UC Merced

In this dissertation I explore the connection between cultural expressions and the reconstruction of an empowered indigenous identity through the reaffirmation of their cultures and their own knowledge.For this purpose, I reviewed the work of community leadership and the texts produced by two indigenous intellectuals from the Colombian Andean zone. Los pensamientos del indio que se educó dentro de las selvas colombianas (The Thoughts of the Indian who was educated within the Colombian jungles), by Manuel Quintín Lame Chantre, belonging to the Nasa culture; and a variety of poetry and prose by Yanakuna poet Fredy Chikangana (Wiñay Mallki), which appears in his book Samay pisccok pponccopi mushcoypa (2010), in the volume Recordando mi origen (Remembering my Origin) (2021) of the Libro al viento collection and in the video Poesía en resistencia, May 28, 2021, on YouTube. For this research, I used a theoretical framework that prioritizes the concepts and worldviews of the indigenous cultures reviewed here. This study was also guided by decolonial thinking promoted by Latin American theorists of the Modernity/Coloniality network, as well as by decolonial thinkers such as Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui and Marisol De la Cadena, who help us understand and problematize the structures that condition our subjectivity, thought and knowledge. This research aims to contribute to making epistemic diversity visible and advocate for the creation of a pluriverse.