The River, Self-Determination and Indigenous Peoples
Book Presentation on the Cucapáh Indigenous Group & Art Exhibition
Organized by Fernando Márquez Duarte
11 June 2026, 3 p.m. (CEST), University of Hildesheim
GloPhi Center (Main Campus, H.0.10) & Livestream
Fernando Márquez Duarte will present the three books he has published regarding the Cucapáh Indigenous group: Awí Uyáj Cucapáh: El saber Cucapáh (2023), Manual de la Lengua Cucapáh (2024), Sociolingüística Cucapáh (2025), and discuss them with Diego Rosales and Raymundo Medina. These books are the result of over three years of ethnographic field work with the Cucapáh in the communities of El Mayor Cucapáh, Ejido Cucapáh Mestizo and Ejido El Indiviso in Baja California, Mexico.
In Awí Uyáj Cucapáh, Fernando presents and discusses Cucapáh history, culture, self-determination struggles, their relationship with the river and a brief compilation of their language. In this book, one chapter is authored by Alejandro Bonada Chavarría and another is co-authored by Fernando and by Cucapáh Elder Margarita Valenzuela Portillo. In Manual de Lengua Cucapáh, co-authored with Elder Margarita Valenzuela, Fernando presents a basic linguistic analysis of the Cucapáh language, focusing on semantic and syntactic elements, as well as an important compilation of Cucapáh words and ideas translated to Spanish.
In Sociolingüística Cucapáh, the author presents a more in-depth sociolinguistics analysis of the Cucapáh language, including a thorough discussion on how neocolonial processes and state policies have led to the critical endangerment of the Cucapáh language, as well as an analysis of unique ideas in the Cucapáh language that have important philosophical and political implications.
Additionally, a series of art pieces, created by Fernando through techniques like embossing, printmaking and wood carving, will be exhibited.
Impressions
Information about the Author
Fernando David Márquez Duarte is a Mexican decolonial activist and scholar from Mexicali, Mexico. He has a permanent physical disability. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California Riverside (UCR) and works at the intersection of decoloniality, Indigenous studies, and environmental justice, with a regional focus on Latin America (Abya Yala). He philosophizes in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
For more than four years, Márquez Duarte has worked with the Cucapáh Indigenous group in Baja California, Mexico. His research interests include Indigenous rights, political participation, language preservation, and environmental justice. During his GloPhi fellowship, he investigates Cucapáh philosophical thought through the community’s language, cosmovision, and oral stories, as well as their ongoing struggles for environmental justice and self-determination.