Knowledge, representations and sociocultural change. The "Sinzchi Warmi" intercultural association case, Comunidad Ancestral Puerto Santa Ana, Pastaza province (Ecuador)

Abstract

In this paper we present a case study relating to a women association known as Sinzchi Warmi [brave women], in Pastaza province (Ecuador), which offers an account on knowledge, the coexistence of representations and social and cultural changes that have been developing in the pottery practice in the last decades. Some anthropologists that have been working in the region have suggested that the Amazonian kichwas —including its regional differences such as those between the Pastaza and Napo kichwas, for example— have the capacity to assimilate the social and cultural differences from others within their own culture. Our case aims to reveal more than assimilation, the social and cultural values coexistence —with conflicts—, which is expressed in various nationalities that share the same kichwa soil keeping values with their social norms. As a case study, it constitutes an important contribution in terms of underlying the intercultural relations and the degree of impact produced by diverse change forces such as the social policies addressed by the regional State and by other institutions such as the Church and religious cults.