Death Rituals and Social Change among the Aymara of Peru: The Subversive Strength of Ritual

Abstract

After six centuries of domination, first by the Incas then by the Spaniards and their heirs, the Aymara people have adapted and changed to survive. A critical step in that adaptation was the appropriation of a syncretic Catholicism during the Spanish Conquest. The rituals, especially those related to death, manifest a complex culture and provide strength for this people to face the challenges of modernity.