Resisting Colonialism: Cultural Syncretism, Indigenous Agency and Exploition in Colonial Potosí

Authors

Isaac Galef-Brown, The College of WoosterFollow

Abstract

I analyze the transition indigenous peoples made from their native Andean communities to the Spanish colonial city of Potosí­ in modern day Bolivia. Although most historic study focuses on the infamous mita system of forced indigenous labor, I study the transition through the indigenous lens to find example of their economic gains as well as the cultural interactions they had with Spaniards. This alternative focus gives Potosí's past a very different characterization, defined less by exploitation and more by cultural syncretism.

Advisor

Holt, Katie

Department

History

Recommended Citation

Galef-Brown, Isaac, "Resisting Colonialism: Cultural Syncretism, Indigenous Agency and Exploition in Colonial Potosí" (2013). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 3787.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/3787

Disciplines

Latin American History

Keywords

potosã­, indigenous, spanish, silver

Publication Date

2013

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis Exemplar