Meaning “turn” in Quechua, the word mita designated, in the Inca Empire, a system of temporary labor imposed upon the indigenous communities. It applied to rotating or intermittent work performed for the public interest, such as the construction of ways and fortresses, the harvest of Inca lands, the tending of the pasture of the llamas and vicunas (an animal similar to the llama, but with wool that is of higher value than that of the llama), and the exploitation of gold and silver mines.
In contrast to taxes the Inca were required to pay in exchange for their residence, the mita entailed longdistance displacements of newly conquered populations. These men and women were moved to other regions, where they were forced to work. They were called miti-maes or mitayos, which means “foreigners.” While the majority performed hard labor, some worked as craftsmen and defenders of the frontiers.
The duration of the services and the age of the workers were strictly regimented by the ayllus (the basic social entity of the Inca Empire, the “familiar clan”). The ayllus and the fruits of the mita or products derived from mita labor were distributed among the poorest people and regions to compensate everyone’s needs and balance their economic situation with that of the richest regions of the empire.
From 1552 onward, the Recopilacion laws justified the mita as a compulsory work service that would benefit the Spanish colonists, who had experienced a decline in workers in the mining industry. Supported by the Spanish king, the mita entailed a predetermined minimum salary, which was applied to all men over twenty years of age and below fifty.
The Spanish would then adopt the mita and implant it for the exploitation of gold, mercury, and silver, and for the development and cultivation of tambos, postal services, land, textile factories, public works, and domestic service.
When the viceroy Francisco de Toledo visited the mines of Potosi in 1573, the mining entrepreneurs, claiming a decrease in silver production, convinced the viceroy that mining productivity levels would only reach previous levels if forced labor could be provided. Gold and silver mining produced precious metals, essential to mercantilism and the world economic circuit.
Toledo decided to establish the mita, compelling the surrounding regions to provide Potosi with yearly rotating drafts of forced Indian labor at low wages. The viceroy intended the mita as temporary provision until the Indians voluntarily returned to the mines. According to the system, each displaced Indian would work for one week, followed by two weeks of rest, during the course of a year.
The mita was controversial since its introduction, and especially as wages became increasingly lower and the working conditions deteriorated. Specifically, the toxicity of the cinnabar dust and extreme working conditions in the Huancavelica mine contributed to an increased mortality rate.
Thousands of Indians escaped from their lands because the obligation to serve was based on territorial circumscriptions and not on personal status. Because the abandonment of the mines could lead to economic collapse, Spain was reluctant to abolish the mita. Finally, in 1812, Las Cortes de Cadiz abolished the system.
