MULETERS

 
MULETERS

Indomitable horsemen from the Andean peaks, the muleteers from the Pedro Moncayo or Tabacundo canton area, are skilful centaurs who ride through the steep páramos of Fuya Fuya towards the four cardinal points, wading through the wild surroundings of the mysterious Mojanda lagoons.

FUYA FUYA AND THE WARMI COCHA LAGOON.

Steel-tempered men with a firm hand direct from their horses the large herds of cattle that they herd from commune to commune, from farm to farm towards a common destination of fairs and markets, avoiding unfathomable abysses and treacherous quagmires or swamps, spending days and weeks by hidden chaquiñanes where the gaze is lost in the intense gold of the endless grasslands.

THE CHAMIZA

At dusk they seek shelter in caves and arbors, leave their animals safely and light the bonfires where they prepare their food and their hot waters made from field herbs sweetened with panela, baptized with a generous portion of cigar or brandy to ward off the cold and the As a result, they slowly fall asleep between stories and songs, remembering the dragging of chamizas, the popular bulls and the taming of colts in the past festivals.

   DRAG OF WOOD FOR THE CHAMIZA OF THE FESTIVAL

 

Early the next day they continue their journey, checking their horses, checking their ironwork, preparing their saddles, stirrups and bridles, then they set off, in the midst of the persistent fog, the constant drizzle, the icy hail and that biting wind that prove their courage, they do not know fear, every day they are fewer, currently young people prefer other occupations and modernity no longer requests their hard-working services.

RECORRIENDO LOS PARAMOS DE MOJANDA CON UN VIEJO COMUNERO Y ARRIERO DE TOCACHI

WALKING THE PARAMOS OF MOJANDA WITH AN OLD COMMUNITY AND ARRIERO FROM TOCACHI

A heartfelt tribute goes to them, to those riders with calloused hands and noble hearts who, between legends and tales, taught me the secrets of the mountain and to overcome the challenges that the road imposes on us, but above all, they taught me to love this land and its ancient traditions. and customs, where above all things the word still counts.

Original post: 
https://terraza-ilalo.blogspot.com/2017/06/arrieros.html

    Autor: Juan Acosta Salazar.

MAMA QUILLA OR MOTHER MOON.

 The Moon has been the timeless and universal symbol that has represented women in the beliefs of all civilizations on the planet. For primitive man, the Moon was the natural symbol of the feminine essence, in contrast to the masculine essence considered to be of a solar nature. The intimate connection between many female fertility rites and the Moon is manifested by its association with a symbology referring to the female reproductive organs, gestation and childbirth.

In the coastal and Andean civilizations of pre-Hispanic America, the cult of the Moon was widely generalized, although it is clear that not in all cases its ceremonial rites were registered or symbolized and in many others they adopted confused forms and manifestations.

In the Inca worldview, mother Moon (Mama Quilla), sister and wife of father Sun (Taita Inti) was the guardian and protector of all manifestations and feminine aspects of the Quechua universe. The changes that the star manifested during its orbital cycle led to a lunar calendar that governed various aspects of the Andean universe and worked in parallel to the solar calendar. In specific terms, the Moon and its phases indicated the periods of great fertility of the earth (Mama Pacha) and exerted a direct influence on the fertility of women.

The cult of Mama Quilla was conserved, participated in and celebrated exclusively by women. The priestesses of the Moon belonged to the Cusco female elite, were very numerous and had a main temple in Qorikancha. These priestesses wore long gray robes and cloaks of the same shade, covered their heads with a thick white wool cap, and wore silver earrings that made a metallic sound that warned men of their presence, who were forbidden to look at them.

The priestesses of the moon were known as great healers and very wise women, they knew the secrets of the plants and were very busy sorcerers, their oracles generally announced disasters and calamities, that is why the moon was revered with great fear, unlike the Sun. who was adored with joy.

In the tenth month of the Inca calendar, Coya raymi (September), at the beginning of the rainy season – spring equinox – during the first night of the new Moon, the Quillamama raymi took place, a great celebration in honor of the Moon , a special festival for women.

