Kingushpa Rimana Kanki, a way to get home

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-9651.i31p264-291

Keywords:

language, Kichwa, indigenous, mestizo, identity

Abstract

Ecuador is one of the countries that make up Abya Yala, the Americas. Eighteen indigenous peoples and fourteen indigenous nationalities inhabit this territory; we maintain diverse forms of communication, yet our linguistic diversity is steadily eroding. Kichwa is one of the most widely spoken languages in communities located in the Andes and in parts of the Amazon, though with distinct regional variations. In recent years, within the spectrum of indigenous and non-indigenous identities, discourses have emerged advocating for a “mix” that challenges identity—that is, the idea that those who no longer speak the language are no longer part of an indigenous population. In light of this debate, this article aims to discuss the fragility of the identity of the peoples of Ecuador, contrasting a racist society with an essentialist indigenous population. What forces come into play when defining an identity?

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Author Biography

  • Wayra Ana Velasquez, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar

    She is a writer, poet, and film photographer. She holds a Master's degree in Literature with a specialization in Creative Writing from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (2023) and a Bachelor's degree in Social Communication with a specialization in Development from the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (2020). She is co-author of the fanzine Taraxacu identidad, migraciones y escrituras (Taraxacu identity, migrations, and writings) with Sonia Guiñansaca and Cristina Burneo Salazar (2024), author of the essay “La traducción como fermentación” (Translation as fermentation) part of the book Kunllu: la vida como fermento (Kunllu: life as fermentation) by Kikuyo Editorial (2024). In 2021, she published her first bilingual poetry collection, Muskukuna. In addition to her work as a writer, she has been involved in filmmaking as a director of photography on several projects, including: Cimarruna, a feminist film (2024); Vacaciones (2023); Kinku, a stop-motion animated short film in which she was director and screenwriter alongside the production company Runanimation (2024); Haute Coutureshina, a web series about indigenous haute couture in Ecuador with the production company AylluRec, and art direction and stop motion animation for the music video Nangulvi (2022) by the production company Runanimation. She has done several translations, one of which is the translation of Joe Houlberg Silva's documentary Ozogoche (2023), as well as poems and other texts such as Mercedes Villalba's Manifiesto Ferviente. In 2024, she and her team won the Mariano Aguilera National Contemporary Art Award for their project Fibras del Páramo.

References

Burneo Salazar, Cristina. 2022. Otra forma de besar: sobre poesía, lengua y fronteras como el cuerpo. México: Universidad Iberoamericana.

Guiñansaca, Sonia. 2023. Nostalgias y fronteras. Ecuador: Severo Editorial

Maruja Velásquez, sabia y agricultora de la comunidad de Pivarinci

Rosa Elena Velásquez, sabia y agricultora de la comunidad de Pivarinci

Rosita Velásquez, sabia y agricultora de la comunidad Pivarinci

Concepción Fuérez, agricultora y maestra de la comunidad de Yambiro

Dolores Inuca, sabia de la medicina ancestral de la comunidad de Gualacata

Julia Maldonado, sabia, partera, jambik mama de la comunidad de San Agustín de Cajas

Daniel Pai, comunicador y radialista del pueblo Awá

Luis Enrique Tuntaquimba, músico, mindalae, profesor kichwa radicado en Bogotá.

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Published

2026-06-30

Issue

No. 31 (2026): Dossiê: Migrações de corpos, línguas e identidades

Section

Dossiê: Migrações de corpos, línguas e identidades

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mgtr Wayra Ana Ercilia Velásquez

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How to Cite

VELASQUEZ, Wayra Ana. Kingushpa Rimana Kanki, a way to get home. Caracol, São Paulo, Brasil, n. 31, p. 264–291, 2026. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2317-9651.i31p264-291. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/caracol/article/view/238150. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2026.