Resumo

ARIAS V, María Mercedes  e  CUESTA B, Carmen de la. Unstable balance: the case of the Chamibida from Cristianía, Antioquia. Colombia. Index Enferm [online]. 2004, vol.13, n.46, pp.23-28. ISSN 1699-5988.

This paper presents the category unstable balance that emerged as part of a larger study on survival on ethnic minorities in weak living conditions. The study is ethnographic and  uncovers the Chamibida practices to achieve cultural and social survival . It took place in an indigenous reserve in Antioquia during 150 days of field work. To analyse data procedures of the ethnographic method and grounded theory were followed. The interaction of the indigenous shows an overlap of traditional belief system with catholic religion and a loss of their own systems of survival in order to adopt other systems with no guarantee to improve living conditions and sometimes they worsen previous living conditions. The external conditions of insecurity, poverty, marginality and exclusion do not permit effective social and cultural survival actions and practices, this results in an unstable balance to survive socially and culturally as a differentiated society.