Observations placeholder
Stobart, Henry - A view from the Bolivian Andes – The taqui oncoy
Identifier
022076
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Bodies of sound and landscapes of music: a view from the Bolivian Andes – Henry Stobart
.. shortly after the European invasion of 1532, the indigenous taqui oncoy or 'dancing sickness' cult developed in many parts of the Andes (1555). This was one of several responses to the collapse of the Inka empire. The cult's preachers prophesied the end of Spanish domination through restoration of the powers of local indigenous deities or wak'as, demanding the avoidance of Spanish dress, food and religion.
Andean people expressed the social, cosmological and physical disorder brought about by the conquest - including European diseases and hunger - through their bodies as dancing. According to Sara Castro-Klaren, the taqui oncoy acted as 'a space of transition that divided the voyage of sickness to health'.