Interethnic Relations and Gender in Marriages among Afro-Andean and Indigenous Spouses in Cusco, 1650–1720

On March 31st, 1650, a terrible earthquake struck Cuzco; this catastrophe brought a profound modification in the social structure and the physical appearance of the city: between 1650 and 1720, a rural Cuzco became an urban Cuzco. Within this context of disaster and reconstruction, it is possible to better view the African or Afro-Andean presence and participation in Cuzco. The city’s reconstruction generated more documentation, and this made Africans and Afro-Andeans more visible, allowing their recognition as active social participants, not just as enslaved people, but also as free subjects, and the different strategies that this segment of the population employed to adjust and insert itself in a majority indigenous society. In the midst of an era of change, reconstruction, and growth, they appear frequently in a series of social conflicts, especially in interethnic relations. Beginning with an intensive interrogation of the documentary sources, this paper re-interprets these relations and explores changing gender dynamics in marriages among Afro-Andean and indigenous spouses in Cusco, 1650-1720.