Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the experience taking place at the Universidad Indígena de Venezuela, where indigenous peoples discuss the meaning and content of Cultural Heritage. Translation, writing and ITs are at the same time means and issues of this discussion.

Paper long abstract:

Indigenous peoples of Latin America have experienced revolutionary changes concerning their visibility and self-esteem in the last decades. At the heart of Venezuela, a project called "Universidad Indígena de Venezuela" (Indigenous University of Venezuela) has been working from 2001 as a result of a deeply rooted community network. The very name of this project is at the same time controversial and revolutionary. Daily life at the "Universidad" shows discourses and symbolic performances involving cultural dilemmas and challenges.

In the dialogue taking place at the "Universidad", the definition of Cultural Heritage lies widely on Spanish language and European ideologies. But alternative worldviews end up interacting, with creative and complex outputs. The way these reflections take place is revolutionary itself. When indigenous students use Spanish as lingua franca for cultural heritage claims, they are not only translating their thoughts but also linking different worldviews, with bidirectional/multidirectional consequences. When they write on their own languages they are in fact creating written language, since their tongues had no alphabet and local teachers have only taught them to write Spanish. Finally, when they use Information Technologies they have the ultimate tool for imagining communities and producing knowledge.

This paper is based on fieldwork at the Universidad Indígena de Venezuela and involved indigenous communities, as well as on a continuing relationship with its social network on the Internet.