Oral Tradition Of Senior Adults On The Road Of The Inca- Qhapacanñan: a contribution to the sustainable tourism of the Carchi-Ecuador

The present research is a contribution to the quality of life of the communities of the province of Carchi-Ecuador, immersed in the Qhapaq Ñan, or Camino del Inka. This historical route is a national priority for tourist-cultural and scientific development, being declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The objectives that guided the research were: (a) Characterize the geo-historical, social, environmental, political and economic context of the communities immersed in the Qhapaq Ñan of the province of Carchi; (b) Know the ancestral knowledge of older adults located in the Qhapaq Ñan. The qualitative research, descriptive and field type was aimed at 57 adults aged between 75 and 85 years old with good health, retentiveness, narrative predisposition and native of the cantons: Tulcán, Huaca, Montufar and Mira. An in-depth interview was applied through participant observation. The information obtained was recorded in audio and poured into matrix-thematic files of the INPC Cultural Heritage Institute for its interpretation. The results obtained were: the section of the Qhapa Ñan is in the collective memory of the elderly, who know him as the "old way", in Huaca it has disappeared, and in other cantons it is in the process of disappearing; stories, legends, andean medicine, traditional games, couplets, typical gastronomy, crafts, religious festivals, and traditional ones present in the collective memory of older adults were collected. The road contains the history of the Andean towns of Carchi, and constitutes an important intangible heritage to cultural-local tourism.