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In 2020, during the panic of the early pandemic, a bloom happened on TikTok.
Sisa Quispe saw it: indigenous people from dozens of cultures posting videos about their peoples’ histories and their daily lives. They posted about their food, their songs and dances, and–especially eye-catching for Quispe–their clothes.
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“They will show how they will look with their regular clothing. Then they will turn around and you will see how they look with their traditional clothing. I noticed that, wow, my traditional clothing, it has a lot,” she says. “We have so many similarities. That pushed me and inspired me to also share more about what I knew about my culture.”
Quispe is Quechua and Aymara, with her people hailing from the Andes. She says that back in 2020, her heritage was “distant” to her, but seeing all these Native creators pushed her to learn more about herself.
“Then I started this whole journey of decolonization,” she says. “It was rediscovering myself and doing it with a lot of people at the same time.”
Quispe had never thought about getting into visual media before that, but as her TikTok presence grew, she realized she wanted to keep telling her story through film. So, she enrolled in film school (and also gave a TED Talk, btw). She recently graduated, and is already striking out in her field, having just been selected as a winner at the 2023 Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase by The Gotham Film & Media Institute. She was chosen for her short film URPI: Her Last Wish, which follows a woman who travels across the sacred valley of the Incas to keep a promise to her late grandmother, and meets a young Quechua man along the way.
Quispe is currently working on turnining URPI into a feature-length film, and is writing two additional short films. She’s still on the festival circuit for URPI, and plans to take her TikTok audience of nearly 70,000 people along for the ride as she continues sharing her cultures with the world.
Check out our chat with her below.
@sisa_quispe Proud Native ✊🏽🍃 #quechua #aymara ♬ What Native are you – JustDayday
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: I’d love to start with, pretend somebody is reading this and they don’t know anything about you. They’ve never seen your videos. Give me some background about you.
Sisa Quispe: Absolutely. My name is Sisa Quispe. I am a Quechua and Aymara artist. I’m based in New York City. I moved to the US actually seven years ago. I started to create content about connecting with my identity, which is Indian like Quechua and Aymara indigenous. It’s my people from the Andes. I was so happy that people really connected with my story.
Every time I will share about my connecting journey and how I was dealing with so many things. Just educating myself at the same time, I didn’t have any idea that there was this massive amount of people that they were also having this identity journey. That’s how everything started on TikTok and then on Instagram.
Tubefilter: What originally drew you specifically to TikTok?
Sisa Quispe: I got to say there was this time on TikTok. It was during the pandemic, and there were a lot of these content creators who are Native Americans. They will show how they will look with their regular clothing. Then they will turn around and you will see how they look with their traditional clothing. I noticed that, wow, my traditional clothing it has a lot. We have so many similarities. That pushed me and inspired me to also share more about what I knew about my culture. Even though it was distant to me, but I knew there was some indigenous in me.
Then I started with this whole journey of decolonization. It was rediscovering myself and doing it with a lot of people at the same time that they were also going through the same.
Tubefilter: I know you’ve produced and written and been in some short films as well. Did you think about producing video content before you started on TikTok?
Sisa Quispe: To be honest, no.
Tubefilter: Oh, interesting.
Sisa Quispe: Yes. Everything started with TikTok and me just talking about how I started to connect with my language and learning to know my indigenous language. That pushed me to also eventually I became speaker. I was invited to do a TED Talk, which it has over almost 20k plays on YouTube. Then I decided that I wanted to do film, so I went to film school. I just graduated a couple of months ago.
This was all during TikTok and Instagram. I just graduated with my thesis film. I’m so grateful that we have been winning awards and now I won a huge award yesterday. They told me to not disclose it yet. [Note: Since this interview is going out after the public announcement, we can disclose that Quispe, for her film URPI: Her Last Wish, was selected as a winner at the 2023 Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase by Gotham.]
Tubefilter: Congratulations!
Sisa Quispe: Thank you. I’m going to be in this huge event in New York City in two weeks. I will let you know once they tell me that I am able to disclose it, but it’s a big one. I’m really excited because I hadn’t any idea three years ago or two years ago when I started with sharing a little bit about my story on TikTok that it will get me all the way here. Even the work I do with filmmaking and the stories I tell, they’re all about identity and just reconnecting with ourselves and with our heritage.
Tubefilter: How did you become so passionate about TikTok? Was there a specific video or a specific moment where you were like, “Oh, I’m going to keep doing this”?
Sisa Quispe: I think it was my first video to be honest where I was just talking about that I was Quechua. I never imagined there would be people who are interested or who were going through the same struggles that I was going. Something that I love about TikTok is the algorithm. Even on Netflix it just pushes their own content, but in TikTok, it put you on a niche. Whatever you like the most, which in my case was like, oh, Native American heritage or pride of being indigenous. It just pushed more my content. Also, I was able to connect with so many creators who eventually became my collaborators also.
