Abstract

ZAGALSKY, Paula C.  and  OLIVETO, Lía Guillermina. The Chiriguanos are Coming!: Rumors about Chiriguanos´s Attacks in the Imperial Villa of Potosi. Andes [online]. 2015, vol.26, n.1, pp.00-00. ISSN 1668-8090.

This article examines the rumors spread in the Villa Imperial de Potosí about the Chiriguanos´s attacks against the nearby villages. Such rumors were permanent in Potosi. From a specific event (the rumors caused by onslaughts of the chiriguanos on the southest borders of Pilaya and Paspaya in 1620) we propose to think over the prevailing cultural order that made it possible the existence and spreading of these rumors as well as the widespred fear that the Chiriguanos attacked Potosí. These rumors emerged in specific social, economic and political contexts analyzed by this article. Besides, these rumors were produced within a colonial society whose dominant sectors held stereotypical images of the Indians, in general, and those from the border, in particular. Indeed, the stereotype of the chiriguanos was historically produced and turned out to be absolutely functional to political logics of the colonial rule. During the event studied, two features of that stereotyped image were exacerbated: the warfare and drunkenness of the chiriguanos. Regardless of truthfulness of the facts, the rumors were plausible because they reflected the stereotype of the chiriguanos. Moreover, besides showing those aspects, we argue that the rumors played an active role producing practical historical effects: they not only reinforced social stereotypes but also were useful in order to ease social and political tensions in Potosí. 

Keywords : Chiriguanos; Rumors; Stereotype; Potosí; Seventeenth Century.

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