http://www.indigenouspeople.net/otavalo.htm
Alberto Taxzo, Quichua medicine man from the Ecuadorian Andes
sang a beautiful song to the Sun and the Creator at the UN recently:
“We must work with sacred powers and understandings today,
and every day into the future, to heal ourselves and our world.
The condor and the eagle have met. Now is the time. We must choose our pathway now.”
“A People who have a past, have a history and culture.
A Culture with history will never die.”
“Ali Shungu”
(good heart)
We are here anew.
America Is Ours!
“Conquered, maybe – forgotten, NEVER!” “We Are the Inkas!!”
“Un pueblo que tiene un pasado
Tiene una Historia, una Cultura.
Una Cultura con Historia nunca puede morir.
ASI SOMOS LOS INKAS. Nos conquistaron,
Cosecharon nuestros frutos
Cortaron las ramas
Destrozaron el árbol.
QUE MALO!
Pero olvidaron matar la raíz
Aqui estamos de nuevo.
Aunque traten do ocultarnos y borranos. América es NUESTRA
Reclamamos lo que nos pertenece”
“We, the Ecuador Inkas, carry on the traditions of our ancestors, in the music we play. Ours is a young generation, but we carry the soul of our people through our songs. It is with heart-felt expression of love, peace, and brotherhood that we dedicate this home page to you, as a means to discover our rich culture. Our music is a popular music – in the fight for dignity and true independence! We are the inhabitants of the altiplano: sons and daughters of the hard earth, the implacable winds, and the summits held in silence.”
The music of the Andean peoples
It is not a dead music,
Not a museum article.
It is a rich source
Full of magical sounds,
An inheritance to cultivate and defend.
Plows, crops and love,
Bring the Indian into this world.
Joy in your pain
The hurt of my ailments
To be happy
Unhappy because I was born.
The indigenous Otavaleño people, who make up approximately 50% of the town’s population, have been weavers since pre-Incan times. In colonial days, their skills resulted in many of them being forced into obrajes (textile workshops), creating a textile trade that continues freely today. The scene at the market is one of contrasts, with traditionally dressed Otavaleño stallholders surrounded by a modern town centre. The 4,630m-high Imbabura volcano, which gives its name to the province, rises nearby, and the capital city of Quito is just 90km to the south, a journey that takes you over the equator and into the southern hemisphere.
“La música de los pueblos andinos
No es una música muerta,
No es una artículo de museo.
Es un rico mañantial
Lleno de mágicos sonidos,
Una herencia que cultivar y defender.
Los arados, los sembríos,
Las cosechas y su amor,
Dan al indio en este mundo.
Alegría en su dolor
Duelte de mis dolencias
A ser felíz
Porque infelíz yo he nacido.”
The Otavalos are an indigenous people native to the Andean mountains of Imbabura Province in northern Ecuador. The Otavalos also inhabit the city of Otavalo in that province. Commerce and handcrafts are among the principal economic activities of the Otavalos, who enjoy a higher standard of living than most indigenous groups in Ecuador and many mestizos of their area.
“For as different as we all may seem,
When details are compared,
We are all one,
and the same.”
Pues por muy diferentes que podamos parecer,
A la hora de comparar complejidades
Todas somos una,
y la misma.
ECUADOR INKAS
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/ecuainka.htm
Ecuador Inkas
6120 North Kenmore Avenue 6E
Chicago, IL 60660-2727
Telephone Numbers:
1-888-761-8671
1-312-761-8671
(5936) 595-885 (in Ecuador)
Andean music
is a waterfall
encountered in a quiet forest:
playful and powerful at the same time.
I dedicate this home page to the people of Otavalo and especially to:
whose Andean folk group “Ecuador Inkas“
personifies the very essence and soul of the indigenous people for whom this web site was created.
Anyone who has the honor to hear this music will know what I mean. The sounds of Marcelo’s flute truly capture the heart and soul of what it means to be an “American” (a true citizen of the Americas).
Mother Earth (Pachamama) hears all of her people.
“Vamos a Ecuador – INKAS”
(a people always on the move)
“Tierra de la gente MORENA”
LAMENTO DE INDIO
“I pray for the night to come,
So that I can have in my dreams;
Everything which I can not have
When I am awake.”
“Yo oro por la noche por venir,
Así que puedo tener en mis sueños;
Todo lo que no puedo tener
Cuando estoy despierto “.
“El indio huyó desde su piel al fondo…
Desmenuzó sus torres torrenciales y
Recibió su paquete de harapos.”
Pablo Nerudo
“At my death,
I should like to be buried
In an earthen jar,
To be worthy of, and
Equal to my ancestors.
“A mi muerte,
Me gustaría ser enterrado
En una vasija de barro,
Para ser digno de, y
Igual a mis antepasados.
Vasijo de Barro
(The Earthen Jar – Song from Ecuador)
“LAND OF THE BROWN / RED RACE”
ANTIKUNA ÑAURAYTAKI
By June Ireland
Antikuna ñauraytaki
Chay paqcha tarikun
juk sunqoyakusqa sacha sachapi:
puqllayqachaq ye atipaq chay kikinmantapacha. La música andina
es una cascada
que se encuentra en un bosque tranquilo:
juguetona y poderosa al mismo tiempo.
Marcelo comes from the town of Otavalo, two hours north of Quito, Ecuador. Otavalo is located in a spring-like valley at 9,203 feet high, between the Imbabura and Cotacachi volcanoes. There are approximately 40,000 Otavaleños living in this area, plus 5,000 more who live in Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, and other parts of Ecuador. Otavaleños are recognized world-wide for their famous feltand straw hats, knitted sweaters, and daily handicraft market. The Saturday market is the most well-known in all of Ecuador.
My people come from high up in the mountains of Ecuador. We are direct descendents of the Inkas and the Caras or Caranqui, who came to Ecuador from Colombia a thousand years ago.
The name which we call ourselves is “Runa”, meaning “The People”.
Otavalo is one of many Indian towns such as Peguche, Illuman, Agato, San Roque, and Carabuela, and is near many lakes: Cuioccha, Mojanda, and Yaguarcocha. Yaguarcocha is known as the “Lake of Blood” because of the many Incan battles fought there.
Taita Inti and Taita Quilla are what we call father sun and moon in our language, which is Cara. The mountains in our valley are called Taita Imbabura and Mama Cotacachi (also known as Warmi Rasu: snow lady). Their son’s name, Urku Mojanda, is given to another mountain peak in the area. We also speak of “Mama Puyo”, mother cloud.
Although some of us live in towns,
“WE STILL ARE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH”
Indigenous Peoples Literature 
