Ecuador is mostly
jungle.
That's not well known by
the casual traveler
or even most Ecuadorians
since the bulk of them
live in the Western...
third of the country.
The capital Quito is
high in the mountains
with a pleasant climate.
The Amazon has few roads
and until recently few
people besides the
Indians
who have lived there
for eons.
Things are changing.
♪
Funding for In the
Americas with David Yetman
was provided by
Agnese Haury
♪
Funding for In the Americas
with David Yetman
was also provided by
the Guilford Fund.
♪
♪
In the Americas with
David Yetman theme
The city of Quito is
the capital
and most important city
in Ecuador.
It sits about 9,300 feet
above sea level
and there's about three
million people living
here.
The Spaniards came
here in the early part
of the 16th century
and they found it a very
good place to live,
high enough to be cool
but accessible to trade
in all directions.
They founded a city and
we can still see part
of what they founded in
the old Quito.
Spain owned and
controlled what is
now Ecuador
and its capital Quito
for nearly 300 years.
It was not until the
early 19th century
that Ecuador became
an independent country.
Spain left a heritage
of its laws governing
how the cities were to be estab.
They were called the
laws of the Indies
and those laws dictated
how wide the streets
were to be,
how tall the buildings
could be,
what kind of balconies
they had to have
and what buildings were
to be located where.
And this is a reflection
of those ancient laws.
It's the downtown
historiccenter of
Quito.
(Spanish)
This historic center was
home to the first
indigenous people
men and women that were
here before,
even the Incas and later
the Spaniards arrived.
This place has always
been viewed by the
public,
so when you see the
facade of the
presidential palace you
can see original stone.
Quito was declared a
UN Cultural Heritage
of Humanity's Site.
Part of the reason
people flock to downtown
Quito
on a Sunday afternoon,
is not just because
there's a lot of people
here but because
it is an intensely
agreeable place to be.
Ecuador is the second
largest producer of oil
in all of Latin America.
and the government has
used those oil revenues
to make sure that their essenti
In addition, they have
poured moneyinto the
country's infrastructure
producing some of the
best bridges and highways
in all of Latin America
♪
From Quito, it's a good
five-hour drive east of
the Andes into the
Amazon.
The town of Shell is the
end of the road for us.
It's appropriately named
for the oil company that
initiated exploration in
the rain forest.
Shell enlisted
missionaries to do
advance work and pacify
Indians who were
notoriously unreceptive
to the oil prospectors.
The small airport
at Shell bustles.
It seems to be used
exclusively
by oil industry and
missionary people.
The flight into Huaorani
territory will only
take a half hour or so
but it will transport us
into a different world.
Huaoranis were only
discovered about fifty
years ago
and resisted all entry
by outsiders.
Since then, most have
accepted foreigners in
varying degrees and are
involved in ecotourism.
Some of the Huaorani,
however, have detached
themselves
and retreated deep into
the rainforest and
reject
all outside contact.
The airstrip where
we will land,
seems tiny from above,
the light green line
in the endless
emerald forest.
it's a community called
Huantaro involving
ecotourism.
I'm supposed to be
greeted by Moi,
the leader of the
Huaorani nation.
They call
themselves Wao.
(Spanish)
The Huaorani territory
is covered by primary
forest,
not secondary forest
like the case of
other indigenous
nationalities.
This is all tropical
forest, primary forest.
We have over 900,000
hectares that support
animals and fish.
For food, we also grow
cassava plants.
There are beaches along
the rivers but we don't
cut the trees.
It's all Huaorani
territory.
There are many problems
within the Huaorani
territory.
We have complaints
against other
indigenous people
against settlers in our
territory,
the presence of the
oil company.
But politically we
manage on our own.
Each community has
a voice and a vote
and school and even
a high school.
There are many
health problems.
Today the Ecuadorian
State gives rights
to all Ecuadorians
but in the past only the
Huaorani people defended
our land.
So, things were fine
because Huaorani
maintained a
healthy territory.
(Spanish)
As an organization, we
were trying to find
a way out for the
Huaorani,
trying to make
connections
with foreigners
like through ecotourism
or with oil companies.
