ENVY OF THE MOON AND LIGHT OF GUIDAÍ. TRADITIONS AND RITUAL RECONSTRUCTIONS IN THE PRESENTATION OF INFANTS TO THE MOON IN URUGUAY
ENVIDIA DE LA LUNA Y LUZ DE GUIDAÍ. TRADICIONES Y RECONSTRUCCIONES RITUALES EN LA PRESENTACIÓN DE INFANTES A LA LUNA EN URUGUAY
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4067/s0717-73562026000100518
Sibila Vigna
and Wilson Muñoz-Henríquez
Key Words: Cosmovision, rituality, spirituality, Indigenous peoples, Charrúas.
Abstract
For more than three decades, efforts to revitalize Indigenous identities have been underway in Uruguay. Charrúa activist groups have been reviving the tradition of presenting newborn children to the Moon, a practice that occupies a central place in narratives about this ethnic group's worldview and spirituality. Based on a description of this ritual in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous social contexts, the aim of this article is to analyze how a contemporary Charrúa spirituality, linked to ancestrality and otherness, is being recreated. Data obtained from multi-sited ethnographic research conducted between 2019 and 2024 in Uruguay show that the presentation of infants to the Moon, in certain contexts of ethnic activism, combines the revival of traditions considered ancestral with current practices and interpretations that vary according to the reference groups, but which together contribute to the Charrúa collectives' recovery and reconstruction of a singular Indigenous identity. These processes are likely to affect this collective's position in Uruguayan society and its relationship with other sectors of the population.
