Ekeko
Encyclopedia
The Ekeko is the Tiwanakan
god of abundance and prosperity in the mythology
and folklore
of the people from the Andean Altiplano
. The current representation corresponds to a reinterpretation made by the artisan Isidro Choquehuanca as a gift for an employee of the Governor and Commanding Officer of the city of La Paz
, Bolivia
, Sebastián Segurola.
and zoomorphic
stone, mud and gold figures that were found in the areas belonging to the Bolivia
n departments of La Paz, Oruro
and Potosí
. Cavour considers that these figures were made using basalt
—extracted from the pre-Columbian
mines in the shores of the Lake Poopó— and andesite
from the Copacabana peninsula
.
Carlos Ponce Sanginés, for his part, focus his researches in the anthropomorphic figures with phallic elements and prominent humps which, in his opinion, go back to the Inca civilization
and, according to his observations, they would correspond to the predecessors of the colonial Ekeko.
The historian Antonio Paredes Candia
considers that these figures would be the remains of ancient sacred festivities during the summer solstice
in the southern hemisphere
. Arthur Posnansky
also observes that in dates near the 22 December, in the Tiwanaku culture, the population used to worship their deities to ask for good luck, offering miniatures of what they wished to have or achieve.
and the Alasitas fair would have its first urban expressions in the early years of the founding of La Paz
, specifically, when its founders moved it from Laja
in the shores of the Choqueyapu River
. During that occasion, Juan Rodríguez ordered the celebration of a mass where Spanish and Indigenous people participated, the latter wanted to contribute by bringing small stone idols and miniatures exchanging them for stone coins .
During the 1781 siege of La Paz, Sebastián Segurola re-established the celebration moving it from October to 24 January, as a gesture of gratitude towards Our Lady of Peace, the holy figure from which the city of La Paz was named. The transactions were made with the same stone coins and slowly the cult to the Ekeko was reintroduced and he appeared for the first time modelled in cast.
of some Greco-Roman deities), household objects, and currency bills, and basically anything that a person is thought to want / need to have a comfortable and prosperous life ; he is commonly found as a little statue to be put in some place of the house, preferably a comfortable one, but also as an amulet
holding from key rings; modern statues of the god include a circular opening in his mouth to place there a cigarette (better if lit) for Ekeko's pleasure. Latest tradition has the Ekeko "smoke" a lit cigarette (hence the rounded mouth) once a year to ensure a full year of prosperity.
Ekeko should be placed in a place of honor at home. Some versions can be carried in necklaces or key chains.
At this time, the city of La Paz was under siege by indigenous people, who were still in war with Spanish forces.
The story of the origin of the Ekeko starts with Paulita Tintaya, an Indian girl who worked for Doña Josefa Ursula de Rojas Foronda, in La Paz.
The girl was in love with Isidoro Choquewanca. Years ago, she had left the hacienda where both grew up. Before her departure, Isidoro gave her a small statue to protect her. This small statue was the Ekeko, which was known to Andean people to be a god of fortune and luck.
At the time of the siege, people was starving to death. Isidoro was enrolled in the indigenous army, and he manage to reach Paulina's house. Every week, he left her food near the statue, which was placed outside the house, but nobody knew he was doing it. Both Paulina and her boss, Doña Josefa, were able to survive the siege because of the food left near the statue by Isidoro. That is the origen of the beliefs on the Ekeko powers.
Throughout other regions the festival for the Ekeko is held in October and known by the name "'Calvario'". This spring festival also celebrates the "'abundance'" or fecundity of humanity. Governor Segurota moved it to January in La Paz after a military victory.
In 2009 Bolivia asked the United Nations
to recognise the cultural heritage of the Alasita festival, celebrating the figure of the Ekeko, something Peru also claims. However, the Bolivian ambassador in Peru, Franz Solano, acknowledged that the doll was present in both countries.
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku, is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five...
god of abundance and prosperity in the mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
of the people from the Andean Altiplano
Altiplano
The Altiplano , in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet...
. The current representation corresponds to a reinterpretation made by the artisan Isidro Choquehuanca as a gift for an employee of the Governor and Commanding Officer of the city of La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Sebastián Segurola.
Etymology
The name Ekeko comes from the alteration of the original term Ekhako or Eqaqo, popularized as Ekhekho which was the ancient god of fortune and prosperity in the Qullasuyu. The Ekhako was often invoked when a disgrace disturbed their homes.Pre-Columbian references
The scholar Ernesto Cavour in his book Alasitas, makes reference to anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
and zoomorphic
Zoomorphism
Zoomorphism is the shaping of something in animal form or terms. Examples include:*Art that imagines humans as animals*Art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal*Art that creates patterns using animal imagery, or animal style...
stone, mud and gold figures that were found in the areas belonging to the Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n departments of La Paz, Oruro
Oruro Department
Oruro is a department in Bolivia, with an area of 53,588 km². Its capital is the city of Oruro. At the time of census 2001 it had a population of 391,870.- Provinces of Oruro :...
and Potosí
Potosí Department
Potosí Department is a department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km² with 709,013 inhabitants . The capital is the city of Potosí....
. Cavour considers that these figures were made using basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
—extracted from the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
mines in the shores of the Lake Poopó— and andesite
Andesite
Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...
from the Copacabana peninsula
Copacabana, Bolivia
Copacabana is the main Bolivian town on the shore of Lake Titicaca, from where boats leave for Isla del Sol, the sacred Inca island. The town has a large 16th-century shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana. Our Lady of Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia. The town is a destination for...
.
