Literature

Freedom and prosperity are not always won in the battlefield. Guns are not the only weapons in winning a struggle. There were valiant men in history who paved the way to the ending of a long struggle with nothing but pens. A history maker like Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala gave life to the adage that the pen is mightier than the sword.
According to Ralph Bauer in Encountering Colonial Latin American Indian ChroniclesFelipe Guaman Poma de Ayalas History of the New World,  In 1908, the German anthropologist Richard Pietschmann discovered in an archive in Copenhagen an early-seventeenth-century manuscript consisting of nearly 1, 200 pages of narrative written in Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara, as well as nearly 400 drawings.
This was written by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.
The powerful narrative written by Guaman Poma was entitled New Chronicle and Treatise on Good Government (Nueva coronica y buen gobierno) which was believed to have been completed  in about 1615 (Mills and Taylor 153). This manuscript was an outpouring of Guaman Pomas feelings for his fellow Andeans who suffered during the Spanish conquest.
In Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayalas Appeal Concerning the Priests, Peru, a section of Nueva coronica, as edited by Kenneth Mills and W. Taylor in Colonial Spanish American A Documentary History, Guaman Poma stood in the gap in behalf of his people. Through his potent use of words and visual arts, he presented the struggles of the native Andeans during the Spanish colonization under the hands of certain priests. His appeal was a point by point unraveling of the bitter reality of the suffering of many Andeans in the hands of certain priests who not only governed the ecclesiastical but also the judicial and commercial arenas in their society.
Guaman Poma exposed in his writings the deeds of parish priests like Francisco de Avila who had many illegitimate children and had abused many of the Andeans. He believed that the priests had a great responsibility to the natives  they should epitomize integrity, honesty and love as servants and messengers of God to the native Andeans. This view led him to fight against those priests who abused the men and women of his time and praised those who lived up to their teachings in the faith.
Many of the priests took advantage of the women of Andes who became an easy prey for the satisfaction of their sexual desires.  They also entered into money making ventures under the guise of a genuine religious activity. Both men and women were made to work without pay. Guaman Poma highlighted both verbally and visually the extravagant parties hosted by the priests. In one of his drawings, he literally depicted the low stature accorded to the natives who served wine in the priests table.
The oppression led the natives to leave their place and find refuge from their cruel lords. Guaman Poma emphatically stresses that there was no remedy to the cruelty, greediness and proliferation of Mestizos in their society.
Despite his pessimistic view of the condition of his fellow Andeans under abusive priests in many parts of his writings, Guaman Poma did not lose heart. He still generously gave praises to the Jesuits who he considered as good priests. He also presented remedies such as policies of admitting priests who were already fifty years of age, interim appointment, close monitoring and others.
Guaman Pomas appeal carefully laid down all the bases of his cries. He vividly described in words and drawings the situation of his people. He also bravely named the people who caused the sufferings and other evils of society. He ended with recommendations and a cry for freedom to live a bountiful life for the Andeans.
He, as a valiant writer, had strongly expressed his opinions on the issues in his society under the Spanish colonization. Because of the blatant abuse of power and cruelty of the priests who dominated the ecclesiastical, judicial and commercial aspects of their lives, Guaman Poma lets us in to his thoughts on their spiritual and moral state of affairs during the Spanish colonization vis--vis the pre colonial period

The ancient (Andean) priests of metals, idols, demons, and gods, high priests of stone according to their law, these priests of metals acted devoutly and gave good example, as with the virgins and nuns of the temples.  And so the rest submitted to their justice and law. They were Christians in everything but their idolatry.
Now the priests and ministers of the eternal, living God are as I have described them. From such a bad father springs a bad child, lost to the things of the true God. From a bad tree comes bad fruit, from a bad foundation comes a bad root. This badness is what God punishes most severely in Hell and in this life (Mills and Taylor 162).
   
