“En el nombre del común de estos pobres”

Los curacas de Santiago de Cotagaita contra el gobernador de los Chichas don Juan Cala, 1627

Abstract

This paper analyses a petition signed by four jilacatas, authorities of the ayllus from the town of Santiago de Cotagaita in the province of Chichas in 1627, in which they denounce to the Corregidor of Tarija the grievances committed by the curaca governor in collusion with the Corregidor. The study not only explores, in dialogue with previous historiography, the local political context 50 years after the establishment of the Chichas reductions, but also problematizes the notion of the commons and the community put forward in the petition. It also makes visible the functioning of the indigenous cabildo, in conflict with the governor and the role of the priest against the grievances. At the same time, information is recovered on the fulfilment of the colonial obligations of mitas and tributes.