Transcending Traditionalism

As I descend from El Prado to Plaza Camacho, rhythms of the morenada ring from below, signaling a folkloric celebration. The 2015 election of the Cholita Paceña Zona Central beauty pageant has just begun, and ten young women stand anxiously beside the stage. These women have prepared for months in anticipation of this night by dancing the morenada, studying Bolivian history and geography, and assembling the perfect outfit. Tangible excitement fills the plaza, where approximately fifty people have gathered to watch the cholitas display pride in their Aymara, or indigenous, heritage. Family and friends bundled from head to toe refuse to let the chilled Andean air suppress their support as they wave signs and blow kazoos to encourage their treasured contestants. Everyone wonders who will be given the Cholita Paceña 2015, awarded to the most “authentic” La Paz cholita—someone who articulates a meaningful message in Aymara, shows pride in her family and heritage, struts elegantly in her traditional clothing and jewelry, and has just the right step when dancing the morenada.

This scene took place in the Cholita Paceña, an urban-indigenous pageant in La Paz, Bolivia. The pageant demonstrates a glorification of women who embrace their historical rural Aymara roots while living in an urban environment. The Cholita Paceña pageant represents a recent change in attitude towards indigeneity, as urban indigenous women, oftentimes referred to as “cholas,” and rural indigenous women alike have faced political, social, and economic discrimination since Bolivia was colonized in 1538. Cholas were not considered citizens, were not allowed to enter public spaces, and were condemned to low-paying jobs for about 450 years due to colonial governmental practices—even after Bolivia gained independence in 1825.

A shift began in the 1990s when cholas started to protest these injustices and demanded legal change. The first indigenous president, Evo Morales, was elected in 2005 and implemented a new constitution in 2009, guaranteeing indigenous peoples of Bolivia legal equality. Legal change has slowly brought about social change, and today, cholas work towards the valorization of indigenous peoples in Bolivian society. The Cholita Paceña pageant demonstrates this movement towards social change by celebrating, not condemning, indigenous heritage. The pageant also challenges Western conceptions of indigeneity, which often compartmentalize indigenous peoples as traditional, rural, and backwards.

The Cholita Paceña contestants oftentimes identify as mestizo, which literally means “mixed race.” However, after speaking with several contestants, I came to realize that some of them use this term to distinguish themselves from their connection to the countryside. For example, one sunny afternoon before the pageant, all eighteen contestants gathered for a photo shoot at the San Francisco Church. Luckily for me, the photographer allowed me to go “behind the scenes” with the contestants, which, in this case, meant the roof of the church. It was there that I met Nelly, a contestant dressed in a beautiful peach outfit topped with a black blower hat. The intricate detail of the flowers on her shawl reminded me of my visit to several pollera shops the previous day. There I learned that an outfit like Nelly’s would cost hundreds of dollars, making it some of the most expensive clothing in the city. When I asked her if she had ever rented a pollera for an event because of the high expenses, she scoffed at me.

“Of course not! The only people who rent this clothing are people from the countryside who just come to La Paz for a few days. We cholitas own lots of clothes like this…that is the difference between we indigenous people in La Paz. We adorn ourselves in jewelry, makeup and beautiful clothing. They [in the countryside] dress simply and go without jewelry and makeup.”

Cholitas display the economic distinction that Nelly emphasized through their elaborate appearance with expensive clothing, jewelry, and makeup. Indigenous people from the countryside do not have the purchasing power to own such elegant clothing and therefore can only rent it when visiting the city. And yet the purpose of the pageant is to celebrate indigeneity. Nelly and other cholitas excitedly told me that they were participating in the pageant so they could demonstrate pride in their indigenous heritage. However, when provoked about the economic aspect, Nelly was offended to be associated with her rural counterparts. Her reaction reveals a partial identification with her indigenous background but a reluctance to fully embrace it; while she celebrates cultural ties, such as language, dance, and clothing, she ultimately looks down on the relative economic simplicity of indigenous life.

The pageant reinforces those cultural phenomena that the state had condemned and asserts the economic power that urban indigenous people hold. While the pageant represents the revalorization of cholas in Bolivian society, it also emphasizes materialism and a unique elitism.

Yet the complexities do not stop there. Nikolas Huallpará, the Director of Promotion of Folklore at the House of Culture in La Paz, argues that this performance of wealth actually shows the transcendence of the women of pollera in Bolivian society. In an interview with me, he said, “Women of pollera are the cultural patrimony of the chola identity. From revolutions to uprisings and even in this pageant, they have had great transcendence in Bolivia. In fact, thanks to this pageant, many cholitas have entered political life, are working in important companies, and have become great professionals. But they have maintained their identity…they still wear the pollera to work and more women are beginning to wear it in the university. We are very proud of this.”

Nikolas explained that when women wear traditional indigenous clothing in spaces where indigenous peoples were traditionally not allowed to do so, they demonstrate their transcendence of political and professional life. Furthermore, the pageant’s assertion of wealth shows Bolivians that indigenous peoples can be wealthy and accomplished while still maintaining their languages, clothing, and customs. In Huallpará’s eyes, Nelly’s materialism is actually a strategy for showing the political, social, and economic versatility of indigenous peoples in La Paz, rather than a method of exclusion. I lay out this contradiction within the Cholita Paceña pageant to complicate Western ideas of traditional and modern ways of life. Nelly represents someone who thwarts these seemingly polar concepts. She speaks Aymara, wears indigenous clothing, and knows how to dance indigenous dances. However, she lives in the city of La Paz, has enough purchasing power to own a wardrobe of expensive clothing, and is competing in a beauty pageant, which is itself a Western event. Furthermore, Nelly has a complicated relationship with her indigenous background. She rejects certain parts of it and embraces others. She simultaneously promotes the valorization of indigenous peoples in La Paz by dressing in indigenous clothing and performing wealth and dissociates herself from her indigenous background by claiming superiority over her indigenous counterparts in the countryside. In this way, she challenges Western notions of a “traditional” indigenous person. Furthermore, she confronts the idea that people must be either traditional or modern by fusing elements of both lifestyles in her urban indigenous identity. She bridges the gap between the two seemingly opposing ideas and demonstrates the depth and breadth of indigenous identities in Bolivian society today.