English Essays
“Identity cannot be found or fabricated but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go” (Doug Cooper), people express their culture and identity in many particular ways, like the indigenous people located in Colombia. That is why ancestral knowledge helps us creating our own identity.
Ancestral knowledge has been going through generations for many years. It has transmitted loads of information about culture, traditions, etc. That is why Ancestral Knowledge influences our culture and traditions. We have had the same traditions and culture for many years. We have many traditions that our ancestors had like: sow corn, many festivals, some ethnic food like ajiaco, beverages made from corn, stew, arepas, pepper, broth, empanadas, tamales, rice, and different kinds of meat.
When the Spanish people came to Colombia for the first time, they started reproducing with the indigenous people. When that happened, they created a new race of people with which many felt identified, these race was a mixture of the Spaniards and the indigenous people, the person that was born with this mixture was called Mestizo. Nowadays, the mestizo word is also used by indigenous people to call someone whose ancestors were from different tribes or ethnic origines.
Other people say that the ones that created our culture were the Spaniards, because they imposed a new one when they came to Colombia between 1499 and 1500. They imposed their language, their beliefs, their food, the Spanish culture and traditions. That is why the 92% of the Colombian population is catholic, our language is Spanish, and some indigenous people communicate in their native language.
In conclusion the ancestral knowledge has helped us create who we are, and the culture and traditions that we have nowadays. Ancestral knowledge is important to take care of.
References:
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from http://therightsofnature.org/category/ancestral-knowledge/ Biodiversidad, conocimiento ancestral y propiedad intelectual. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from http://www.alainet.org/es/active/62621
Identity and Ancestral Knowledge
By Lolita Álvarez