His writing reveals that the situation of his people during the Spanish colonization was marked by a bondage which many of his fellow Andeans desired to be freed from. It was a period in their history as a people where they had to survive. Thus, it appears that he recognized the value of their pre colonial life as a nation over their situation during the colonization despite the fact that he embraced Christianity which was introduced by the colonizer.
Rolena Adorno in her book Guaman Poma Writing and Resistance in Colonial Peru wrote, Rabidly anticlerical, he decried the greed of all holders of colonial office, civil as well as ecclesiastical. He defended the Andeans as civilized Christians and attacked the Spaniards as lost sinners.
Even with Guaman Pomas despise for the colonial officers and ecclesiastical leaders, he was found to have promoted the institutionalization of the Christian religion and the creation of a sovereign Andean state that would form part of a universal Christian empire presided over by the King of Spain (Adorno 5).
In his appeal, Guaman Poma recognized the authority and the lordship of the royal crown. It was before him that he plead his cause and hoped that his suggested remedies be taken in with greater favor and consideration.
The author, Rolena Adorno, found Guaman  Pomas writing as complex but coherent and always unequivocal in favor of native rule and opposed to colonialism, Guaman Poma was anti-Inca but pro Andean, anti clerical but pro-Catholic.
A hero is one who paves the way for a better life for him and his countrymen even if it will cost him his life. A hero was Guaman Poma who courageously stood for the oppressed even before seemingly untouchable colonizers. .
He, with an eye opener manuscript, was a history maker. His appeal concerning the priests opened the eyes of every reader, during his time and up to the present,  that there are so many ways of getting ones message across.
Because of his blow by blow account, his writings can be given greater weight and consideration with regard to its reliability. His writing reveals an unbiased scrutiny of the ills in his society  he was quick in criticizing the bad priests but was grateful enough to thank those good friars who introduced Christianity and lived as examples of the faith.
Unequivocal language and vivid visual descriptions allowed us to look to the past with clarity, understand and empathize with the native Andeans. He accurately documented the past so that revolutionaries that came after him would have a benchmark.
Guaman Pomas work is significant not only for the Andeans of his time but also for the present generation around the world.
His appeal concerning the priests teaches us five significant lessons necessary for the warfare that our society is currently facing.
First, we can demonstrate our opposition and abhorrence to oppression and cruelty in a more peaceful yet potent way of fearlessly broadcasting the truth not only to our fellow oppressed but also to authorities who we think are capable of helping us in our struggle. The Nueva coronica with its massive writings of almost 1,200 pages, icluding nearly 500 drawings, were meant explicitly for the eyes of King Philip III (Mills and Taylor 153). He was courageous enough to let his pleas be heard by the highest official.
Second, let us never forget the goodness of our own culture. We can embrace the new things introduced to us if it would cause us to grow as a nation without forgetting where we came from, our roots. Guaman Poma was described as a distinct writer for, unlike the other writers of Spanish chronicles about the conquest, he laid the blame on the abuses of the colonial regime and insisted that America had a legitimate history before conquests which was recorded in another language (Bauer).
Thirdly, a strong appeal and a fierce battle through potent writing are not necessarily crowded with biting criticisms only. Be humble enough to give credit to the people who contributed to your development as a nation. Also, be ready to give your remedies to the problem. Do not leave it to the person to whom your appeal is addressed. You are in the best vantage point to make critical analysis of the situation and provide for its possible solution. Guaman Poma suggested realistic and attainable solutions to the problem. Among his suggestions were the effectiveness of appointing priests on an interim basis and having them post bond. He believed that this will pave the way for a better life for the Andeans. Borrowing Guaman Pomas words in his appeal concerning the priests, in the collection edited by Kenneth Mills and W. Taylor, then all will eat well or better.
Fourthly, give your readers a window to your soul for them to be able carry the burden with you. Guaman Poma precisely narrated the events as they unfolded, made striking comments and provided convincing evidences to his accusations. Also, his visual presentations literally and figuratively supported his stance.
Lastly, your good station in life gives you an opportunity to take the battle for the poor and the helpless and never a reason to be pathetic and unheeding to the call against poverty and oppression. Guaman Pomas nobility did not keep him from opening his eyes to reality. It did not make him shun the lowly. Instead, he used his education and power as weapons to fight with and for the poor.
Guaman Poma was not only an admirable and brilliant writer of his time but also a superb artist. His visuals portrayed and gave life to his letters. They do not just aid ones understanding of his message. The drawings have the ability of capturing the hearts of its viewers and waking up complacent souls. This is because it gave a vivid representation of his ideas as well as a figurative portrayal of the events.
Indeed, Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala fought a good fight against poverty, oppression and other ills of his society by wielding his best weapon  the mighty pen.