During our class discussions on indigenous people in Latin America, I have been very interested in their systems of government, how their leaders are portrayed, and what duties did these leaders have to fulfill and that is why I chose to read and analyze the cacique article. I believe the article is start-class and a few adjustments have been made by other Wiki users in recent years. The discussion on the talk page is centered around spelling of ‘cacique’ and determining which sources are most credible.

The article’s author attempts to keep a neutral tone but the facts presented appear to give off a Euro-centric perspective. I attribute this to the lack of written primary sources available from the colonial era. Majority of the sources cited are scholarly articles published through American universities. There is also a link to a reading about elite indigenous women but I did not see any women or their role mentioned in the article.

The origins of the cacique pre-colonial contact and the origins of the branch term ‘caciquismo’ are not emphasized in the article. The author quotes Murdo J. Macleod, a Scottish historian, whom states the terms, “either require further scrutiny or, perhaps, they have become so stretched by the diversity of explanations and processes packed into them that they have become somewhat empty generalizations.” The generalization of the terms may be due once again to the lack of primary sources which we have discussed about in class on September 10.

The history section of the article primarily focuses on the relationship between the cacique and colonial rule. Now the recurring theme behind us not knowing traditional ways of past indigenous peoples has been we do not have enough primary sources. My issue is that the indigenous people’s way of life may not be accurately represented in these articles and that a Euro-centric perspective is perceived as absolute.