We are a specialized unit committed to the preservation and dissemination of the linguistic and cultural richness of minority groups, especially indigenous and Afro-descendants. Our work focuses on collecting and providing valuable information about their languages and traditions. We use a variety of methods and media with the purpose of informing, researching, educating and enriching cultural aspects. We are dedicated to fostering knowledge and respect for cultural diversity for the benefit of all.
Our Mission
The Ethnic Groups Information Center - CIGE - aspires to become an 'amphibious' unit between orality and writing.
Our Vision
The CIGE works in both worlds: oral and written and on traditions and innovations. It strives to keep its collections up to date and systematized in order to strengthen the link with teachers, researchers and students working on issues such as indigenism and interculturality.
This space is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the region's cultural diversity, offering resources and activities for learning and valuing the traditions and ancestral knowledge of local ethnic groups.
Objectives of the process
The Library of the University of La Guajira and the CIGE, in order to fulfill its functions and objectives, has the following collections available to users:
- Produce information from the oral tradition of the different indigenous and black cultures through the recording and elaboration of audio, audio-visual and bibliographic material.
- Reproduce cultural information of indigenous groups and communities by recording and reworking audio, audio-visual and bibliographic material.
- Encourage thematic innovation through research programs in areas of knowledge that have been little studied (indigenous sports, ceramics from La Guajira, etc.).
- Promote technological and technical innovation (equipment) through the acquisition of equipment and training in its operating logic.
- Define CIGE's communication strategies with educational institutions, information units and scholars of indigenous and black languages and cultures in the Department of La Guajira.
Values
- Curiosity for the unknown is nourished by direct observation (orality) and systematic observation (writing) of reality.
- The defense of our own from the point of view of information diversity.
Principles
- In the intra- and intercultural contexts of the University community, the CIGE is an 'amphibious' unit between orality and writing.
- The CIGE is the center of diversity recognition and orality.
Services
The CIGE will provide users with the following services:
Collection: CIGE provides information on aboriginal languages and cultures, especially the Wayuu, as well as on black communities.
Archaeological pieces: Made up of objects that are indigenous relics of the Colombian Caribbean.
Handicrafts: It has textiles, musical instruments, ceramic, totumo and wooden utensils from the Wayuu material culture and from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Pictures: Maps, diagrams, paintings, enlarged photos, etc. on aboriginal groups.
Plans: Of the municipalities of the Department of La Guajira.
Bibliographic: consists of books, magazines, pamphlets, articles, theses, monographs, papers, etc. on ethnic groups.
Magnetic: composed of audio cassettes with stories about indigenous Wayuu cultures and video cassettes about indigenous cultures of the country.
Photographs: has a collection on CIGE events and activities and on ethnicities.
