Micaela spoke Quechua better than Spanish. She was a devout Catholic, but had little formal schooling.[4] An account describes her as being "a beautiful Indian girl."[5] It is unclear whether she was of African descent, since virtually nothing is known about her father, but some documents refer to her as a Zamba, a name given during the colonial-era racial hierarchy for those of mixed race, African and indigenous. Her marriage certificate listed her parents as both being "Spaniards" (españoles), but there was considerable fluidity in the system of racial classification, and such a designation may have been a "sign of respectability."[6]