AMERICA/ARGENTINA - "Let's take care of our mother tongue": meeting of the indigenous pastoral

Thursday, 29 September 2016 indigenous   collaboration   local churches  

Santa Fe (Agenzia Fides) - Teachers of ten indigenous peoples and also non-indigenous teachers took part in the XV Meeting of Indigenous Educators, which took place on 23, 24 and 25 September in the city of Avellaneda, Santa Fe (Argentina) with the slogan "Let's take care of our mother tongue".
The National Aboriginal Pastoral Team (Endepa), responsible for the organization of the meeting, described the event as "a space that was created with the aim to highlight the dual commitment that indigenous teachers have in the preservation of their culture and allowing also to strengthen ties of equality among peoples".
"This year - according to the note sent by AICA - the theme of reflection suggested for indigenous people is self-determination. In this regard, we believe that the mother tongue is one of the fundamental ancestral forces for self-determination, hence the theme of the mother tongue will be the backbone of our meeting", underlines Endepa.
The Bishop of the diocese of Reconquista, who is the President of the Episcopal Commission for Aboriginal Pastoral, His Exc. Mgr. Ángel José Macín, stressed that "the sacred language of motherhood is directly related to the wisdom of the indigenous peoples" and encouraged a fruitful work of deep reflection on this issue.
Among the participants there were representatives of the Qom Pilagá, Diaguita, Huarpe, Mapuche, Ava Guarani, Wichi, Kolla, Mbyá Guarani and Mocoví people, who during the meeting shared their experiences in their own reality, and together gave birth to laboratories of reflection with proposals for new initiatives. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 29/09/2016)


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