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Unwavering: The Story of Coca

Zach Dulman
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Coca plant

 

Coca, in modern times, is best known globally for its narcotic derivative, cocaine. However, cocaine alone does not define the long and important history of coca leaves. Although it never became a truly global commodity, this hyperlocal stimulant enabled a globalized economy by driving the workforce the Spanish needed for labor-intensive work in the mines of Potosí.

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The story of Coca begins long before the rise of the Inca; archeological data has shown that, “as early as the Middle Preceramic (ca. 9000 - 5000BCE), Coca leaves were already being chewed in the region” (Valdez, 237). The Wari civilization flourished a few centuries before the Inca came along, and evidence has been found that Coca was already so central to the daily lives of the Wari people that, “all known Wari settlements in the Apurimac were found at elevations suitable for Coca cultivation” (Valdez, 235).

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The almighty Inca Empire proved no different than its predecessors with regards to their taste for Coca. Similar to their Wari predecessors, “the Inka state colonized the tropical

rainforest east and north of Cuzco,” so that “the Inka [could] cultivate their own Coca supply” (Valdez, 232). Clearly Coca was one of, if not the main, driver for imperial expansion for pre-Columbian American civilizations. Besides the cultural significance, coca also played an incredibly important religious role in the Inca civilization. This was one of the first observations that the Spanish made regarding the plant upon their first incursions into Inca territory, noting that coca seemed to be the central plant offering during public rituals. The most telling aspect of Inca culture in regards to the importance of coca is that “the dead carried Coca leaves in their mouths” (Valdez, 231). The fact that both the living and the dead carried Coca in their mouths reveals how central the plant was to the everyday lives and afterlives of the Inca.

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It was not until Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, was executed by Francisco Pizarro in 1533 that the Spanish started their condemnation and persecution of coca. The Catholic Church led this charge to eradicate coca because in their minds, this was the central activity employed by the “barbaric” Indians, and only by completely erasing it could they help civilize and convert them to Catholicism. More importantly, the supposed effects of chewing the leaves frightened the Church because they connected these effects to the Devil. W. Golden Mortimer, in his book on the history of coca, writes, “In 1569 the Spanish audience at Lima, composed of bishops from all parts of South America, denounced Coca because, as they asserted, it was a pernicious leaf, the chewing of which the Indians supposed gave them strength and was hence: ‘Un delusio del demonio.’” (Mortimer, 108). This was a common theme for the Spanish, as they also were wary of the effects of chocolate and sought to ban it as well due to supposed demonic links.

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The savior of coca ended up indirectly being the Spanish themselves. The gem of the New World for the Spanish Empire was the silver mine at Potosi. At one point, the mines provided close to half of the entire world’s silver supply, which provided Spain with incredible wealth. Silver mining was labor intensive work, and in order to reach full production they needed a very large labor force. The indigenous people they employed at the mines were skillful and able to staff the mines, but once the Spanish banned coca chewing, their productivity fell drastically. It was at this point that, “This labor was found to be utterly impossible without the use of Coca, so the Indians were supplied with the leaves by their masters” (Mortimer, 157). The Spanish only recognized the importance of coca leaves when the productivity in the Potosi mines improved as a direct result of its effects as a stimulant.

The Spanish, as an empire, thus recognized the symbiotic relationship between coca and labor demand. This is seen as, “the demands of labor increased the call for Coca, situations for new cocals (Coca plantations), where a supply of the plant could be raised to meet this want, were pushed further to the east of the Andes, in the region of the montaña.” (Mortimer, 157). The coca leaf was thus saved and its fate solidified, for the Spanish could not eradicate it without sacrificing precious productivity in the

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Llamas carrying coca

Potosi silver mines. Interestingly enough, the Inca empire also recognized the importance of coca when it came to labor productivity, so the Inca state supplied it to their workforce. If only the Spanish had looked at their predecessors in the region for knowledge, they would have realized the benefits much sooner.

 

Armed with the knowledge of the benefits of the coca leaf, Europeans eventually started taking deeper dives into the broader applications of coca. The two aspects of coca that were of utmost interest to Europeans were its stimulating qualities and its effects suppressing hunger. One of these explorations was the use of coca as a stimulant in the military. In this respect, the British were specifically interested after one of their own featured prominently in the Peruvian War of Independence, General Miller, spoke in support of the benefits of coca for his men. Mortimer writes on Miller, “[he] not only employed Coca in his army during the campaign of 1824, but so freely acknowledged the benefit he derived from its use that he established a warm sympathy with the natives” (Mortimer, 170). Another English writer remarked, “there are thousands even in this happy land who will pour their blessings upon him if he will but discover a temporary anti-famine, or substitute for food” (Mortimer, 169). In this example, it is clear that the hunger-suppressing attributes of coca were incredibly appealing to Europeans as a potential remedy for famine, in particular for its growing industrial labor force.

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Coca had been a sacred plant to pre-Columbian societies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquest. The aspects that appealed to the indigenous people, stimulation and hunger suppression, initially worried the Spanish, sparking a fierce campaign of coca eradication justified by the belief that the properties of the plant represented the work of the devil. The tide turned during the late sixteenth century, when Viceroy Toledo recognized the increased productivity of his mine workers after chewing the leaves. “This absolute necessity was the sole reason for the Spanish tolerance to the continuance of Coca; they saw that it was indirectly to them a source of wealth, through enabling the Indians to do more work in the mines” (Mortimer, 157). Coca withstood aggressive Spanish attempts of extermination, and to this day remains central to Andean cultures. The legacy of the leaf lies not just in its own commodity chain, but as the literal “stimulant” for global commodities such as Potosi silver. It is with this in mind that coca, although incredibly localized in its reach, invigorated the global economy.

Coca pickers

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Bibliography

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  • Mortimer, W. Golden. History of Coca: The Divine Plant of the Incas. Illustrated, J.H. Vail and Company, 1901.

  • Valdez, Lidio M., et al. “Ancient Use of Coca Leaves in the Peruvian Central Highlands.” Journal of Anthropological Research, vol. 71, no. 2, 2015, pp. 231–58.

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