Multiple Destinies: Caciques and Native Authorities in La Paz Altiplano and Their Positioning in Society, 1800–40

Recent research on the “cacicazgo” has emphasized the crisis undergone by this institution in the 18th century, with critical moments during the great rebellions of the 1780s and later decades, allowing for a more democratic rotational system of indigenous leadership.  However, early in the 19th century and up to the end of the Independence War (1810-1825), communities were still experiencing internal struggles with “cacique” families.   This paper explores the final years of the Colonial Era as well as the early Post-Independence period trying to answer the following questions: (a) which community authorities took the role of intermediaries in both periods?  From which internal level or strata of their communities did they came from?  What did they gain or lose, coming from sectors outside the traditional system of native leadership? (b) Were these authorities really commoners, or from certain lineages of the “ayllus,” or from outside the communities? (c) What happened to the descendants of “caciques” and how did they relate to both communities and the “criollo” society?  The analysis of multiple scenarios will show not only the complexity and heterogeneity of the indigenous society but also its positioning inside of the new Bolivian nation-state.