The party began inside the Qorikancha temple, at the altar of the Moon, then continued with a silent nocturnal walk towards Saqsaywaman; there in the temple of Mama quilla, torches were lit that illuminated the night with sparkles to the sky reflected by silver fountains, then they made vibrate thin sheets of silver that emitted a sound that broke the silence to attract the attention of the moon. Essences and perfumes were burned, the water was watered with aromatic oils and they threw combs, mirrors, needles, women's ornaments and miniaturized silver filigree into the sky, reflected in the water, they also burned white llama wool and fine women's clothing in bonfires.

In the current province of Anta in the department of Cuzco - Peru, located at 3,600 meters above sea level. is the sanctuary of Quillarumiyoc (the stone of the moon) which is considered the only ceremonial archaeological center dedicated to women.

Quillarumiyoc occupies a huge terraced area built in the same style as Saqsayhuaman, Chincheros and the upper parts of Ollantaytambo (ancient sacred sites located in Cuzco). The Huaca or stone replica of an Apu (sacred mountain) is a symbol carved on one of the largest rocks and represents an ancient temple dedicated to the divinity of the essence and the expression of the feminine principle.

Within the universal concept of lunar mythology, the connection with Quilla Mama is what gives the Quechua woman the secrets of magic, charm, beauty, the strength of the invisible, knowledge of cycles and feminine wisdom; it also reminds him of her instability and vulnerability. It is to her that the Andean women offered to ask for protection for girls, women in labor and newborn babies.

Original post:
https://terraza-ilalo.blogspot.com/2015/01/mama-quilla-o-madre-luna.html

Written by Juan Acosta Salazar.

THE CAÑARIS, BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY.

THE LEGEND OF THE MACAWS

This story was narrated to me by the Wise Elders, guardians of Memory in a distant mountain wasteland. According to an ancient legend transmitted generation after generation in which the Genesis of the Cañari People is described.

For a long time human beings forgot respect for Pacha Mama or Mother Earth, destroying nature and killing each other, theft, laziness, and lies had perverted their hearts. As punishment for that behavior, the Gods Tutelaries unleashed a great deluge, for many moons the waters swallowed everything, crops, animals, houses, most of the people drowned, except for two young men who had always respected the Earth and the Sacred Spirits of their Ancestors, They managed to survive in a remote cave in a mountain known today as Huaycañan, a mountain that magically rose as the level of the flood increased, after forty days the rain stopped, the two brothers with great difficulty tried to feed themselves with the few roots they could collect.

One day in the cave that served as their refuge, after wandering around they found exquisite fruits and corn chicha, after the surprise, they tried to find out who their benefactors were and hid to see what was happening, great was their amazement when contemplating the arrival of two large Macaws with the faces of women who brought food for them, they were present before the birds which in the act were transformed into two beautiful girls, who had been bewitched by a demon that perished in the flood, this He had put a curse on them transforming them into birds, but this was what saved them, since they flew to the top of the enchanted mountain.

The brothers fell in love with them and with the blessing of the Andean Gods they formed an extensive family that would give rise to the Cañari people, people of temper and warrior spirit who maintained a totemic cult of the macaw and the snake, settling and having as areas of influence in Ecuadorian territory what are currently the provinces of: Cañar, Azuay, El Oro and Morona Santiago.

The Cañaris put up a tenacious resistance to the advance of the Incas and after fierce combats where there were triumphs on both sides, in the end they were subdued by force, this happened in the time of the Incas; Tupac Yupanqui and Huayna Capac, later after the dynastic struggle between Atahualpa and Huascar for Tahuantinsuyo, rebelled against the established power.

At present there is a serious risk of the destruction of the Material and Intangible Cultural Heritage of this culture, due to the globalizing and alienating processes of the western model of society imposed since the colony, which does not respect or value the knowledge, beliefs, and traditions of the native Indian peoples.

70% of its population has lost the use of the kechwa language, imposing Spanish as a language, there are few communities that maintain the indigenous socio-cultural clothing and practices, it is urgent to work with grassroots organizations and Decentralized Autonomous Governments to start an Agenda of Rescue, Enhancement of Social Value, Safeguarding, Promotion and Dissemination of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Cañari People, since more than a myth they are a reality that gives shape and nuances to our Ecuadorian Multiethnic and Intercultural Identity.

