Análisis etnográfico del pueblo indígena Inga del Valle de Sibundoy (Colombia): cultura jurídica ancestral: intersección entre justicia, ritual y medicina tradicional
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: ENG- This thesis consists of an ethnographic analysis of the relationship between justice, ritual, and traditional medicine among the Inga people (Sibundoy Valley, Putumayo, Colombia), the study argues that Indigenous justice privileges healing, reparation, and prevention over punishment, and introduces the concept of a “ritual-legal device” to describe yagé’s (Banisteriopsis caapi) normative role in the production of normative truth and culturally grounded evidentiary elements, the acknowledgment of responsibility, community reintegration, and territorial defense. Theoretically, it contends that this practice is grounded in a normative ontology based on the “Law of Origin” and Sumak Kawsay (“Buen Vivir”). Drawing on prolonged participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentary analysis—both community-based and jurisprudential—the dissertation examines how yagé helps restore harmony among health, conduct, and territory. The findings are articulated along three analytical axes: (i) the relationship among medicine, justice, and territory; (ii) the ritual authority of the taitas—physicians, judges, and governors—and the bases of their legitimacy (therapeutic knowledge, spiritual lineage, and community service); and (iii) the coordination mechanisms between the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction and the state system within the framework of intercultural legal pluralism. The study offers a comprehensive view of the relationship between healing, justice, and normativity in Indigenous contexts, as well as resources for intercultural dialogue in legal matters
Author: CHICA CEPEDA, CARLOS FERNANDO
Language: Spanish
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7154553395