Labor History of Colonial Bolivia

knowledge, the second shows how that knowledge transformed under conflict. Chapter 4 describes how increased labor demands in mining areas led to Indigenous migrations that spurred new ethnic identities and alterations in ecosystems. When Indigenous groups came into closer contact with one another, the result was not just cultural fusions but, along with those, the deep integration of their respective ecological knowledge and practices. Chapter 5 uses court records to show the creative ways that Indigenous villages, in attempts to protect their natural landscapes, marked their boundary lines. While non-Indigenous landowners saw acquiring property as a means to greater wealth—increasing harvests, expanding their herds, or extracting more resources—Indigenous villagers viewed this territory, especially the thorn scrub forests they used communally, as the basis of their identity. Chapter 6 goes deep into a rebellion of 1739–41 to show how armed resistance played an integral role in Indigenous strategies to respond to ecological crisis, replace bad government, and assert political and cultural autonomy.