The Body as Cultural Territory: Sikuani Healing Knowledge and Intercultural Health in Vichada, Colombia
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This qualitative ethnographic study examines how ancestral Sikuani health knowledge is generated, transmitted, and legitimized within the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Cumaribo (Vichada, Colombian Orinoquía), where Colombia's General System of Social Security in Health intersects with Indigenous Medical Systems. Utilizing a multi-sited, hermeneutic-interpretive design, data were gathered through participant observation, in-depth interviews, life histories, and ethnographic visits across the territory with community-approved bilingual interpreters, followed by NVivo-supported thematic analysis and method triangulation. Findings reveal four key analytical categories: the body as a cultural territory mediating visible and invisible realms; a distinct cultural etiology; therapeutic itineraries combining dopatubinü care, botanical self-treatment, and biomedicine; and tensions regarding the Hegemonic Medical Model. Ultimately, conceptualizing the body-territory continuum frames Sikuani illness as a relational balance disruption rather than a purely biological dysfunction, demonstrating that epistemic recognition of ancestral medicine is essential for achieving critical intercultural healthcare in the region. The ethnographic findings were complemented by two sources produced in the same territory: the departmental baseline on mental health stigma (EBEED-Vichada, N = 200; 60% Indigenous population) and the record of a community workshop held to validate the departmental mental health public policy (October 2026). Both sources corroborate the paradox described in this study: although the population trusts the hospital as a pathway to care (79.5%), 68% perceive that they are not treated there with linguistic or intercultural appropriateness.
Source: Research
Institution: Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7225652389
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