Four Similarities between the Guambianos and the Amish

During my time in Popayán, people and the internet have been telling me that I should go to the small pueblo of Silvia, about 1.5 hours away from Popayán. Every Tuesday, the surrounding communities congregate in Silvia to buy and sell goods at the market.

Among the participants at the market are the Guambianos, an indigenous group of people that only live in the Cauca Department in Colombia. The market itself was nothing extraordinary. I bought a scarf from Ecuador, sampled some local cuisine, and walked to the highest point of Silvia. (Silvia is 8174 feet above sea level, higher than the Mile-High City (5300) and Nairobi (5889), but not as high as Bogota (8300).)

Unlike the market, the Guambianos demanded your attention with their bold colors and unique clothing preferences. After returning from my excursion to Silvia, I researched more about the Guambianos. I immediately began drawing parallels between the Guambianos and the Amish of my hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Although there are a wealth of differences between the Guambianos and the Amish, here are four similarities that I noticed between the two groups.

1. Pictures Steal their Souls

Before arriving in Silvia, a friend told me that I should refrain from taking pictures of the Guambianos without their permission. Apparently, they believe that having a picture taken of them literally steals a part of their souls. Ok, so the Amish do not believe that pictures steal their souls, but their faith precludes them from posing for pictures.

I stole many souls that day, including this one.

2. Traditional Clothing Preferences

The Amish are notorious for their sensible and gendered clothing preferences. For men, wide-brim hats and long sleeve white shirts with dark trousers with suspenders. For women, solid-colored bonnets and dresses. The Guambianos of both genders, however, dress almost the same. They typically wear black-brimmed hats, bright-colored ruanas, skirts that reach the calves, and leather boots. In oversimplified and crude Gringo terms, the outfit looks like it was assembled by a four-year-old in a circus dressing room.

This woman was stylin'.

3. They Help Each Other

The Guambianos practice "minga," an Incan custom of helping other members of the community in all aspects: building houses, farming, etc. The Amish pretty much do the same thing.

4. They Marry Within the Culture, But Outside the Local Community

The Guambianos consist of many communities. By custom, they generally do not marry within the same community. Instead they find mates outside their communities, but within the Guambiano culture. The Amish also keep their relations within the Amish culture, but like the Guambianos, they do not marry their close kin.