“A nuestros antepasados muertos los hizo descansar”: Tras los pasos de mis bisabuelos Boracoño & Kuegajɨ sobrevivientes de la época del Caucho en la Amazonia Colombiana. (1904-1934)
Thesis
This research work has a dual purpose: familial and academic. As an indigenous researcher, I intend, simultaneously, to honor and understand the lives of my paternal great-grandparents Kuegajɨ and Boracoño, and to carry out an academic project. Through the reconstruction of the life histories of two savants who were relevant to the Fɨeraiaɨ (Gente adorned) clan of the Uitoto people during the temporality of Jizɨe Iyagɨma (rubber era), I incorporate theoretical contributions (from indigenous and non-indigenous authors) with the oral memories of Kuegajɨ and Boracoño's children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law, and acquaintances in three chapters that investigate: (i) the relations of domination exercised by the rubber tappers against the indigenous population (ii) the acts of resistance used by the indigenous population to survive the rubber regime and (iii) the ways in which the Uitoto people carry out the healing of the collective pain caused by the conflicts that burst the social fabric. Thus, the history of Kuegajɨ and Boracoño in these three historical moments gives an account of the experiences of men and women of the Uitoto people, and allows us to think the collective from individual experiences.
