Epistemicide and resistance

The struggle of the Wayuu indigenous community of the Nuevo Espinal indigenous Reserve (Colombia) to preserve their spiritual, territorial and subsistence connotations

Abstract

This article, based on the results of an ethnographic research, deals with the socio-cultural repercussions experienced by the members of the Wayuu Nuevo Espinal Indigenous Reservation in Barrancas la Guajira (Colombia), in the context of forced displacement caused by the expansion of the mining activity of the Cerrejón mining complex in 1993, as well as by the presence of illegal armed groups. This situation led this indigenous population to remain for a long time in a state of deterritorialization that contributed to the weakening of their worldview, especially in aspects related to spirituality, territory and subsistence practices, triggering a process of physical epistemicide and ethnic extermination. The processes of struggle and resistance on the part of the members of this Wayuu community are fundamental to understand their physical and cultural existence to this day, despite the processes of deterritorialization. This resistance gave its greatest result when the consolidation of their territory as a Resguardo of special protection by the state was achieved in 2017. However, the struggle of this community continues constantly and seems to have no end in sight, since the problems that still affect them have a high impact on their social and cultural survival.