boys were more privileged than the girls because they had an opportunity to go to government school were they were taught history, religion, making and learning to read Quipu.

Poor Family Occupations

The Rich

The rich belonged to an ayllus of noble family members. Members of the royals and nobility led a life of luxury. They were exempt from taxation. They could own land. They could own llamas. They had fine clothing. They were carried around on litters. The boys went to school. Some were given jobs of importance in the government. They had to be careful not to upset the Inca or they could rapidly lose status and even their lives. But compared to the common people who had to work very hard, their lives were ones of ease and interest.

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The Poor

Most commoners were farmers: The emperor owned all the land. He controlled the use of the land through administrators. Administrators divided the land into plots large enough for a family to manage. Each ayllu planted enough food to feed themselves and others. Family groups helped each other when they could.

Each fall, the administrators gave a family unit a little more or a little less land to farm based on how many people they had in their family unit. Farmers could only keep about one-third of their harvest. The rest went to support other people.

Children

Common people had no freedom. They could not own or run a business. They could not own luxury goods. The only items common people could have in their homes were things they needed to do their job. They could not travel on the roads.

Still, life was not all work. A small amount of time was allotted for bathing and eating. They had lots of religious holidays. But they could not be idle. That was the law. Either they were celebrating a state approved holiday, working in the fields, or sleeping.

Inca children were treated harshly to toughen them. They were severely punished if they misbehaved. Even though children were consider high value the birth of twins was an evil omen and would require a ritual and fasting to prevent catastrophe. If the baby came out deformed it was a sign that the mother was unfaithful to her husband. When the children were born they were raised to do the work of their parents. Children were fed three times a day, but they also were not hugged. Again, they were only touched to clean or feed them. Many Incan children died young from neglect.

Work Cited

Babies

Inca Family Structure

• http://incas.mrdonn.org/common.html
• http://ksuanth.wikifoundry.com/page/inca+family
• https://www.google.com/search?q=babies+of+the+inca
• http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/bp-topic/inca-civilization/

When a baby was born, his or her arms were tightly bound to their body for three months. The Incas believed this binding made the baby stronger. Babies were rarely held. The Incas believed that if you held a baby, it would cry more. Crying exhausted the family. That interfered with farming. So, babies were not held. They were touched only to clean or feed them. They were left in cradles all day, alone.

Large Families

Inca Family

The only reason for large families was that many children died at infancy. The women would try to have as many children as possible, so that enough would survive. If a miscarriage occurred it was considered a misfortune, because children who grew up with their parents were considered a form of wealth. If a miscarriage happened a healer was summoned and ceremony was performed that consisted of prayer, rubbing three fist-sized stones together, sacrificing a guinea pig, and chewing coca leaves.

Inca Families consisted of about 10-20 members. The lived in large family units called ayllu. Each ayllu had a Mallcu, or leader of the unit. Each ayllu lived in a single plot of land because they spent most of their time outside.

Marriage Cont.

Marriage

Marriage was something very important in the Inca society. Couples were chosen by an Inca official and then ceremonies would take place. Women were only allowed to marry when they could reproduced, and would have to be married by the ages of 16-25. Being single wasn't an option.

There were times when someone would have a disability and they then were paired with someone who also had a disability. Each couple knew each other because it was customary to be paired with someone from one’s own ayllu. The young man and his parents would walk to the bride’s home where her family would give their approval and then everyone would then travel to the groom’s home. The bride would hand her soon to be husband a wool tunic and a lluato, which is a headband.