The Shuar ethnographic exhibition of Tsantsa at the Pumapungo museum: a case study in the formation of intercultural citizenship in Ecuador

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to improve the pedagogical profile from the didactic and intercultural elements present in the Shuar ethnographic exhibition of the Tsantsa of the Pumapungo Museum, in order to train students as intercultural citizens. A qualitative method with a descriptive, exploratory, and interpretative approach is used, with a case study based on the techniques of semi-structured interviews and focused groups. The work identifies the existing specialized literature on Shuar communities and describes their ethnographic, anthropological, cultural, artistic, and spiritual aspects. It also explores the museum exhibition of the Shuar ceremonies of Tsantsa, which allows interpreting its pedagogical value and management of the interculturality transversal line. The interviews are analyzed with the Atlas ti Qualitative Data Analysis software, and the results are discussed under a critical intercultural educational philosophy. The conclusion is that museums are valued as academic actors that promote intercultural citizenship without falling into the reification or standardization of Ecuadorian cultural diversity.