Territories of Life, Ritualities, and Relational Ontologies between the Communal, the Natural, and the Spiritual The Kolla Kondorwaira Indigenous Community of Potrero de Castilla, Salta, Argentina

Abstract

Based on the lived experiences and ways of feeling of Kolla Kondorwaira Indigenous Community of Potrero de Castilla, we explore the ritual practices and spiritual relationships that the families of this community maintain with nature. These expressions bear witness to the relational ontologies present in Argentine Northwest (NOA), through which various spaces inhabited by Indigenous communities are given meaning and appropriated as their territories of life. Based on doctoral research developed through a Participatory Actions Research (PAR) methodology and a dialogue of knowledge, we share four categories of ritual practices: (i) those linked to livestock activities (marcada, señalada, casamiento and corpachada); (ii) others performed during the agricultural season (Pachamama Day, preparation of sacred foods, and seed challada); (iii) several associated with the deceased (Day of Souls and farewell to loved ones); and (iv) the Virgen del Rosario pilgrimage. From this experience, we can observe that ritual practices are not only cultural or religious manifestations but also lived experience and feelings that allow the families of this community to make sense of and signify their territory from a relational ontological perspective. In this context, the Pachamama, animals, seeds, hills, springs and souls are not objects of the natural environment, instead, they are considered subjects who actively participate and are present in the development of community life. From this perspective, nature is not an external entity in the life experience of the Kondorwaira Community, but rather a part of daily life, present in the relations of reciprocity that communities like Kondorwaira have historically sustained.