Education is a way out
so we are looking
for work either with
the oil companies,
with tourism or just to
keep living as Huaorani
♪
Native singing
(Spanish)
In our culture, we
always welcome people by
singing and dancing.
The women, young people
so as not to lose
our culture.
Now they will sing
like birds
Like the Oropéndola
and the Toucans sing.
♪
(Native Singing)
(Spanish)
They're saying that
only the madrecitas
can raise their young
so if we take the
young Oropéndolas
out of their nest,
they won't survive.
That's the Huaorani
message.
The first thing we
experienced was
a welcoming dance
and it's not just
forthem.
Little by little, they
insisted that everybody
who was here...
including other
Ecuadoriansjoin in.
So, it's quite a
festive thing.
Not a lot of people come
here so when they do,
they insist that
you participate.
(Spanish)
These Huaorani
ceremoniesis a festival
and we always invite
enemies and friends.
These festivities also
take place when
there is a marriage.
We have happy, cheerful
tradition of dancing,
for our children
and preserve
our territory.
To live as free people,
the children and the old
people, we live as wao.
To live as free people,
the children and the old
people, Gracias!as wao.
Gracias!
♪
(Native singing)
(Spanish)
This is a protected
area, a pristine area.
Land that we want
to be able to live
and work without
harming nature.
Oil money changes
our culture,
brings in outsiders,
lots of noise.
They drink alcohol
water,
that makes you dizzy
and kills you.
No, we want our
Wao culture
I guess you're
officially greeted
once you get the
face paint applied.
So, what we are running
into here is a culture
that is under huge
pressure from
the outside
particularly from the
petroleum industry
and very specifically by
Chinese petroleum
interests.
It's a conflict that
is coming in from
virtually all sides.
The women here
weave these out of
a relative of the palm
that is extraordinarily
tough and heavy.
This is the raw fiber
they strip away from
the leaf on this
palm-like plant.
Then they put it on
their thigh, several...
pieces and
rub it together
and it develops into a
perfectly spiral pattern.
I had no idea how
they do it.
It is a talent that must
have been developed
for centuries.
The red dye is easy.
They just pick a fruit
that grows wild...
all over the place
and rub it...
and it becomes the
face paint...
and the red dye for
their weavings that
they do.
I had no idea how
they do it.
So, his father taught
him how to make
the lances...
and for them this is a
traditional house,
this is the traditional
way of hunting...
and its worked perfectly
well for them.
For the Huaorani, the
only way to bring
supplies in or...
to take supplies out,
other than what they
make themselves...
is by air.
In the Amazon, the
traditional form of
transportation
is the dugout canoe.
This is made out of one
single trunk of a tree.
An immense amount of
labor goes into
making it.
And they are not easy
to maneuver...
so, it takes expertise
that these guys have.
This is an ecotourism
venture that is...
developed with the
Huaorani people...
for the Huaorani people
...
helping them spread the
message of conservation
...
that they have in
their hearts...
and in their minds
in front of what's
going on...
in the Amazon Rain
Forest of Ecuador...
The Huaorani lands
are in the foothills
of the Andes...
which means that
there are periodic
waterfalls...
some of them huge.
The water in the river
for many months
of the year...
is silky and brown
so if you want
fresh water...
you may have
to hike a way...
But this is a very
popular place...
not only with tourists
but with the Huaoranis
for centuries.
♪
From Huantaro it's a
four-hour trek to the
next community.
Hardly are we into
the forest when...
Moipoi points out
new signs of
oil prospecting...
camps, swaths
through the jungle...
frequent helicopter
flights and
motorized boats...
Sadly, we have
new neighbors.
Right, the government
granted permits
for a Chinese company...
to come and carry
seismic work...
pursuing for oil
in the territory
where we work.
Moipoi tells me that
when I see these...
blue ribbons that's
a mark of oil explorers.
(Spanish)
Every day they fly
into the seismic lines.
It's just
starting now...
but the animals are
already fleeing.
Families are at a
war over money.
Others are selling
themselves for money,
benefits.
We had a good life
before all of this.
