Historical Disruptions in Ecuador: Reproducing an Indian Past in Latin America

In the first wedding ceremony ever held at the pre-Inca site of Cochasquí, near Quito in the north highlands of Ecuador, the local shaman made an incantation to the indigenous genealogy of the Ecuadorian bride that gave her the right to marry her foreign (Russian) husband in this land, rightfully hers. This native appeal is more telling when you take into consideration that the bride neither had direct ties with any contemporary Indian community nor had lived in the country for over a decade. Both she and her husband had flown in from Miami, where they lived, to get married at Cochasquí. She chose Cochasquí as the place from which to justify her Indian genealogy/ Ecuadorianess, which were called into question by her living outside of the country and marrying outside of the national fold.