Original post: 

https://terraza-ilalo.blogspot.com/2013/01/los-canaris-entre-el-mito-y-la-realidad.html

Written by Juan Acosta Salazar.

Tránsito Amaguaña

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Trazos de Nuestra Identidad Comunicación y Música Alternativa

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TRAZOS DE NUESTRA IDENTIDAD, NUEVA TEMPORADA 2022

https://anchor.fm/terracosta-atelier/episodes/Programa-2-TRAZOS-DE-NUESTRA-IDENTIDAD-COMUNICACIN-ALTERNATIVA-e1mmhov 

COCHASQUI MEMORIA INFINITA

 

Baile de Bombos y Flautas

Quienes conformamos PROCULTUR ECUADOR hacemos extensivas las más calurosas felicitaciones a todos quienes aportaron en concretar este importante documental , acción fundamental para la Salvaguardia y Puesta en Valor Social de las expresiones del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial contenidos en el “Baile de los Bombos y las Flautas”, de la Comuna de Cochasqui, que en la actualidad se encuentra en riesgo.

Al Director y Equipo Técnico del Núcleo de la Casa de la Cultura de Pichincha, gracias Luis, Héctor y Satri, por ese decidido compromiso de trabajo, en el cual se evidencia la importante labor en territorio que vienen desarrollando por preservar, promover y difundir  aquellas manifestaciones culturales de nuestro PUEBLO.

Este es un trabajo que demuestra que fuera de esa gris burocracia de una cultura institucionalizada y politizada del Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio, la Casa de la Cultura Benjamín Carrión y sus respectivos Núcleos a nivel provincial son quienes verdaderamente facilitan el desarrollo de nuestros Derechos Culturales como lo contempla la Constitución del Ecuador.

Un Abrazo

Juan Acosta Salazar.

Cochasqui: Un Caso de neocolonialismo e injerencia cultural.

Con asombro e indignación nos enteramos mediante un comunicado del Departamento de Cultura del Gobierno Provincial de Pichincha con fecha 11 de julio de 2019 de la inauguración de una supuesta escuela de arqueología en el complejo arqueológico monumental de Cochasqui bajo la figura de un dudoso intercambio cultural. (Actualmente en el Ecuador en universidades como: Espol, Católica y San Francisco de Quito existe la especialidad de arqueología).

El equipo responsable de la misma está conformado por los norteamericanos; David Brown, Ryan Hechler, Will Pratt  y  el ecuatoriano Estanislao Pazmiño, los mismos que tramitaron una autorización ante el  INPC en el año 2016 para un proyecto de investigación denominado Cochasqui Mojanda con la finalidad de publicar un libro sobre el tema, del cual aún no hemos tenido noticias.

Los miembros de este equipo son parte del Institute for Field Research, (IFR) que es una organización privada norteamericana con fines de lucro, que lo que promociona en su web para este caso concreto es un curso de verano para estudiantes con un costo de $4.650,00 dólares con el nombre de “Proyecto Arqueológico Cochasquí Mojanda”. (¿Los dineros recaudados por este concepto por el IFR, generan algún beneficio para la Comuna de Cochasqui o para el Parque Arqueológico?).

Afirman que “los estudiantes de PACM aprenderán los conceptos básicos de excavación arqueológica, teoría arqueológica, geoarqueología, investigación histórica y etnohistórica, recolección de datos y análisis, así como también cómo utilizar datos de drones y sensores remotos para comprender mejor los sitios arqueológicos”.

Cochasquí es Patrimonio Cultural Arqueológico del Ecuador y en el mismo quieren enseñar los rudimentos básicos de la arqueología… no han pensado en los daños que pueden ocasionar por una intervención de este tipo, ¿me pregunto si como bajo la figura de intercambio cultural permitirían las autoridades de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica realizar este tipo de prácticas arqueológicas en sitios patrimoniales y vinculados históricamente con sus pobladores originarios, a jóvenes estudiantes ecuatorianos?.

