Mamacuna

Mama-Cuna was, in Inca mythology, the high priestess who instructed and watched over the Acllas, Ñustas or Virgins of the Sun during the Inca Empire so that they would dedicate themselves to their religious duty. By extension, this is also the name given to the building in which the girls were held and the educational institution in general.

Origin

The historical origin of female education dates back to the first coya Mama Ocllo - wife of Manco Cápac, queen who instructs women in the trades assigned to women of the time, to spin, weave cotton and wool and make to dress for themselves and for their husbands and children: “telling them how they were to do the other duties of the household service. In short, our princes failed to teach none of those things that pertain to human life to their first vassals, with the Inca King becoming teacher of men and Coya queen, teacher of women.” Pachacútec seems to have spread female education throughout the Tahuantinsuyo area. He also taught the women to cook, weave and tend to the Inca.

Function

Just as the Amauta represents the maximum characterization of the man of knowledge, the Mamacuna constitutes the guiding element of feminine pedagogy. Its center of action was the Acllahuasi or house of the chosen ones, dedicated to feminine preparation and practical teaching par excellence. Women are prepared for the home, domestic tasks or the priesthood. This education also has a sense of caste and peculiar nuances, because it is the preparation of a characteristic elite and another of a lesser, domestic type, forged through everyday example and experience.