Resisting the sheep?: Andean populations confronted with the introduction of European wool animals in the 16th century

The conquest of the Americas in the 16th century was accompanied by the introduction of European animals to meet the food and economic needs of the Spanish. In the Andes, mining meant breeding mules for transport and sheep for textiles and meat. The introduction of the Castilian sheep to populations already breeding camelids (llamas and alpacas) often took the form of an imposition in the form of property restitution, in line with the bad conscience of the conquistadors. While the abundance of sheep in the Andes at the end of the 16th century demonstrates the success of the phenomenon, documents suggest that this adoption met with resistance from the Andean peoples. They adopted sheep in order to enter the market economy imposed by the conquerors and to pay the colonial tribute. For them, it was less a question of profit than of the survival of their communities.