The Huaorani of Ecuador
John Henry
ANT 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Professor Elena Lattarulo
16 July 2011
The Huaorani of Ecuador The Huaorani people of the Amazon are population of people that are trying to maintain their identity, customs, and traditions. The identity of the Huaorani is characterized by their self-sufficient life in and out of the forest whose biodiversity is one of the abundant in the world. The Huaorani are practicing a sustainable economy, where the natural resources are not over-exerted. The modern world is closing in on the Huaorani people. They are faced with “modernization” and other outside forces that are affecting their way of life. The Huaorani are caught between the conflicting objectives of petroleum development and forest conservation. These programs are undermining what constitutes the core of Huaorani culture, the relationship to the forest and their hunting-gathering semi-nomadic way of life. The Huaorani are located in the Ecuadorian headwaters of the Amazon and is comprise of about 1,500 people who are living in up to 24 temporary settlements in an area of almost 20,000 square kilometers, completely covered by rain forest. They are surrounded by related and alien tribes and ethnic groups with a total population of an estimated 150,000. For centuries the Huaorani have had to defend themselves against these groups and against gold and rubber prospectors; which provided the missionaries the justification for "pacification" ("The huaorani of,"). Huaorani which means “human beings” or “the people”, and refer to everyone else as cohouri meaning “anyone not Huaorani by birth” or “non-humans.” The Huaorani are hunters and gatherers, and they fish. They normally live in small settlements surrounded by vegetable gardens in which they grow manioc, maize, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and fruit. The Huaorani use the forrest to gather what they need for the day, they also record patches of resources for later use. The occupation they call “omere dante gobopa” literally translated ‘forest visiting in order to bring something back’. (Rival, L.M., 2002) The Huaorani hunt mainly monkeys and birds with blowguns and poison tipped darts, but has used modern firearms. Traditionally there was an extensive collection of hunting and eating taboos. Neither land-based predators nor birds of prey are hunted. They refused to eat deer, on the grounds that deer eyes look similar to human eyes. The most sacred animal in the forest is the jaguar, and also the snake is the most feared animal and neither animal will ever will be hunted. The jaguar to Huaorani is the prototype predator and they believe that hunting predators is a conception of cannibalism. They also believe that human are descendants of the offspring of an eagle and a jaguar. The snake is the animal in the forrest that will lead them the the afterlife. The afterlife will bring them full circle, being reincarnated in to a jaguar, thus the jaguar potentially incorporates a human soul. Food procurement is an essential area of learning for the children of the Huaorani. The gathering of food not only brings back food for the longhouse to share but it teaches the process of culture-learning. While walking about in the flora and fauna of the forest the parents are not teaching the children but are encouraging them to grow, mature, and participate in productive activities. The procurement of food the responsibility of the whole tribe, not falling on one sex or age group; even the children hunt and gather in bands, not going beyond five kilometers of the longhouse. The egalitarian social system is both a prerequisite for and a consequence of this type of economy. It does not know a permanent "above" and "below" nor does it know discrimination against women. What it does know are the duties and obligations of the individual for the livelihood and survival of the whole community. The Huaorani were a semi-nomadic society before missionary contact was allowed. They would build their settlements and gardens, stay for about ten years and then move on. However, sediments and adoptions of firearms depleted the animal populations around Huaorani communities, especially spider monkeys. The indigenous peoples of the Amazon have been saddled with two opposing stereotypes. One view is that they're violent savages in need of a civilizing influence. The other is that they're noble and pure people uncorrupted by the decadence of modern society. One of the most important things to the Huaorani is family life. A family unit consists of groups of kin and eventually grows when people from other villages want to join the group. If others want to join the group they must build their own houses because they are not allowed to live in the same house as the original land owners. Within kinship you will find mother and father, children, spouses, and grandchildren. This allows for a wide variety of help when it comes to daily responsibility. The extra help is also the reason why the Huaorani have many children. The more they have the bigger the helping hand. Family life is very close as well. Yet, each family member has a sense of autonomy. There is no laziness when it comes to caring for each other. (Lu, F. E., 2001) There is no clear division of labor among the Huaorani, everybody has a role but anybody can preform that role. Usually the men provide for the family by hunting. They clear trees for their wives so they can plant crops needed for ceremonies and regular consumption. The men are definitely the protectors of their land. They do like it when any outsiders invade their area of land, and they will engage in warfare if needed (Lu, F. E., 2001). Women can also hunt, but it is very rare to find a female hunter within the Huaorani. The women mostly take care of their crops, clean their homes, and take care of their children. Each person has his or her own duties within the household. They also live matrilocally, which means the couple lives with the bride's household (Lu, F. E., 2001). When the manioc stems are ready it is time for the festivities to begin. The manioc is ready when it smells “strong and sweet,” at which time the the women come to help peel the roots and the men go on a big hunt (Rival, L.M., 2002). The drinking party creates friendships. If there is one group of Huaorani that are not friends with another group the festival is the perfect time to create a bond. That way there would not be any hostilities between the two groups. Unions between a man and a woman can occur during the party as well. Manioc is a major thing because it is drank in every festival. Marriage is a sacred thing for the Huaorani as it brings new life. A wedding ceremony is totally different when it comes to a Huaorani marriage. It takes place during one of these ceremonies about two-thirds through the party (Rival, L.M., 2002). The two people that are going to get married that night have no idea because it is a secret, so they are completely unaware of what is going to happen. When the time has arrived the elders, who planned the marriage in the first place, take hold of the man and woman and bind their ankles together with hammock string. The couple is also placed into a hammock and the family members gather around to sing and dance. The mother of the bride decides whether or not it is a compatible match. If she agrees to the alliance the ceremony is continued, but if she disagrees with the marriage the mother runs away with her daughter (Rival, L.M., 2002). The Huaorani have three main ideas that grandparents should arrange marriages. First, it is legitimate to take an interest in the marriage of one’s name-bearers and to decide where they will live and with whom. Second, grandparents are best positioned to think about marriage alliances and to make good matches, that is, those that will satisfy most people. And third, if the young were left to make their own choices, they would run off with their lovers, and then what difference would there be between the Huaorani and collared peccaries, a pig like animal, (Rival, L.M., 2002)? They fight for their land because it was sacred to them. Their land was where they gathered their food and brought home animals to share with the longhouse. They fight for their people to make sure everyone is happy and there are no hostilities between family members. Worst of all they hate cohouri people. They use spears for their food and anyone that they believe was invading their land. That includes cohouri, oil workers, and missionaries (Holt, F. L., 2005). Their mode of attack is to wait for a moonless evening and a group of men with spears made from chonta palm. The spears are very sharp on both ends. In the middle of the night they attack the unsuspecting perpetrators. Modernization and other outside forces are affecting their way of life. The trees their forrest are being cut down and all the noise and open spaces is causing animals to run away. The water is also being poisoned by the oil companies, which is killing their other food source fish and taking away fresh water. In the long run it is destroying the Huaorani's nomadic ways of life and making them more dependable on horticulture. To add to the confusion the Huaorani are being exploited. The population from the oil companies is bringing in many workers. These workers see the Huaorani people, which are almost the last of the truly secluded Indians, and are taking pictures of them without asking. Those Huaorani that decide not to live the traditional way of life, which is increasing greatly, are learning to live a totally different way. They are finding jobs in order to buy goods and necessities so they can to survive. Jobs are consisting of ecotourism and hand-crafted production linked with ecological monitoring and stewardship of important floral resources involved in the production of hammocks, bags, and jewelry. There are only a few traditional Huaorani groups are still around.
Worst of all, the rainforest destruction and the oil companies are bringing in disease. Elevated serum imminoglubulin E (IGE) is a disease found in Huaorani that live directly outside the areas where the oil companies are working. The Huaorani hat have moved away from their traditional way of living have less health problems. This definitely indicates that the oil companies are bringing in disease. Other diseases like dermatitis, hypersensitivity, and parasitic infections have been found. However, the cases found are few and far between. Some Huaorani are agreeing to inoculations and anti-virus shots for their children and themselves. It is a small step in protecting a group of people that are becoming scarce.

