Here we are

It was in Cajamarca where the conquistador Francisco Pizarro and the Inca Atahualpa met on the afternoon of 16 November 1532. It was there that the oft-told incident occurred in which the Inca threw down the Bible, unleashing the barbarity that resulted in the deaths of ten thousand Indians on that afternoon alone, including men, women, the elderly and children.

We do not believe that the Andean people felt repulsion towards the book or the written word. Other factors were involved in the events of 16 November that triggered the events as we know them. It is even more likely that Atahualpa threw the book at Valverde and not on the ground. Likewise, it can be assumed that he would have thrown a parchment, a tablet or whatever else, given the circumstances. But, at the end of the day, with or without a book thrown to the ground, the massacre would have taken place anyway.

Alfredo Mires Ortiz in: El libro entre los hijos de Atahualpa (The Book Among the Children of Atahualpa); BNP, 2021

That is why, at Bibliotecas Rurales, we began many years ago to commemorate 16th November as the day of 'Aquí estamos' (Here we are); we remember this tragic and painful day by reading with the peasants of Cajamarca, with offerings to the earth and other ceremonies in public and in silence; to remind us that, despite everything, we are still standing and still on our path.