Holding Onto the Straws of Our Heritage: In the Rift of Indigeneity and Mestizaje

Anahi Otavalo

Published on: March 10, 2026

The Andean breeze courses through the little villages and lush green mountains of the Cayambe canton in the high mountains of Ecuador. My family comes from the surrounding villages (even if my last name evokes another Ecuadorean town). I grew up in Olmedo for the first few years of my life, before moving to the city. Yet in the middle of so much life— flowers, trees, rivers, ganado—one thing has been certain: the native language is dying.

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Anatomy of a Crisis

Amadeos Oyagata Maigua, Dakota Santillan Teran, Sydney Males Muenala

Published on: October 24, 2025

This article examines the complex social and territorial dynamics surrounding recent events in Otavalo, Ecuador. Combining spatial analysis, field documentation, and community collaboration, the authors reconstruct how geography, governance, and identity intersect in moments of tension.

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The Past as the Future

Victoria D. Rengel

Published on: September 10, 2025

A reflection on Mexico’s ongoing struggle with historical memory, this piece examines how archives, monuments, and testimonies reveal and conceal the truth about past state violence.Through firsthand research on the death flights of the Dirty War, it explores who gets to remember, how memory shapes justice, and why confronting the past remains essential for the future.

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