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Ecuador is mostly 
jungle.

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That's not well known by 
the casual traveler

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or even most Ecuadorians

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since the bulk of them 
live in the Western...

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third of the country.

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The capital Quito is 
high in the mountains

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with a pleasant climate.

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The Amazon has few roads

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and until recently few 
people besides the 
Indians

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who have lived there 
for eons.

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Things are changing.

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♪

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Funding for In the 
Americas with David Yetman

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was provided by 
Agnese Haury

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♪

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Funding for In the Americas 
with David Yetman

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was also provided by 
the Guilford Fund.

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♪

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♪ 
In the Americas with 
David Yetman theme

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The city of Quito is 
the capital

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and most important city 
in Ecuador.

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It sits about 9,300 feet 
above sea level

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and there's about three 
million people living 
here.

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The Spaniards came 
here in the early part 
of the 16th century

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and they found it a very 
good place to live,

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high enough to be cool 
but accessible to trade 
in all directions.

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They founded a city and 
we can still see part

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of what they founded in 
the old Quito.

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Spain owned and 
controlled what is 
now Ecuador

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and its capital Quito 
for nearly 300 years.

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It was not until the 
early 19th century

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that Ecuador became 
an independent country.

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Spain left a heritage 
of its laws governing

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how the cities were to be estab.

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They were called the 
laws of the Indies

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and those laws dictated 
how wide the streets 
were to be,

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how tall the buildings 
could be,

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what kind of balconies 
they had to have

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and what buildings were 
to be located where.

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And this is a reflection 
of those ancient laws.

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It's the downtown 
historiccenter of 
Quito.

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(Spanish)

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This historic center was 
home to the first 
indigenous people

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men and women that were 
here before,

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even the Incas and later 
the Spaniards arrived.

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This place has always 
been viewed by the 
public,

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so when you see the 
facade of the

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presidential palace you 
can see original stone.

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Quito was declared a 
UN Cultural Heritage 
of Humanity's Site.

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Part of the reason 
people flock to downtown 
Quito

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on a Sunday afternoon, 
is not just because

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there's a lot of people 
here but because

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it is an intensely 
agreeable place to be.

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Ecuador is the second 
largest producer of oil

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in all of Latin America.

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and the government has 
used those oil revenues

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to make sure that their essenti

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In addition, they have 
poured moneyinto the

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country's infrastructure 
producing some of the

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best bridges and highways 
in all of Latin America

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♪

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From Quito, it's a good 
five-hour drive east of

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the Andes into the 
Amazon.

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The town of Shell is the 
end of the road for us.

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It's appropriately named 
for the oil company that

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initiated exploration in 
the rain forest.

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Shell enlisted 
missionaries to do

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advance work and pacify 
Indians who were

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notoriously unreceptive 
to the oil prospectors.

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The small airport 
at Shell bustles.

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It seems to be used 
exclusively

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by oil industry and 
missionary people.

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The flight into Huaorani 
territory will only

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take a half hour or so 
but it will transport us 
into a different world.

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Huaoranis were only 
discovered about fifty 
years ago

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and resisted all entry 
by outsiders.

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Since then, most have 
accepted foreigners in

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varying degrees and are 
involved in ecotourism.

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Some of the Huaorani, 
however, have detached 
themselves

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and retreated deep into 
the rainforest and 
reject

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all outside contact.

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The airstrip where 
we will land,

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seems tiny from above, 
the light green line

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in the endless 
emerald forest.

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it's a community called 
Huantaro involving 
ecotourism.

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I'm supposed to be 
greeted by Moi,

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the leader of the 
Huaorani nation.

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They call 
themselves Wao.

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(Spanish)

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The Huaorani territory 
is covered by primary 
forest,

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not secondary forest 
like the case of

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other indigenous 
nationalities.

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This is all tropical 
forest, primary forest.

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We have over 900,000 
hectares that support 
animals and fish.

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For food, we also grow 
cassava plants.

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There are beaches along 
the rivers but we don't 
cut the trees.

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It's all Huaorani 
territory.

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00:06:04,233 --> 00:06:07,366
There are many problems 
within the Huaorani 
territory.

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00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:10,633
We have complaints 
against other 
indigenous people

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against settlers in our 
territory,

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the presence of the 
oil company.

