ACHAPO (Cedrelinga cateniformis)

Achapo, also commonly called Tornillo, is a tree that grows up to 40 m and a diameter of up to 150 cm. It is found in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. It grows between 0 and 500 meters above sea level. It is a mechanically resistant wood, good finish for work on doors, windows, bodywork and house construction due to its resistance that this species presents, it has a thick texture with a moderate shine.

- talked about in the cartographies of Yurayako.

ARRACACHA (Arracacia xanthorrhiza)

Arracacha, or potato-celery, is a vegetable plant of Andean origin cultivated in South America for its tuberous root, rich in starch. It is a root vegetable which develops after cooking an intermediate taste between celery, cabbage and roasted chestnut. Very popular in South America, this plant is an important commercial crop there, especially in Brazil. This species belongs to the same botanical family as carrot, parsnip, or celery, but unlike the latter which are grown as biennial species propagated by seed, it is grown as a perennial plant propagated by vegetative propagation.

ARRAYAN (Minquartia guianensis)

Also called barbasco ahumau is a tree that reach a size of up to 20 m tall with a trunk of 40-120cm. Specie found in the forests of the Atlantic zone from Nicaragua to tropical South America. The Timber is valuable because of its durability. It is on the Red List of threatened Species because it has been harvested intensivly for trade.

- talked about during the walk Colòn-Aponte and with the Cuaspa family in Guayuyaco.

ARROZ (Oryza sativa)

Herb native to China, and domesticated since ancient times, cultivated in warm lands, up to 1 m tall, with very narrow leaves that are rough to the touch, and erect spikes with stiff bristles from which the grains used in cooking are extracted. numerous culinary preparations.

Amazon

„late 14c., „one of a race of female warriors in Scythia,“ via Old French (13c.) or Latin, from Greek Amazon (mostly in plural Amazones), probably from an unknown non-Indo-European word, or possibly from an Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- „(one) fighting together“ [Watkins]. But in folk etymology it has been long derived from a- „without“ + mazos, variant of mastos „breast;“ hence the story that the Amazons cut or burned off one breast so they could draw bowstrings more efficiently.“ (Online Etymological Dictionary)

We ask ourselves wether this term is problematic today. Not only is it a name that comes from mythology but it is also mystified

Ambi PIADERO Wasi

An Ambi Piadero Wasi is a medicine roof. It is usually located in a small clearing in the forest. It is a sacred roof for rituals. Here the Inga meet collectively and take yagé.

AWAI

means 'weaving' in inga and now stands for the 'panamazonican biocultural indigenous pluriversity.'

futher information ont he AWAI Project:

BOMBONA (Iriartea deltoidea)

Palm tree growing up to 25m high, native to Central and South Americo. Grows slowly but is long lasting with very resistant wood for construction.

- talked about with the Cuaspa familly in Guayuyaco, in el Tambor and duriing the cartographies of Yurayako.

BORRACHERO (Brugmansia suaveolens)

Small tree reaching 3-5 m in height, often with a multi-branched trunk. It grows in tropical climate under 1000m altitude. The leaves are oval and the flowers, in the shape of trumpets about 24 to 32 cm long, are remarkably beautiful and delicately fragrant. It's pollen also has strong effect and it's not advised to take a nap under it. This plant is often found next to an Inga house as protection and is also used during Yagé ceremonies.

- talked about in Mocoa and at the taita German island.

Cabildo

Administrational unit in the Inga peoples political strucutre. Often linked to the Communities and Resguardos. But also as communities in cities like Bogota where the Inga have a space to meet and organize themselves which also called Cabildo, or as a indigenous student council in university.

Capiron (Humiria balsamifera)

Medium to tall, between 15-30m tall tree reaching the canopy. The trunk may bear small thick buttresses. The crown is very variable in shape and size. The bark is dark brown in color, deeply fissured longitudinally. The young branches are glabrous, more or less angular or winged. Older branches are cylindrical, gray, glabrous or somewhat pubescent, covered with soft gray hairs. Its purplish-brown to brownish-red wood tolerates alternating humidity and drought, and can be used outdoors as it resists the rain. It can be used for carpentry and flooring.

