Building solidarity with the women who care for our ancestral practices.
Construyendo solidaridad con las mujeres que cuidan a nuestras prácticas ancestrales.
“Cuidando a las que nos cuidan” is a collective created to generate ongoing support for women in El Salvador who fight to keep the Indigenous language, Náhuat, and the traditional practice of partería (midwifery) alive. This effort emerges from seeing a common struggle between native Náhuat-speaking women (Najnantzin Tamatxtiani) of the Cuna Náhuat and parteras (midwives) of the Asociación de Parteras Rosa Andrade. Both groups have fought cultural repression their entire lives, and are of the last generation to hold ancestral wisdom that is critical to the cosmovision of the Salvadoran people. We are building a network of solidarity to organize, fundraise, and visibilize the work of these women, who take care of their communities by taking care of our culture.
“Cuidando a las que nos cuidan” es un colectivo creado para generar apoyo continuo a mujeres salvadoreñas que luchan por mantener viva la lengua materna Náhuat y la tradición de la partería. Este esfuerzo surge al ver una lucha común entre mujeres nativo hablantes del náhuat de la Cuna Náhuat y las parteras de la Asociación de Parteras Rosa Andrade. Ambos grupos han luchado en contra de la represión cultural durante todas sus vidas y son de la última generación en poseer conocimientos ancestrales que son partes fundamentales de la cosmovisión del pueblo salvadoreño. Estamos construyendo una red solidaria para organizar, recaudar fondos y visibilizar el trabajo de estas mujeres, que cuidan sus comunidades a través del cuido de nuestra cultura.
Las Que Nos Cuidan
Parteras and Nanjnantzin use indispensable ancestral wisdom to take care of their communities.
Parteras use plant medicine and decades of experience to care for pregnant, birthing and postpartum people and their babies. Because parteras have been increasingly pushed out of the public healthcare system in El Salvador, this cultural tradition is now in danger of being lost to future generations.
Najnantzin Tamatxtiani use their native language and worldview to teach children about their Indigenous roots and how to live in harmony with the natural world and with one another. Náhuat is the last of eight Indigenous languages to survive in El Salvador. It is estimated that there are less than seventy native speakers still alive, most of whom are elderly women.