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But politically we 
manage on our own.

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Each community has 
a voice and a vote

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and school and even 
a high school.

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00:06:25,066 --> 00:06:26,966
There are many 
health problems.

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Today the Ecuadorian 
State gives rights 
to all Ecuadorians

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but in the past only the 
Huaorani people defended 
our land.

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So, things were fine 
because Huaorani 
maintained a

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healthy territory.

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(Spanish)

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As an organization, we 
were trying to find

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a way out for the 
Huaorani,

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00:06:49,466 --> 00:06:51,933
trying to make 
connections 
with foreigners

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like through ecotourism 
or with oil companies.

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Education is a way out 
so we are looking 
for work either with

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the oil companies, 
with tourism or just to 
keep living as Huaorani

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♪ 
Native singing

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(Spanish)

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In our culture, we 
always welcome people by 
singing and dancing.

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The women, young people 
so as not to lose 
our culture.

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Now they will sing 
like birds

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00:07:25,733 --> 00:07:29,233
Like the Oropéndola 
and the Toucans sing.

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♪ 
(Native Singing)

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(Spanish)

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They're saying that 
only the madrecitas

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can raise their young 
so if we take the 
young Oropéndolas

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00:07:49,100 --> 00:07:51,800
out of their nest, 
they won't survive.

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00:07:51,933 --> 00:07:53,766
That's the Huaorani 
message.

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00:07:53,900 --> 00:07:57,966
The first thing we 
experienced was 
a welcoming dance

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00:07:58,100 --> 00:07:59,333
and it's not just 
forthem.

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Little by little, they 
insisted that everybody 
who was here...

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00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:05,266
including other 
Ecuadoriansjoin in.

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00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:06,800
So, it's quite a 
festive thing.

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00:08:06,933 --> 00:08:09,166
Not a lot of people come 
here so when they do,

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00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:11,533
they insist that 
you participate.

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00:08:11,666 --> 00:08:18,033
(Spanish)

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00:08:18,166 --> 00:08:20,833
These Huaorani 
ceremoniesis a festival

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00:08:20,966 --> 00:08:23,766
and we always invite 
enemies and friends.

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00:08:23,900 --> 00:08:27,066
These festivities also 
take place when 
there is a marriage.

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00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:34,100
We have happy, cheerful 
tradition of dancing, 
for our children

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00:08:34,233 --> 00:08:35,866
and preserve 
our territory.

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00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:41,500
To live as free people, 
the children and the old 
people, we live as wao.

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00:08:41,633 --> 00:08:41,633
To live as free people, 
the children and the old 
people, Gracias!as wao.

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00:08:42,033 --> 00:08:46,466
Gracias!

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00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:55,133
♪ 
(Native singing)

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00:08:55,266 --> 00:08:56,866
(Spanish)

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00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,900
This is a protected 
area, a pristine area.

148
00:09:00,100 --> 00:09:02,900
Land that we want 
to be able to live

149
00:09:03,033 --> 00:09:05,133
and work without 
harming nature.

150
00:09:05,266 --> 00:09:07,266
Oil money changes 
our culture,

151
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,866
brings in outsiders, 
lots of noise.

152
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,633
They drink alcohol 
water,

153
00:09:12,766 --> 00:09:16,600
that makes you dizzy 
and kills you.

154
00:09:16,733 --> 00:09:21,100
No, we want our 
Wao culture

155
00:09:21,233 --> 00:09:23,066
I guess you're 
officially greeted

156
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,833
once you get the 
face paint applied.

157
00:09:25,966 --> 00:09:29,333
So, what we are running 
into here is a culture

158
00:09:29,466 --> 00:09:31,166
that is under huge 
pressure from 
the outside

159
00:09:31,300 --> 00:09:33,866
particularly from the 
petroleum industry

160
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,400
and very specifically by 
Chinese petroleum 
interests.

161
00:09:37,533 --> 00:09:42,433
It's a conflict that 
is coming in from 
virtually all sides.

162
00:09:48,933 --> 00:09:53,500
The women here 
weave these out of 
a relative of the palm

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00:09:53,633 --> 00:09:58,266
that is extraordinarily 
tough and heavy.