CHONTADURO (Bactris gasipaes)

Domestic palm often found in the chagra of the Amazon region. It can reach up to 30m in height. The “trunk” is actually a stipe, bearing long spines separated by bare rings corresponding to leaf scars. The leaves, long and arched in shape, measure up to about 3.50 m in length. The stipe is often used for pillars as it is very resistant. Also very famous for it's sweet fruit.

- talked about with the Cuaspa family in Guayuyaco and at el Tambor.

COSTILLA/O (Aspidosperma excelsum)

The Costilla is a canopy tree in the Amazon Rainforest. It has large above ground roots. It has a medical use for example against Malaria but also burns the skin when in contect with the sawdust. The tree is used for construction. habitat: lower elevations, tropical height: 30m wood: durable, compact, strong and elastic

- talked about at el Tambor

Collaboration

The collaboration between ETH and the Inga community started in 2018 through the swiss artist Ursula Biemann. Since then, the project continued with the teaching of Anne Lacaton, Philip Ursprung, An Fonteyne and with the project of Santiago del Hierro supervised by Milica Topalovic and Freek Persyn. We have now joined the collaboration between ETHZ, the Inga community and the many other actors involved through a free diploma project. It is important for us to inscribe our work in continuity with what has been done in order to fully acknowledge our short participation span in relation to the full project. Collaboration is also key as we are participating in a project in a distant context but most importantly because it is what a uni-/pluri-versity should be about.

Chagra

The traditional Chagra is a form of permaculture. Chagra (Inga) comes from Chakra a Quechua term meaning "farm, field or land sown with seed”. The tradicional Inga chagra contains fruits like oranges, bananas, yuca, yota, maiz, pineapple and a lot more. The land is cultivated in divers way so the plants can benefit from each other for example through the shadow of the banana palm. It is a polyculture.

“Look, when I plant corn, when I cultivate the chagra, I don't have to plant only for my family. I have to keep in mind that when the time of harvest comes, the squirrel, the deer, the tapir, the turkeys, the tarrots will also come to harvest everthing that is in the harvest.”

-'Hernando Chindoy - Living Cognitive Territory Auf Vimeo', accessed 17 November 2022, https://vimeo.com/593771422.

Demystify

Opposing the european narrative of the untouched, wild nature of the Amazon, archeologists showcase how it actually is an anthropogenic landscape we find in the Amazon. Complex landuse patterns of pre colombian cultures influenced the form of the forest we see today in the Amazon. A lot of these cultures got lost through depopulation following the early colonization of the european empires.

Contemporary archeology traces back traces in the landscape of former clusters of walled and unwalled towns. Traces in the ground relief or vegetation.

- Michael J. Heckenberger et al., 'Pre-Columbian Urbanism, Anthropogenic Landscapes, and the Future of the Amazon', Sci- ence 321, no. 5893 (29 August 2008): 121417, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1159769. Fig 1. Paulo Tavares, 'In The Forest Ruins - Architecture - e-Flux', e-flux, October 2016,https://www.e-flux.com/archi- tecture/superhumanity/68688/ in-the-forest-ruins/.

Extraction

“Our extraction methods are based on an unilateral relation where we take without giving anything in return. Once as site has been totally wiped out we move toward another one, leaving behind a dead and empty landscape.”

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins, New paperback printing (Princeton Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2021).

While in Piamonte an Inga woman was mentioning that the region people say “the inga are lazy because they don't use their land.” They relate to the land in a different way. When the usual relation to land is that of ownership and use for gain. Most Inga people have a deeper understanding of how the piece of land relates to the territory as a whole.

