Dancing to the sun and making offerings to mother earth

OTAVALO, Ecuador — High in the Andes Mountains just two hours north of Quito, the city of Otavalo celebrates Inti Raymi, an annual weeklong festival of the sun in June that culminates with the summer solstice. 

“It’s more than a party,” said Imbaya Cachiguango, a Quecuha elder who helped organize the festival. “We’re trying to maintain the traditions of our ancestors, to honor and remember the significance of our mother Earth. For us it’s a celebration with deeper significance. There are dances, rituals, special dishes … everything here has a meaning.”

The week began with opening ceremonies and a symbolic bath beneath the Peguche Waterfall. Starting early that evening, people gathered to dance in Peguche, a small town just a few kilometers outside of Otavalo. 

“We dance to honor the sun. We move in circles to emulate the planet’s rotation around the sun,” said Patricio Revelo, who studied culture and social development at the University of Otavalo. “The musicians playing in the center of each circle represent the sun and the life it gives us. The fruit people carry is an offering made to mother Earth.” 

At midnight, the hundreds of people attending the ceremony walked a kilometer into the forest to wash beneath the falls. While both tourists and locals are invited to participate, the falls have special significance for Otavaleños.

“This is a symbolic bath, a chance for people to interact with the water sprit,” said Julio Moran, an Ecuadorian with Quechua roots who was born in Otavalo. “You ask her to give you energy for these next days of celebration … some people believe that the bath also purifies and washes away negative energy from the past year to let you start the next year clean.”

Beyond its spiritual and historical significance, Inti Raymi has become a symbol of progress for indigenous communities, a time to celebrate identity, and to show strength and solidarity. 

“As a person, you have rights, ” said Ernesto Lema Morales, a musician who performed during the festival. “But for a long time, we didn’t have those rights. We were not allowed to have our celebrations in the city. But today, in 2010 we march openly because we have the right. For me, it’s a pride to share what I am with foreigners, with mestizos, with my people.”

The Inti Raymi march to celebrate this history takes participants into Otavalo’s central plaza, which is decorated with boldly striped flags. After the march, groups from surrounding pueblos are invited to dance.  

“The stripes on the flags signify the presence of diversity in our pueblos, but also our unity,” said Morales. “It’s our time to share our connections between different communities and groups, to celebrate and give thanks together to our mother earth. Each pueblo has its own dance, its own interpretation of Inti Raymi, so we gather to see and to share.”

While Inti Raymi will always be a festival dedicated to the sun, it’s clear that for many indigenous Ecuadorians the meaning of the festival has evolved into much more.