The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Santiago recently contributed to the global dialogue on ethnohistory and Indigenous territorialities. Representing the university at the VI International Congress on Indigenous Worlds: History, Territoriality, and Indigenous Knowledge in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil, Dr. Xochitl Inostroza coordinated a pivotal panel. Presenting “Labor Relations and Indigenous Agency in Services, Occupations, and Positions in Colonial Abya Yala”, she led a session on the dynamics of work and the active role of Indigenous peoples during the colonial period.
Inostroza’s research, titled “Work and Devotion,” examined the Andinization of Christianity between 1619 and 1698. Her work highlights how 17th-century Andean communities reappropriated and transformed religious practices through labor and service, offering new insights into cultural resistance and identity formation during a period of profound social transformation.
This participation marked a milestone in Professor Inostroza’s career in the international academic community. “This is the first time I’ve participated in this conference. It allowed me to engage more closely with the Brazilian context, an area I haven’t studied extensively but find very interesting,” the scholar explained. The panel she coordinated resulted from sustained work with a research group focused on labor relations, enabling the discussion of indigenous labor issues to extend beyond national borders.
A strong presence of researchers from Indigenous communities characterized the conference, enriching the interdisciplinary dialogue. According to Inostroza, the experience allowed her to observe how history and literature converge in the recovery of memory. “I really appreciated a panel of Indigenous writers, which included both poets and historians. It wasn’t strictly disciplinary; instead, they engaged in extensive dialogue and drew heavily on Indigenous knowledge,” she noted regarding the quality of the presentations in Brazil.
One of the central themes of the FAHU scholar’s presentation was a reflection on the concept of “agency”—the ability of indigenous people to act, negotiate, and transform their reality within the colonial system. This approach is fundamental to the Faculty’s research, as it moves away from perspectives that portray indigenous peoples solely as passive subjects of history.
In her presentation on the Andinization of Christianity, Inostroza analyzed the period between 1619 and 1698, revealing how personal service was not merely a labor requirement but also a place where new forms of devotion took shape. This perspective allows us to understand religion not merely as a top-down imposition but as a process of constant negotiation in which Andean knowledge permeated colonial ecclesiastical structures.
Through this participation, Dr. Inostroza reaffirms the commitment of the Department of History and the Faculty of Humanities to generating knowledge that is grounded in context and respectful of the histories of Indigenous peoples. By joining these international research networks, the Faculty of Humanities continues to contribute to a historiography that recognizes the diversity and complexity of our shared past.