The Verbal Art of Siekopai Formulas and Sacred Chants

Abstract

Siekopai are one of the fourteen Indian nations of Ecuador. They live in seven communities in the province of Sucumbíos. Although their ancestral language, Paikoka, still shows a high degree of vitality today, the rapidly increasing bilingualism observed among the younger generations together with an accelerated process of acculturation provoked by urbanization and migration to the cities make us foresee a linguistic displacement towards Spanish in the few next generations. As part of Siekopai oral tradition, formulas and sacred chants are among the expressions of native verbal art that run the highest risk of being lost in the short run because the transmission process was suddenly interrupted several decades ago alongside the consumption of yoco and yage. Remembered by a dozen of elders whose average age exceeds 78 years, the formulas and sacred chants were documented for the first time in three Siekopai communities. Through the documentation and analysis of both verbal genres, a typology of formulas and sacred chants was conducted according to form, function, and contexts of use. Awareness-building among bearers of these genres and the communities with respect to the importance of these expressions of Siekopai intangible cultural heritage made it possible to establish basic criteria and general recommendations for a plan to safeguard the formulas and sacred chants.