En la visión general el IFR realiza una reseña sobre Cochasquí en la que menciona entre otras cosas que “sorprendentemente se sabe poco sobre el sitio o sus ocupantes. No obstante, el sitio ocupa un estado venerado en la narrativa nacional. Incluso hoy, Cochasquí sirve como símbolo de la legitimidad y el poder nacional ecuatoriano con funcionarios recién elegidos que simbólicamente le otorgan el manto de su cargo en una ceremonia realizada sobre una de las pirámides”…¿un manto?...parece que quienes no saben incluso de la historia reciente son ellos…la ceremonia que se realiza en las pirámides es la entrega de un bastón espiritual que legitima su cargo ante los Pueblos y Nacionalidades del Ecuador, esas ligerezas por decir lo mínimo restan credibilidad a la supuesta intervención científica que dicen venir desarrollando en el sitio arqueológico.

Luego se preguntan “¿qué cambios llevaron al desarrollo de un sitio como Cochasquí? ¿Quiénes eran sus ocupantes, cómo vivían y cómo estaba estructurada su sociedad? ¿Y qué condujo finalmente al abandono y desuso del sitio?”, y afirman que ellos están ahí para cambiar esto, una clara posición injerencista y neocolonialista que ignora y desprecia todo lo anteriormente realizado por expertos nacionales e internacionales sobre el tema en Cochasqui, existen estudios e investigaciones en las cuales se responden ampliamente a sus interrogantes planteadas.

Bajo estos criterios poco nos falta para que nos den pensando, nos den haciendo, nos den guardando…difíciles tiempos vive la Patria, ya se entregaron las Galápagos Patrimonio Natural de la Humanidad para ser utilizada como base militar norteamericana, hoy se les entrega Cochasqui Patrimonio Cultural Arqueológico del Ecuador para campo de entrenamiento de estudiantes novatos. En el primer caso, que más podíamos esperar de un gobierno entreguista y al servicio del imperialismo yanqui, pero en el segundo caso mantengo la esperanza de que la actual Prefecta Paola Pabón mujer comprometida con los procesos de justicia social y anticolonialismo revise a fondo lo que actualmente sucede con el Parque Arqueológico Cochasquí antes de que sea demasiado tarde y la afectación y perdida tanto de nuestro patrimonio como de nuestra soberanía sean irremediables.

Ante esto planteamos al Gobierno Provincial de Pichincha la recuperación de las Investigaciones Científicas realizadas desde sus inicios del Programa Cochasqui  con la perspectiva de generar procesos académicos sostenidos para la Identidad nacional y la conciencia Social. Es menester que se  reconozca a Cochasqui como escenario del Primer proyecto de Recuperación con la Visión de la Arqueología Social en Sur América, liderado en su época por el ecuatorianista Lenin Ortiz Arciniegas, así como la reingeniería integral del Parque Arqueológico Cochasqui.

Esperamos así mismo que autoridades de control del Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural fiscalicen el trabajo del Institute for Field Research en Cochasqui (ya que su afán a más de investigativo es de lucro) y se cumpla con las leyes pertinentes que dicen:

Art. 28. Ninguna persona o entidad pública o privada puede realizar en el Ecuador trabajos de excavación arqueológica o paleontológica, sin autorización escrita del Instituto de Patrimonio Cultural. La Fuerza Pública y las autoridades aduaneras harán respetar las disposiciones que se dicten en relación a estos trabajos. El incumplimiento de este artículo será sancionado con prisión de hasta dos años, el decomiso de los objetos extraídos, de los vehículos e implementos utilizados para tal fin y con las multas legales.

Art. 29. El Instituto de Patrimonio Cultural sólo podrá conceder el permiso a que se refiere el artículo precedente a las personas o instituciones que a su juicio reúnan las condiciones necesarias para hacerlo técnica y debidamente, y siempre que lo crea oportuno deberá vigilar por medio de las personas que designe sobre el curso de las excavaciones, de acuerdo con los reglamentos que se expidieren al respecto.

