House of the Falcon

((In the Valley of Canipaco)(Colca))

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 (which in essence is really part of the bigger valley called Mantaro), 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 stand), and now for the poetic voice:

Fortress, within the:

House of the Falcon
((The Chanka in the Valley of Canipaco) (Colca, Peru))


Part One
The Ancient Chanka Warriors

House of the Falcon

Even the finest of the Chanka warriors, contained darkness
All their language, woven from fifteen hundred 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.



Part Two

Uscovilca and Ancovilca


Canipaco Valley


The twin gods of the Chanka race, the founders, Uscovilca
And Ancovilca—: one inherited the teeth
Of the great lion, the other, the great thumbs of Goliath

And thereafter, the Chanka race never had had a whole
Day of peace, and thus built, Tamborhuanca (sanctuary)
Where one cry from the dying, contained a thousand more.

Part Three

House of Sorrows
Tamborhuanca—Colca

In time all things end, become shadows, thus, the
“House of the Falcon” became the “House of Sorrows”
The door that leads to Tamborhuanca, near Colca

Built eight-hundred years, now in the past—the sanctuary
Of the Chanka, now lies silent, with deadly gases…
A house roofed with stone and earth, caves and graves.

It’s too late to move now; their bones (blunt like dull pencil lead)
Can be found in the dark crevasses of this fortress like
Mound—this monster sanctuary, with cave-eyes everywhere!

†


Clarifying Notes of the Chanka:

Note 1: Inspired in part by: Frank Ramires 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, on 9-22-2011, to allow the author to become more informed on the Chanka culture, and this particular site; some research done by Rosa Peñaloza de Siluk, and sifted through by the Poet Laureate, whom wrote a prologue, and part one thru three of this Islamic style poem called: “House of the Falcon” Part one of the poem written on 22nd of September, 2011. No: 3091; parts two and three (3092 and 3093,) written on 23rd of September).

Note 2: House of the Falcon, can be translated into ‘Waman Karpaa’ meaning, Capital of the Chanka Race.
Note 3: The Chanka race dates prior to the Wari, and Wanka races (perhaps to: 100 BC to 1300 AD); they invaded the Mantaro Valley at one time—they became most powerful between 1100 AD to 1300 AD; the Chankas were known as the Parkos’ Kingdom
Note 4: Tamborhuanca is the archeological site, in the Canipaco Valley, dating to about 1200 AD, thirty minutes from the village of Colca. About 1000-Chankas inhabited a nearby village, destroyed by the conquistadores.
Note 5: at one time the Mantaro Rio, was named Ancoyaco Rio
Note 6: the Huari culture, seemingly was, and perhaps still is, compared with the Chanka culture, in that the Huari went forward in history and the Chanka, appeared to have a setback, from an urban point of view.
Note 7: Uscovilca, was founder of the Uran Chanka race, and Ancovilca, was founder of he Hananmarca or Hanan Chanka race
Note 8: The Chankas were not rivals of the Incas
Note 9: The Chankas had a deity, veneration, toward the feline (or cat figure)
Note 10: The Chankas were, or could be, fierce warriors, bloodthirsty, as well as farmers of agriculture