In conclusion, the Huaorani people are an indigenous group that are still trying to live their normal cultural lifestyles. Huaorani society has changed over time but societies have to change if they want to survive the trials and challenges brought among them. Family life has remained thru-out time spite the challenges, but they are beginning to let more outsiders in. It is enabling anthropologists to understand the Huaorani people and that they are in a crisis. Their lands are being taken away by the oil companies and the destruction of the forrest yet, somehow, they manage to conduct their daily lives the way they have always done for years. There may only be a few Huaorani that live the traditional lifestyle, but with knowledge of their society with the help of anthropologists, the world can help preserve there traditions and way of life.

References

Rival, L. M. (2002). Trekking Through History : The Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador. New York, NY, USA : Columbia University Press .

Holland, D. E., Levinson, D. C., & Foley, B. A. (1996). Cultural Production of the Educated Person : Critical Ethnographies of Schooling and Local Practice. Albany, NY, USA : State University of New York Press .

Evered, M. K., Boykoff, K., & Goodman, M. (2008). Contentious Geographies : Environment Meaning and Scale. Abingdon, Oxon, , GBR : Ashgate Publishing Group .

Lu, F. E. (Dec 2001) The common porperty regime of the Huaorani Indians of Ecuador: Implications and challenges to conservation. New York. Vol. 29, Iss. 4; pg. 425 (23 pages). Human Ecology.

Holt, F. L. (April 2005) The Catch-22 of Conservation: Indigenous Peoples, Biologists, and Cultural Change. New York. Vol. 33, Iss. 2; pg. 199. Human Ecology.

The huaorani of ecuador the spirit of the jaguar. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.crystalinks.com/huaorani.html

Steppe, S. (n.d.). The huaorani of ecuador. Retrieved from http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Huaorani-of-Ecuador