Indigenous Political Organization in Huamachuco, Peru, in the Early Seventeenth Century.

Author

Carolina Delgado Domínguez, The University of Western OntarioFollow

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Anthropology

Supervisor

Millaire Jean-François

Abstract

This thesis explores socio-political practices in the former Huamachuco province (upper Virú valley, northern Peru) through the analysis of a legal document from the first decade of the 17^th century. I analyze a litigation regarding indigenous political organization during the first centuries of the Colonial period. This case sheds light over the interaction between a cacicazgo (chiefdom) in the highlands of Huamachuco, and a cacicazgo in Simbal in the middle zone between the coast and the highlands (the chaupiyunga ecological zone), and on endurance of pre-Hispanic political practices during the early Colonial period in the Peruvian north. The 16^th and 17^th centuries are important to understand changes, adaptations, and continuity of indigenous populations’ practices after the Spanish invasion. The information was gathered from colonial manuscripts filed in the Archivo Regional La Libertad in the city of Trujillo on the north coast of Peru.

Recommended Citation

Delgado Domínguez, Carolina, "Indigenous Political Organization in Huamachuco, Peru, in the Early Seventeenth Century." (2018). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5793.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5793