Reciprocity and the San Juan Fiesta

Abstract

The San Juan fiesta, an Indian drinking ritual in highland Ecuador, illustrates the changing role of reciprocity in a stratified society. Gifts of alcohol are exchanged during the ritual, forming one component of ongoing ties between households. Reciprocity serves as a "starting mechanism" as well as a means to strengthen or weaken ties, and the San Juan customs are manipulated differently by households at different levels of wealth and different points in the life cycle. Agateños use reciprocity to obtain access to scarce economic and political resources, to reduce risk, and to affirm ethnic identity. The complexity of San Juan as a "total social phenomenon" indicates the flexibility of reciprocity in a situation of rapid socioeconomic change and upward mobility.

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