Abstract
The emergence of the first urban sikus bands in the late 19 th Century was closely related to the performance of such ensembles in traditional Andean Catholic celebrations. At present, the relationship between Catholic devotion and these bands is preserved among the small populations of the Andean region of Bolivia, Peru, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. By contrast, in the context of the current processes of re-ethnicization, the sikus bands in large cities have not only lost the strong bonds with the Church, questioning its role during the Spanish conquest, but have adapted and recreated pre-Hispanic beliefs and appropriated Eastern notions and ideas of the sacred as reformulated and disseminated by New-Age movements. I will explore and analyze the contrasting narratives that dispute religious authenticity among the members of sikus bands in contemporary Buenos Aires. This article is based on data gathered in my ethnographic fieldwork conducted in several phases between 2001 and 2012 in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, through participant observation in different sikus bands and from interviews with key informants. During the 1990s, a great influx of migrants of indigenous descent came from Bolivia and Peru and settled in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. These communities brought practices that belong to Catholic tradition - the religion to which the vast majority of people from these countries belong- that had long disappeared from the city. The most important celebration for the Andean region migrants is a big parade to venerate Our Lady of Copacabana, patron saint of Bolivia.
Highlights
During the 1990s, a great influx of migrants of indigenous descent came from Bolivia and Peru and settled in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area
The Andean panpipe –or siku- ensembles are among the many dance and music groups that take part in this parade. This native instrument has become a symbol of indigenous culture, it has been largely used to worship Catholic icons brought by the Spanish conquest
Intrinsic to the life experiences of social actors in the diverse environment of a big city; the changes they enact go beyond the strictly religious realm and are strongly related to an identity quest, which many define as an “identity recovery”
Summary
During the 1990s, a great influx of migrants of indigenous descent came from Bolivia and Peru and settled in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. Due to the growing influence of the indigenous rights groups and their criticisms of Catholicism, and to the exposure of different religiosities in the urban sectors as well, performing at this fiesta (the most important special event for the migrant community) has lost its relevance for the sikus bands As their commitment to the indigenous rights cause grew, the sikus bands’ members developed different strategies to cope with the contradiction between their Christian religious heritage - which is very strong in the Andean region where they came from - and their native pride ideology. It is a paradox that the creation of the urban sikus’ bands is indebted to traditional Catholic celebrations, which continue to be the most important occasions for siku performance in small towns and rural areas, thereby keeping the tradition alive
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