100 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
and for ourselves. We have shared many reciprocal gifts of art making,
story sharing and cross-cultural communication, especially glimpsing
the power of the arts within the Quechua culture.
The most thorough exploration of the encounter between the
Quechua culture and expressive arts is elaborated by Jose Miguel
Calderon (2014) in his doctoral dissertation “‘Tinkuy’: The Encounter
between the Peruvian Imaginary and the Expressive Arts.” Calderon
discusses the relationship between expressive arts practice in Peru
and the “Peruvian imaginary,” the geography, history, mythology,
traditions, arts and worldviews of the Quechua, using the Quechua
word tinkuy. Tinkuy is the word for an encounter between two different
positions that may foster the creation of a third way, something new.
In his examination of the tinkuy he seeks to keep expressive arts
true to the spirit of the land of Peru and its “imaginary.” Keeping
nature-based expressive arts true to the spirit of the land and its
imaginary is exactly what we are intending in our elaboration of
nature-based expressive arts.The Pueblo people
The Pueblo people of the American Southwest are among the
oldest cultures in the United States, tracing their history back some
7000 years (Pritzker 2000). The name pueblo is from Spanish,
meaning “town.” Each of the 21 pueblos is a sovereign nation.
Pueblo people have preserved much of their identity and culture
despite multiple efforts of colonialization. Throughout the year
Pueblo people participate in traditional ceremonies to celebrate their
spiritual beliefs. As a part of our graduate classes in intercultural
encounter we have visited teachers, artists and elders in many of the
pueblos. Two of the pueblos in which we were privileged to develop
long-term relationships with the people were the pueblos of the Hopi
in Arizona and Zuni in New Mexico.