Elizabeth Sumida Huaman UMN Faculty Page
Situated in the Mantaro Valley of Junín, Peru, is Hatun Shunqo (Chongos Bajo), an autochthonous Indigenous community that I call home. My mother and her siblings were born and raised in an adobe family house built by my grandparents, Antonieta Jesusa Carhuamaca and Antonio Huaman. Two floors of small rooms are linked by a wooden ladder that leads up to a balcony where a view of the entire valley includes one of our sacred mountain glaciers, Waytapallana—source of water and spiritual renewal for the Indigenous people of this region. I am an educational researcher because of my connections to this place and my people and my dedication to addressing the issues raised by others who are also concerned with the wellness of their own communities, including the beings with whom we share our homelands. As a Wanka and Quechua female scholar, I examine Indigenous responses to social and educational inequalities compounded by the economic and environmental insecurities linked to globalization and political instability. I use research to engage Indigenous and minoritized communities confronting severely endangered cultural practices, languages, and natural resources. This work crosses boundaries—spatial and geographical borders that cut across national lines while reimagining global relationships. As a researcher, my work considers in and out-of school Indigenous education systems, education and environmental protections, and cultural practices and pedagogies. I use largely qualitative research that draws from comparative, Indigenous, and participatory methods. I am also most interested in co-constructing Quechua research methods with Andean communities.
My work focuses on three interrelated themes. First, my research in comparative Indigenous education highlights Indigenous populations engaged in unique responses to colonization and historical oppression. Second, I explore Indigenous knowledge systems through the lens of the ecology of Indigenous education, which addresses educational development through analysis of the intersection of lands and natural resources, cultural practices, culturally-based pedagogies, and economic development. Third, I examine discourses of development, modernization, and globalization, and Indigenous resistances to exogenous projects through community-based educational initiatives and interventions. I engage these themes through long-term collaborative research relationships with Indigenous communities and tribal institutions in North and South America.
For more information on my work: sumidahuaman.com