Awá-Karanki Intercultural Exchanges - El Reencuentro

DIRECTED BY:
Eriberto Gualinga (Traya) from Sarayaku, Director Ejecutivo de Selvas Producciones

In this film, the Awá people of Pambilar, La Union, Río Bogotá and Guadualito and the Karanki people of San Clemente meet and exchange experiences, knowledge, agricultural products and much more in San Clemente--Esperanza [Hope] Parish, Ibarra Canton, Imbabura Province, Ecuador--on December 15-16, 2018.

Awá leaders asked to do this intercambio because their territory is being invaded by mining. They knew about San Clemente's autonomous community tourism project, so they wanted to take their youth to learn from them.

It was a beautiful experience for the youth of both communities and all involved!

The Awá people brought their products from the Ecuadorian coast to exchange. The Karanki people of San Clemente offered a tour of the trail of medicinal plants, pamba mesa [communal potluck], a warm bed to sleep in, delicious traditional foods, and a night

of cultural integration. The Awá people returned very grateful to their communities to await a visit from the Karanki Village in the not too distant future. This is the beginning of many meetings between peoples to reinvindicate the memory of the peoples through Roots & Routes Intercultural Collaborations.

Many thanks to Tradiciones San Clemente, the Awá peoples of the Coastal Communities, and Selvas Producciones and Traya Muskuy Gualinga and Valerio Santi for filming and producing the video. We are also honored and happy that this video is filming the first official project of Roots and Routes Intercultural Collaborations, co-sponsored by the Altropico Foundation, who has stood by and worked with Awá communities for 25 years+! Thank you Altropico!