Urban Mountain Beings

History, Indigeneity, and Geographies of Time in Quito, Ecuador

By: Kathleen S. Fine-Dare

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Hardcover | 4 December 2019

At a Glance

Hardcover
262 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
15.9 x 23.5 x 2.2

Hardcover

$355.80

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Urban Mountain Beings is an ethnographic and historically-grounded study of recognition strategies and ethnogenesis in postneoliberal times carried out on the flanks of Mt. Pichincha in Quito, Ecuador. The author demonstrates through the application of feminist geographical and Indigenous pedagogical frameworks that it is not urban geography per se, but rather histories of exclusion that have created attitudes and policies treating Native peoples as "out of place" in cities. The book concentrates on two overlapping contexts for Indigenous vindication. The first is the Yumbada of Cotocollao, an ancestral performance through which mountain and other spirits are called into the urban plaza by danzantes of diverse backgrounds. The focus shifts to Yumbada dancers who are members of the Hummingbird Corporation, a legal entity founded by ex-hacienda workers and connected to Pueblo Kitu-Kara, the Indigenous political organization covering the Quito Basin region. Indigenous revindication activities of the "hummingbirds" include workshops, filmmaking, photography, classroom and community teaching plans, and the formation of alliances with local and international anthropologists, activists, filmmakers, engineers, and educators. Indigeneity is defined by this group less through biological and linguistic criteria than by public educational practices designed to confront gender inequity and violence, pernicious national racism, and environmental degradation.

Industry Reviews

It is a treat to read this compelling ethnography that incorporates a lifetime of research. Kathy Fine-Dare, a leader in the field of urban anthropology, contextualizes issues of neoliberalism and globalization within large Indigenous movements and links issues of urbanity to gender roles. This compelling and powerful book strikes straight to the heart of important issues of Indigenity. -- Marc Becker, Truman State University
This extraordinary study of urban mountain beings zooms in on the dynamic 'Indigeneity-as-force' in urban Quito, Ecuador, to offer the reader a cutting-edge ethnography bolstered by in-depth geography, history, ethnohistory, and archaeology. Long awaited, and now available, this study is further enhanced by Kathleen Fine-Dare's expert portrayal of Indigeneities throughout the Americas. Highly recommended for lay people and students at all levels and across disciplines and required reading for all Latin Americanists, especially Andeanists-Amazonianists. -- Norman E. Whitten Jr., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, and author of Histories of the Present: People and Power in Ecuador

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