Philosophically addressing three fundamental aspects of the Kamentsa, an indigenous culture located in the Southwest of Colombia, this book is an investigation of how a native culture creates meaning. Time, beauty and spirit are key philosophical experiences within the Kamentsa Culture which should be interpreted both as constituting and as constituted symbols because of their historicity and actuality and their potential power of transformation. The book addresses these living symbols that take hold of the past but whose significance goes beyond their antiquity through the traditions of storytelling and dance, ritual, healing and ceremony as well as the fraught political histories of colonialism and the ownership of the land. The author, raised within Kamentsa Culture, weaves personal experience with philosophical insights and significance of the Kamentsa culture, presented through its own frameworks and narratives. The philosophical dimensions of Kamentsa culture are articulated and contextualized within a legacy of colonial domination by long-term Spanish and Catholic rule that enacts the necessary separation of Kamentsa ideas from their representations through Catholic hermeneutic approaches. However, the book also embraces intercultural philosophical engagement, as the methodological approach is formed partly through some modern and contemporary Western thinkers as well as indigenous writers and figures like Carlos Tamabioy and N. Scott Momaday.
Introduction Generalities of Kamentsa Culture A Philosophical Approach to Kamentsa Culture Chapter 1 - Time in Kamentsa Culture Two Conceptions of Time Time as History Sibundoy at the Time of the Early Spanish Conquistadors Carlos Tamabioy's Legacy in Land Ownership Capuchin Missionaries and the Division of Land in the Sibundoy Valley Time as Primary Experience Storytelling as Constituted Symbol Scholarship on Storytelling as Constituted Symbol Storytelling as Constituting Symbol Conclusion Chapter 2 - Beauty in Kamentsa Culture Betskante as Constituted Symbol From Betsknate to Clestrin e Betsknate as a Constituting Symbol: An Experience of Dancing The Philosophical Significance of Kamentsa Dancing Conclusion Chapter 3 - Spirit in Kamentsa Culture Native Doctors and Rituals of Healing: The Constituted Nature of Rituals Scholarly Descriptions of Yaje Yaje ceremonies in Sibundoy: The Constituting Aspects of Yaje Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography
