Cristina Bautista Taquinas (1977–2019) was a Colombian activist, community leader of the Paez/Nasa people of Colombia, and social worker. She dedicated her life to defending indigenous peoples' lands, and fighting for indigenous women's rights. Early life Cristina Bautista Taquinas was born in 1977 la vereda La Capilla in Corinto, a small town in Colombia’s Cauca department. She was the oldest of five siblings, and her childhood consisted of taking care of her younger siblings from the time she was six years old. While her parents worked to financially support her family, as a child she would take her siblings to daycare before school, cook, and do the laundry for her family. At age twelve, she left home to support her family financially and worked in various homes and fincas, cooking for the finca workers and doing their laundry. At age thirteen, she went to work in the big city nearest her hometown, Cali. The woman she worked for in Cali encouraged her to attend high school there. She had never finished her elementary education since she begun working at a young age, but nevertheless she was accepted into a high school in Cali due to her good performance on an entrance exam, and she eventually graduated from high school in Cali. Education She stayed in Cali and attended Universidad del Valle, first studying occupational therapy. She rented a small room and put herself through college by being a vendor in one of Cali’s soccer stadiums. She would sell orange juice made of oranges that her family would send her from their reservation of Tacueyo back home, and would also sell "cholado", a traditional treat from Cali. She was a good student, but underwent some financial hardship when another vendor caused conflict, which resulted in her losing her vendor spot and income. Due to this, her grades suffered, and her family encouraged her to drop out of college and come home. But, she never gave up, and through financial struggles, she continued her schooling. After a few semesters, she changed her focus of study to social work. As soon as she started in this new field, she absolutely loved every aspect of it. She loved studying community work, intervention against violence of women and children, social justice, human rights, and equality. She was passionate about these subjects as they related to her own Paez/Nasa community’s struggles of marginalization, and violence against