STORY

Paltas is a canton in the province of Loja, it bears this name because of the presence in these parts of the fierce pre-Inca ethnic group Palta, which constitutes the fundamental element of provincial ethnography and history.

The cantonal head of Paltas is the city of Catacocha.

CULTURE AND HERITAGE

History of the Palta Culture: In the year 1463, Tupac-Yupanqui baptized the local tribes as "Los Paltas" for their custom of deforming the skulls of newborns. The Palta population was organized according to the classic Inca decimal system: a town that had a thousand Indians had their chief whom they respected and knew as lord. The chief and lord commanded the principals and indicated what they had to do, the tributes that were gathered were distributed by the number of Indians they ruled. The Avocados were owners of a highly sophisticated hydraulic culture.

Location: During the Integration period, the province of Loja was inhabited by two ethnic groups called Palta and Malacatos. The Palta culture occupied part of the eastern mountainous areas of the Loja, following the basins of the Catamayo, Chira and Puyango - Tumbes rivers to the dry forest of the Peruvian north coast. Due to its fertility and strategic location, the Cuxibamba Valley became the seat of power for the Avocados, thus forming a very active exchange center.

Agriculture: The avocados constitute an eminently agrarian culture since the main base of their diet was corn and yucca. Thus being corn "gift of the gods" which historically drove food crises from our peoples, in addition to this agriculture allowed these peoples to develop.

Calendar: The Avocados counted the years by lunar months, from twelve moons that made a year ago and divided the times by summers and winters.

Medicine: Low mortality may be the result of advanced development of traditional or natural medicine. The avocados, wielded formidable shamanic skills, possibly derived from their jungle origin.

Architecture: The most notable was the use of the "chaqui taclla", the construction of platforms on the slopes of the hills, a very visible practice that was to fertilize the land with animal guano, the improvement and extension of the canal system of drainage and irrigation. The houses where they lived are the walls of sticks or boards and some covered with mud as partitions and others with straw. Inside their houses there were many large and small vessels and jugs, to make the corn concoction called chicha.

Clothing: The clothes they wore were made from the llamas and alpacas of their lands.

Weapons: The weapons they used were made with stones, copper axes, buckles and spears.

CATACOCHA CULTURAL HERITAGE DECLARATION OF THE NATION

Catacocha is a land of history and gallantry unique in its kind, typical of a southern town that shows particularities of very strong appeal: its people, customs, traditions, gastronomy, variety of climates, its immense archaeological and paleontological wealth, its colonial-style houses , sufficient for, with just reason, to obtain from the National Heritage Institute, the declaration as Cultural Heritage of the Nation, on May 24, 1994. The manager and promoter of Catacocha being declared a Cultural Heritage is Brother Joaquín Liébana Calle.

Our call, so that we all become aware that Catacocha will be great as we all unite, preserving what we have, thereby strengthening the spirit of humanism and solidarity.

Why the name Catacocha?

The name Catacocha is eminently indigenous; there are some versions of his name:

It is said that a couple of Indians when passing through these places were surprised by the lagoon, the Indian slipped and believing that she was next to a god, she pronounced "tayta cocha" which means "father lake", already with the coming of the Spaniards it He gave for calling it Catacocha and later the town of San Pedro de Catacocha.

It comes from the avocado language "cathay = here and cocha = lagoon" which here means lagoon.

PALTAS: Acerca de

GENERAL DATA

Population: 23 801 hab.

Extension: 1,124 km²

Temperature: 18 to 20⁰ c.

Climate: Cold temperate

Altitude: 1 850 masl

Limits:

North: with the cantons Chaguarpamba, Olmedo and part of the province of El Oro
South: with the cantons Calvas, Sozoranga and Célica
East: with the cantons of Gonzanamá and Catamayo
West: with the cantons of Puyango and Célica

