Pachamama Day and the Kolla People of Argentina Cultural Center •1st of August''
The Cultural Cen TheCenter actsasarecuperatlonand ter"1stofAugust"wasbom transformation agent. It works to perma onAugust 1. 1988 tn the city nently rediScover and share essentlal aspects ofLa Qutaca. provtnceofJujuy. of Identity tn terms of rellglon, social organi Argentina to honor the zation. literature. agrtcultural practices, food Pachamama (Mother Earth), who production and preservation methods, etc. IS celebrated every year tn August. The Center also works to promote enVIron The Pachamama constitutes the back mental attitudes and to offer alternative ways bone of the spiritual and material life of for soclety to solve multiple problems. the KoDa people of AigentJna. ThiS commitment ts dlrected toward The group IS made up of people from educating and raiSing consciences about our different branches of life: teachers. house rlght to Improve our quality of life. keepers. students. prtests. athletes and house To these ends the Cultural Center wives. Most of the members are from rural "1st of August• organizes camping trtps. bi areas. They share a common and global des cycle races and foot races with the motto tiny and VISion: to contribute to the vllallza "Youth. Let's Know our Land". Young people tlon and fuliUiment of the Kolla people and of from both rural and urban areas participate. Indian people tngeneral and to the humaniZe Theycover200mUesat altitudes of 10,000 to the hostile and mechaniZing system of life 13,000 feet tn order to get to know the coun which surrounds us. try-side and to give the credit due to the The germtnatJng and multlply!ng Im human. cultural and natural landscape. pulse of the Center IS represented tn one The participants and the communi In 1991 the central objective: "Attatn the htstortcal resto ties they VISit learn from each other with the Catholic Church ration of the Andean people. restructure. purpose of renewing thetr faJth and hope of Invaded this revalue. vtta!Jze and project our way of life. revttallztng the KoDa culture. which contatns essentlal andsufficlentlyvalld To these same ends. every year tn the cosmic spiritual guide-lines to provtde new alternatives for month of August the Cultural Center, to center by thiS permanently decadent society.· gether with neighbors and friends. celebrate pladng a The friends of the Center have com the rellglous homage to the Pachamama at monfearsandconcemsabout problems whiCh the apacheta (alter to the Pachamama) of the Christian cross not only threaten the Kolla people but all the community. next to the tnhabltants of the earth: pollution. hunger, The Center supports and promotes dtscrtmtnatlon, extinction of Nations. alien cultural actMtles such as music. theater and apacheta ation. arms buUd-ups. etc. poetry. g1vtng prtortty to those which repre-
20 Abya Yala News ARGENTINA
International Congress on Indigenous Languages
The Instituto Qheshwa• Jujuymanta • The last congress took !AigenUna) IS organiZing the V International place In Cochabamba (Bo AcademlcCongressonlndlgenousLanguages IMa). with the assistance of to take place tnJujuy·Argent!na tn Septem the Un!versldad Mayor de berofl993. San Slm6n. and locallndlg· The Institute works to make lndlg· enous organiZations. Rene enous people aware of the value of their Satnz vega, the President languages. During the last years the Insti· of the N Congress (Octo tute has devoted Itself to promoting Indig ber 1992), reportedthefo1- enous languages such as Qhtshwa (or lowtng concluSions. Quechua) and Aymara, which are widely The congress re used tn the Andean region ofSouth America, quested: and Guarani of the Gran Chaco of South 1. That the governments of America. Colombia. Ecuador. Peru. BoiMa. The puiJ)ose of thiS effort IS to orga Argentina and Chile work on In· niZe native peoples and make them aware of forming about and teaching Indig their cultural roots and of how Important It enous languages In their coun ts that their languages survtve. So far there tries: have been four congresses organiZed by In· 2. That educational agencies and mtn· dlgenous groups which have documented lstrlessupportlndlgenousorganJzationswork the wide use of Indigenous languages. lng on revaloriZation of their own Indigenous If you ore inter· languages: ested in attending 3. That Latin American governments the V Congress in Pachamama Day conlinued formally teach Indigenous languages at O Vol 7 Num 1 & 2 21