Speaking Words of Difference: Indigenous Languages and Indigenous (Self)-Representation in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Case of the Sapara and Andwa Nationalities of Ecuador

This dissertation explores the role of language and linguistic resources in the representation and self-representation practices of Amazonian Indigenous peoples from the 19th century to the present. It focuses first on how external actors, particularly 19th-century travel writers who visited the Ecuadorian Amazon constructed Indigenous peoples in the region by means of cultural and linguistic description as a mechanism for marking Indigenous difference. It then examines how leaders of the Sapara and Andwa nationalities of Ecuador mobilize linguistic resources to represent their ethnic identities in dialogue with a range of actors who regulate notions of Indigenous “authenticity” at local, national and international levels. The project is structured as a cumulative dissertation composed of four academic articles. The first two articles analyze 19th-century descriptions of the cultural and linguistic practices of the Sapara and other Indigenous groups, followed by two articles that focus on the contemporary context, exploring how Andwa leaders use language to assert Andwa “authenticity” in interactions with other Indigenous actors and how Sapara leaders negotiate their ethnic identity in dialogue with international discourses on indigeneity and language endangerment, particularly those by UNESCO. Overall, this dissertation understands identity as a constructive and multiscalar process, shaped through in social interaction (Hall 1990, 2011; Harris/Carlson/Poata-Smith 2013; Harris 2013; Lucero 2008). In this dissertation, I argue that Indigenous leaders must negotiate their self-representation not only with historical representations imposed by external actors but also with contemporary expectations set by other Indigenous groups, the state, NGOs and transnational institutions that hold significant power in impacting the lives of Indigenous communities. In this sense, the dissertation approaches Indigenous identity construction as a strategic process, in which language is charged by a political dimension. For leaders of the Andwa and Sapara nationalities, language is a key resource in self-representation, closely tied to their efforts to gain political recognition as differentiated Indigenous groups and to secure access to territory and resources for their communities. Specifically, the first part of this dissertation analyzes 19th-century travel narratives by European and North American travelers who visited the Amazon region and described the Sapara people. I argue that Indigenous representation was primarily in the hands of external actors, who portrayed Indigenous peoples through the lens of dominant social and linguistic ideologies of the time, who also often served the political and colonial interests of their national governments. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Irvine/Gal (2019) regarding the ideological construction of cultural difference, this dissertation shows that travel writers positioned Indigenous peoples along a hierarchical scale from “savagery” to “civilization.” Language played a fundamental role in this process, with the Sapara being portrayed in ways that deprived them of their humanity. I argue that these early representations had a lasting impact on how the Sapara and other Amazonian groups were treated in the following decades. Additionally, I argue that the dehumanization of Indigenous groups in historical descriptions played a significant role that supported the linguistic expansion of Kichwa in the region. The expansion of Kichwa contributed to the near “extinction” of the Sapara and Katsakati languages within Sapara and Andwa communities in the present. Today’s absence of a distinct, functional ancestral language becomes especially relevant in the second part of the dissertation, which explores more specifically, how Sapara and Andwa leaders negotiate Indigenous self-representation in response to national cultural policy and to dominant local and international discourses that place language at the core of Indigenous definition. Drawing from interviews with Andwa leaders and fieldwork conducted in Andwa territory, I argue that the revitalization of Katsakati along with the introduction of Katsakati linguistic resources in the community constitutes one key self-representation strategy. Language reclamation allows Andwa leaders to present themselves as “authentic” in relation to the state and other Indigenous actors who hold significant influence in regulating dominant understandings of Indigenous authenticity. Through the theoretical lenses of “metalinguistic communities” (Avineri/Harasta 2021) and “linguistic citizenship” (Stroud 2018a, 2018b, 2024), I argue that the Andwa “authenticate” (Bucholtz 2003, Bucholtz/Hall 2004, Bucholtz/Hall 2005) their ethnic identity by engaging with linguistic ideologies that draw an intrinsic connection between language and cultural difference. While these revitalization efforts have not succeeded in promoting “fluent” speakers of Katsakati in the communities, they have been essential for asserting the Andwa’s presence as a distinct Indigenous group in the Amazon region and for claiming access to territory and resources which are vital for communities’ livelihoods. Regarding the Sapara, this dissertation examines how Sapara leaders construct their ethnic identities in negotiation with transnational discourses of language endangerment and indigeneity, particularly those promoted by UNESCO. The role of UNESCO is important, since in 2001 the oral and cultural expressions of the Sapara people were proclaimed as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Drawing from interviews with Sapara leaders and a corpus of UNESCO materials, including the second edition of the “UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” (2001a) and the first-quarter edition of the “UNESCO Courier Journal” (2019), dedicated to the International Year of Indigenous Languages, I mainly argue that Sapara leaders strategically adopt transnational discourses of indigeneity and language endangerment to claim self-determination and safeguard their territories from oil extraction. At the same time, I reveal that leaders are also critical towards UNESCO’s discourse on intangible cultural heritage, which they view as having sometimes the potential to limit the agency of their communities. In general, this dissertation discusses the construction of Andwa and Sapara identities as a complex and contested process, deeply entangled with often contradictory notions of Indigenous authenticity represented by diverse actors and that emerge from different historical standpoints. By underscoring the emerging tensions in these processes of identity construction my work also sheds light on the contradictions and political implications of placing language at the center of Indigenous (self)-definition. While the ethnolinguistic framing of indigeneity has proven effective for Sapara and Andwa leaders in securing political recognition and Indigenous rights, I argue that such strategies also risk reinforcing colonial nationalist language ideologies and essentialist conceptions of indigeneity, logics that have historically contributed to the marginalization of Indigenous peoples in colonial and postcolonial contexts.