Dolores Cacuango
Encyclopedia
Dolores Cacuango was a pioneer of the indigenous rights
movement in Ecuador
. She founded the Ecuadorian Federation of Indians (FEI).
as a domestic servant and was struck by the disparity between the living conditions between the landlords and the peons.
While Cacuango never received a formal education, she helped establish the first bilingual Indian schools. Aware of the terrible conditions that the children of indigenous peoples suffered in the schools, she ultimmately founded bilingual schools, taught in both Spanish and Quechua, the indigenous language. She established these schools in the Cayambe zone in 1945. Cacuango proposed that these schools teach the pupils to read in both languages. Her schools functioned for 18 years, but the military junta
closed them in 1963, considering them as communist foco
s.
Cacuango was an outspoken Communist and was imprisoned for her activism.
In 1988, the Ministry of Education recognized the necessity of bettering the education of the indigenous people of Ecuador. The National Direction of Bilingual Intercultural Education was also created.
Indigenous rights
Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the preservation of their land, language, religion and other elements of cultural...
movement in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. She founded the Ecuadorian Federation of Indians (FEI).
Background
Dolores Cacuango was born in 1881 in San Pablourco on the Pesillo Hacienda near Cayambe, Ecuador. When she was fifteen years old, she worked for the owner of the haciendaHacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
as a domestic servant and was struck by the disparity between the living conditions between the landlords and the peons.
Activism
During the May 1944 Revolution in Ecuador, Cacuango personally led an assault on a government military base. In 1944, she founded the Ecuadorian Federation of Indians (FEI), one of the primary organizations which fights for indigenous rights.While Cacuango never received a formal education, she helped establish the first bilingual Indian schools. Aware of the terrible conditions that the children of indigenous peoples suffered in the schools, she ultimmately founded bilingual schools, taught in both Spanish and Quechua, the indigenous language. She established these schools in the Cayambe zone in 1945. Cacuango proposed that these schools teach the pupils to read in both languages. Her schools functioned for 18 years, but the military junta
Military junta
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
closed them in 1963, considering them as communist foco
Foco
The foco theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare, also known as focalism , was inspired by Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, based upon his experiences surrounding the rebel army's victory in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, and formalized as such by Régis Debray.Its central principle...
s.
Cacuango was an outspoken Communist and was imprisoned for her activism.
Death and legacy
Dolores Cacuango, or Mama Dulu, as she was known, died in 1971. Her son, Catucuamba Cacuango, Luis (b. 1924) taught at the Yanahuaico Indian school from 1945 to 1963, until the schools were shut down by the junta.In 1988, the Ministry of Education recognized the necessity of bettering the education of the indigenous people of Ecuador. The National Direction of Bilingual Intercultural Education was also created.