ABSTRACT
Every year, beginning on June 24 and again on June 29, dancers from indigenous communities in northern Ecuador descend upon the main square of the highland city of Cotacachi. The sanjuanes, as the male dancers are known in honor of Saint John the Baptist, take the church plaza by force during the Inti Raymi festivals celebrated throughout the Andes, showing their aggression by dancing vigorously, pounding their boots against the pavement, waving aciales (whips) in a threatening gesture, and whistling collectively. They wear goatskin chaps (zamarros) and broad, black cardboard hats, taking the symbols of hacienda power into their own hands. Some are completely outfitted in olive camouflage—a reference to the military as a symbol of power and authority. They dance like this for days at a time chanting “jari, jari, jarikuna… churay, churay, carajo!” (men, men, we are men… put it there, put it there, carajo!), asserting their masculinity and their strength. For the duration of the festival, the indigenous dancers dominate the town square, effectively displacing the mestizo residents from this public space and driving them either to observe this exhibition of indigenous power and virility from balconies surrounding the plaza or leave town altogether.
