Amazon Rainforest Tours and Travel | The Huaorani People of the Ecuador Amazon
Once a nomadic tribe, the remaining 2,400 Huaorani people today live in small settlements, isolated from one another. Most make their home in northeastern Ecuador along the border with Peru in and around Yasuni National Park between the Napo and Curaray rivers. Many of the Huaorani inhabit a 1.7 million-acre reserve, a third the size of their former lands. The reserve was established in 1983 and expanded to its present acreage in 1990.
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The tribe maintains on a code of responsibility for all members to work for the common good. Males and females are considered equal. When a decision needs to be made affecting the community, the tribe establishes a temporary decision hierarchy which is dissolved after the decision is made. Polygamy and polyandry are practiced when necessary to maintain a balanced gender ratio.
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The Huaorani hold animist religious views, believing their forest world is inhabited by spirits, and that the Huaorani originally descended from the union of a jaguar and an eagle. Huaorani means "humans" or "people." They believe that their shamans have the power to take the form of jaguars. They refer to non-Huaorani as "non humans" or "cowode."
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The tribe was "discovered" by the outside world in the 1950s. When Christian missionaries from Washington State first arrived in Huaorani land in 1956, the tribe had a long-standing and deserved reputation as a warrior people. Having worked in other parts of Ecuador, the missionaries reached the Huaorani lands by air. After attempting to get acquainted by dropping gifts in baskets from their plane, five of the missionaries established themselves in a camp along the Curaray River and made contact with a small group of tribe members, offering airplane rides to signal their friendly intentions. The cordial relationship didn't last long. The five missionaries were killed after being approached by a second larger group of Huaorani. Elizabeth Elliot, wife of one of the murdered missionaries, wrote about their ordeal in two books, Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot and Through Gates of Splendor. Their story eventually became a documentary, a play, a musical and a movie.
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Over the years, more missionaries followed. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), today's largest indigenous organization, was established in 1986. It promoted its political and social agenda by staging populist uprisings. CONAIE eventually succeeded at curtailing the evangelical missionary movement in Ecuador.
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Western religion has not been the only threat to the Huaorani way of life. The Huaorani lands contain one of Ecuador's major oil deposits. Since the Ecuador government first allowed oil exploration on their ancestral lands, a battle has been waged by the Huaorani to prevent oil extraction operations from being conducted there. Since the tribe controls the surface lands under which the deposits are located, the tribe argues that without their permission, the oil may not be extracted. The Huaorani have gained the attention of the United Nations and the support of American environmental organizations. Their interests are represented by the Government Council of the Huaorani Nationality of the Ecuadoran Amazon (ONHAE).
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While some Huaorani communities such as the Tagaeri still have no contact with the outside world, other communities welcome eco-tourists, for the revenue, for the opportunity to tell their story and to educate the cowode about life in the rainforest. The Huaorani make fascinating hosts for Southern Explorations Amazon Kayaking Adventure and expert guides for the Sacha Lodge trip.
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