Saragurokunaka Wiñaypak Runakunami Kashunchik (We Will Always Be Saraguro): Reclaiming the Kichwa Language and Saraguro Identity in the Diaspora

Abstract

Drawing from Critical Latinx Indigeneities, this study explored how Kichwa Saraguro families are (re)creating their Indigeneity and reclaiming their Kichwa language in rural areas of Wisconsin. Using a subset of data gathered through ethnographic work, we report on interviews with 10 members of the Saraguro community as they described the practices they enact to teach and learn what it means to be Saraguro. Our findings revealed that in response to experiences marked by ethnoracial minoritization, Saraguro youth and families have developed home- and community-based pedagogies to continue reclaiming their Kichwa language, culture, and epistemology. These practices included the intergenerational communal teaching of Saraguro culture, Kichwa language-learning initiatives, and Saraguro-led events designed to educate broader communities. Saraguro parents and teenage children pointed to the myriad of practical and emotional benefits they received from local and transnational Saraguro networks. Recommendations for critical educational research on transnational Indigenous Latine/x communities are discussed here.

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