On this day, 10 September 1909, Quechua Indigenous rights activist and communist Tránsito Amaguaña was born in Ecuador to a family of day labourers on a hacienda.
Amaguaña began work on the land herself at the age of seven. She was married at the age of 14, but later left her husband, who was an abusive alcoholic, and began to get involved in community, socialist and Indigenous organising. She took part in an agricultural workers’ strike in Olmedo in 1931, after which government forces destroyed her home and forced her into hiding for the next 15 years.
Amaguaña later joined the Communist Party and alongside Dolores Cacuango co-founded the Indigenous Ecuadorian Federation. She remained active until her death just months shy of her 100th birthday. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2078987155619757/?type=3