This elegant pink and gray frazada was purchased from Cecibel Martinez
and named in honor of the great Bolivian heroine, Bartolina Sisa, who, along
with her husband Tupac Katari, led one of the most storied rebellions in
Bolivian history.
The daughter of traveling salespeople, Bartolina Sisa, born some time
around 1750 (the exact date is a bit murky), spent her childhood bopping from
one Altiplano town to another, during which frequent migrations she...
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The daughter of traveling salespeople, Bartolina Sisa, born some time
around 1750 (the exact date is a bit murky), spent her childhood bopping from
one Altiplano town to another, during which frequent migrations she observed
the true depth of indigenous oppression at the hands of the country’s Spanish
colonizers and became determined to remedy the situation. She would soon meet
and marry the similarly minded Júlian Apaza Nina (aka Tupac Katari), and
together they would raise an army of some 40,000, laying siege to the city of
La Paz in 1781. Setting up court in El Alto, Katari and Sisa maintained the
siege for 184 days before being defeated by Spanish forces. Sisa was captured
and—despite her husband’s attempts at a rescue mission—brutally executed on
September 5th of 1782. Today, the date of her death is celebrated as
the International Day of Indigenous Women.
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