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Our Culture

When the Spaniards arrived, the vast territory of the Calchaquí Valleys were the centre of the Diaguita Civilization. Numerous peoples and nations lived there, such as the Yocaviles, Calchaquíes, Amaichas, Anguinhaos, Cafayates, Encalillas. They were organized in groups and each one had a head or chieftain who had the social, political and religious authority. They developed their culture during the years 1000 and 1500 ad, having been conquered by the Incas from Peru around the year1480 ad, who remained in the region for about 50 years.
In 1535 the Spanish conquest began. They found great resistance in these Diaguita -Calchaquí groups who fought the conquerors advance for more than 150 years. They were finally defeated in 1666 in dramatic and forced expatriations, as in the case of the Quilmes Indians who were made to walk more than 2000 kms to the province of Buenos Aires.

After the establishment of the system of "Encomiendas" (Indian villages and inhabitants granted to Spanish colonists by royal decree) and the first "Estancias", (cattle ranches), some groups which had been deported to neighbouring provinces, returned to the Calchaquí Valleys. But, these aborigines who had lived on their land for centuries, came back as strangers as they were not recognised as owners of their soil and culture. Disadvantageously for them, the new racial and cultural mixture began in this setting. Today's inhabitants of the Calchaquí valleys are their offspring.
Even today in all the territory of the Calchaquí Valleys and more specifically in Santa María Catamarca, there persists a latent aboriginal cultural experience in the daily happenings and in their majority, have kept their original indigenous name.

To speak about the Santa Maria "man" is to go back to long before the Spanish conquest. Since then, the spirit and soul of the Calchaqui has been taking shape, having to go through sanguinary fights, up-rooting and loss of land, family, livestock, etc.
Nevertheless they were able to go on adapting to the changes and difficulties. They maintained many of their customs, beliefs and practices and adopted many others from the Spanish conquerors.
If we look at the way they make tapestry, a blanket, a "poncho" or other types of woven cloth we can recognise some of their own techniques, even if the weaving is being done on an adapted Spanish loom. The way they spin the wool, use the spindle, the designs they make, the colours they use, show us that the Calchaquí culture still survives time.
The ceramic ware also maintains its imprint, although without the splendour it had before the arrival of the conquerors.
In the spiritual aspect they still believe in the "Pachamama", (Mother Earth) owner of the earth and all that it yields, and she's rendered homage during harvest time, livestock branding, at the beginning of a journey or at a house warming. It's all part of daily life.
These traditions are transmitted orally from one generation to another. With time some things were lost and others were acquired from the contemporary culture.

Although the original language was the "Kakán", unfortunately it was lost with time. What remains are some words or expressions from the Quechua language, brought by the Incas during their invasion. A unique symbiosis has been developed, common to the people of America, where ancestral traditions blend with European contribution.

Holy Water or Chicha, (an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of corn) are both used for blessings, entrusting their possessions as much to God as to the Pachamama. All this syncretism is what sustains folkloric science and hence it's richness and necessity to study it with the seriousness it deserves.
"The materials collected by folkloric traditions are alive in the same surroundings that gave them life"; it's not just a surviving culture, but the continuity of life of the American man.

The designs they use in their tapestries are extracted from the antique symbols with which they used to represent scenes of daily life, for example,

"The Camelidae (llamas)", the only domesticated animal in America before the arrival of the Spaniards, used for its meat, milk, wool and as transport for merchandise, household implements and cargo in general.
The Frog and the Serpent are other animals which were represented originally on pottery and now in tapestries.; these animals are bearers of rich and traditional cultural values. The potters endowed their vessels with the meaning of petitions to the gods of the tempestuous graveyard. The hands of the idols are to be seen on infinite number of urns, holding open-mouthed jugs, glasses and pitchers, asking for rain, and the demand for the precious element is crowned by repetitive images of the magical being, linked to such invocations.

