The Huaorani

Hey everybody! Hope things are going well in the states, and because I know I am leaving so soon, I am already starting to miss Ecuador. This past weekend I had an awesome trip to Tena, the begining of the Amazon basin in Ecuador, with my Amazon societies class. We had the opportunity to stay with a community of the Huaorani tribe, an even though I left with a few mutant mosquito bites, not your Wisconsin mosquitoes, it was an amazing trip.

We left Thursday night and took the night bus to Tena, arriving around 3:30 am. From there, we met our cab driver, and basically hung out at his house where we waited to meet with a former student of my professor, who is Huaorani, and would take us to the community. It was raining, so riding in the back of the pick up truck was a little refreshing. From the cab drivers house, we drove for 2.5 hours out of Tena until we arrived at a river, and from there, we took an hour canoe ride, where we finally arrived in the village. This trip was a test in patience; we waited during the night in the cab drivers house for 3 hours, and then waited under a bridge for 3 hours waiting for the canoe. A good time to rest, talk, and just relax; we didn't have a strict plan to follow, which made the trip flow really well.

After arriving at the village, we ate lunch (we arrived around 4:00 so we were starving) and got to know the village. Fernando (our professors former student) came with his wife and two absolutely adorable children, around 1 and 2 years old. The 2 year old boy always seemed to be happy, and bathed in all the attention he recieved for being possibly the most adorable child on earth.
At night we feasted on fish, caught from the river and fried whole. Of course, all parts of the fish are eaten; tail, eyes, head, etc. The tail I would descibe as a "fish chip" crunchy and the eyes are also crunchy when fried. With this we had yuca (south american potato) and rice. We also brought our own food to share like rice, tuna and coffee; this trip wasn't a touristy thing with activities and meals all planned. Sharing food is part of Huaorani culture; that everyone is responsible for bringing one part of the meal and sharing among everyone.

Among walking through the forest and swimming in the river, it was a weekend to relax, enjoy everyone's company and also learn about the community. Evangelical missionaries arrived in the late 1950's, and achieved contact with the Huaorani tribe. The first five missionaries that arrived were killed by members of the Huaorani, but later missionaries estalbished contact and translated the bible into the Huaorani language. It's evident that every day the petroleum companies are encroaching on Huaorani territory, which is an established area in Ecuador, but the petroleum companies also work there. One Huaorani community we passed through had a cement basketball court with a zinc roof, built by the petroleum company. This looked odd and seemed ironic in the jungle of Ecuador, where trees are everywhere and everyone loves to play not basketball, but soccer.

This is a hard blog to write because I don't even know where to start in explaining about the tribe and what we learned, and what I've learned in the class I'm taking. So, this is hardly scratching the surface about the Huaorani themselves, the conflict of western culture in the jungle, and petroleum companies and the government of Ecuador. All I know is that being in the jungle, the hot and humid weather feels amazing, I love it, and feels especially amazing when a warm rain comes to cool you off.