Celebration of the International Year of Camelids in Santa Catalina, a pastoral community in the Andean Altiplano of Jujuy, Argentina.

The United Nations (UN) declared the year 2024 as the International Year of Camelids, a term that includes both Old World camels and South American camelids. The official organization of the celebrations was in charge of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and local events were also encouraged to take place. In this context, in the Andean pastoral locality of Santa Catalina, Jujuy, Argentina, the Community Council (which is comprised of three local indigenous communities), together with the VICAM (“Vicuñas, Camélidos y Ambiente”) research group, planned to perform different activities to celebrate the IYC as well as to highlight the community's livelihoods and the vital role of camelids in their local culture. The activities involved different events conducted in the educational community, as well as with the entire town, engaging all the community from children to the elderly, and involving various local institutions. The celebrations reflected the diverse and multiple valuations of camelids from the local worldview. This work highlights the appropriation by an Andean community of an annual commemoration based on a UN resolution and aims to make visible their animals and livelihoods.