CHICHA THE PERSISTENCE OF E


ucivia Silva teaches her daugh- ters to make the fermented beverage chicha de jora much in the same way her mother and grandmother taught her, as countless generations have


done within the Urubamba River Valley and throughout the Andes. Eucivia pours the day’s first chicha into a


cup known as a qero and intentionally pours a bit on the floor, quietly making an offering to Pachamama, the name of the Andean earth deity in her first language of Quechua. Chicha has been consumed in the Andes for thou- sands of years. Although both chicha de jora and the Pre-Inka deities have been repressed, deemed degenerate,


transformed, co-opted


and reinvented since colonization, Eucivia Silva’s invocation serves as a link to Andean traditions.


Throughout its history, chicha has served as a It also demonstrates evolution.


sacred beverage for pre-colonial cultures and maintained the social fabric of communities through reciprocity. It now persists as an em- blem of Indigenous identity. Chicha de jora is perhaps best known


outside of the Andes as a drink for which the brewers often chew corn as part of the fermen- tation process. The word chicha comes from Spanish. It can signify a variety of beverages made from various grains, fruits and tubers, but the most widespread and traditionally im- portant is chicha de jora, which is fermented from yellow or white corn. Originally called a’qa in Quechua, the language of the Inka and k’usa in the Aymara language, it can be found in locations ranging from a trendy bar in the central university district of Bogota, Colombia, dank chicharias in small towns throughout Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia and as far afield as immigrant enclaves in Queens, N.Y. Archeologists have found evidence of


AN ANCIENT DRINK REVIVES INDIGENOUS SPIRIT


BY JUSTIN MUGITS E SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 11


PHOTO COURTESY OF NMAI ARCHIVES


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