Advocacy: Inspired by the mentorship of Dr. Joshua Fishman and readings of Dr. Tove Skuttnab-Kangas, I furthered advocacy activities in defense of the mother language of indigenous peoples, particularly among children and youth.
In 2009, I organized a presentation on 'Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Peru' with the presence of the following congressional representatives: Hilaria Supa Huaman and Gloria Ramos at NYU Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies. Photo..
In May of 2010, I organized in conjunction with the congressional office of Honorable Hilaria Supa Huaman, the visit of Dr Fernand de Varennes world expert on language rights. He came to Peru, to present two conferences "Language Rights of Indigenous Peoples in International Law" one at Peruvian Congress and the second one at Museo Inka in Cusco, Peru. Photo May 26th 2012, Fernand de Varennes, Honorable Hilaria Supa Huaman and Miryam Yataco.
Cross-Cultural Mediation: Through a rich network developed over several decades, created context for inter-cultural exchange, bringing the rich expressions of indigenous dancers, musicians, film-makers and poets to a wide variety of audiences in the North. I worked for a two Latino arts organizations based in New York City such as El Taller Latinoamericano. At El Taller, I was the official curator for all arts programming which included: dance presentations, film series and production, fine art exhibits, photographic exhibits and music of the World Series. Some of the shows under my direction include: When the Mountains Tremble photograph exhibit featuring Rigoberta Menchu herself at the Taller, several film series on New Latin American Cinema 1984, a poetry reading with Minister of Culture of Nicaragua Ernesto Cardenal, women films series in collaborations with Woman Make Movies, and shows at El Museo del Barrio, a concert at Carnegie Hall with Atahualpa Yupanqui (in collaboration with Harold Leventhal), Sirenata en B n Award Multimedia project by Sandra Eleta with Toshi Sakai among many more. At NYU alone,
I was a contributor to Quechua Week 2010, I brought from Peru to NYU expert in Amerindian language Dr Gustavo Solis Fonseca, and we both participated in a series of presentations about language policy, language status and language planning of Indigenous languages of Peru. Presentation "Quechua Language, Media and Transnational Linkages" introductory remarks by Miryam Yataco. Video – presentation.
Quechua Week also counted with the collaboration of artists such as master fine artist Milner Cajahuaringa to include their art in our exhibits and posters . Dora Espinoza, Peruvian art Merchant, curator and gallery owner provided us with her expertise to produce art for the Quechua week and it was portrayed in publication around the Andean world, as here at Interculturalidad .
I also brought to New York one the most emblematic 'productores culturales' film maker Federico Garcia Hurtado at NYU for a film series honoring his work. Kuntur Wachana, Tupac Amaru and the Dancers of the Sacred Mountain were shown in NY for the very first time as part of our series Mundos Andinos. One of my main collaborations was to bring to NYU audiences and to my students information about Tarpuricunchis who is an NGO based in Apurimac, who has produced Saqrakuna the very first quechua TV program conducted completely in Quechua with Spanish subtitles These are just some of the activities and programs I have myself developed, produced, planned and implemented at NYU CLACS.
One important aspect of Ms. Yataco's cross-cultural activity was the opportunity to grow and develop when she was invited to the historic conference "Returning the Gift", held in Norman, Oklahoma in 1992. Here is the official photo of the writers and poets attending the conference, with Ms. Yataco shown. Ms. Yataco was invited as part of the South and Central American indigenous delegation. There, she personally met North American native poets and writers such as Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmom Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Joe Bruchac, Duane Niatum, Simon Ortiz, Lance Henson, Elizabeth Woody, Linda Hogan, and Jeanette Armstrong.