I got to find this amazing community of indigenous people from the south. I think that’s what I appreciate the most from TikTok that because of the algorithm, it pushes your content at the content who have the same interests. You can find a community and build a community. Again, many of the people I met, one of them became my producer, became the actors. Also, they’re in the same industry, so we’re always supporting each other and uplifting each other. I’m very grateful.
@sisa_quispeLoving pow wow season ❤️♬ original sound – Ferizagui
Tubefilter: Are you working on a new film project right now?
Sisa Quispe: Yes. I’m working two projects right now. One of them is a documentary. It’s called Yacumama, and it’s about decolonizing the way we perceive water. How the way we relate to water ultimately has an impact on climate change. We’re going to follow the path of water from this beautiful mountain that has a small glacier in Peru, and follow the path of water all the way to the Pacific Ocean and show how indigenous people relate to water as opposed to people in the cities.
That me being born and raised in the city, I always thought that water is a resource meant to be exploitable as opposed to indigenous cultures where we thought– That’s something I learned in my reconnecting journey that we are thought that water is a living being and has a feminine spirit. We’re going to show that and then how different indigenous communities relate and have water ceremonies and show how this affects climate change. This documentary is going to take a couple of years.
I’m also working in another short film that’s called Unveiling Love, and it’s about a mother-daughter relationship, and how by growing food and working the land, they get to basically forgive each other and heal the relationship. I’m just writing this film. Hopefully, we’re going to be able to shoot it next year. Those are the two projects I’m working on right now.
Tubefilter: Obviously, you’re very busy, but what does your average schedule look like in terms of working on your films and then making content? Do you aim to produce a certain number of videos for TikTok every week, or how do things work for you?
Sisa Quispe: I realize that for TikTok and Instagram, for me it’s really important to just that if I’m going to say something, it comes naturally to me. It comes very organically. I try to do at least one every week, but sometimes if I feel it is one every two weeks. For me, it’s important that it has something important to say that it is relevant and it has a very strong message. Yes, same with Instagram.
I think the last videos I was talking about Dias De Los Muertos, how do we see death in indigenous culture? What it mean that for me, then I was talking about coco leaves, who are like a sacred plant for us and how do I use it for my headache? Things like that. Just spreading more knowledge. I’m really happy that people want to keep learning about indigenous cultures and our plants. They’re very supportive.
Tubefilter: I noticed you get a lot of very curious comments on your videos asking you questions and wanting to learn more. Do you ever answer people’s questions in your videos or do you ever consider what people want to know when you’re figuring out what to talk about next?
Sisa Quispe: Yes, I try to answer, but sometimes the amount is overwhelming. Also, there’s not so nice comments. Also for me, it’s important to keep my mental health because if I don’t feel I’m good, then I can just not be creative, ultimately. What I try to do sometimes is just like reading the first 20 to 50 comments, and then I just let it go because it can be very overwhelming. That’s something I’ve been practicing. I’ve seen other content creators doing that too, and it works for them for their mental health as well. That’s something that I’ve been practicing.
Tubefilter: That’s unfortunate that you have to deal with a lot of negativity in response. Do you find that’s something other creators have to deal with too?
Sisa Quispe: Yes, I think it’s something common. When you put your heart out and when you are vulnerable, there’s going to be all type of reception, you never know. At the same time, I feel that because you are putting your heart out there, there’s going to be people who listen. You know you’re going to be able to connect with people, and that’s the most beautiful. I just try to focus in that. I realize, and I’m so grateful, I have so many close friends who also they’re like, I’ll call them leaders where they have built a community.
Everyone knows my dear friend Kara. We have built this little community and we talk about it like, Oh my god, we got these comments, or They have been doing that. We’re always supporting each other. I’m talking about that and knowing that we’re not alone, that it happens. It happens when you are vulnerable when you show yourself, there’s always going to be negativity, but we need to focus in the positive and we need to focus in love, in the relationships we’re building, and ultimately in the message that we’re sending out there.
@sisa_quispe Just a friendly reminder 🥰 #indigenouspride #hispanictiktok ♬ original sound – Mujer Magic Events
Tubefilter: Have you noticed any demographics in your audience? Do you feel like other indigenous people are finding you? Or do you feel like you’re teaching people who aren’t indigenous? Is it a mix?
Sisa Quispe: It’s definitely a mix. I will say it’s a mix of people who are indigenous and they were born and raised in the diaspora. For example, I don’t know, maybe their parents were from the Amazon and they were born and raised in Peru. I have a lot of followers who are Native American, which they also share that sense of identity if they are born and raised outside of the reservation.
I also have a lot of support from people who are allies. They just want to keep uplifting indigenous voices. Yes, it’s a mix of everything. My audience is not limited to the US. I have a big audience, obviously in Peru, but also in Mexico and Canada.
Tubefilter: Oh, that’s amazing.
