Valeria Mantilla Morales

Valeria Mantilla Morales, Riverine Realities: Free People of Colour, Ecology, and Food Along Colombia’s Magdalena River. PhD Thesis, University of Toronto, 2024.

Dr. Valeria Mantilla Morales’ brilliant dissertation, Riverine Realities: Free People of Colour, Ecology, and Food Along Colombia’s Magdalena River, examines the environmental and social histories of Afro-descended communities in Colombia between 1770 and 1860. ​Her work details the lives of the bogas, skilled river navigators who blended Indigenous and African traditions to assert their authority along the Magdalena River. ​By employing the concept of “amphibious cultures,” this dissertation reveals how the bogas balanced their riverine expertise with land-based lives. Dr. Morales’ research, rich in archival detail and theoretical insight, reshapes understandings of Afro-descended peoples in Latin America, modelling new and sophisticated approaches for future research to come. ​