Tras los pasos del mitayo: la sacralización del espacio en los corregimientos de Pacajes y Omasuyos (1570-1650)

• Main Author: Ariel J. Morrone
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Institut Français d'Études Andines 2015-05-01
• Series: Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
• Subjects: ethnic leadership; legitimacy; territoriality; sacred spaces; religiosity; collective memory
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/7408

This article argues that the transfer of mitayos from their pueblos de reducción to the Potosí mines was done using ritual paths and spaces. According to Martti Pärssinen, there was a boundary system imposed by the Inkas in the core area of Pakaxa chiefdom in the southern basin of Titicaca lake (currently the Department of La Paz, Bolivia). From this suggestion, we reconstruct those “mita pathways”, overseen by ethnic leaders, which departed from the pueblos de reducción to local congregations, and ultimately converging on Potosí and the surrounding hills that were major centers of worship in the South Andes. Without denying the exploitative nature of the mita of Potosi, we dig deep into associated practices, in order to recover some patterns of native religiosity, whose traces are elusive in colonial documents.