Titu Cusi Paper
Growing up from the innocent elementary days, learning of the significance of who Christopher Columbus is, all the way to our not so innocent days of our high school years taking AP World History and AP European History, the youth of this country are presented with a particular version of the interaction and relationship between Native Americans (Indians as otherwise known) and the first wave of soldiers who settled on the Americas. Titu Cusi’s History of How the Spaniards Arrived in Peru however, provides a different perspective and a brand new insight in stark contrast to what is normally presented in most history books. The author being the “son of Manco Inca Yupanqui, natural lord of … Peru” (Yupanqui 3), recounts the story of Spanish conquest and colonization of Peru from the perspective of the Inca people mainly during the decline of his father Manco Inca’s last days of rule in his country and shortly thereafter. While a recount of this time period would most certainly include and highlight the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the translator of Cusi’s work Catherine Julien argues in her introduction that “defeat was not Titu Cusi’s central theme” (Yupanqui xxvii). Undeniably, the fall of Inca Empire was a great tragedy for Titu Cusi, not just because he was to be the lord of the lands, but also because of the personal pain it has caused him, as his family suffered greatly at the hands of the Spanish conquerors and this was rightfully reflected in his narrative. However, Titu Cusi’s focus on the Spanish and Inca interaction was not just limited to wars and the ensuing blood bath. He noted how the Spanish allowed his father Manco Inca to take full control of his empire and wrestle power away from Atahuallpa who had been wrongfully exercising power as the ruler in place of his younger brother. Manco regarded the Spaniards as viracochas (gods) and ordered all his people to “respect and honor them as something sent from the Viracochan (which means