Miskitas - Nicaragua

RAÚL QUINTANILLA | NICARAGUA
1954, Managua, Nicaragua. Lives and works in Managua, Nicaragua

Lapta Yula, group of creative women, 2014, sound installation
Courtesy: the artist

Ethnic group: Miskito
Language: Miskito
Location: Central America, from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Río Grande, Nicaragua, along the Mosquito Coast, in the Western Caribbean Zone

Lapta Yula, the Guardians of the Sun, are a group of Miskito women from Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, who are trying to preserve the coastal culture, language, history, myths and native traditions, but also to ensure that they get known beyond their place of origin. They receive support from the Creative Women, a group from the autonomous region of Nicaragua’s Atlántico Norte. The audio track presented comes from a theatrical work, Moskitia Pankira (Beautiful Mosquitia), staged by Alicia Pilarete with Lapta Yula at the University of Central America in Managua. Together with another six women from the Miskito coast, Peria Balderamos from the village of Uhri narrates the myths handed down by her ancestors, their childhood games, the poetry and stories from which their vision of the world is built up. The women also talk about the logging carried out by some transnational companies and describe the dire effects on the communities and environment of Mosquitia. “We are proud to talk about life in our villages, for example, the fishing, the logging problem, and the spirits who live within us,” explains Peria Balderamos. “They are part of our identity.”