Flor de mayo (tibouchina sp)

Tropical plants in the family Melastomataceae. Small trees that are 0.5 to 25 m high. They are native to Central and South America, particularly Brazil. The name comes from an adaptation of an indigenous term in Guyana for shrubs. It can be recognised easily with it's bright violet flower.

- talked about during the walk Colón-Aponte.

Frijol (Phaseolus sp.)

is an annual herbaceous plants originating from Central America (unlike the genus Vigna reserved for beans originating from Africa and Asia) four of which are of real economic and agricultural interest. Beans, rich in starch (starch) and protein, play an important role in human nutrition, especially in certain tropical regions of Africa and Latin America.

Global majority/minority

A reformulation of the too often used global south and global north.

Ground

from Proto-Germanic *grundu-, which seems to have meant „deep place“ (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch grond, Old High German grunt, German Grund „ground, soil, bottom;“ Old Norse grunn „a shallow place,“ grund „field, plain,“ grunnr „bottom“). No known cognates outside Germanic. (Etymological)

Iaku

In Inga language, Iaku means water; liquid; river.

INGA PEOPLE

The inga people are one of the 103 indigenous groups recognised nationally in Colombia. With a population around 20,000, is spread over the whole country (and across), but their ancestral lands are situated in the South East of Colombia, where the Andes mountains meet the Amazon forest They are the descendants from the Inca, whose empire stretched its northern part in the Valley de Sibundoy in the 15th century. They then moved east toward the amazon lowlands of the Putumayo region. The Inga are now spread over four different Colombia department (Putumayo, Caqueta, Cauca and Nariño) and quotidianly exchange with urban mestizos, farmers and members of other Indigenous communities that include the Awá, Cofán, Eperara, Kamëntsá, Nasa, Pastos, Quillacinga, Siona and Yanakuna.

Inga language

Spoken language of the Inga people, from the Quechua family.

Intercultural

As interculturality is a key element of the pluriversity AWAI, this process starts within its own conception. The inga community invited many institution to participate in the conception of the Pluriversity, such as ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, National University of Colombia, the National Pedagogic University of Colombia, La Salle University, Instituto Humboldt, Universidad los Andes, Central Saint-Martins University.

kawari

In Inga language kawari means panorama; landscape.

Lumamanda iapa suma kawari.

The hill has a beautiful view.

Mamita

Mamita means mother in Inga language. The formal way to adress respected women of the community.

Material

When having to decide on the construction materials that would be used to build the Pluriversity we were confronted with the question wether it is coherent or not to build in the conventional materials found in the region for building: Concrete, Bricks, Zinc and Plastic.

On one hand these materials are economical and easily implemented. On the other hand we questioned ourselves wether or not building with those materials is in line with the values of a reciprocal relation to the landscape. There is no clear answer to this question. Traditional Inga building materials often require more effort to build with and are percieved as less durable. Building with building materials from the territory is a way to keep keep the inga building culture alive and safeguarding the knowledge.

Minga

At the architectural scale, design and building are being led by a team of Inga construction experts, collaborating with architects and engineers from Colombia and abroad. Minga is the method that guides this process, the ancestral Indigenous practice that calls upon the community to work collectively towards a common goal. This form of co-operation is also a moment to share food, stories and music, where people of all ages meet to celebrate what is being achieved and to strengthen relations of reciprocity.

- An Indigenous university - Architectural Review

Páramos

During a 12 hour walk across the Andes mountain of Putumayo, we had the chance to know for the first time a very special ecosystem: the páramos of la Juana. This sacred landscape is unique to the Andes mountains, found around 3000 m high. It is both cold and very humid. Páramos are mysterious, sacred and longed for. They are also exploited and are currently under multiple severe threats including large-scale mining and climate change. Here, on top of the Andes lies the source of the water of the Amazon. Paramos are sacred landscapes, yet endangered. Filled with medicinal plants known and used by indigenous people since a long time.They host more than 4,000 vegetable species, one of which is Frailejón, also known as Espeletia, which grow only 1cm a year. Similar to other Páramo plants, Frailejones have the ability to absorb water from fogs and rains through an adaptation of their leaves, in order to funnel it into streams and contribute water storage back into the soil. Colombian Páramos supply over 70% of the water for the population.

