Cited by 2Afro-Latin American StudiesRace, Identity, and Education in BrazilLatin American Cultural Politics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 15 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

ANCESTRAL SEEDS OF FREEDOM: CIMARRONA WISDOM AND PEDAGOGY CIMARRONA OF THE AFROCHOTEÑIDAD

Open access
Chalá Cruz, José·2020·Diálogo andino

Abstract

En el Ecuador habita una población de origen africana, secuestrada e introducida de manera compulsiva por la Compañía de Jesús, a finales del siglo XVI, para ser esclavizados.La colonialidad/modernidad del poder, para garantizar la explotación esclavista/ hacendataria, a las personas africanas y a sus descendientes, les negó su existencia humana, conjuntamente con su espiritualidad y sus milenarias sabidurías.Gracias a la memoria colectiva y a la imaginación, la afrochoteñidad ha sabido trasmitir o sembrar en sus (re)nacientes, de boca a oreja, de oreja a boca, el saber de la vida, la semilla cimarrona de libertad, contrapuesta al proyecto político, esclavista, civilizatorio, colonial/moderno eurocriollo.En este contexto, hablaremos de manera central acerca de las prácticas pedagógicas con pertinencia cultural, articuladas a la malla curricular oficial, implementadas por el docente afrochoteño Salomón Chalá Lara en la escuela José María Urbina de la comunidad El Chota.Palabras claves: Sabiduría, pedagogía, cimarrón, libertad, memoria colectiva, cosmoexistencia, colonialidad/modernidad del poder, colonialidad del saber, colonialidad del ser.In Ecuador, a population of African origin was kidnapped and introduced by the Society of Jesus to be enslaved at the end of the 16th century; the coloniality/modernity of power, in order to guarantee the slave/landholder exploitation of African people and their descendants, denied them not only their human existence but also their spirituality and their millenary wisdom.Thanks to collective memory and imagination, the Afrochoteñidad has managed to transmit or sow in its (newly) nascent, from mouth to ear, from ear to mouth, the knowledge of life, the Cimarron seed of freedom, opposed to the project political, civilizational, colonial/modern Eurocriollo.In this context, we will talk centrally about pedagogical practices with culture relevance articulated to the official curricular subjects' official curriculum implemented by professor Salomón Chalá Lara at the José Maria Urbina school in the community of Chota.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

The paper argues that Afrochoteñidad in Ecuador preserved a “cimarrona” wisdom and pedagogy of freedom against colonial/modern denial, transmitted through collective memory, orality, music, games, and naming. It centers Prof. Salomón Chalá Lara’s culturally relevant teaching at the José María Urbina school in El Chota, where Afrochoteño Muntú wisdom was articulated with the official curriculum.

Key findings

  • The paper contends that coloniality/modernity of power denied African and Afro-descendant people their human existence, spirituality, and millenary wisdom, treating them as non-human and negating their histories, cultures, and epistemologies.
  • Afrochoteñidad is described as transmitting the “saber de la vida” and the “semilla cimarrona de libertad” through collective memory and orality—myths, stories, songs, dance (bomba del Chota), games, and naming practices; El Chota is called a palenque formed by cimarronas/cimarrones rebelling from 1780, with “Chota” meaning “agrupación de personas libres” (Chalá 2013: 33).
  • Prof. Salomón Chalá Lara (1916–2003) implemented culturally relevant pedagogical practices at the José María Urbina school in El Chota, articulating Afrochoteño Muntú wisdom with the official curriculum through activities such as bomba, games (“el camotico,” “chivita barbona,” jump rope, perinola, tingue, rayuela), crafts with seeds, clay, terrón, and carrizo, and learning local geography, plants, and community boundaries.
  • The paper links this legacy to current Afro-Ecuadorian etnoeducación, noting that surviving ex-students are aged 54–90 and that a reform bill is being processed in Ecuador’s National Assembly to include “etnoeducación afroecuatoriana o educación afroecuatoriana” as state policy.

Methods

  • Qualitative, reflexive/decolonial essay and testimonial reconstruction; no formal methods section is stated. It proceeds through conceptual dialogue with modernity/coloniality thinkers (Quijano, Mignolo, Walsh, Grosfoguel, Albán, Fanon, Du Bois, among others) and “casa adentro” reflection.
  • Data/sample: a personal interview with Prof. Salomón Chalá Lara (1985, cited in Chalá 2013), the author’s recollections of the José María Urbina school, community elders/sabios, ex-students aged 54–90, and the Centro de Investigaciones “Familia Negra” (CIFANE, founded 1983). This is not described as a systematic sample.
  • Main analysis: narrative and conceptual analysis of cimarronaje, Muntú, cosmoexistencia, coloniality/modernity, and pedagogical practices; no quantitative analysis is reported.

