Kórima: an Epistemology of Charity from the Sierra Tarahumara

Abstract

In this article, I present the testimony of the indigenous people of the Sierra Tarahumara, in Chihuahua, Mexico. My analysis is informed by an interview with Father Enrique Mireles, a Jesuit priest and director of the Complejo Asistencial Clínica Santa Teresita (CACSTAC), a work begun by Father Luis Verplancken, S.J. in 1963. Based on the interview with the priest, I will discuss the similarities between Christian morality and Raramuri practice, to propose the concept of korima as a way of understanding and teaching Charity, a central element of Christian-Raramuri theology. To this end, I will also turn to the formulation of the Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, specifically to what is presented in his work Dependent rational animals (1999), and his incorporation of the Lakota culture as a referent of the virtue of just generosity.

Keywords: Indigenous Christianity. Kórima. Wancantognaka. Just generosity.