LA CELEBRACIÓN DE NAVIDAD EN SARAGURO / THE CELEBRATION
OF CHRISTMAS IN SARAGURO
Por su expresión de devoción, su costo,
su complejidad, y su duración, Navidad es la fiesta
principal de los Saraguros. La fiesta está
patrocinado por parejas casadas-- marcantaita y
marcanmama --las cuales están encargados con la
gran tarea de organizarla. Para detalles sobre la celebración
de Navidad en Saraguro vease Luis Aurelio Chalán (1994) o Nan
Volinsky (1998) en la bibliografía de
este website.
For its expression of devotion, its cost, its
complexity and its duration, Christmas is the most important religious
celebration of the Saraguros.
Its public aspects--masses, feasts, processions, dances
and other performances by costumed personages, fireworks, etc.--take
place from just before Christmas day (December 25) until the day
after Tres Reyes (Epiphany--January 6).
In its private, formal aspects it last for more than
a year, beginning with the selection of sponsors and, in the last
couple of months, proceeding with intensive preparations not only
by the sponsors, but, among others, by musicians (a violinist and
a drummer) and by a group of boys and girls (cari sarahuis and
huarmi sarahuis) and of young men (huiquis and ajas) who, under
the direction of the musicians, train almost daily for their
performances.
There are a number of special images of the Christ
child--El Niño--in the Saraguro communities. Each
Niño will have its own set of co-equal sponsors, the
marcanmama and the marcantaita, who are a wife and
husband. (In other Saraguro religious fiestas, wives and husbands
independently, and never at the same time for the same fiesta
[in the formal sense] act as sponsors.)
Each set of sponsors must make use of a wide variety of their
own resources (money, time, cattle for slaughter, grains and other
food), and the resources (time, skills and special gifts of food and
other items such as the castillos pictured below) of people in
their obligation networks (relatives, compadres, godchildren,
friends, neighbors) and others, in order to put on a successful
celebration.
Clearly, putting together a
Christmas fiesta in Saraguro is a highly complex and impressive
organizational feat. The pictures presented here provide only a
hint of what Christmas is in Saraguro. For more details see Luis Aurelio
Chalán (1994) or Nan Volinsky (1998) listed in this website's
bibliography.
Top right illustration by
Luis Antonio Lozano Quizhpe from
the book cover for LOS SARAGUROS:
FIESTA Y RITUALIDAD,
L. & J. Belote, compilers, Quito, Abya Yala,
1994.
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