The Frog ( Ambrosetti page 159).
The belief still survives in the Calchaqui Folklore that the frog is an element for rain, that's why, to obtain water, a frog is fastened down with stakes on the ground and mortified with nettles. The investigator Ambrosetti tells us that "even today in the popular superstition this animal plays an important role as a medium to ask for rain, inflicting on it numerous cruel acts so as to obtain the desired element. It's not difficult to imagine that the ancestors of the actual Calchaquis should have believed the same, considering it the most characteristic symbol of this continuos and eternal petition for water, for which those indians even sacrificed children. On the funerary urns, where they were buried, the image of the frog was painted, synthesising the reason for the terrible act their beliefs brought about"; many times it is represented with a cross on its body.

The Serpent.
The popular belief says that it looks after graves and burial places. This was also the belief of the old Calchaqui inhabitants, for whom the serpent looked after the dead and their treasures so that they weren't stolen. Ambrossetti says: "Since immemorial times they have placed their dead under the protection of the serpent.....". This is the main reason for finding the symbol of the serpent or part of it on all the funerary urns or at least on their lids.
The symbolism attributed to the serpent is that its a flash of lightning that falls on the earth together with the rain. The belief is that the serpent attracts the lightning, and so the superstition that, "where a flash of lightning hits the earth there is a poisonous viper", and this fills the Calchaqui man with fear. This explains the link between the serpent and lightning in the Calchaqui mythology. That's why the serpent could have been the symbol of lightning in the Santamariana culture, as is evident by the zigzags on the funerary urns and in ceramics in general.

The "Suri" or "Ostrich" is a figure which is repeatedly found represented on Santamariana ceramics. This animal symbolizes the clouds filled with water that will be poured on the earth to make it fertile. As the plumage of this bird is grey it lead them to imagine they resembled rain clouds. When these birds perceived that a storm was coming, they ran in an erratic manner, moving their wings and puffing up their feathers, looking like clouds being swept one way and another by the winds, until once united produce rain.
Furthermore, in the paintings of this animal, a cross can be seen drawn on its body, symbolising the four winds: north, south, east and west, which in the belief of these people, came together in the cloud to produce the rain.

The mentality of the "vallistas" (valley people) is simple, very observant and knowledgeable of nature, in which they discover many things other people don't see. Nature is a sanctuary where the natural and the supernatural blend.
Much the same occurs with what is Christian and profane, what has been introduced by the Spaniards and what is American.
They believe in the Pachamama ("quichua" word: Pacha = world, earth, universe, all live beings; Mama = mother), owner of all that's on and below the earth.
It's an incaic divinity that even today survives as a popular myth in the Andean regions from the argentine north-west up to the equator; considered as a deified spirit of the earth, as a goddess of fertility, even of animals and women. Propitious offerings are dedicated to her in various forms and circumstances. This traditional cult has its most evident manifestation in the "apachetas" (stone mounds) that are found on roads and working places such as the tunnels of mines. They grow bigger as those who pass near it leave their offerings such as the "acuyico" (coca leaves they chew), alcohol, cigarettes or simply a stone from the road. As they make these offerings they pronounce a kind of prayer and say "Pachamama, Holy land, Kusiya, Kusiya". It's a sort of propitious invocation praying for a blessing for their different activities. In some cases one can observe an identification between the Pachamama and the Virgin Mary, both being women who look after and protect their children.

