Petita Palma Piñeiros (born 4 March 1927) is an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...

singer who is regarded as a national treasure. Marimba music and traditions from the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas are recognised by the UN as part of the

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...

Life

Palma was born in Esmeraldas on the north-west coast of Ecuador in 1927, but she was brought up in Borbon. She discovered the marimba music and the local poetry. She regards herself as an artist and folklorist, with a special interest in the marimba instrument that is known to the

Chachi people Chachi people (also Cayapas) are an ethnic group who live in the rainforest area of northwestern Esmeraldas on the northern coast of Ecuador. They live by the Cayapas River in the Centro El Encanto, a section of the Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological ...

. When she began to perform she was called the "black marimbera" which she thought was intended to be an insult. However she was proud of her ancestry and she decided that she liked the nickname. She formed a music group called ''Tierra Caliente'' that would be with her for some time. She and the group would later create the Marimba School in 1969. Two of her songs ''Andarele'' and ''Caderona vení meniate'' became well known. The ''Andarele'' has a back story from its origins in the Montalvo Canton. It is said to come from a particular area were the musicians would play the ''Andarele'' into the night. People would arrive and be entranced so that they stayed through the night. At dawm some would want to stay, while others would say "lets go". Anderele is said to mean "lets go". In 2007 she received the country's highest cultural award

Premio Eugenio Espejo The ''Premio Nacional Eugenio Espejo'' ("Eugenio Espejo National Award") is the national prize of the nation of Ecuador. Decrees 677 and 699 (of August 1975 and September 1997, respectively) established the prize, which is conferred by the Preside ...

for her group's contribution to the Ecuadorian culture through the practice and teaching of the marimba. In July 2007, she and

Guillermo Ayoví Erazo Guillermo Ayoví Erazo (November 10, 1930 - September 10, 2022) better known as Papá Roncón was an Afro-Ecuadorian musician, singer, and marimba player. Life Papá Roncón was born in Borbón, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Esmeraldas, Ecuador on Novemb ...

(known as Papá Roncón) were invited to Ecuador's National Assembly where a plenary session was conducted in honour of the two of them.

Intangible cultural heritage

In 2015 Marimba music and traditions from the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas were recognised by the UN as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Palma was given another honour in 2017 when the Nigerian Embassy in Ecuador renamed its press room in her honour.Nigerian Embassy renamed
/ref> In 2020 at the age of 92 she was still giving lessons. She has been quoted as saying "“When you hear the voice of the marimba, the bass drum, cununo and guasá, of the singers, this is and continues to be for me like something heavenly".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palma, Petita 1927 births Living people People from Esmeraldas, Ecuador Marimbists 20th-century Ecuadorian women singers