The Rebel Hoja’s Portal: The Coca Leaf, Transterritoriality, Andean Relationality and Futurism

This paper explores the "transterritorial" future of Andean Indigeneity through the figure of Mama Coca—the "Rebel Hoja." Moving beyond colonial violence, I position Mama Coca as a shapeshifting migrant and sacred elder whose endurance mirrors the Andean diaspora. Engaging Wilson’s (2008) Research is Ceremony, I explore how relating to Mama Coca as ayllu (relative) and ceremonialist enacts a radical "unbordering" that disrupts modern migrant narratives. By centering Cabnal’s (2010) theory of Cuerpo-Territorio and engaging Indigenous speculative storytelling (Dillon, 2012), I argue that future flourishing requires a Kincentric Ecology (Salmón, 2000) recognizing plants as wisdom-keepers. This work challenges human-nature extractivism, moving toward a relational ayni (reciprocity) that honors the agency of more-than-human kin in the building of Indigenous futurisms. Through this lens, Mama Coca becomes a sovereign protagonist in the restoration of memory and territory across borders.