Silva to share Ecuador stories

By Tracy Siegel

Maria Isabel Silva, a University graduate student, will share her experiences of researching and working in a rural community adjacent to an archaeological site in Ecuador at the

International Programs and Studies building, 910 S. Fifth St., at noon today.

Her talk will describe the developing relationship with the community members of Agua Blanca – not only toward their involvement in the management of the site, but also in the promoting of its cultural heritage.

The lecture, called “The Agua Blanca Site Museum and Cultural Center in Coastal Ecuador: A Contesting and Counter-Hegemonic Reinterpretation of the Archaeological Past to Transform the Future,” is sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University.

Silva, originally from Ecuador, came to the University to receive a degree in anthropology. While a University graduate student in the late 1980s, Silva went back to Ecuador to live and work in Agua Blanca, located inside the Machalilla National Park in coastal Ecuador. Her work helped the local population to manage and promote their cultural heritage.

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In her time spent researching and working in the community, Silva and the co-director of the Archaeological and Anthropological project educated and trained residents in Agua Blanca to protect and manage the historical site where they lived.

In her lecture, Silva will focus on the project’s efforts to help the local population develop various initiatives and projects that helped to preserve the culture, ecology and economy of the area. The community learned to recognize their past and be proud to display it and promote their culture, she said.

As part of the project, the Agua Blanca site museum and cultural center was built with the community to promote the archaeological ruins, the park and its people. Traditional construction techniques were used to build the museum instead of current techniques such as cement, Silva said.

“This was used to honor those technologies that have been developed by locals over centuries and to bring the techniques back today,” she said.

Silva said she thinks that by sharing her experiences, she is providing people with a different perspective, especially in regards to community museums, cultural management and the arts.

“I have this experience, I should talk about it,” she said. “The impact on the local people is so great, I need to share it with others.”

Jen Law, sophomore in LAS, said she feels Silva’s presentation is important in order to spread awareness on campus about other cultures and other experiences and ways of doing things.

“So many people take for granted these national parks and don’t realize that there are lives behind them,” she said.

CJ Ehley, sophomore in LAS, said while he had never heard of this issue before, it is something that interests him.

“Nobody should have to deny their culture in their homeland, whether it’s on an archaeological site or not,” he said. “Having locals run the park is the best way to get the best of both worlds.”