Rumiñahui as a Symbol of Anticolonial Resistance: Historical Reconstruction and Resignification in the Ecuadorian Collective Memory

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the figure of Rumiñahui, the Incan Indigenous leader, as a symbol of anticolonial resistance in Ecuadorian collective memory. Through a qualitative and documentary approach, it reconstructs historical, symbolic, and cultural representations of Rumiñahui, from colonial chronicles to contemporary Indigenous narratives.

It highlights how his image has been appropriated by both official state discourse and Indigenous movements, generating tensions between institutionalized memory and ancestral remembrance. The spiritual, pedagogical, and political dimensions of his legacy are also emphasized, as well as the symbolic role of Atahualpa’s treasure as a metaphor for knowledge and dignity preserved in the face of colonial plunder.

The study concludes that re-signifying Rumiñahui from a critical and intercultural perspective allows for the democratization of national history, the visibility of subaltern memories, and the strengthening of Ecuador's plurinational identity.