Santiago Muñoz-Arbeláez

This project revisits the making of the city of Bogotá, Colombia, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by centering the story of Catalina, a teenage female Indigenous domestic servant who fled from servitude and navigated the city’s geographies and power structures. Catalina’s journey upends prevailing historical narratives of Bogotá and colonial cities—particularly, that Bogotá was a predominantly Iberian space or that cities were havens for freedom and economic independence. By navigating the urban space from the perspective of an Indigenous teenage woman who struggled for autonomy, I aim to highlight Bogotá’s vibrant Indigenous activity and show that freedom was not more attainable for Indigenous women labeled as “criadas”. I argue that the story of Catalina’s search for freedom is also the history of the making of Bogotá’s urban spaces and forms of socialization that restricted her movement and kept female Indigenous domestic workers in servitude.