ABSTRACT
The issue of appropriation and the use of cultural heritage elements for political purposes is a universal phenomenon that we can observe in many parts of the world and almost all countries in Latin America. The politicisation processes in that region refer primarily to Indigenous Peoples‘ cultural heritage, linking successively with politics of colonialism (cultural imperialism), nationalism, populism, neo-colonialism (endocolonialismo), and the contemporary concepts of interculturalism and ethnodevelopment (etnodesarrollo). Indirectly, they also determine the ethnopolitics of states and the changing of the Indigenous part of Latin American societies’ political and social status. As an example of dynamic changes in the heritage-politics relations in the Latin America region, I propose a short analysis of the changing role and meaning of Indigenous Peoples‘ heritage in Peru based on observations of the Qhapaq Ñan Project. Qhapaq Ñan, the Main Andean Trail, is an extensive network of over 70,000 km of roads, trails, paths, bridges, and associated economic and administrative structures. It expanded during several centuries of the pre-Hispanic period over the Andean region's territory and the Inca state Tahuantinsuyu. In 2001, the authorities of the Republic of Peru decided to initiate an interdisciplinary program for research, conservation, and protection of the remains of the Trail and began efforts to nominate the pre-Hispanic road network as a symbol of World Heritage. The inscription on the UNESCO List was made during the 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha in 2014. From the perspective of critical heritage studies, the Qhapaq Ñan Project can be seen as a political initiative corresponding to the need to strengthen the Peruvian democracy recovered after years of internal war (1980–2000). It was also an excellent opportunity to reach again the Inca heritage used many times as a political instrument in Peruvian politics, thus leading to the patrimonialisation of Qhapaq Ñan heritage and practices critically defined as neo-indigenismo. However, as for many contemporary Andean communities (comunidades asociadas), Qhapaq Ñan is not only a symbol of pre-Columbian cultural heritage but also an essential element of their social life and economic activity; therefore, in the Qhapaq Ñan Project course, the Trail started to be considered an important element of social and economic facilitator of the modern development strategies and more horizontal heritage’ management practices. The methods of work used for several years by the members of the Project follow the guidelines and international documents related to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, ratified by the Republic of Peru in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The activities and operational plans of the Qhapaq Ñan Project based on the principles of dialogue, participation and consultations can be placed in the broader context of Indigenous Peoples‘ ethnic and political revival, which has been occurring in Latin America for several decades. Despite many difficulties, the critical attitude of the representatives of the Qhapaq Ñan heritage and the uneasy relations between public institutions and local communities, some achievements of the Project can serve as an example of the implementation of “good practices” in Peruvian cultural policy, consistent with more horizontal and democratic principles of cultural heritage management.
