The Many Lives of Lorenza Congo: Narration and History in the Bolivian Amazon

Abstract

In San Ignacio de Moxos, the name Lorenza Congo is frequently used as a symbol of indigenous identity and of a past time in which Mojeños were owners of vast wealth in cattle and gold. Nevertheless, except for a few standard details –her diminuitive stature, her wealth and her generosity– the histories told by different narrators vary widely. The differences include disagreements about basic details, including her age, race, and relationship to various descendants, as well as her behavoir in regards to highly charged moral and political values. This article examines a range of variations of these stories, taking note of the social positions, ideological perspectives and political agendas of the narrators. These varied histories of Lorenza Congo intersect with processes of producing an authoritative version of history commonly associated with nations and nation-states. In exploring this intersection, it is clear that narrating histories is a social practice and that adopting narrative styles and practices associated with authoritative history permits narrators to claim an authority that this is not derived from the veracity of the historical facts, but rather from their capacity to fulfit certain social functions.