Long Live Atahualpa: Indigenous Politics, Justice, and Democracy in the Northern Andes

Conclusion

Conclusion I return now to a question formulated at the beginning of this volume: how do we approach and interpret the specificity of indigenous politics? And, more specifically, how do we understand the interplay of cultural and political distinctiveness in relation to larger processes of change in geopolitics and transnational economics? How have the many changes in Ecuador ’s political culture that have taken place since I concluded my initial period of fieldwork in 1998 impacted circumstances in Tixán? The political processes I have examined account for the period that led to the multicultural turn and the moment in which second-grade organizations such as the Inca Atahualpa came to play a crucial role in redefining local power relations. But what has happened in the intervening years? How have the Inca Atahualpa and the Quichuas in Tixán been navigating the complexities of the postrecognition phase? I have argued that the multiplication of subject positions arising from the politicization of ethnic identity is not inherently disempowering for indigenous movements. Nonetheless, what are the consequences of the politics of ethnic recognition for indigenous people in Tixán? In addition to having maintained contact with people from Tixán during these intervening years, I returned to Tixán in October 2007. According to what I saw and to what A. L. recounted, the changes in Tixán are consistent with trends described in this book. Like many other towns in the Ecuadorian highlands, Tixán has become “more indigenous,” meaning that more indigenous people have moved to the town. Concomitantly, many tixaneños, especially the wealthier families, kept migrating to cities or abroad, leaving behind their elders and their houses and returning for the town’s fiestas in June. This change has particularly affected the 268 Conclusion small grocery shops, which now are run primarily by elders. Features of the harvest festival celebration since 2000 confirm the more culturally and ethnically mixed trends discussed in chapter 6. The participation of tixaneños increased especially with canelazos for the ballroom-dancing nights and alcancías for the bullfighting afternoon. As A. L. pointed out, the economic situation since 2005 has shortened the celebration to two days. In the same year the Inca Atahualpa board reinstated the celebration of the jahuay after the festival’s Sunday Mass. The music contest has become more prominent since the creation of the local radio station, Zota Urco, in 2002. A. L., as radio director and musician, provided leadership for enhancing the musical contest and thereby celebrating Quichua artists . The soccer championship grew to such an extent that festival organizers made it a separate event, introducing two tournaments—one at the cantonal level, for teams representing organizations, and another at the parish level, for teams representing local communities. The Inca Atahualpa endures, although it struggles to sustain its projects.1 Its weavers’ project, initiated in 1998 with funds from the Dutch ngo Esquel, ended unsuccessfully due to problems related to the commercialization of wool.2 One of the childcare centers, opened in town after decentralization led to the election of indigenous representatives to the local junta, operates in the Inca Atahualpa–owned millhouse. The organization also endorsed the creation of the Zota Urco radio station, supported by funds from the Canadian ngo Development and Peace (Desarrollo y Paz). The radio station emerged as the most active indigenous cultural producer, fostering all of the cultural performances that were reinstated in the harvest festival.The organization also facilitated the creation of two health centers, in the communities of Yacupungo and Pachamama, where only traditional indigenous medicine is practiced. The most interesting developments, however, are linked to the processes of decentralization and constitutional recognition. Both factors have reshaped the role in local politics of grassroots organizations such as the Inca Atahualpa. Since 1998 the Inca Atahualpa has been gaining local power in Tixán and in the cantonal council. According to the decentralization legislation, parish civil officers and parish assembly members are elected by popular vote and no longer are appointed on the basis of party politics. Since the late 1990s this political restructuring has offered the Inca Atahualpa’s leaders an opportunity to be elected as parish civil officers . In 1998, P. B. was the first indigenous person in Tixán to be elected as Conclusion 269 a civil officer. The creation of Pachakutik also gave opportunities to other indigenous candidates to be elected to municipal offices...