Most scholars claim that in the second half of the 18th century Andean colonial ‘Kurakas’ declined and fell, and with this, the communities’ political structure disintegrated. This understanding reinforces traditional views of indigenous Andeans as passive victims of external forces, misrepresenting their political agency, and oversimplifies their complex community political culture. The topics studied for this period are mainly large events, like the massive indigenous insurgence of the 1780s and the subsequent power vacuum. However, less visible but more significant intra-community political transformations have been largely overlooked. A close examination of archival sources show the ways in which indigenous communities resisted and modified their internal politics in the midst of the Late Colonial Crisis: (a) community complaints, either in defense or against the contentious ‘Kuraka’ figure, gradually declined; and (b) community struggles concentrated on more urgent issues (tribute, land, and labor). The Late Colonial community actions were increasingly led by less conventional authority figures, such as ‘Varayocs’ (Indian mayors), ‘segundas’ (‘Kuraka’s’ assistants), ‘Jilacatas,’ and often by the community as a whole. This paper argues that community politics, rather than disintegrating, was an influential factor shaping the context of the Late Colonial ‘Kurakas’ crisis.
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