Although most now speak Spanish, Runashimi or Kichwa, a Quechua dialect, is also spoken and language revitalization efforts are being implemented.

The Saraguro may be the descendants of people re-settled from distant regions in the Inca Empire in the 15th and early 16th century.

The Incas had a policy of forcibly moving people from one region of the empire to another, thereby diversifying the population and dispersing possible opposition to their rule.

In a debunked theory, some authors ascribe the black clothing typical of the Saraguro as a sign of mourning for the death of the Inca Emperor Atahualpa.

[8] The Saraguros have retained control over their lands more successfully than many of the Andean subjects of Spanish colonization and contemporary colonialism [9][10] of the independent country of Ecuador.

Many contemporary Saraguros are doctors, architects, engineers, musicians, photographers, construction workers, artisans, farmers, entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers, lawyers, cooks, activists.

Issues such as teenage pregnancy, environmental degradation, deforestation, discrimination, racism, discontinuation of traditions are also present across the Saraguro territory.

She has authored several books, among them: Ecuador Chinchasuyupi Quichuacunapac Ñaupa Rimai = Literatura Indígena En Los Andes Del Sur Del Ecuador (Indigenous Literature in the Southern Andes of Ecuador) Cultura espiritual:Una resistencia de los Saraguros en la actualidad: Las Ofrendas Florales (Spiritual Culture: A Contemporary Saraguro Resistance: The Flowers Offering) El Quinto Gobernador de los Saraguros: Historia Social y Organizativa (The Fifth Governor of the Saraguros: Social and Organizational History) Article in English: Bilingual and Intercultural Education, Perspectives and Current Reality[15] He is a sociologist and has written several academic articles on interculturality and plurinationality.

Pushak / Rector of the Pluriversity "Amawtay Wasi", academic space of education of the Peoples and Nationalities of Ecuador.

Rector of Universidad Comunitaria Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Pueblos Indigenas "Amawtay Wasi", 2013 - 2015.

She has organized peaceful marches for the defense of water and territories threatened by resources exploitation in southern Ecuador.

[19] “As ancestral peoples with their own autonomy, we do not accept anyone, that no government or company takes away our right to life” [20] Salvador Quishpe Lozano (Zamora, March 15, 1971), is an Ecuadorian politician, a Pachakutik militant and current prefect of Zamora Chinchipe; during his tenure he has become a figure of the Indigenous movement for his strong opposition to the policies of the presidency of Rafael Correa, becoming a pre-candidate of his party for the presidential election in 2017.

A large number of (primarily male) Saraguro youth affiliate themselves with a subculture of heavy metal music.