«I am a Maroon Woman»: Learnings from Historical Strategies of Resistance of Afro-Ecuadorian Women

Abstract

This article explores, based on the process of collective memories, historical strategies on the struggles of maroons, Afro-descendant women from the Chota Mira Valley (Ecuador), in the work of conamune (National Coordinator of Black Women of Ecuador)-Carchi Chapter. This process was born from learning about Barbarita Lara, one of the representatives and leaders of conamune and the application of her learning in the work undertaken with two researchers in archeology and cultural anthropology, mainly in the archaeological and anthropological collaborative project Garden of Memory Martina Carrillo, in the Afro-Ecuadorian Ancestral Territory of the Chota-Mira Valley (Carchi Province, Ecuador). The theoretical and methodology articulation of this work is interwoven from practices developed in conversations and proposals for historical reparation and transmission of the word. The actions of the maroon women explain the epistemology on which a political memory develops through oral tradition and daily activities, in the logic of healing processes, strengthening the identity of Afro-descendant women, defense of their human rights and resistance to violence, colonial legacy of racism and gender violence.