Cotacachi, Ecuador, (EFE).- Thousands of Indigenous dancers from across northern Ecuador gathered in Cotacachi, 56 miles north of Quito, on Tuesday to celebrate Inti Raymi, the ancient Inca Festival of the Sun that honors the June solstice and marks the beginning of the harvest season in the Andes.
Wearing goat-skin pants, wide-brimmed hats, and carrying whips and staff, community leaders and participants from 48 Indigenous villages joined the annual “Toma de la Plaza” (Taking of the Square), a powerful cultural and spiritual ritual rooted in ancestral resistance.
Wearing a blue poncho and black hat, his long braided hair swinging with each step, Ulloa kept order as his group danced and stomped to the beat of traditional flutes and drums.
“We must be in the square in one hour,” he called out while urging his neighbors to stay in formation.
“Inti Raymi is a celebration of gratitude to our Pachamama (Mother Earth in Quechua) and for the beginning of the harvest,” said Santiago Ulloa, a 42-year-old community leader from La Calera, as he guided his group through a 1.2-mile procession into Cotacachi’s central square.
All around him, hundreds of people pounded the ground with rhythmic footwork, waving whips and blowing conch shells in a symbolic salute to the sun and earth.
From a raised platform, Ulloa spoke to his group in Kichwa, asking for a peaceful celebration.
“He said we must walk calmly, without fighting,” one community member translated.
A ritual of resistance and identity
According to organizers, the Inti Raymi in Cotacachi not only celebrates the harvest of corn, beans, and other native crops but also serves as a form of cultural resistance and assertion of identity.
“This is about showing our resistance to political and religious power structures that have historically dominated Indigenous peoples,” said Alfonso Morales, cultural coordinator at Cotacachi’s municipal office.
Men spent the year preparing their ceremonial clothing, cardboard hats, leather whips, and goatskin chaps, for the ritual.
Once in the plaza, they danced in tight circles under the blazing Andean sun, as panpipes and harmonicas played on.
“We celebrate life, the rebirth of nature, and we protest the churches,” said Jesús Flores, a 22-year-old participant from the community of Cushcagua. “They imposed ideologies that were not ours. This is about reclaiming our identity.”
From violence to vigilance, women help keep peace
Although Inti Raymi has traditionally been a male-dominated celebration, local women now play a critical role in keeping the peace.
Luisa Moreno, a community leader from Cumbasconde, is one of several female “captains” responsible for monitoring the crowd.
“We started about three years ago,” she said. “Our job is to prevent fights and deaths, keep people from drinking too much, and make sure they get home safely.”
While the event was once marred by deadly rivalries, “They used to bring knives and guns, and there were deaths,” said a police officer at the scene, tensions have decreased in recent years, thanks to community coordination and the growing presence of female peacekeepers.
A spectacle for locals and visitors alike
Despite its deeper significance, Inti Raymi has also become a visual and cultural spectacle that draws tourists and expats.
In the streets around the plaza, visitors watched and snapped photos of the dancers.
“I love it,” said Linda, a 69-year-old Canadian who has lived in Cotacachi for six years. “This place is perfect.”
The celebration continues in the coming days with music, rituals, and food, anchoring Cotacachi as a vibrant center of Andean Indigenous culture and spiritual resilience. EFE
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