164
00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,000
This is the raw fiber 
they strip away from

165
00:10:00,133 --> 00:10:03,400
the leaf on this 
palm-like plant.

166
00:10:03,533 --> 00:10:06,400
Then they put it on 
their thigh, several...

167
00:10:06,533 --> 00:10:08,733
pieces and 
rub it together

168
00:10:08,866 --> 00:10:12,866
and it develops into a 
perfectly spiral pattern.

169
00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,500
I had no idea how 
they do it.

170
00:10:15,633 --> 00:10:19,566
It is a talent that must 
have been developed 
for centuries.

171
00:10:19,700 --> 00:10:21,066
The red dye is easy.

172
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:23,333
They just pick a fruit 
that grows wild...

173
00:10:23,466 --> 00:10:25,433
all over the place 
and rub it...

174
00:10:25,566 --> 00:10:27,666
and it becomes the 
face paint...

175
00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,800
and the red dye for 
their weavings that 
they do.

176
00:10:31,933 --> 00:10:34,533
I had no idea how 
they do it.

177
00:10:34,666 --> 00:10:37,566
So, his father taught 
him how to make 
the lances...

178
00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:40,066
and for them this is a 
traditional house,

179
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,000
this is the traditional 
way of hunting...

180
00:10:42,133 --> 00:10:43,900
and its worked perfectly 
well for them.

181
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,033
For the Huaorani, the 
only way to bring 
supplies in or...

182
00:10:53,166 --> 00:10:55,533
to take supplies out, 
other than what they 
make themselves...

183
00:10:55,666 --> 00:10:58,900
is by air.

184
00:10:59,033 --> 00:11:03,033
In the Amazon, the 
traditional form of 
transportation

185
00:11:03,166 --> 00:11:04,600
is the dugout canoe.

186
00:11:04,733 --> 00:11:07,666
This is made out of one 
single trunk of a tree.

187
00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,733
An immense amount of 
labor goes into 
making it.

188
00:11:10,866 --> 00:11:13,700
And they are not easy 
to maneuver...

189
00:11:13,833 --> 00:11:18,100
so, it takes expertise 
that these guys have.

190
00:11:18,233 --> 00:11:20,233
This is an ecotourism 
venture that is...

191
00:11:20,366 --> 00:11:22,400
developed with the 
Huaorani people...

192
00:11:22,533 --> 00:11:24,500
for the Huaorani people 
...

193
00:11:24,633 --> 00:11:27,866
helping them spread the 
message of conservation 
...

194
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:29,266
that they have in 
their hearts...

195
00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,700
and in their minds 
in front of what's 
going on...

196
00:11:31,833 --> 00:11:33,800
in the Amazon Rain 
Forest of Ecuador...

197
00:11:36,966 --> 00:11:39,900
The Huaorani lands 
are in the foothills 
of the Andes...

198
00:11:40,033 --> 00:11:42,400
which means that 
there are periodic 
waterfalls...

199
00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:43,733
some of them huge.

200
00:11:43,866 --> 00:11:46,400
The water in the river 
for many months 
of the year...

201
00:11:46,533 --> 00:11:49,766
is silky and brown 
so if you want 
fresh water...

202
00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:51,300
you may have 
to hike a way...

203
00:11:51,433 --> 00:11:53,500
But this is a very 
popular place...

204
00:11:53,633 --> 00:11:57,866
not only with tourists 
but with the Huaoranis 
for centuries.

205
00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:08,033
♪

206
00:12:12,066 --> 00:12:17,266
From Huantaro it's a 
four-hour trek to the 
next community.

207
00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,333
Hardly are we into 
the forest when...

208
00:12:20,466 --> 00:12:23,866
Moipoi points out 
new signs of 
oil prospecting...

209
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,733
camps, swaths 
through the jungle...

210
00:12:26,866 --> 00:12:31,800
frequent helicopter 
flights and 
motorized boats...

211
00:12:31,933 --> 00:12:35,000
Sadly, we have 
new neighbors.

212
00:12:35,133 --> 00:12:40,100
Right, the government 
granted permits 
for a Chinese company...

213
00:12:40,233 --> 00:12:43,433
to come and carry 
seismic work...

214
00:12:43,566 --> 00:12:49,300
pursuing for oil 
in the territory 
where we work.