PALTAS: Acerca de

CANTON PALTAS SHIELD

In a contest promoted by the Illustrious Cantonal Council of Avocados in 1954, prior to the verdict of the Qualifying Board, the one presented by Mr. Samuel Valarezo Delgado and declared official, on May 14, 1955 triumphed. Administration of Mr. Ezequiel Manuel Guamán Saraguro.
“The Shield of the Paltas Canton, quartered in a cross, brings in azure the Shiryculapo in chief and silver with a castle donjonado and mazonado of saber. In gules a bare and armed arm in the left quarter, and an arm dressed and armed in the right hand, whose hands converge in the center wielded in a blade, a toothed spear and a rifle with a pierced bayonet. In point and sinople a hand in offering of fruits of the earth. The field of the shield is limited by a border of gold and, on the border, a silver chain. At the top, a sun figured in gold with seven rays and the same number of stars, a double that presides over it. It has as a bell and at the top, in gules, a tour with the legend CANTON PALTAS, in gold; and, girdling the tip, a tour also in gules and gold, with the motto "First among the First."
The figures that display the coat of arms of the Paltas canton have the following explanation or symbolism:
Chief's Barracks.- As a natural figure and in gray, the stone's own color, the rock called Shiryculapo stands out, characteristic of Catacocha, and which, for this reason, distinguishes the cantonal shield.
At the top of the rock and standing out against the blue background, is the statue of Jesus Christ. Double symbol, of vigilance and love.
Yesterday the stone served as a seat for the Shiry and as a watchtower for the Paltas warriors. Today it is the pedestal of Jesus, who with his eyes uplifted and his arms outstretched, watches over all the confines of the Canton.
Towards the center of the barracks and against the background of the gray of the rock, a silver castle stands out with towers, a symbol of greatness and elevation, of asylum and safeguard, characteristic of the populations of this canton, haughty and at the same time welcoming. The blue background of the landscape sky, means in heraldry: Justice, Truth, Loyalty and Beauty: Royalty, Majesty and Serenity, attributes typical of the great peoples of history.
The right and left barracks. - They go in red background or gules symbols of the value, daring and intrepidity; color that denotes strength, victory, daring, and ruse in war. Color of the warriors who rely on the strength of their arm to emerge triumphant from any endeavor. On this color stands out a bare arm, an Indian arm of the Paltas tribe that, armed with a strong spear, rodela and macana, delimited its llacta in times of our Prehistory and that, in Protohistory, was decisive factor of triumph in the wars of the Tahuantinsuyo, with Atahualpa, Rumiñahui, Quisquis, Calicuchima and all the plethora of generals of the Quitu Confederation.
In the right-handed barracks an armed arm stands out, wielding a rifle, symbol of the soldier of the colonial and republican times, the brave defender of our sovereignty in the south. The hands converge in the center, merging in symbolism of the mixed race of the Indian and the white, thus creating another virile and vigorous race, in a communion of friendship and brotherhood.
At the tip it has an open hand, a symbol of prodigality, which offers various fruits of the earth on its palm, signifying wealth, fertility and agricultural strength, typical of this sector of the country. All of this is highlighted in green, as it signifies hope, abundance, service and respect.
The gold border, a metal that symbolizes nobility, wealth and power thus encloses, as in a frame, all the other symbols of the shield.
The Orla.- A silver chain of links, metal that means purity, integrity, obedience, vigilance. The sun human features in gold, is a symbol of truth and clarity, of freedom and benevolence; which with each of its seven rays, points to the same number of stars, a double and central one represents CATACOCHA, the cantonal head with its urban parish Lourdes; the stars simply correspond to the six rural parishes of the Canton at that time: Cangonamá, Guachanamá, Lauro Guerrero, Olmedo, Orianga and La tingue the stars represent happiness, prudence and peace.
Finally he wears the shield, two ribbons or tours in red and gold legends. The upper one fully identifies the shield, with the legend "Cantón Paltas", and the lower one, as a war cry, summarizes with its legend "First among the First", a whole heroic past that compromises, in the field of honor, everything the future of the canton.

PALTAS: Bienvenido

CANTON PALTAS FLAG

It was devised by the community of Dominican Mothers of Catacocha. "The flag of the Paltas canton is the same as that of Ecuador." The meaning of the colors is the same. On it the Shield of Ecuador, in whose oval the shield of Paltas will go, symbolizing that Paltas, although geographically remote, tries to live by its adherence and by its patriotism in the heart of the Homeland.
Surrounding the Shield we have nine stars; the largest symbolizes Catacocha, the remaining seven the other parishes of the canton. All on the flag mean that Paltas is a living part of Ecuador, for action, for the love of the Homeland and for the courage to defend territorial integrity.
The laurel and coffee branches, always linked to the national tricolor, signify the triumphs and glories of Avocados for the homeland and work respectively.
To link the flag to the flagpole we have a white and green cord ending in gold tassels.
White symbolizes: honesty, patriotism, loyalty and culture.
Green symbolizes: the firm hope for better days.
The gold tassels symbolize: nobility of acts and spirit.

PALTAS: Bienvenido