Conclusions: Appropriating the Inca

This chapter addresses the key concepts discussed in Part 8, which focused on the persistence of Inca identity and associated politics of performance, indigeneity, and “Incanism.” The ruptures of natural disasters and political upheaval have allowed Cuzco to be rebuilt in new cycles that invoke Inca identity in distinct ways, the most recent of these as a center of world heritage. At a broader level, the colonial-era broadening of Inca identity helped to sustain indigenous rebellions against Spanish colonial rule, and this persisted after independence, as the Incas became a national Peruvian symbol. The globalization of Inca heritage sites has occurred alongside Inca-inspired representations of indigenous identity elsewhere, making the Incas the aspirational ancestors for different scales of identity-building. Inca sites like Machu Picchu serve as rich places for the intersections of different performances of what it means to be Inca.