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ABSTRACT
This article analyses the creation of a remote parish in the Intag region of northwestern Ecuador in 1940 as a way to explore the articulation and enactment of tierra baldía (unclaimed land) in twentieth century Ecuador. I highlight how discourses of tierra baldía factored into the symbolic transformation of the Intag region from a remote backwater to a prized agrarian frontier, how spectres of Intag’s resource potential animated a conflict between neighbouring counties, and how farmers in Intag navigated this dispute in the process of settling these terrains prior to parish formation. In moving between these registers, I approach tierra baldía as both land and landscape, drawing attention to practices of resource translation and the assorted alignments and contingences that they promote and depend upon.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the organizers and editors of this special issue, Sophie Haines and Piergiorgio Di Giminiani, for their work in bringing this article and issue to fruition. I also thank four anonymous reviewers, Jessica Barnes, and Paige West for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Research for this article was made possible by funding support from Yale University's Macmillan Center and Tropical Resources Institute. I also thank the staff at the following archives and offices in Ecuador: The Banco Central Archive (Quito and Ibarra), The Archive of the Ministry of Government (Quito), The Ecclesiastical Archive (Ibarra), The Property Registry Office (Cotacachi), The Municipality of Cotacachi, and The Biblioteca Aurelio Esponinsa Polit (Quito).
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 The Andes mountain range runs down the centre of Ecuador, dividing the country into three distinct regions of coast, sierra, and Amazon. The southern coast and central sierra are traditional centres of political and economic power. See Orlove (Citation1993) for more about the construction of these regions. is a map produced in 1937 and highlights Intag’s 20th century emergence in relation to the north-central sierra region. I have super-imposed ‘Llurimagua’ on this map.
2 This information comes from the minutes of the August 21, 1940 Meeting of the Cotacachi County Government. Cotacachi Municipal Records. Libro de Actas, 1936–1940.
3 Memories of a regional Bishop’s visit to Llurimagua in 1937 describe a population of 30–40 inhabitants that the Bishop only reached after an ‘exhausting trek, part by foot, part by horse, part by known footpaths, and part by way of short cuts that one creates in the bowels of virgin forest.’ Libro de Actas y Autos de las Visitas Pastorales, 1937–1939. Ecclesiastical Archive, Ibarra, Ecaudor. A travel narrative published a short time later likewise portrays the settlement as an, ‘awkward cluster of a few small cabañas,’ with ‘other chozas (cabins) hidden in the forest or perched atop hills and ridges’ (Moreno Citation1940).
4 This parallels Raymond Williams well known statement that, ‘A working country is hardly ever a landscape’ (Citation1973: 120).
5 For aspects of this research see Kneas (Citation2016, Citation2018).
6 Cartographic maps of the Audiencia of Quito (1751 by Pedro Vicente Maldonado) and post-colonial Ecuador (1858 by Manuel Villavicencio) all represent Intag (written as Inta or Intac) as a particular settlement on the northwestern slopes of the Andes.
7 ‘Padron General de la Parroquia de Intag.’ Padrones Provincia de Imbabura, 1836. DMG, Archivos del Ministerio de Gobierno, Quito.
8 Gobernacion de la Provincia de Imbabura. Registro Oficial. October 10, 1890, 275, p. 2077.
9 July 12, 1889. Manuel Erazo to Bishop of Ibarra. Archivo Eclesiástico, Ibarra, Ecuador. Folder 1692/33/12/c.
10 January 29, 1901. Mateo Mera to Bishop of Ibarra. Archivo Eclesiástico, Ibarra, Ecuador. Folder 1692/33/12/c.
11 Jose Robalino. 1923. Monografia de San Jose de Minas. Draft Manuscript. Archivo Historico. Banco Central, Quito Ecuador.
12 This is not the only reference to Intag as a place of refuge. A 1962 history of Cotacachi County says the following, ‘The montañas of Intag served in prior times as safe refuge for criminals, especially Colombians.’ Alfredo Albuja Galindo. 1962. Estudio Monografico del Canton Cotacachi. Quito, p. 226. Many families throughout Intag are of Colombian origin, arriving to the region in the 1940s to escape violence in Colombia.
13 For more on this period of Ecuador and processes of state formation, land colonisation, and expertise see, A. Kim Clark (Citation1998a; Citation1998b).
14 Registro Oficial. 2 January 1956, p. 8316.
15 Registro Oficial, No. 134. 19 December 1925, p. 1097.
16 This quote comes from the minutes of the March 1926 Meeting of the Cotacachi County Government. Cotacachi Municipal Records. Libro de Actas, 1923–1927.
17 Letter from Cotacachi Municipio to Director de Junta de Gobierno, February 9, 1926. Archive of the Ministry of Government. Quito Ecuador. AS/10. Oficios Varios, Sierra, 1926.
18 A 1937 pamphlet written in defense of Cotacachi’s dominion over Intag mentions Otavalo interests coming into the region in the late teens and a ‘spirit of absorption’ associated with the spectre of tierra baldía around 1925. Rafael Pasquel. 1937. La Comarca de Intag y Sus Genuios Pobladores (Quito: El Comercio).
19 Reclamo Contra Juan Cabascango por Tierras, June 7, 1927. Archivo del Ministerio de Prevision Social.
20 The information on the Garcia Moreno Road comes from: Gomezjurado (Citation1967).
21 It turns out Davis was not just working on the road, but also his spiritual betterment. The priest in Intag at the time wrote the Bishop to say that he had successfully converted Davis to Catholicism. As evidence of this accomplishment, the priest said Davis agreed to marry the 26 year-old woman with whom he had been ‘illicitly living with.’ Letter from priest in ‘Intac’ to Bishop. 13 December 1871. Ecclesiastical Archive, Ibarra, Ecuador.
22 Registry of Tierras Baldías, 1940–1953. Archivos de Cotacachi Registro de Propiedad.