The Mukawa Kichwa of Pastaza enters the intangible cultural heritage

The Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture incorporated the cultural manifestation “Artisanal Production of the Kichwa Mukawa of Pastaza” into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ecuador. The decision is contained in Agreement No. MINEDEC-MINEDEC-2026-00017-A, signed on March 4, 2026, by Minister Gilda Natalia Alcívar García and published in the Official Registry, Second Supplement No. 370, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

The measure recognizes an Amazonian ceramic tradition whose earliest evidence dates back to the Mayo-Chinchipe Marañón culture, approximately 5,500 years old, and which remains alive today in the parish of Puyo, the head of the canton and province of Pastaza.

A tradition that transcends the utilitarian

According to the technical report supporting the declaration, the mukawa is not merely a utilitarian vessel: it synthesizes the symbolic universe of the Amazonian Kichwa people and becomes a social and ritual axis that strengthens community bonds, safeguards collective memory, and transmits knowledge from generation to generation.

The production process integrates material and immaterial elements of the territory. The raw materials—clay and natural pigments—come from local resources and are prepared using traditional outdoor techniques and ancestral kilns, which represent a space for encounter, learning, and cultural transmission.

The technical file

The incorporation was processed based on the application submitted by the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of the Pastaza canton, which delivered the technical file to the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (INPC). The process included the following milestones:

• Technical Report No. INPC-DCSPC-IT-2025-332, dated November 5, 2025, favorable, prepared by the Directorate of Conservation and Safeguarding Management of Cultural Heritage.
• Official Letter No. INPC-INPC-2025-2494-O, dated November 6, 2025, through which the executive director of the INPC, Amanda Elizabeth Braun Baquero, forwarded the file to the minister.
• Technical Report No. IT-DPPPC-003-2026, dated January 22, 2026, for validation, prepared by the Public Policy Directorate of the Undersecretariat of Cultural Heritage.
• Memorandum No. MINEDEC-CGAJ-2026-00158-M, dated February 20, 2026, with a favorable legal opinion.

Scope of the agreement

The ministerial agreement incorporates the manifestation into the representative list and recognizes the Safeguarding Plan as a participatory management instrument, with measures for the dynamization, revitalization, transmission, communication, dissemination, promotion, encouragement, and protection of the manifestation.

The regulation entrusts the INPC with the monitoring and compliance of the agreement, the Undersecretariat of Cultural Heritage with the notification to the municipality of Pastaza and the INPC, and the Directorate of Analysis and Information Studies with the entry of data into the Comprehensive Cultural Information System (SIIC). The instrument entered into force upon its signing, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry.

The declaration is framed within the merger by absorption established by Executive Decree No. 100 of August 15, 2025, which integrated the former Ministry of Culture and Heritage into the current Ministry of Education, Sport, and Culture, and in the appointment of the minister through Executive Decree No. 224 of November 18, 2025.

With this incorporation, the Ecuadorian State recognizes and protects one of the oldest ceramic expressions of the Amazon, guaranteeing its continuity for current and future generations and strengthening the cultural identity of the Kichwa people of Pastaza.

Source: Official Registry of Ecuador, Second Supplement No. 370, September 16, 2026, Executive Branch section, p. 2 (official reference: Agreement No. MINEDEC-MINEDEC-2026-00017-A).