Yanaconas

Yanacona or Yanakuna (from Quechua yana "black" for and the plural -forming suffix - kuna ) designated with the Incas a social class of slaves or serfs, in contrast to normal subjects ( hatunrunas ) no family clan ( ayllu ) belonged. In the Caribbean Amerindian societies (eg Cuba ) those serfs were naboria called.

Yanacona were originally exempt from tribute and forced labor ( Mita ). They were socially mobile than ayllu - members, but at the expense of their social stability. They were active in various walks of life, for example, as shepherds, craftsmen, temple servants or as administrators of the Inca nobility.

In the course of Conquista her slave like status was lifted, many Yanacona entered the services of Spanish colonizers. At the beginning of the Spanish Silberexploitation in Potosí middle of the 16th century were Yanacona the first miners.

In the later colonial period, the term referred to Indians who worked on haciendas ( Yanacona de hacienda ), as well as wage laborers in the cities: staff of state and church institutions ( Yanacona del Rey ) and "free" Yanacona ( Yanacona libres ), which mainly craftsmen included. Many Yanacona had fled from their villages before Mita and tribute. They often took it to a new Spanish names and concealed their origin.

In Colombia, indigenous groups live call themselves Yanacona. They are regarded as descendants of the Quechua, who accompanied the Spanish on their way from northern Peru on Ecuador to Colombia. It is believed that these originally spoke a variant of Otavalo Quichua.