Aspectos de la identidad étnico-cultural e histórico-social manifestada en la cultura tradicional indígena de una región de los Andes Ecuatorianos

Abstract

By means of selective socio-cultural and socio-historical data, this contribution tries to work out important aspects of the constitution of ethnic identity as manifesting themselves in the traditional culture of a regional indigenous people, in the region of Saraguro and San Lucas, province of Loja, Andes of Southern Ecuador, as well as in the Amazonian extension of that area. Therefore it is necessary to distinguish between the (internalised) ideological dimension of identities of the autochthonous people themselves and the dimension of the interpretative plausibility of lived identities (observable or widely documented). Based on these two dimensions, the high relevance of aspects or elements of the traditional culture (with a special emphasis on typified verbal expressions) is evident, as a complex focus of reference in the permanent construction of collective identity, and it has become increasingly important within processes of fundamental social change and within ethnic policies in recent times.