The "Santamariana" family:
To speak about it we can't limit ourselves to define it as it is today. The contribution of history is not indifferent. Therefore we can assume that the aborigine family, the Spanish family and the post-colonial one have contributed with their historic-cultural and socio-economic characteristics, forming a very particular family model.
The aborigine family scheme formed by "clans" that united the kinfolk has lasted for more than 2000 years. It can be described as an "extended family", where there isn't a closed human group but where it's common that even up to 3 generations (grandparents, parents and children) live together in the same dwelling or if not, a new home is built within the boundaries of the paternal house. There's also a close relationship with uncles and cousins, showing the high grade of belonging and co-operation amongst the members of the family group.
Most families are numerous. The first-born are usually from single mothers who get pregnant very young, around 13 to 14 years old. In many cases there is what is known as "the trial marriage", which has its roots in the ancient aboriginal population and consists of a temporary union of a couple, that may or may not become definite.
The birth of children is frequent but this doesn't necessarily imply a permanent union. If the bond is dissolved they generally stay with the mother. These natural children will eventually live with the new matrimony of the mother and are generally treated as equals with the new offspring.. The children are aware of their origin and it's common for their biologic father to acknowledge them as their own. The family is not limited to blood relatives only; there is a great generosity in the upbringing of the children of close or distant relatives, of godchildren or other children as their own when circumstances oblige.
The Women: We can see that her occult presence, but with a defined many-sided role makes her indispensable in the housework. It's not fortuitous that family life and its organisation revolves around her, which reveals deep matriarchal roots inherited from their aboriginal ancestors. Her role is not one of authority; this is possibly due to the mixed contribution of Spanish and aboriginal cultures. They are brave women who know how to "disappear", so as to leave their partner in the limelight, as he is the one who exercises authority. In the aboriginal organization the woman is domestic, and apart from looking after and feeding the family clan, she was also responsible for always having wood, water and "charqui" (sun dried meat) for the family sustenance, she also had to dedicate herself to spinning the wool from the "llamas" and "vicuñas" (domestic and wild camelidae from this region).
The man clearly plays the role of protection, alternating his work with social relationships and rest. Weekends find him gathered with his friends at the local bar (men's ground). His expressions of affection are scanty; history has led him not to show his feelings ; it's through his own example that he teaches how to work, enjoy life and suffer it alike.
Handcrafts are not always valued as an expression of their personal experiences and culture, due to the lack of economic and social encouragement. The gap between generations is becoming wider, hindering the transmission of their cultural values, with the risk of loosing them.

The dying of the wool used for spinning, according to data gathered by historians who have worked on this subject, is still being done with the same method as their ancestors, using roots, seeds or other parts of different trees or shrubs or even cactus', to obtain dyes of different colours. For example:

- Algarrobo (carob tree): light grey or black
- Ausque: blue-lead
- Cardón (giant cactus): dark royal purple
- Churqui: grey or black
- Espinillo: coffee colour or dark bordeaux
- Molle (Pepper tree): yellow
- Achira seeds: red
- Sauco (elder tree): green
- Jarilla (Arum plant): light green

These colours have persisted in the mummies' clothes and in ceramics found in arqueologic digouts in all the Santa María region. Nevertheless, the procedure they used to fix the colours have been lost in time, and its secret has not been deciphered by any investigator.

The aboriginal artist expressed the feeling of a millenary race, reaching us through multiple objects, moulded in the shapes and the aesthetics of their drawings and figures seen on cloths and ceramics. Expression of a culture with its myths and religious taboos loaded with superstitions, like the profound respect for natural phenomena (rain, lightning, thunder).

In these artistic expressions we see the relationship which existed between man and his environment, with all that was intimately united to his everyday life. Apart from the animals and the natural phenomena, they could not leave out the sun and the moon. It has all been preserved in the spirit of the people, in the respectful silence of the Valley where even the construction of their houses still maintains the primitive architecture: square or rectangle shaped, made with stones and roofs of mud mixed with hay, like their ancestors did.
The walls of the enclosures where they kept their animals were built with stones, used like bricks but with no mortar to unite them. These are known as "pircas".
The loom is a faithful witness of an era. Made of hard rough wood, just as it was cut from the carob tree from the valley, it resisted time and history.
We find that the structural design used in the construction of the looms at Aurora School are the same as the primitive ones, except in the type of wood employed. As it can be appreciated in the photographs presented in this document, the aborigines and some of their descendants place the loom outside the house in the open or under a spreading carob tree where there is good ventilation and a constant renewal of air, instinctively achieving prophilaxis for respiratory illnesses, which could be caused by the accumulation of dust and fluff coming from the wool.
The archaeology of the Argentine north-west shows how the pre-Hispanic Santamariana handcrafts were grafted in harmony with the cosmology and the daily life of the indigenous people. Through their products, the diaguita artisans communicated their cultural identity, using expressive ways shared by other members of their social group. This is the case of certain symbolical and chromatic associations where, apart from maintaining intact its value as a tool, the handcraft product united aesthetics with technology. At the same time they had a symbolic value, as the materials used made reference to the ecosystem it came from and the decorative designs were part of the value system shared by the community.