Art. 32. Para la realización de investigaciones antropológicas o para la suscripción por parte del Gobierno Nacional de todo convenio con personas o instituciones nacionales o extranjeras, que realicen en el país estudios de investigaciones sobre los aspectos contemplados en el artículo anterior, deberá contarse necesariamente con el dictamen favorable del Instituto y los resultados de tales investigaciones serán entregados en copia a dicho Instituto.

El incumplimiento de esta norma será sancionado conforme a la Ley.

Juan José Acosta Salazar

GESTOR PATRIMONIAL.

COCHASQUI PYRAMIDS

In ancient times, long before European contact, residents of what is now Ecuadorian territory developed and advanced culture able to locate energy points in the earth and read message of the stars in the sky.

This culture knows as the Quitus Caras. Occupied the territories of the Sierra Center North and was part of the powerful ethnic señoríos of Caranquis and Cayambes flourished 800 to 1.500 b.C. According to research data ethno linguistic Cochasqui name means “Half the Water”. (Aquiles Perez 1984).

These people built a complex system of astronomical observation and cult, forming intricate network of information similar to existing centers astronomical and climatolollgy observation centers. The origin its natural phenomenon’s.

The four essential elements of the Pachamama or Earth Mother. Yaku or Water. Nina or Fire, Pacha or Earth, Wayra or Air, would lead to a timetable Andean agricultural fixed with mathematical precision the different equinoxes and solstices for which governed their destinations.

The economic and social development of the ancient in habitants of Cochasqui, according prominent historian and social archaeologist Lenin Ortíz, was the Andean Mode production in this system of socio economic organization, the ruler was selected from among those priest or shamans, military commanders or warlords, or powerful traders (Mindalas), their system was based on barter, tribute dominated the species and manpower for the construction of the Pyramids and burial mound.

In Cochasqui are testimonies of 9 pyramids with ramp, 6 homers and 28 burial mounds, we used the volcanic tuff (Cangahua) filled with land for its construction.

In what is now Ecuadorian territory the presence of man according to scientific data archaeological audited, makes about 12.000 b.C.

The site where they found traces of man´s oldest hunter and collector in Ecuador are: Inga in the province of Pichincha, Chobshi caves in the province of Azuay, and Vegas in the coast.

Those 12.000 thousand years of history just 500 years correspond to the Spanish invasion, the period of the colony and republic (neocolonialist), and more than 11.000 thousand remaining years are result of an evolution  of science and technology with Andean modes organization and production, which have provided the world with solutions food such as potatoes, maize, natural medicines, practical agro ecological functional mechanisms and crop irrigation, improved seeds, exquisite aesthetic handling of ceramics, precious metals like gold, silver, platinum worked for the first time in the world in this magical country located in the middle of world, Ecuador.

The Reserve Ecocultural Quilago this manage Corporation for Promotion Cultural and tourism “PROCULTUR”, an organization which has its main task the Rescue and Commissioning value of our Tangible and intangible cultural heritage, our history and identity Intercultural, Multiethnic and Mega diverse Ecuador, as well as its promotions and dissemination nationally and internationally.

QUILAGO THE SOLAR WOMAN

It includes stories and legends that residents of Cochasqui and heroic resistance for many years the invaders incas the helm of courageous Cacique name Quilago, knew attacking and defending strategically causing huge losses to enemy army of Tahuantinsuyo.

Quilago offers the following services:

Routes Ecoculturales at the Pyramids

Journey to the Sacred Waterfall

Rituals Andean shamans

Lodging in ecological cabins

Camping area

Coffee shop

Workshops old science and art precolombine

LOCATION:

Pichincha province the Pedro Moncayo (Tabacundo) region, Tocachi.

Access rout:

North on the Panamerican highway, Guayllabamba, Tabacundo route at 60 km from Quito. 1 hour.

Nearby Towns:

Guayllabamba, Malchingui, Tocachi, Lake of Mojanda, Otavalo.

Main Celebrations: Solstice and equinox, cycles of sowing and harvesting related to the agricultural calendar.

Information: WHATSAPP +593 99 967 5222.  +593 97 903 7905. ECUADOR.