Experiencing Inca Domination in Northwest Argentina and the Southern Andes

FÉLIX A. ACUTO

Handbook of South American Archaeology

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2006;

I claim in this paper that Inca domination influence the indigenous societies of the Southern Andes. Through the analysis of Inca domination from the point of view of the colonized, and how subjects experienced this new political context, I demonstrate the significant impact that Inca conquest had on native societies’ social life. First, this paper explores how Inca conquest altered the social dynamic among communities and created new social relations between different groups. While some native communities were affected by and marginalized from these relations, others were benefited by Inca occupation. The second section of the article examines the transformations that Inca domination fostered in subject communities’ social and political structures. Third, I explore the ways indigenous people may have experienced Incaic places. I claim that this constituted a dramatic experience that shaped the identity of the colonized, as well as the identities of those who the Incas sent as their representatives. In the last section of the article, I explore the aftermath of Inca time, demonstrating that Inca domination left an indelible mark on south-Andean communities’ social practices and memory.