(In the Valley of Canipaco)
By Poet Laureate, Dennis L. Siluk, Ed.D.
Prologue: Land of the Chankas (or the Parkos’ Kingdom) in the time of the Wari and prior, all ancient settlements in the Peruvian Andes, they were an ethnic group that roamed and settled within the region of Huancavelica and part of Junin, all the way to what is know known as the Mantaro Valley (100 BC to 700 AD), they expanded beyond these boundaries, but what this brief is concerned with, is that they settled in the Canipaco Valley, built a stone like fortress, with thick walls that stands to this very day (near the district of Colca) a three hour drive by car to the site, from Huancayo, Peru.
During their ongoing development, the Chankas, created an autonomous culture, and a variant language, the name of their capital (‘Waman Karpa’) in English would be translated to mean “House of the Falcon”. Up to the time of the Incas, they showed a high reverence for their mummified, ancient grandparents, and in a similar manner, venerated the catlike figure ((in the capital, Uscovilca, the founder of the Uran Chanka was worshiped, his remains) (and Ancovilca, was the founder of the Hanan Chanka)). I admit, this all can get confusing, because we must not combine both groups into one, this has been done in the past, and too often, misunderstood, for the Uran group joined another group, which built a federation (Pocra-chanka); thus, for the sake of clarity, we will try to stick to the Canipaco Valley expanse, and the Chanka race in general as a whole. As a result they had built villages within these populations in the Canipaco Valley, with burials, which often were in caves or rock crevasses.
The Chankas were not rivals to or of the Incas per se, although they were warlike people (the Hanans while in combat, were a bloodthirsty group of warriors, hanging their enemy upside down; cutting them so they’d slowly bleed to death in the fingers and feet, and they’d peel the skin off the prisoners, and from a skull cup, drank the blood of the enemy); and they were farmers too, and lived to the height of the 11th to 13th Century. It would seem at different times throughout their existence, they had small to large or larger populations (depending). In the case of the fortress we are about to reveal, perhaps 100-souls, existed within this fortress.
And so I hope this brief-prologue, has brought you to a wider understanding of this ancient culture (of which research will benefit the curious mined person, if indeed he can find any, there is very little on the Chankas, that is why I have went to the actual site of one of their fortresses and talked to the village people, among others for their understanding of this race that once lived where now they sand), and now for the poetic voice:
Fortress, within the:
House of the Falcon
Part One
The Chanka Warriors
Even the finest of the Chanka warriors, contained darkness
All their language, woven from two-thousand years packed
Together—as they grew larger in the Valley of Canipaco
The Hanan Chankas soaked up the stain of their enemy’s blood
Drank it from their skull caps, hanging them upside down
These old thinkers, of the House of the Falcon, remind us
Battle and death to those throats open to invasion.
They built stone fortresses in the District of Colca—buried
Their kind, in caves, rock crevasses, mausoleums.
Notes: Inspired by: Frank Ramirez who attended the presentation of the author’s book “The Cotton Belt” and left the author with a picture of the Chanka site, near his home township, inviting him to visit the site, meeting the author three days afterward, 9-22-2011, to allow the author to become more informed on the Chanka culture, and his particular site. Some research done by Rosa Peñaloza de Siluk, and sifted through by the Poet Laureate, whom wrote a Prologue, and part one of the Islamic style poem “House of the Falcon” on the 22nd of September, 2011. No: 3091.
By Poet Laureate, Dennis L. Siluk, Ed.D.
Prologue: Land of the Chankas (or the Parkos’ Kingdom) in the time of the Wari and prior, all ancient settlements in the Peruvian Andes, they were an ethnic group that roamed and settled within the region of Huancavelica and part of Junin, all the way to what is know known as the Mantaro Valley (100 BC to 700 AD), they expanded beyond these boundaries, but what this brief is concerned with, is that they settled in the Canipaco Valley, built a stone like fortress, with thick walls that stands to this very day (near the district of Colca) a three hour drive by car to the site, from Huancayo, Peru.
During their ongoing development, the Chankas, created an autonomous culture, and a variant language, the name of their capital (‘Waman Karpa’) in English would be translated to mean “House of the Falcon”. Up to the time of the Incas, they showed a high reverence for their mummified, ancient grandparents, and in a similar manner, venerated the catlike figure ((in the capital, Uscovilca, the founder of the Uran Chanka was worshiped, his remains) (and Ancovilca, was the founder of the Hanan Chanka)). I admit, this all can get confusing, because we must not combine both groups into one, this has been done in the past, and too often, misunderstood, for the Uran group joined another group, which built a federation (Pocra-chanka); thus, for the sake of clarity, we will try to stick to the Canipaco Valley expanse, and the Chanka race in general as a whole. As a result they had built villages within these populations in the Canipaco Valley, with burials, which often were in caves or rock crevasses.
The Chankas were not rivals to or of the Incas per se, although they were warlike people (the Hanans while in combat, were a bloodthirsty group of warriors, hanging their enemy upside down; cutting them so they’d slowly bleed to death in the fingers and feet, and they’d peel the skin off the prisoners, and from a skull cup, drank the blood of the enemy); and they were farmers too, and lived to the height of the 11th to 13th Century. It would seem at different times throughout their existence, they had small to large or larger populations (depending). In the case of the fortress we are about to reveal, perhaps 100-souls, existed within this fortress.
And so I hope this brief-prologue, has brought you to a wider understanding of this ancient culture (of which research will benefit the curious mined person, if indeed he can find any, there is very little on the Chankas, that is why I have went to the actual site of one of their fortresses and talked to the village people, among others for their understanding of this race that once lived where now they sand), and now for the poetic voice:
Fortress, within the:
House of the Falcon
Part One
The Chanka Warriors
Even the finest of the Chanka warriors, contained darkness
All their language, woven from two-thousand years packed
Together—as they grew larger in the Valley of Canipaco
The Hanan Chankas soaked up the stain of their enemy’s blood
Drank it from their skull caps, hanging them upside down
These old thinkers, of the House of the Falcon, remind us
Battle and death to those throats open to invasion.
They built stone fortresses in the District of Colca—buried
Their kind, in caves, rock crevasses, mausoleums.
Notes: Inspired by: Frank Ramirez who attended the presentation of the author’s book “The Cotton Belt” and left the author with a picture of the Chanka site, near his home township, inviting him to visit the site, meeting the author three days afterward, 9-22-2011, to allow the author to become more informed on the Chanka culture, and his particular site. Some research done by Rosa Peñaloza de Siluk, and sifted through by the Poet Laureate, whom wrote a Prologue, and part one of the Islamic style poem “House of the Falcon” on the 22nd of September, 2011. No: 3091.