Plural

The wiphala is a square emblem commonly used as a flag to represent some native peoples of the Andes that include today's Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina and southern Colombia. Each color has a meaning: The Earth and the Andean man (red), society and culture (orange), energy and strength (yellow), time and change (white), natural resources and wealth (green), the Cosmos (blue), andean government and self-determination (violet).

Pluriversity

... at the end of the decolonizing process, we will no longer have a university. We will have a pluriversity. What is a pluriversity? A pluriversity is not merely the extension throughout the world of a Eurocentric model presumed to be universal and now being reproduced almost everywhere thanks to commercial internationalism.

By pluriversity, many understand a process of knowledge production that is open to epistemic diversity. It is a process that does not necessarily abandon the notion of universal knowledge for humanity, but which embraces it via a horizontal strategy of openness to dialogue among different epistemic traditions. To decolonize the university is therefore to reform it with the aim of creating a less provincial and more open critical cosmopolitan pluriversalism - a task that involves the radical re-founding of our ways of thinking and a transcendence of our disciplinary divisions.

- Achille Mbembe

Purii

The verb purii, in the Inga language, means: to go, walk, stroll, travel.

Primitive Hut

The primitive Hut is an concept of the 18.c. from Marc-Antoine Laugier, who described in a allegory the need of humans in nature for shelter. Which should have helped architecture to have a destination. Gottfried Semper referred to the term in german „Urhütte“ in a more antropological way. For him the origin of building was the gathering of humans around a bonfire. As base of these theories Vitruvius is applicale, writing about structures out of clay, wood and reed of certain tribes but also describing the „Casa Romuli“ as a simple straw cabin in which Romulus founded Rome.

AYNI

The Quechuan concept for Reciprocity.

An example of this would be ayni between a human and a tree: A tree is watered by a human, and the tree uses this water to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. The oxygen is used by humans to perform respiration and survive, and some glucose may eventually find its way into products that humans use such as fruits. In return, humans convert oxygen back to carbon dioxide for use by the tree, as well as plant seeds the tree produced to create more trees. The simple of act of watering a tree can also reap in rewards including by not limited to: creating shade, wind barriers, soil anchors, and more. The relationships that can be defined as ayni thus extend to everything beneficial involving two parties.

-wikipedia.com

Ruku Ñambi

Ruku means old in Inga language and ñambi means path. Ruku ñambis is the term used to talk about the ancestral path of the Inga People, trails connecting their vast territories between the Andes mountains and the Amazon basin. Those paths are an extensions of the Inca Qhapaq Ñan.

Samu Kuasai - Good Living

Inga concept of good living.

Soil

Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. (wikipedia.com)

TAITA

Taita means 'father' in Inga language. The formal way to adress respected men of the community.

Tampu - Lodgings (Inca)

The Tampu is a lodging and storing place alongside the roadsystem during the Inca times in south america. This architecture appears in very different ways but with the specific use of housing the travellers and goods. Some historic sources say that they where always placed a day walk from each other. Because of the different climate zones and cultural influences the form of the Tampu changed a lot in the different areas.

Tambu - Cabin (Inga)

The Tambu is a polyvalent space. Its often one room in a cabin where you cook, sleep and talk. The center of the Tambu is the Tulpa, the fireplace with the 3 stones on which you place the pot to cook or sit around and talk.
An old degrading Tambu we visited with the Mapeo de saberes:

A abandoned tambu

Tulpa

The territory of the Inga is made up of three main spaces where the different activities and rites take place. These are the Chagra, the Tambo and the Tulpa. The Tulpa refers to the ultimate heart, to the fire. Spiritually the Tulpa is an important place where an exchange takes place with elders, where wisdom and knowledge are bequeathed. The tree stones have different meaning. One is that is represent the earth, the sun and the moon. Another one stands for the mother, the father and the son. It can also be explained as the best way to hold a casserole.