215
00:12:49,433 --> 00:12:52,066
Moipoi tells me that 
when I see these...

216
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,933
blue ribbons that's 
a mark of oil explorers.

217
00:12:57,066 --> 00:12:58,433
(Spanish)

218
00:12:58,566 --> 00:13:02,566
Every day they fly 
into the seismic lines.

219
00:13:02,700 --> 00:13:04,400
It's just 
starting now...

220
00:13:04,533 --> 00:13:07,400
but the animals are 
already fleeing.

221
00:13:07,533 --> 00:13:09,766
Families are at a 
war over money.

222
00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:13,833
Others are selling 
themselves for money, 
benefits.

223
00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,333
We had a good life 
before all of this.

224
00:13:17,466 --> 00:13:21,866
But now a lady died 
fighting over money.

225
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,233
The ecotourism project 
is different.

226
00:13:25,366 --> 00:13:27,133
It's peaceful work.

227
00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:42,066
(Spanish)

228
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,300
So, this is the plant 
from which he 
makes the darts.

229
00:13:45,433 --> 00:13:51,266
Sanded with a special 
tool made out of the 
piranha's jaws...

230
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,266
then apply the 
curare, the toxin...

231
00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,066
the paralyzing toxin 
to the tip and there 
you have a dart to blow.

232
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,566
They call it an arrow; 
we call it a dart.

233
00:14:02,333 --> 00:14:03,633
(Spanish)

234
00:14:04,066 --> 00:14:07,966
We only fish with hooks 
for what we need and 
the sharpest are darts...

235
00:14:08,100 --> 00:14:10,666
We live free here, 
peacefully.

236
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,066
That's the way 
of the Wao culture.

237
00:14:20,133 --> 00:14:22,500
(Spanish)

238
00:14:22,633 --> 00:14:28,200
So, nothing is growing 
under here because the 
tree gives off chemicals.

239
00:14:28,333 --> 00:14:30,666
And it has different 
species of ants growing 
on it.

240
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:31,666
Ah, there we go.

241
00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:33,900
And I taste them...

242
00:14:34,033 --> 00:14:36,566
and they do taste 
just like lemon...

243
00:14:36,700 --> 00:14:39,400
a very strong 
lemony flavor.

244
00:14:39,533 --> 00:14:42,466
And this much bigger ant 
that also lives on 
the tree...

245
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,266
has formidable jaws 
and if it clamps 
on to bite you...

246
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:47,566
it won't let go.

247
00:14:47,833 --> 00:14:49,666
So, the people who live 
in the forest 
have discovered...

248
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,966
that if they get a cut, 
they can take the ant...

249
00:14:53,100 --> 00:14:54,733
make the jaws close 
the cut...

250
00:14:54,866 --> 00:14:56,900
then cut off the rest of 
the body and leave it...

251
00:14:57,033 --> 00:14:59,400
and it acts as a suture.

252
00:15:00,233 --> 00:15:02,066
(Spanish)

253
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,900
They will drill wells 
and then put explosions 
in the earth.

254
00:15:06,033 --> 00:15:07,833
All the fish will die.

255
00:15:07,966 --> 00:15:12,900
They are prospecting 
too close to the river.

256
00:15:16,633 --> 00:15:18,800
(Spanish)

257
00:15:18,933 --> 00:15:20,633
My name is Fabiano.

258
00:15:20,766 --> 00:15:22,600
My house is over there.

259
00:15:22,733 --> 00:15:24,900
I support the 
ecotourism.

260
00:15:25,033 --> 00:15:28,733
The oil company is 
doing bad things.

261
00:15:31,733 --> 00:15:33,066
(Spanish)

262
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,933
Extracting oil, 
bringing lots of money,

263
00:15:36,066 --> 00:15:39,033
business, 
all of it is going 
to another country.

264
00:15:39,166 --> 00:15:41,500
We do not want to 
live in a big house.

265
00:15:41,633 --> 00:15:45,000
We want wild areas 
like the Wao lands.

266
00:15:45,133 --> 00:15:48,433
We want to live in 
peace and quiet.

267
00:15:48,566 --> 00:15:50,400
They're harming 
all of us.

268
00:15:50,533 --> 00:15:54,133
It is a shame. 
Lying government.

