Ritual and Remembrance in the Ecuadorian Andes

Preface

Preface Ritual and Remembrance in the Ecuadorian Andes is a study of how the indigenous people of Salasaca have shaped and continue to shape their religion through ritual practices tied to the sacred landscape. I focus on two related aspects of Salasacan rituals: how Salasacans re-centered Catholic rituals to serve as mediums for sustaining indigenous cultural memory, and how people continuously re-create their religion through individual practice. In both collective and individual rituals, the landscape (mountains , hills, and pathways) is a central focal point for ritual action. The study is based on eighteen years of intermittent fieldwork in Salasaca, an indigenous parish of twelve thousand Quichua-speaking people in the Andean province of Tungurahua, Ecuador. Many Salasacans opened their homes to me, taught me Quichua, included me in their daily and ritual activities, and spent long hours explaining their understandings of the rituals in which they participated. I am indebted to the people of Salasaca and regret that I cannot thank them all personally, but I would like to mention here some of the people who helped me the most over the years: Luis Anancolla; Andrés Pilla; Angelica Chagila; Patricio Caizabanda; Eduardo Chango; Zoila Culqi; Bernardo Jerez; Carlos María Jerez; César Jerez; Francisca Jerez; Rosa Jerez; Lidia Jiménez; Manuel Jiménez; Andrés Masaquiza; Augustina Masaquiza; Encarnación Masaquiza; Espirita Masaquiza; Gloria Masaquiza; José Masaquiza; José María Masaquiza; Manuel Masaquiza; Marcelino Masaquiza; Marcia, Noemi, and Samuel Masaquiza; María Masaquiza; Mariano Masaquiza; Pascual Masaquiza; Ramona Masaquiza; Rosa Masaquiza; Segundo and Jaime Masaquiza; Sixto Masaquiza; Zoila Masaquiza; Manuel Pandorga; José Antonio Masaquiza and Rosario Pambasho; and Dolores Sailema. For help finding historical materials on Salasaca I thank Elizabeth Fariño Vallejo; Carlos Luis Miranda Torres; Margarita Tufiño; Grecia Vasco de Escudero, director of the National Archive; Patricia Villalva Bermeo; and Wellington Yánez. p r e fa c e x While living in Salasaca in 1991–92 I was fortunate to meet Norman and Sibby Whitten. In conversations in both Puyo and Salasaca, Norman and Sibby offered valuable advice to me even before Norman became my official mentor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a dedicated advisor as Norman Whitten. Norman and Sibby taught me the importance of undertaking careful fieldwork and to be attentive to Quichua linguistic expressions, kinship networks, and social relations while also considering how local people engage with national and transnational cultural systems. I also learned to discuss my anthropological interpretations and check my translations with indigenous consultants. I am indebted to the Whittens for their kindness, their hospitality in Ecuador, and their intellectual contributions. While undertaking fieldwork in Ecuador over the years, I also benefited from conversations with and companionship from the Barrera Velasquez family, Kati Kaulbach, Eduardo Kohn and Mark Rogers, José Rivera, Deborah Truhan, Shed and Kris Waskosky, Tim Weaver, Lee Webb, and Peter Wogan. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne I was fortunate to have as my professors Janet Keller, Helaine Silverman, and Tom Turino. I am grateful to them for their constructive criticism and encouragement. For their friendship and comments on the early stages of this work, I thank Ann Denning, Michelle Johnson, and Michelle Wibbelsman. At Florida Atlantic University I received valuable advice from Jacqueline Fewkes, Michael Horswell, Tim Steigenga, Mark Tunick, and Dan White. I especially appreciate the extensive time Jacqueline spent patiently helping me with maps and figures. The photos that appear herein are all my own. I gratefully acknowledge financial support from a Fulbright IIE grant, a Tinker Grant from UIUC, a Beckman Institute Grant (UIUC), a Fulbright-Hays Grant, a Research Initiation Award (Florida Atlantic University), a Faculty Development Award (Florida Atlantic University), and a Foundation Grant from the Wilkes Honors College. Parts of chapters 4 and 5 were published as articles in the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 2004 9(2):382–408; and 2008 13(1):2–21, and were adapted here with permission. I thank Allyson Carter, editor-in-chief at the University of Arizona Press, for her help through the editorial process, and the two anonymous p r e fa c e xi reviewers who carefully read and commented on the manuscript. Any shortcomings are my responsibility. For helping me with child care during various stages of research, I wish to thank my parents, Grace and James Corr; my sister, Emily Corr; and my parents-in-law, Virginia Castro and...