This thesis reevaluates the prevailing interpretation of the Oruro rebellion of 1781. The uprising is usually portrayed as a Creole-Indian undertaking, and is often offered as evidence of the possibilities of such collaboration in effecting social change. The Oruro rebellion in fact consisted of two largely distinct uprisings--Creole/Mestizo and Indian--each with their own origins, dynamics and antithetical visions of the future While the Creoles and their Mestizo supporters sought to replace the Spanish and give a limited degree of additional liberty to the native peoples, the Indians believed they were presiding over a divinely-assisted and long-prophesied cataclysm which would restore native rule and pre-hispanic ways The Oruro rebellion also demonstrates the often unrecognized fact that the Quechua-speaking Tupac Amaru had enthusiastic and explicit, if nominal, support in Aymara regions as the long-awaited hero-savior come to liberate the Indians. While this highlights the decentralized nature of the regional uprising, it also reflects the widespread eschatological expectations in the region. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
