This chapter examines the relationship between consumption of textiles on the frontier and indigenous society in nineteenth-century Bolivia. There is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Indians beyond the frontier were among the most important consumers of imported cloth in the nineteenth-century. Bolivia at that time. The Chiriguanos in particular were able to parlay their military strength to acquire textiles from Bolivian landlords and government officials in tributary relationships. In this case, creoles paid the Indians tribute, not the other way around. Access to imported textiles transformed indigenous society as well, giving war chiefs greater power and devaluing the labor of indigenous women. Ironically, Chiriguano consumption of imported cloth declined after their "pacification" and presumed "incorporation into national society". This article thus attacks a number of widely held presuppositions about interethnic relations, including power relations between Indians and creoles, and the capacity of indigenous societies to absorb imported goods and the significance of foreign goods even beyond the limits of national society.

Author's e-mail: elanger@andew.cmu.edu