Inti Raymi Celebration of Life
In the Andes Highlands when the corn turns golden, it is the season of thankfulness and celebration during the annual tradition of the Celebration of Life. The most robust celebration in Ecuador occurs in little Cotacachi. I like to compare it to New Orléans Mardi Gras. So around my birthday near the end of June, the celebratory festival begins. The name Inti Raymi means Festival of the Sun. So for days expect loud music, whistles, chants, and dancing. On June 22 the indigenous people flock to the waterfalls, rivers, and springs to participate in a purification ceremony. Therefore the result is the direct relationship with mother nature and renewal of their strength and energy. The ceremonies usually take place at midnight at a sacred place.
The indigenous people will dance around the square at La Matriz Park in their community groups. They will blow play horns that represent the 12 months of the year. They rhythmically stamping of feet in a dance to encourage Pachamama which refers to mother nature in the Kichwa language to rejuvenate the next planting cycle. The dancers revolve in a circle which represents the 2 annual solstices. The entire streets and roads will be deep with dancers as they chant. During the dancing, the men consume a local potent alcohol beverage call chichi. The goal is to compete with various communities to take the square. The rhythmic stomping of boots while the men chant “we are “we are men” in Kichwa. They wear masks and tall black pointed cardboard hats that I as the story goes design is to keep the rocks from hitting them when the celebration continue especially after some of the local hooch. They whistle in a mesmerizing fashion which is all part of the magic of the celebration. They wear leather goatskin chaps called Zamarros.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/GU5h6ZkeXlk” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://texasannieecuador.com/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omMYaDXGWyM&feature=youtu.be” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://texasannieecuador.com/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
The crowd grows as vendors, locals and tourist come to watch. You have to be careful and the steps high up on the church is a good place to perch out of harm’s way at least hopefully. They have whips which to me are rather scary so you should be out of reach.
Our first year visiting in Cotacachi we had a bird’s eye view from the balcony of the Land of the Sun Hotel which is nearly in the heart of all the action. Wow I finally found my video from 2014 to give you an idea of what it is like to experience this dramatic even!
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0kjm7Eon8k” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://texasannieecuador.com/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
At some point, if the people may become increasingly violent the police may intervene but only with tear gas. You see store shop owners start to slide their metal doors shut and literally there is no place to hide or take cover. But during the dancing even though the police wear full riot gear they do not intervene. A few years ago I saw a woman with a baby on her back trying to revive her husband but no one would help. I learned that if another tribe member helped her it would cause problems. The police did not intervene and I was so worried that no one would help this young mother. Slyly a woman slipped the women a lemon and the wife squirted it up her husband nose to get him out of the street. Sometimes someone is critically injured as the celebration gets out of control. This year the children marched in an effort to send the message of no violence during Inti Raymi. The celebration begins with the children’s parade and later the women’s parade which is fun to watch. This year the children marched with banners requesting not violence this year. I did not learn about any violence incidents this year.
Learning about the Ecuadorian culture is always interesting as I turn over a new rock of learning each day from these amazing people.
Hey there shout to family, friends, and followers of our adventures in little Cotacachi
