Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Description
In December 2013 I revisited the old Curaca of Macha (Alasaya),
don Gregorio Carvajal, when I was shown a part of his archive I had not
seen before. Correspondence from different instances show us indian
authorities at different levels writing and receiving correspondence, not
only to and from national and Church authorities, but among themselves.
The archive reflects the play of indian authority and communal sovereignty
during the period of indigenous fiscal autonomy during the 20th century,
and includes a local written expression of the tributary "pact". Don
Gregorio also recited an oral template of the notarial form for the
documents he had written recognising fulfilment by tributaries of their
'turno forzoso' (mita obligations). I compare this template with documents
written by his father don Agustin Carvajal, ex-combatiente of the Chaco
war, now stored in the Historical Archive of Potosí. This shows the
creative combination of old Spanish legal formulae, reflecting the
reproduction in the 20th century of the democracy of the 'Old Régime'.
Period
19 Jun 2014 → 22 Jun 2014
Event title
Association of Social Anthropologists ASA Conference Edinburgh