Sisa Quispe: Thank you. At the end, we all have been affected by colonization in a different matter. Ultimately, we’re always trying to reconnect. We’re always trying to preserve our ways. I think indigenous people from Canada, from the US, they have found that common ground with my story at the same time. We’re always trying to keep preserving our culture.
Tubefilter: Very cool. I wanted to mention, I think you’re the first person I’ve spoken to whose videos are this short.
Sisa Quispe: I think it’s between 15 and 20 seconds. I tried doing one minute it didn’t really work because unfortunately the algorithm pushes more short content, I think. I’m not really sure but for me, it’s between 15, 20 seconds. That’s the average.
Tubefilter: That’s really tough to structure, getting information into that short of a time.
Sisa Quispe: I try to do it. I think it’s everything. Is visually is what you’re saying also the text you’re putting. If you know how to balance it, you can give all this information in this amount of time, and that also pushes people to maybe rewatch it or revisit it.
Tubefilter: If it’s shorter. Yes. That’s interesting. I think most people that I’ve spoken to shoot for the full 60 seconds. Intriguing. You said you’re doing TikTok and Instagram. Does your content differ between both platforms or do you post the same thing on both platforms?
Sisa Quispe: I used to post in both platforms. Right now I’m experimenting. I think I post one or two videos only on TikTok just to see how they go, because almost experimenting with one minute, going through one minute or like 20 seconds. Right now I’m in the middle of looking what is feeling good. I always try to do it in both.
Tubefilter: Have you thought about expanding to platforms like YouTube?
Sisa Quispe: I think so. I thought about it. Maybe I should think about it more, but not at the moment, to be honest, because I have been so busy also with my filmmaking career. Now we’re in this whole festival circuit and traveling around. I haven’t thought of YouTube yet, but maybe in the future.
Tubefilter: You’re very busy! How much longer are you on the festival circuit?
Sisa Quispe: I think for another year because I just submitted my film and we got accepted into four festivals already. Now I’m going to be receiving this month, next month I’m going to be receiving the news of the upcoming film festivals. I’m very looking forward to all of them. I’m meeting amazing people and also meeting amazing friends from TikTok and Instagram that I’ve met only on TikTok. Oh my God.
I actually went to this film festival called the Santa Fe International Film Festival, and I met so many indigenous influencers there, and it was so nice to see that they have a body. They have a whole body, like, oh my god, because we’re so used to see only their videos of their face. It was like, oh my god, you are taller than I thought. Or you’re like, oh my god, you’re so– It’s amazing.
I’ve seen one of my friends, she also got to be on this movie by acting on TikTok and my other friend who is a filmmaker. It’s just great to see this community that we started I’ll say two, three years ago on TikTok, the Native community on TikTok and now it’s like seeing we all are doing our own thing at the same time, it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful.
Tubefilter: Very cool and very chaotic. I know that the whole festival circuit is incredibly chaotic.
Sisa Quispe: Yes, it takes a lot of energy.
Tubefilter: I can imagine! Is that going to feature in your TikTok videos? The circuit?
Sisa Quispe: Yes, I’m going to. I will say maybe in a couple more months, but I want to be very strategic about it because I don’t want to show too much. I just want to show what it needs to be shown that it gets people’s attention, like curiosity. I just want to be able to show exactly what needs to be shown in order to just make people curious and to see what is happening, but I got to say people are very– I do have a email list of a couple of hundred people interested in watching the film because also I was able to fund the film with the help of my followers on TikTok and Instagram. They have been waiting, they’re waiting for it.
@sisa_quispe The future is Indigenous! @sunisonqovizcarrawood #nativetiktok #andean #quechua ♬ gangstas paradise – favsoundds
Tubefilter: Got you. You have a lot going on and you have big plans, but do you have any other goals for yourself over the next year or so, anything you want to talk about that you’re working on?
Sisa Quispe: Yes, definitely I would like to make this first short film, which is very personal to me, into a feature film. I would like to do a TV show also, literally for me we’re making, if I can grab all my friends from TikTok and Instagram and do a TV show like Friends of Indigenous, like a Native version of it, and just keep speaking up, using the platforms and just showing that we indigenous people we’re still here, we’re still healing and reconnecting and just fighting for our cultures.
We’re a lot of people, we’re all over the continent. I just want to keep uplifting my people, representing and just basically sending this message of decolonizing, just keep sharing stories, keep sharing my journey. I think I’m very grateful I have a platform to share it with.
Tubefilter: Is there anything else you want readers to know?
Sisa Quispe: I just want to mention one more time that I think it’s so beautiful how feeling that you’re seen. I feel like if it wouldn’t be for those TikToks that I started a couple of years ago, and I realized that while I was not alone with my identity struggle that it really pushed me to keep digging in and to just finding my voice, and to just doing things I’ve never imagined I was able to do. I’m very grateful and I always remember where I’m coming from. These platforms that gave me this outlet for me just speak up and connect with so many beautiful people.
