Syncretism as a Method

Ilustración de la crónica de Martín de Murúa que muestra al inca Pachacútec en el Coricancha.

It’s inconceivable that in the 21st century,God still has to be defined according to the European standards. . . . We think the life of Jesus is the Great Light coming from Inti Yaya (Paternal and Maternal Light that supports it all),whose aim is to deter anything that doesn’t let us live in justice and brotherhood among human beings and in harmony with Mother Nature. . . . The Pope should note that our religions NEVER DIED, we learned how to merge our beliefs and symbols with the ones of the invaders and oppressors.

—Humberto Cholango, May 20071


How can we present a proposal intended, not to say what is, or what ought to be, but to provoke thought, a proposal that requires no other verification than the way in which it is able to “slow down” reasoning and create an opportunity to arouse a slightly different awareness of the problems and situations mobilizing us?

—Isabelle Stengers, 2005

From INDIGENOUS COSMOPOLITICS IN THE ANDES: Conceptual Reflections beyond “Politics”
MARISOL DE LA CADENA