Turu

In Inga language turu means mud; earth.

Waru Waru

Prehsipanic technique of agriculture, similar to the „raised field“. The technique allows to control irrigation and errosion and increases the yield of crops.

We

In order to start an intercultural project such as this one it is important to reflect on the question 'who is we'? Are WE, three students, representative of ETH institution? Can we work as individuals or are WE always part of this project group? Is there a place for a common WE including ourselves and the inga community?

Working between an established institution and a local community always brings contradictions which might not have an easy solution. By clarifying 'who is we', we can help those situations. But for that we have to accept that the WE is always changing, that there's not only one answer to it. The inclusive WE is difficult and sometimes some distance has to be taken, as the big common WE is not always possible. The idea is to try to escape the binary us/them while accepting that the answer cannot always be a global and common we. Sharing common goals is not always enough as we come from very different contexts.

reference: Making of podcast, department of the ongoing.

Yagé - Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca or yagé is a preparation providing its users with visual hallucinations, these considered as a veil that the shaman must lift during the ceremony. Made from lianas, taken in the form of a beverage, it is traditionally consumed by the shamans of the Amerindian tribes of the Amazon who use it for its healing abilities in accordance with local beliefs and practices. By extension, ayahuasca is the name given to the vines of the genus Banisteriopsis whose bark is mainly used in the composition of this drink. The term Ayahuasca comes from Quechua and is formed from the agglutination of 'aya' and 'huaska'. It is usually translated by vine of the spirits, vine of the dead or vine of the souls. Another traduction accordifnt to Gerald Taylor , linguist and specialist in the Quechua language, the most probable name for this vine would rather be ayaqhuaska, which means “bitter vine”.

Eucalypto (Eucalyptus globulus)

Common Eucalyptus is an evergreen tree native to Australia. It is widely cultivated and can grow up to 92m tall. This fast-growing tree develops best with large quantities of water that it seeks from the depth. For this reason it was imported in the Sibundoy valley during the end of the 20th century and used to where a former lake was drained and to make more space for intensive agriculture. Here you can find the story about the drainage of Valle Sibundoy.

- talked about in the mapping of Sibundoy valley.

Guadua (Guadua angustifolia)

Guadua is a tropical species of bamboo endemic to South and Central America. Its rapid rate of growth, renewability, high level of CO2 fixation and storage, wide diameter, long-length, and durability are distinctive and highly desirable features which can benefit the new built environment.Currently, Guadua construction is characterized by a degree of uncertainty and depends on the quality of handicraft.

- talked about with the Cuaspa family, at el Tambor, in Yurayako and the Lacaton Book

Helecho de tronco (Cyathea frigida)

This fern tree is native to South America and grows in the Andes mountains. It's empty trunk is very resistant and used as columns in traditional Inga construction in the higher and colder territories.

- talked about during the mapping in Sibundoy valley.

IRACA (Carludovica palmata)

Iraca is a palm-like monocot plant and not part of the palm family. It is soft and flexible and its durable fibers are a common roof material. Sometimes it is also used for other artesenal products. Growth time until harvest is around 5 years. - talked about with the Cuaspa family, at el Tambor and during the cartographies in Yurayako.

MAíz (Zea mays)

Corn is an annual tropical herbaceous plant of the family Poaceae (grasses), widely cultivated as a cereal for its rich grains in starch, but also as fodder plant. This species, native to Mexico, was the staple food of the Amerindians before the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus. Introduced in Europe in the 16th century, it is today the first cereal cultivated in the world, ahead of rice and wheat. It's also widly cultivated in Colombia and present in every Inga chagra (indigenous permaculture).

