The 6th Annual Quechua Alliance Conference

The 6th Annual Meeting of The Quechua Alliance was an experience that completely transformed my knowledge of Quechua as an identity and as a livelihood. I came to the U.S. when I was relatively young, inevitably creating distance between myself and my Kichwa heritage. Besides the few Kichwa words engraved into my everyday language and the customs my mother taught me, there was a very limited community that pushed me to re-engage with my Kichwa identity. My Indigenous family members back home dealt with the stigmas that came with identifying as Indigenous on an everyday basis. And despite this, they still found an immense pride in speaking their native language and wearing their native clothing. I wanted to be able to replicate that resilience and reclaim this part of my identity, and I was able to do this by participating in the Annual Meeting of The Quechua Alliance.