Esneda Hurtado de Mutumbajoy is an Indigenous woman of the Inga and Yanacona peoples, born in Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia. Her path in traditional medicine began in childhood alongside her father, learning through observation and practice. At the age of 18, she deepened this knowledge under the guidance of her parents-in-law, Santiago Mutumbajoy and Ambrosia Jansasoy. Today, she continues this path of medicine and spirituality together with her husband, Taita Luciano Mutumbajoy, an Iachay wisdom keeper of the Inga people.

Community leadership has been a central pillar of her life. In 2003, she participated in the co-founding of the Indigenous Women’s Association Chagra de la Vida (ASOMI), dedicated to safeguarding ancestral knowledge, protecting traditional medicine and territory, and strengthening the role of Indigenous women as caretakers of life and culture in the Colombian Amazon. She served as ASOMI’s secretary from 2007 to 2016.

She currently serves on ASOMI’s Territorial Commission, where she contributes to initiatives for the protection of water, territory, and life. Her daily work focuses on caring for medicinal plants, tending her chagra, exchanging healing plants, supporting Indigenous community health brigades, and transmitting ancestral knowledge to younger generations.