MILPES (Oenocarpus bataua)

Palm, up to 20 m tall, crown formed by huge erect and arching leaves . It grows in warm and humid forests. It has multiple uses. The fruit is used to male nutritous drink with a high protein content and is higly appreciated, which lead to a severe reduction in the species number. The trunks are used in construction and the leaves are used for roofing and to make mountain backpacks.

- talked about at el Tambor.

ñume (Ammandra decasperma)

Palm from the Pacific lowlands and the Amazon foothills, with large rosette leaves in spherical and compact clusters, about 30cm in diameter, bearing 3 to 10 large brown fruits. The leaves are used for thatching; the petioles are split to extract resistant fibers that are used in basketry; and the seeds are used to make necklaces and ornaments.

- talked about during the cartographies of Yuruyaco.

Pajonales (Eragrostis pastoensis)

Eragrostis pastoensis is a plants of the family Poaceae (grasses), native from South America.It's herbaceous plants, rarely woody and annual. It grows in clumps (clusters). This specific species is unique to páramo (moors) ecosystema and thus grows at high altitude. This grass is used traditional by the inga to do roof cover, even though there's very little example left.

- talked about during the walk Colón-Aponte.

Papaya (Carica papaya)

The papaya tree is an evergreen fruit tree of humid and sub-humid tropical regions cultivated for its fruit, the papaya. He is originally from southern Mexico. The fruit, is edible but that of the wild species is unpleasant to eat because of a sometimes fetid smell. A large number of fruit varieties suitable for consumption have been developed. It's a common tree in the Inga chagra (indigenous permaculture) of the Amazon region.

Plátano (Musa x paradisiaca)

Musa paradisiaca is the accepted name for the hybrid between Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, which is one of the most cultivated bananas and plantains.Very famous for it's fruit, this specie is widely spread in the Amazon region of Colombia and its fruit, the banana, is a basic aliment.

PUI (Lepidocaryum tenue)

Lepidocaryum is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from South America. The genus name combines the Greek words for „scale“ and „nut“ and the species epithet is Latin for „thin“. >At just 2.5 cm in width, the clustering trunks reach no higher than 3.5 m and are covered at the top by old, adherent leaf bases. Female plants produce oblong or ovoid fruit, usually with one seed, red to brown in color and covered in scales. It is an undergrowth palm found in low land rain forest. In habitat the leaves are often used for thatching roofs.

- talked about at el Tambor, Cauca.

Qhapaq Ñan

The Qhapaq Ñan was road system of the Inca throughout the Andean Mountains it had a length of about 6000 km and connected the south of Colombia to Chile. In all the different climatic conditions this path system had a wide variety of forms. Architectures like Tambus (Inns) supported the walk-ability of the paths. Story about the Qhapaq Ñan.

- wikipedia.org
- Hyslop, John. The Inka Road System. Studies in Archaeology. Orlando: Academic Press, 1984.

Resguardo

The Resguardo is a legal institution without major importance in the Spanish colonial origin in America, consisting of a recognized territory of a community of Amerindian descent, with inalienable property title, collective or communal, governed by a special autonomous status, with their own cultural patterns and traditions. This institution was maintained by some republics and is fully recognized in Colombia

- wikipedia.com

TOTORA (Schoenoplectus californicus)

Totora is a species of sedge. It is known from the Lake Titicaca where the Uros people use it to construct floating islands for dwelling. In Valle Sibundoy it was used to make mats. In generaly grows in wetlands.Annualy harvestable.

- talked about in Valle Sibundoy

wasi panga

In Inga language, Wasi means 'house' and panga means 'leave'. That's the name of a palm used for traditional leave roof in the Andes. We didn't found it's scientific name. We know its grows at a higher altitute, which is why wasi panga roofs are found only on the higher territories of the ingas. We saw some examples in Sibundoy Valley.

- talked about at el Tambor and during the mapping of Sibundoy Valley.