Adaptación cultural de la comunidad Shuar en la ciudad de Cuenca; el caso de Melania Mitiap y Jhanely Estefanía Wampiu

Abstract

Due to the large number of indigenous migrants in the City of Cuenca, and the limited documentation of their reality of life by living in a medium completely different from their origin, the journalistic investigation was proposed: "Cultural adaptation of the shuar community in the city of Cuenca; the case of Melania Mitiap and Jhanely Estefanía Wampiu". In carrying out this research, account was taken of the Shuar indigenous people living in the city of Cuenca, specifically two characters (Melania Mitiap and Jhanely Wuampiu) native to the Shuar ethnic group in the province of Morona Santiago, who already live 12 years in the urban basin. Through an audiovisual documentary of 45 minutes of duration, is narrated the life story of these characters, that goes from his childhood in the community Shuar San Luis of Inimquis, his family, his studies, the circumstances and reasons for which they decide to migrate to the city; until reaching their process of adaptation in the urban environment and as such process is related in the field of culture, the tradition and language they inherited from their ancestral people. This was not intended to generalize to all indigenous peoples, not even to the same Shuar community, what was sought was from a small lens to contribute with one of the different visions that this topic can have and to leave the curtain open for each one to present their own conclusion; and, more importantly, to encourage young researchers interested in topics relevant to the country’s multiculturality, and to delve into such important issues as the migration of these indigenous peoples and their acculturation process. Since this documentary is considered only as a small start and incentive to discover what our city hides in terms of the culture of the indigenous peoples and their histories; and, of course, there is much more to bring to light.