Carlos Ponce Sanginés, for his part, focus his researches in the anthropomorphic figures with phallic elements and prominent humps which, in his opinion, go back to the Inca civilization
Inca civilization
The Andean civilizations made up a loose patchwork of different cultures that developed from the highlands of Colombia to the Atacama Desert. The Andean civilizations are mainly based on the cultures of Ancient Peru and some others such as Tiahuanaco. The Inca Empire was the last sovereign...
and, according to his observations, they would correspond to the predecessors of the colonial Ekeko.
The historian Antonio Paredes Candia
Antonio Paredes Candia
Antonio Paredes Candia was a Bolivian writer and historian. He published a number of notable books on Bolivian folklore.-Selected works:*"Literatura Folclórica"*"El Apodo en Bolivia"...
considers that these figures would be the remains of ancient sacred festivities during the summer solstice
Summer solstice
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...
in the southern hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
. Arthur Posnansky
Arthur Posnansky
Arthur Posnansky , often called "Arturo", was at various times in his life an engineer, explorer, ship’s navigator, director of a river navigation company, entrepreneur, La Paz city council member, and well known and well respected avocational archaeologist...
also observes that in dates near the 22 December, in the Tiwanaku culture, the population used to worship their deities to ask for good luck, offering miniatures of what they wished to have or achieve.
Alasitas fair origins
Based on Posnansky's observations, the manufacture of miniatures would have its origins in the pre-Columbian eraPre-Columbian era
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
and the Alasitas fair would have its first urban expressions in the early years of the founding of La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
, specifically, when its founders moved it from Laja
Laja
Laja is a location in the La Paz Department in Bolivia. It is the seat of the Laja Municipality, the second municipal section of the Los Andes Province.- References :*...
in the shores of the Choqueyapu River
Choqueyapu River
The Choqueyapu River is a river of Bolivia.It flows through the El Centro district of La Paz...
. During that occasion, Juan Rodríguez ordered the celebration of a mass where Spanish and Indigenous people participated, the latter wanted to contribute by bringing small stone idols and miniatures exchanging them for stone coins .
During the 1781 siege of La Paz, Sebastián Segurola re-established the celebration moving it from October to 24 January, as a gesture of gratitude towards Our Lady of Peace, the holy figure from which the city of La Paz was named. The transactions were made with the same stone coins and slowly the cult to the Ekeko was reintroduced and he appeared for the first time modelled in cast.
Depiction
The Ekeko is depicted as a man with a mustache wearing traditional Andean clothes (especially the poncho) and completely loaded with bags and baskets with grain and food, (compare with the cornucopiaCornucopia
The cornucopia or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form...
of some Greco-Roman deities), household objects, and currency bills, and basically anything that a person is thought to want / need to have a comfortable and prosperous life ; he is commonly found as a little statue to be put in some place of the house, preferably a comfortable one, but also as an amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
holding from key rings; modern statues of the god include a circular opening in his mouth to place there a cigarette (better if lit) for Ekeko's pleasure. Latest tradition has the Ekeko "smoke" a lit cigarette (hence the rounded mouth) once a year to ensure a full year of prosperity.
Ekeko should be placed in a place of honor at home. Some versions can be carried in necklaces or key chains.
Purpose
Ekeko brings monetary wealth to its worshipper. An offering is generally required before he provides his services. Banknotes are often clipped to the Ekeko as offerings, but some statuettes allow for a cigarette to be lighted as an offering. The figurines which allow for cigarette offerings have mouth openings large enough for cigarettes to be inserted. Ekeko additionally provides good harvests when offered grain.Ekeko's Legend
The legend of the Ekeko, as narrated by Antonio Díaz Villamil, dates around 1781 in La Paz, Bolivia.At this time, the city of La Paz was under siege by indigenous people, who were still in war with Spanish forces.
The story of the origin of the Ekeko starts with Paulita Tintaya, an Indian girl who worked for Doña Josefa Ursula de Rojas Foronda, in La Paz.
The girl was in love with Isidoro Choquewanca. Years ago, she had left the hacienda where both grew up. Before her departure, Isidoro gave her a small statue to protect her. This small statue was the Ekeko, which was known to Andean people to be a god of fortune and luck.
At the time of the siege, people was starving to death. Isidoro was enrolled in the indigenous army, and he manage to reach Paulina's house. Every week, he left her food near the statue, which was placed outside the house, but nobody knew he was doing it. Both Paulina and her boss, Doña Josefa, were able to survive the siege because of the food left near the statue by Isidoro. That is the origen of the beliefs on the Ekeko powers.
Ekeko as central part of Alasitas
The Alasitas festival is held for, and hosted by, the Ekeko, each January 24 and sprawls along many streets and parks in central La Paz and smaller events are held in many neighborhoods around the city. People attend the event from all over the city and even travel from other cities inside Bolivia to buy miniature versions of goods they would like to give to somebody else. These goods can be blessed by any one of the men and (less frequently) women acting as shaman. It is believed that if somebody gives you a miniature version, you will get the real object in the course of the following year. Examples of goods that can be bought are household items, food, computers, construction materials, cell phones, houses, cars, university diplomas and even figures of domestic workers, if you want to employ one the following year.Throughout other regions the festival for the Ekeko is held in October and known by the name "'Calvario'". This spring festival also celebrates the "'abundance'" or fecundity of humanity. Governor Segurota moved it to January in La Paz after a military victory.
In 2009 Bolivia asked the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to recognise the cultural heritage of the Alasita festival, celebrating the figure of the Ekeko, something Peru also claims. However, the Bolivian ambassador in Peru, Franz Solano, acknowledged that the doll was present in both countries.