The 'indigenous question' in the discourse of the Río de la Plata revolutionary leadership (1809–1816)

Abstract

This article explores the presence that the “indigenous question” had in the discourse of the creole ruling elites during the Rio de la Plata´s revolutionary process. We will focus on the representations and characterizations of the indigenous of the Andean region in the creole insurgent discourse based on various interventions by some central actors of the revolutionary period. We are interested in knowing the perception the leadership had about the living conditions of the indigenous peoples, as well as the place they were given in the revolutionary agenda and the uses and meanings they gave to their political-cultural traditions, particularly those of Inca matrix, in the political horizons opened from the imperial crisis. Our work will take into account public interventions by some prominent intellectuals, including their formative stage, to trace in this way the roots of the pro-indigenist concerns of a sector of the insurgent faction. We will concentrate on the analysis of proclamations, articles and manifestos from the revolutionary years itself, as well as on the debates that originated in the Buenos Aires press from the proposal of an Inca monarchy in the Congreso de Tucumán.