When a tapestry is woven or a vessel is shaped, an intellectual activity develops, with all its effects, as handicraft creation is a way of making culture, specially if the artisan is stimulated to continue with his own profession and has the possibility of being perfected and up dated.

Making handcrafts also means speaking to the world and of the world, to communicate to themselves and to others a message, a life style, or the fragments of a cosmology, maybe a simple one (although it's not always so) but still always a part of an existing identity.

We have to understand that the culture isn't a "costume" which one can don or take off as one pleases, according to the seasons, but it sinks its roots in each person's conscience and feeds on the psychological processes which science has not yet been able to define.
The aim of this initiative is not to place mass produced decorative objects in the market, prized by tourists but substantially separated from the culture of the place. In this case, a co-operation project would not be useful but rather a well directed publicity campaign, capable of attracting the middle-class citizen to consume handcrafts. The real objectives are very different and therefore have a more ample and diverse scope.

Handcrafts in particular have been left aside from productive activities, as the incipient consumer society has introduced an extremely different materialistic culture. Regarding the value of its use, handicraft objects have been almost totally replaced by industrial ones, often of better quality and of an undoubtedly lower cost. Furthermore, under the strictly cultural aspect it's undeniable that many people, specially the younger ones, have begun to lose the capacity to understand or adopt a "language" in disuse and which only enthuses a certain portion of the intellectual world or tourists looking for folklore.

The project was not born at the desk of an intellectual supporter of the interests and rights of the aboriginal population, but was based from the start on the specific and persevering commitment of many volunteers, from different social extractions, who don't spare any effort as long as the initiative goes ahead.

The main assumption is that handcrafts and manual activities in general, even today constitute a way of creating culture which is felt strongly by many "Santamarianos", and a unique professional opportunity for the youth of the place.
On the one hand the intention is to teach handcraft techniques to the youth; on the other, to contribute with the craftsmen already working as such to perfect their crafts; lastly, to help the potential user of handcraft products to perceive the significance of these as ways of expression and to find a new place for them in society.

Although this may sound paradoxical, the general aim would be to refresh a repressed wisdom, inserting a traditional activity in an already modern society.

The youth that study at Aurora School have the possibility of getting to know themselves better, increasing their own comprehension of reality, measuring up against it in a more profound way, and at the same time participating of lessons on subjects very rarely taught at other schools.

A certain part of the Argentine intellectual world has been denouncing for years an excessive dependence on occidental artistic aesthetics norms from Europe and North-America, specially regarding official and academic artistic production. This dependence hampers an adequate appraisal of the existing mixed culture in a mixed race like the Argentine, and more so the people of the Argentine north-west. This denouncement is also strictly associated to a different way of making art, a result from the renewed conscience of being a different people. Viewing it this way, this would imply finding ways of expressions both occidental and indigenous, cultivated and popular.

It's exactly what's happening at the Aurora School, as local craftsmen have began to collaborate with the local youth who have received an essentially occidental academic artistic formation. But it's much more than that, as we're not speaking of artists who exchange experiences with the purpose of enhancing their own productions; they work together uniting their efforts to create something new, capable of giving aesthetics to the way they live and express themselves, as a mestizo community.
These are new attempts that reflect a deep cultural authenticity and have managed to make this project take the most interesting course.

Santa María has headed towards the future, but to do it efficiently it needs to know what the future is really like, also knowing its present and its past, with no denials or discriminations, and so find a culture capable of showing all its elements, be they Europeans, Indigenous or Mestizo.

Today the inhabitants of Santa Maria city are being invaded by the media which brings new life styles, shows other cultures, another music, all damaging traditional ways. That's why the youth and children go losing the sense of their own traditions, disregarding the wealth of the customs, handcrafts and cultural values of their elders.

This is where Aurora School plays a very important role, as in it the people will be able to find their cultural roots and head towards the future with a solid base of the seeds of their past, recreating and embarking on the conquest of new horizons using traditional techniques to create art for the present and the future.

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