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Author ORCID Identifier

Ilina Arsova https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5177-5838

Lars Dzikus https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0755-3535

Abstract

This paper explores the hybrid identities of Indigenous Bolivian women mountaineers, focusing on how they embrace and resist elements of both Indigenous and Western traditions through sports. Challenging dominant Western narratives of mountaineering (Rak, 2021), these women engage in climbing as an act of cultural preservation (Haynes, 2013; Rak, 2021) and gender advocacy (U.N. Women, 2021). Informed by Indigenous feminism (Caravajal, 2019; Green, 2020) and social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), the study explores the intersections of gender, culture, and mountain sports in the South American Andes. Through an interpretivist lens, this study uses narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2004) to analyze participant observations during a 45-day field immersion in Aymaran and Quechuan climbing communities and 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 Indigenous Andean women climbers. The findings revealed that the women see mountaineering not just as a sport, but also a site for cultural negotiation, feminist resistance, and identity formation. They balance tradition and modern life, acting as both athletes and keepers of their culture. Indigenous Bolivian women mountaineers give new meanings to cultural symbols, such as their traditional dress (pollera), to reclaim Indigenous heritage and establish agency in a historically male-dominated sport. The study contributes decolonial perspectives, centering Indigenous women’s realities to advocate for a more inclusive sport literature acknowledging nuanced meanings sport can carry in the Global South.

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