It makes Cuenca look like a nice, little orange city. While visiting Cuenca, I was surprised to see a woman dressed in traditional clothing of the indigenous tribes. Remembering the traditions of their ancestors is very important to them because they believe it was removed from them through colonization. Along with all of their colonial-styled buildings, Cuenca is considered the most traditional place of Ecuador because they work hard to keep up with the teachings and way of life of their indigenous tribes. They retain all that they can to keep their tribe’s culture going. For instance, they still use one of the indigenous languages called Quechua but, several of them can also speak Spanish.
Many holdovers from colonial culture have been reinterpreted by Ecuador. For example, one of the Spanish shields that was used to label the colonies was replaced with a unique shield found in the center of the Ecuadorian flag. Many songs they were required to sing to show loyalty to the King of Spain were replaced, too. Because each territory within Ecuador became independent at different times, there are different symbols and dates used per city. One day, I saw a huge statue of the hymn of Guayaquil’s independence from Spain and, I thought it was such a creative way to remember the date and the song. I have noticed that even though the country of Ecuador is so small, every city has its own identity. Some like to remember the days of being a colony or a tribe, while others have simply moved on to more urban, city living. The one that unifies them is their happiness in being Ecuadorians and appreciating those that helped make their freedom come true.