But now a lady died
fighting over money.
The ecotourism project
is different.
It's peaceful work.
(Spanish)
So, this is the plant
from which he
makes the darts.
Sanded with a special
tool made out of the
piranha's jaws...
then apply the
curare, the toxin...
the paralyzing toxin
to the tip and there
you have a dart to blow.
They call it an arrow;
we call it a dart.
(Spanish)
We only fish with hooks
for what we need and
the sharpest are darts...
We live free here,
peacefully.
That's the way
of the Wao culture.
(Spanish)
So, nothing is growing
under here because the
tree gives off chemicals.
And it has different
species of ants growing
on it.
Ah, there we go.
And I taste them...
and they do taste
just like lemon...
a very strong
lemony flavor.
And this much bigger ant
that also lives on
the tree...
has formidable jaws
and if it clamps
on to bite you...
it won't let go.
So, the people who live
in the forest
have discovered...
that if they get a cut,
they can take the ant...
make the jaws close
the cut...
then cut off the rest of
the body and leave it...
and it acts as a suture.
(Spanish)
They will drill wells
and then put explosions
in the earth.
All the fish will die.
They are prospecting
too close to the river.
(Spanish)
My name is Fabiano.
My house is over there.
I support the
ecotourism.
The oil company is
doing bad things.
(Spanish)
Extracting oil,
bringing lots of money,
business,
all of it is going
to another country.
We do not want to
live in a big house.
We want wild areas
like the Wao lands.
We want to live in
peace and quiet.
They're harming
all of us.
It is a shame.
Lying government.
Right here, they should
respect our place
and our rights.
Our land is being
attacked.
Better not to extract
oil at all.
(Spanish)
Oil companies will be
here for eight months...
then they leave.
Good-bye.
They will leave us
without anything.
Nothing.
So, I say: no more.
This is all Wao.
Where will the Wao live?
Wao culture is dying.
There is another place
up there where
Petroamazonas moved in.
They don't live
like Wao people.
They have guns, drink
a lot, fight a lot.
Part of this eco system
like, and imagine
what it is now...
to have 300 people
comingfrom the city...
and opening trails,
destroying their forest,
building campsites.
But most of people,
they don't really know
what's going on.
And they are just
suddenly meeting all of
these movement...
in the river, all of
this money that is
coming into their lives
and into their
communities.
So, I would say
confusionis a good word
for it.
Talking about the
ribbons we are basically
seeing dozens...
hundreds, thousands of
trails and being opened...
along all of this
beautiful territory and
being marked for what...
will be seismic
development.
Which are basically
lots of different
holes and explosions
and these companies
are gonna scan
the earth...
and see if there is oil
under this beautiful
land.
This is a small,
poor country that
depends a lot on oil.
Our national budget
depends tremendously
on the oil development...
in the Amazon
rainforest.
My perspective is that
you should balance the
opportunities...
for development, right?
There is constructive
development that we
respect...
and we understand
it that we need.
But there is also other
type of developments...
like this one,
like ecotourism...
like sustainable
development...
that would keep this
culture alive
which would be...
it should be a global
crime to for cultures
like the Huaorani...
to be over or
to be gone.
But this ecotourism
venture is protecting
50,000 hectares...
of primary rainforest
that belongs to five
indigenous communities...
of the Huaorani people
who are 400 people who
were living on tourism.
and getting
the income that
they need.
You know, they don't,
they didn't need much
more than that.
But basically, there was
this avalanche of cash...
now going in because
of the, this rights that
the oil companies...
got to come in here.
The Amazon Region
belonged to settlers...
and to indigenous groups
like the Huoaroni...
We have dozens of
different nations.
Ecuador is a country
that recognizes these
nations as they are...
And they have the
ancestral territories...
the land that where these
people's grandparents
were living on.
The Huaorani were
supposedly
a millennium culture.
They have the rights
of the use of land...
but the land is not
theirs. It belongs
to the state
♪
It's early morning
on the Shirapuno River
after a big rain...
last night and
the fog makes it hard
to see birds.
But that doesn't
muffle the sound
It's almost as good
hearing them as seeing█
them.
