Today was the Culture/History and City Tour Day for our glimpsers and my first time being the leader of the day. As part of Culture and History Day, we were able to travel to Pucaratambo, which is the native land of the Indigenous Puruha people. In Pucaratambo, the Puruha people speak either Spanish or their native language, Kichwa; some Puruha people even try to learn and speak English. All glimpsers, GGLs, and PCs traveled on a unique and traditional bus in Ecuador. We traveled up a mountain for about 30 minutes in order to reach Pucaratambo. Once we arrived at Pucaratambo, we were greeted by our tour guide, Segundo. Segundo, one of the native Puruha people, lives in the town of Cacha in Chimborazo.
We were able to see the Indigenous people’s traditional celebration called inti-rymi. The inti-rymi is a cultural celebration of the harvest of their dry food. In the Puruha culture, they have a celebration every 3 months to honor the sun. During the inti-rymi, the native people would gather around in a circle where they would sing native songs, and play instrumental sounds from a cow horn, and some would offer barley in the center as an offering to the sun.
After watching the inti-rymi for a few minutes, we all went with Segundo to the Pucatrambo Museum. In the museum, Segundo taught us about the past and history of the suffering, pain, and abuse the native Indigenous people had to face because of the government at the time. Segundo talked about how the native people had to fight back for their freedom and independence from the government. Segundo also emphasized two very important people that helped lead to freedom: Manuela Leon and Archbishop Fernando. An interesting story about Manuela is that she poked the tax collector that was abusing her and the other women. The tax collector was beaten to death by the other women of the town. Archbishop Fernando helped organize all of the Indigenous tribes together. He even had a bounty on his head by the government. When the government captured Archbishop Fernando and was preparing to shoot him and crucify him, the local natives cried and yelled for him to be let go. Archbishop Fernando told the people to calm down as he stated his famous quote: “Tomorrow is our day.” This quote is a staple in the Indigenous people’s culture as this quote gave them the strength and courage to fight for their independence and freedom.
After visiting the Museum, Segudno took us to see the medicinal garden. Segundo showed us many plants and a healing tree. He also used one of the planets to perform a limpia (a spiritual cleansing). After everyone was cleansed, Segundo and his family help set up a Pambemesa, which consisted of native traditional dishes. The group was able to try native-grown corn, potatoes, sweet toasted corn, cheese, a tomato-pepper salad, and cuy (Guinea Pig). The food was delicious!
After we left Pucaratmbo, we went to visit the center of Riobamba. An interesting fact is that the current Riobamba isn’t the original location of the city of Riobamba. This was due to an earthquake that happened in the 1700s. We visited four plazas. One has a train station, one has a Neptune statue, one is a place for a food market and souvenirs, and the last plaza had a big statue and the city’s Cathedral. The city is beautiful and colorful. The roads were made of stones and the buildings were unique in their own ways.
Today was a very fun and educational day for us glimpsers with everyone smiling and enjoying the rich Indigenous history and the tour of the city. We look forward to the rest of the events we have planned for this trip.
Yupaychany (Thank you)!