Limitations

  • The paper states that, due to space, it does not present the important internal Afro-Ecuadorian debate about the name “etnoeducación” as it emerged in the 1980s.
  • Evident from the text: no formal methodology, sampling strategy, or systematic data analysis is described; evidence is largely testimonial, autobiographical, and conceptual, limiting replicability and generalizability.
  • Evident from the text: the account centers one teacher and one ancestral territory (El Chota-La Concepción y Salinas), so the findings are context-specific.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4067/s0719-26812020000300025

Cites

5 of 5 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Territorio Ancestral El Chota-La Concepción y Salinas, provincias de Imbabura y Carchi. Fuente: Centro de Investigaciones Familia Negra CIFANE, El Chota 2003.
Territorio Ancestral El Chota-La Concepción y Salinas, provincias de Imbabura y Carchi. Fuente: Centro de Investigaciones Familia Negra CIFANE, El Chota 2003.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

29 Own interpretation · 13 Sources not found · 7 No basis given · 4 Own result

Show all 5 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 26
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 41
48 of 48
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In Ecuador, a population of African origin was kidnapped and introduced by the Society of Jesus at the end of the 16th century to be enslaved.

    “En el Ecuador habita una población de origen africana, secuestrada e introducida de manera compulsiva por la Compañía de Jesús, a finales del siglo XVI, para ser esclavizados.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Salomón Chalá Lara was born in 1916 in the Afrochoteña community of Las Dos Acequias, next to Mascarilla (Carchi) and El Chota (Imbabura).

    “Salomón Chalá Lara, hijo de Flavio y Ofelia, nace en 1916 en la comunidad afrochoteña de las Dos Acequias, junto a las comunidades de Mascarilla (Carchi) y El Chota (Imbabura)”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The República cimarrona de Esmeraldas defeated the colonial army of the Real Audiencia de Quito more than five times.

    “cuyo ejército por más de cinco ocasiones derrotó al ejército colonial de la Real Audiencia de Quito, representante de la Corona española.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Africa is inexistent in the national educational curriculum.

    “la inexistente presencia de África en el currículo educativo nacional”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The cimarrona wisdom of Muntú accompanied Afrochoteñidad from the African continent.

    “La sabiduría cimarrona del Muntú que acompañó a la afrochoteñidad desde el continente africano”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The wise men and women of the community sowed the cimarrona seed of freedom in Salomón Chalá Lara from his infancy.

    “las sabias y los sabios de la comunidad habían sembrado en él/ellos, la semilla cimarrona de libertad, desde la infancia.”
6 of 6

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Show all 3 references

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Albán, A. 2013 Pedagogías de la Re-existencia: Artistas indígenas y afrocolombianos. En Pedagogías Decoloniales Prácticas Insurgentes de Resistir, (re) existir Y (re) vivir. Tomo I. Serie Pensamiento Decolonial, editado por C. Walsh, pp. 441-468. Editorial Abya -Yala, Quito, Ecuador.
  2. García, J. 2010 "La diáspora africana en Venezuela: Resistencia y creación". En Conocimiento desde adentro: Los afrosuda- mericanos hablas de sus Pueblos y sus historias, Volumen II. Sheila Walker (compiladora), Fundación PIEB, La Paz, Bolivia: pp. 223-259.
  3. Grosfoguel, Ramón 2007 "Dilemas dos estudos étnicos norte-americanos: Multiculturalismo identitario, colonizacao disciplinar e epistemologías decoloniais". Ciencia e cultura 59 (2), 32-35.
  4. Kamau, E. 1977 "Presencia africana en la literatura del Caribe". En África en América Latina, Serie "El mundo en América Latina", Relator. Manuel, Moreno Fraginales, pp. 152-184. Editorial siglo XXI y UNESCO, Mexico.
  5. Mignolo, W. 2005 "A colonialidade de cabo a rabo: O hemisfério occi- dental no horizonte conceitual da modernidade". En E. Lander (Ed.), A colonialidade do saber: Eurocentrismo e ciencias sociais. Perspectivas latinoamericanas. Buenos Aires: Colección Sur Sur, CLACSO.
  6. Quijano, A. 2005 "Colonialidad del poder, eurocentrismo y América Latina". En E. Lander (Ed.), La colonialidad del saber: eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. Perspectivas latinoa- mericanas. La Habana: editorial de ciencias sociales.
  7. Santacruz, N. 1988 "El negro en Iberoamérica", Cuadernos Hispanoame- ricanos, pp. 451-452. Madrid, España.
  8. Walsh, C. 2013 "Lo pedagógico y lo decolonial: entretegiendo cami- nos". En Pedagogías Decoloniales Prácticas Insurgentes de Resistir, (re) existir Y (re) vivir, Tomo I. Serie Pensamiento Decolonial, editado por C. Walsh, pp. 23-68. Editorial Abya-Yala, Quito, Ecuador.

Metadata

Authors
Chalá Cruz, J.
Venue
Diálogo andino
Published
2020-12
Issue
63
Pages
25-35
ISSN
  • 0716-2278 (ISSN-L)
  • 0719-2681
OpenAlex
W3117268767
Cited by
2
References
3
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Diálogo andino (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Afro-Latin American Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, Identity, and Education in Brazil
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Latin American Cultural Politics
Keywords
Cimarron, African descendants, slavery, collective memory, oral transmission of knowledge, cultural pedagogy, coloniality of knowledge, coloniality of power, Afro-Ecuadorian identity, Indigenous pedagogy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-11-10, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-11-10 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review