Wiñay Mallki and Hugo Jamioy Juagibioy: Palabras Mayores, Ancestral Struggle, and Indigenous Poetics

Wiñay Mallki and Hugo Jamioy Juagibioy’s poetry allows us to understand some socio-political dimensions of the indigenous literature that is recognized as palabras mayores (ancestral words). The purpose of this article is to contribute to the knowledge of their works starting with a historical overview of the Colombian Southwest to shed a light on the common intentions as well as the encounters of these two poets, from the Yanakuna and Camëntsá people. The text has a bioethnographic approach to the two indigenous authors to establish the relationship of their works with the political and ancestral struggle waged by their indigenous communities. This paper showcases the decolonizing power of the poetries of the two creators from Cauca and Putumayo for the Colombian literary field. Finally, it is important to us to support the opinion of indigenous literatures as oralituras or major words of the native people.