La revuelta de las "Ñatitas": "Empoderamiento ritual" y ciclo de difuntos en la ciudad de La Paz (Bolivia)

Abstract

The periodic exhumation and moving of dead bodies is a ritual of long history in the Central Andes, as revealed by "programs to extirpate idolatry" in the 16th and 17th centuries as well as ethnography on current All-Saints Day celebrations. Despite the open hostility of the Catholic Church toward "unorthodox" customs regarding the dead, remarkable instances of them can still be observed and studied at present, such as the socalled "Feast of the Ñatitas" which is held on every Sunday following All-Saints Day in the premises and church of "the General Cemetery" of La Paz. The current process of "ritual empowerment" of native peoples and social movements in Bolivia makes it all too clear the full significance of this feast as well as its commanding presence in ritual time and space against the policy of Catholic Church authorities in the country.