(sounds of crickets)
The Huaoranis most
significant Eco project
is the Huaorani Lodge.
Jasci teamed with
community members
to build it...
and it is a place
of places.
I've never sat on a
bench park from a
dugout canoe.
So thank you,that i
s a new one for me.
Well, it's all about
recycling, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The structure as you
saw it is a beautiful
place...
five little cabins,
you know it's very
intimate property...
and experience.
But the intention is
to just create an
ambiance for people...
to explore like to
go out and learn
about these...
conservation areas that
the communities have
developed.
Dombai has demonstrated
a spear...
which is particularly
adapted for hunting
a tapir...
which can be very big,
four or five hundred
pounds.
It's carved,
believe it or not...
from a palm and it has
these barbs on it that
keep the animal...
from escaping.
Which you can see from
that sound how rigid
and strong the wood is.
With this you can kill
large animal deer, taínos,
tapirs...
and even jaguars when
they threaten us
So, my name is a very
large powerful ant.
Probably the bullet ant.
it's a huge ant that
lives in nests up in
the trees...
and inflicts a ferocious
bite as it protects
the tree.
I think that's
appropriate.
♪
In Ecuador, we have very
few uncontacted tribes
compared to other countries.
So we have emblematic
ones, the ??
which are Huaroni.
that decided to
separate as well
as the Taromenane
which are not Huaroni.
This is a different
tribe.
And they all live
together down
river inside...
the Yasuni National
Park.
Where several years
ago the zone called
the Intangible Zone
was created with the
idea to protect these
two uncontacted tribes.
And ideally an
intangible zone will be
in place where...
nobody will go.
No one except the
people who live there
themselves.
Exactly.
In practical terms,
in Ecuador at least,
an intangible zone...
means that they have
the Huaroni who believe
that they own that land.
You have a national
park that is handled
by...
the environmental
authority.
And you have an oil
block that who allows
for oil companies...
to do extraction and
exploitation of oil.
(Spanish)
Unfortunately, the
long-term history of
the Ecuadoran Amazon...
has been a series
of conflicts caused
by oil companies...
disrupting the lives
of indigenous villages
and people.
Environmental damages
always create cultural
problems
that affect how the
native peoples organize
their way of life.
Oil exploration brings
with it a host of
disruptive activity.
It is hard to say who
is the winner or loser
in the longrun.
When these kinds of
conflicts appear,
someone has already lost.
And here, especially,
communities suffering
environmental intrusion...
always lose because
they break down the
mechanisms...
that organize
their culture.
From that point on,
they can only regroup
based on...
whatever rights remain
and to establish
minimum agreements
that they can only...
hope will create
the possibility
that this conflict can
be transformed and
changed for the better.
Most Ecuadorians don't
realize that their
countryis basically...
an Amazon country
because most of it lies
in the Amazon basin.
It is cloud forest and
rainforest and an
immense international...
planetary resource.
In recent years, the
integrity of that
vast forest...
has been compromised...
by the discovery of oil
and the development that
goes along with oil.
And the cultures of
the people of eastern
Ecuador are constantly...
threatened every day.
♪
(native singing)
Join me next time in the
americas,
with me David Yetman.
In 1325 AD, Aztecs founded
a city in a lake
in a high basin in central
Mexico
They called it Tenochtitlán.
Almost 2 centuries later,
Spanish conquered the city.
And over the centuries, changed
to La Ciudad de México, Mexico .
That metropolis is now one
of the world█s great cities.
So the houses are
pretty easily made.
They have a native
bamboo that grows
very quickly.
In one day, people
can make several of
these.
They know how to
put them together.
And they shield water,
and they get a couple
hundred inches of rain...
a year. So it has to
be leak proof.
Funding for In the
Americas with David Yetman
was provided by
Agnese Haury
Funding for In the Americas
with David Yetman
was also provided by
the Guilford Fund.
Copies of this and
other episodes
of In the Americas
with David Yetman
are available from
the Southwest Center
to order call
1-800-937-8632
Please mention the episode
number and program title
Please be sure to
visit us at intheamericas.com
or at intheamericas.org