Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)

This article explores the understanding of life and death among the Iku (Arhuaco) Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in northern Colombia. The content presents the findings of research conducted within the Indigenous territory from 2018 to 2020, which facilitated an exploration o...

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Main Author: Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá) 2025-01-01
Series:Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/index.php/antipoda/article/view/9684/10467
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author Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez
author_facet Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez
author_sort Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the understanding of life and death among the Iku (Arhuaco) Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in northern Colombia. The content presents the findings of research conducted within the Indigenous territory from 2018 to 2020, which facilitated an exploration of the conceptions, material and spiritual practices that the Arhuacos engage in daily around these two concepts. Through ethnographic work and a review of anthropological literature on the Sierra Nevada, the article exposes what I propose to understand as Iku vitality, a notion that expresses the intrinsic connection between materiality and spirituality in the Arhuaco worldview. This connection has a particular continuity with the concept of death and, through experiences in the territory, takes on different expressions that can be interpreted systematically through ethnographic coexistence and various cultural practices employed by the Arhuaco people for the ritual and social management of material loss. This work follows methodological and epistemological principles of an anthropology that, in contexts of death and violence, is dedicated to listening, understanding, and highlighting local interpretations that emerge as comprehensive factors of life’s fractures, as well as the forms, times, spaces, and social resources available to confront and reconstruct them.
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publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá)
record_format Article
series Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología
spelling doaj-art-f4dcb82b7e2b48f693afb14b05a030742025-01-27T19:27:48ZengUniversidad de los Andes (Bogotá)Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología1900-54072011-42732025-01-015832810.7440/antipoda58.2025.01Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5501-4261Universidad Nacional de ColombiaThis article explores the understanding of life and death among the Iku (Arhuaco) Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in northern Colombia. The content presents the findings of research conducted within the Indigenous territory from 2018 to 2020, which facilitated an exploration of the conceptions, material and spiritual practices that the Arhuacos engage in daily around these two concepts. Through ethnographic work and a review of anthropological literature on the Sierra Nevada, the article exposes what I propose to understand as Iku vitality, a notion that expresses the intrinsic connection between materiality and spirituality in the Arhuaco worldview. This connection has a particular continuity with the concept of death and, through experiences in the territory, takes on different expressions that can be interpreted systematically through ethnographic coexistence and various cultural practices employed by the Arhuaco people for the ritual and social management of material loss. This work follows methodological and epistemological principles of an anthropology that, in contexts of death and violence, is dedicated to listening, understanding, and highlighting local interpretations that emerge as comprehensive factors of life’s fractures, as well as the forms, times, spaces, and social resources available to confront and reconstruct them.https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/index.php/antipoda/article/view/9684/10467arhuaco indigenous peopleethnographic workiku vitalityritual management of deathviolent death
spellingShingle Ginna Marcela Rivera Rodríguez
Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología
arhuaco indigenous people
ethnographic work
iku vitality
ritual management of death
violent death
title Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
title_full Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
title_fullStr Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
title_full_unstemmed Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
title_short Vida y muerte en el pensamiento indígena iku (arhuaco)
title_sort vida y muerte en el pensamiento indigena iku arhuaco
topic arhuaco indigenous people
ethnographic work
iku vitality
ritual management of death
violent death
url https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/index.php/antipoda/article/view/9684/10467
work_keys_str_mv AT ginnamarcelariverarodriguez vidaymuerteenelpensamientoindigenaikuarhuaco