Canta

The Canta were the highland people of the Chillon valley, north-east of Lima, whose principal stronghold was the hilltop settlement of Cantamarca. Their language was Cauqui, a divergent relative of Jaqaru within the Aymaran family, and the name canta itself meant either a hillside or the cord used to snare vicunas.

For generations they lived scattered in village communities in the cold quechua and puna zones above the valley, until the Inca emperor Pachacutec brought the region under Cuzco's rule during his northern campaigns.

When the Spanish reached the valley in 1535 they found a prosperous land, and on 8 December 1544 the native communities, including Cantamarca, were forcibly resettled in the new Spanish-style town of Canta to be instructed in the Catholic faith.