ABSTRACT
The indigenismo movement was born as a formal reaction to the entrenched power of the traditional Limena elite, who comprised the land-owner class and their clients. This indigenista project consisted in revaluing and recognizing the rights of the indigenous people, placing them on the same level as other ethnic groups in Lima and the provincial capitals such as Cusco, Puno, and Arequipa. In the 1920s, when conservative groups dominated Lima's entire intellectual environment, indigenismo was restricted to provincial intellectual circles and a few Limenos, such as those that were in the Asociacion Pro-Indigena. Francisco Garcia Calderon refers to this period of time as the "Cusco School", which was characterized by a clear indigenismo perspective. The official ideology of indigenismo, promoted by the state during Leguia's dictatorship as discussed earlier, was in crisis. As the Venezuelan archaeologist Mario Sanoja rightly notes, Peru was the center of the most developed of all the South American civilizations.
