I write this blog from my feeling as a rural woman who is part of indigenous people, descendants of the great Inca Empire, who are now present in the Inga indigenous reservation of Aponte in the department of Nariño, Colombia. I reminisce on my roots, on my grandfathers and grandmothers who were great caciques, who have managed to keep our own traditions alive for hundreds of years, such as cosmogony, traditional costumes, celebrations, language, among other ancestral practices.
At this point, I wonder the reason why we still exist physically and culturally as indigenous communities; and, if my great caciques were still alive, how the interactions between indigenous people and the dominant community would be. As an answer to these questions, it comes to my mind the word dignity, which is not exclusive to a few. This concept applies to all living beings, “to exist and live with dignity”.
Throughout my thirty years of life, I have been able to experience different emotions, such as value and respect towards my roots, as well as taking pride on them, on our traditions and spiritually based knowledge, on our territory and language, which are the only ways to interact and share sacred customs which will allow us to preserve our traditions over time.
Thus, there are fundamental pillars in the existence of our indigenous cultures which keep our communities alive. Some communities have managed to protect these pillars. However, there are several indigenous families who are endangered physically and culturally, and that is the case of my Inga people of Colombia, especially of my Inga people of Aponte, who have faced great challenges, such as indiscriminate logging, illegal crops, and soil fissures that caused Inga families’ houses to collapse.
Nonetheless, we prevailed thanks to ancestral spirituality, wisdom of the elderly, the tenacity of the families to face these great challenges, even though these are still present in other territories affecting human lives as well as the territories’ biodiversity.
Thanks to our people’s infinite wisdom, we can share our story today, from our own experience and to speak up with our own voice about the importance of knowing the history of our communities about the challenges that were faced and overcome. But, the most valuable lesson is to learn, to teach and to tell our society that we can achieve a different world if we value local customs and knowledge.
That is why today I am a very proud indigenous woman who firmly believes that the communities have the power to transform reality, this reality that has historically affected us. I also believe that our youth has great potential to fight for our territories and manage them.