269
00:15:54,266 --> 00:15:58,566
Right here, they should 
respect our place 
and our rights.

270
00:15:58,700 --> 00:16:00,766
Our land is being 
attacked.

271
00:16:00,900 --> 00:16:03,633
Better not to extract 
oil at all.

272
00:16:05,100 --> 00:16:08,000
(Spanish)

273
00:16:08,133 --> 00:16:11,433
Oil companies will be 
here for eight months...

274
00:16:11,566 --> 00:16:12,533
then they leave.

275
00:16:12,666 --> 00:16:13,533
Good-bye.

276
00:16:13,666 --> 00:16:16,600
They will leave us 
without anything.

277
00:16:16,733 --> 00:16:18,266
Nothing.

278
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,933
So, I say: no more.

279
00:16:21,066 --> 00:16:22,700
This is all Wao.

280
00:16:23,666 --> 00:16:25,733
Where will the Wao live?

281
00:16:25,866 --> 00:16:27,733
Wao culture is dying.

282
00:16:28,633 --> 00:16:33,533
There is another place 
up there where 
Petroamazonas moved in.

283
00:16:33,666 --> 00:16:36,066
They don't live 
like Wao people.

284
00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,433
They have guns, drink 
a lot, fight a lot.

285
00:16:45,933 --> 00:16:48,166
Part of this eco system 
like, and imagine 
what it is now...

286
00:16:48,300 --> 00:16:51,200
to have 300 people 
comingfrom the city...

287
00:16:51,333 --> 00:16:55,000
and opening trails, 
destroying their forest, 
building campsites.

288
00:16:55,133 --> 00:16:58,200
But most of people, 
they don't really know 
what's going on.

289
00:16:58,333 --> 00:17:03,266
And they are just 
suddenly meeting all of 
these movement...

290
00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,966
in the river, all of 
this money that is 
coming into their lives

291
00:17:07,100 --> 00:17:08,433
and into their 
communities.

292
00:17:08,566 --> 00:17:11,866
So, I would say 
confusionis a good word 
for it.

293
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,066
Talking about the 
ribbons we are basically 
seeing dozens...

294
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,166
hundreds, thousands of 
trails and being opened...

295
00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:23,866
along all of this 
beautiful territory and 
being marked for what...

296
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,200
will be seismic 
development.

297
00:17:26,333 --> 00:17:29,133
Which are basically 
lots of different 
holes and explosions

298
00:17:29,266 --> 00:17:32,133
and these companies 
are gonna scan 
the earth...

299
00:17:32,266 --> 00:17:36,133
and see if there is oil 
under this beautiful 
land.

300
00:17:36,266 --> 00:17:39,966
This is a small, 
poor country that 
depends a lot on oil.

301
00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:45,033
Our national budget 
depends tremendously 
on the oil development...

302
00:17:45,166 --> 00:17:46,700
in the Amazon 
rainforest.

303
00:17:46,833 --> 00:17:51,866
My perspective is that 
you should balance the 
opportunities...

304
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:53,266
for development, right?

305
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,200
There is constructive 
development that we 
respect...

306
00:17:56,333 --> 00:17:58,066
and we understand 
it that we need.

307
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,400
But there is also other 
type of developments...

308
00:18:00,533 --> 00:18:01,600
like this one, 
like ecotourism...

309
00:18:01,733 --> 00:18:03,000
like sustainable 
development...

310
00:18:03,133 --> 00:18:06,600
that would keep this 
culture alive 
which would be...

311
00:18:06,733 --> 00:18:09,866
it should be a global 
crime to for cultures 
like the Huaorani...

312
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,133
to be over or 
to be gone.

313
00:18:13,266 --> 00:18:17,233
But this ecotourism 
venture is protecting 
50,000 hectares...

314
00:18:17,366 --> 00:18:21,200
of primary rainforest 
that belongs to five 
indigenous communities...

315
00:18:21,333 --> 00:18:26,633
of the Huaorani people 
who are 400 people who 
were living on tourism.

316
00:18:26,766 --> 00:18:29,766
and getting 
the income that 
they need.

317
00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:32,433
You know, they don't, 
they didn't need much 
more than that.

318
00:18:32,566 --> 00:18:35,666
But basically, there was 
this avalanche of cash...

319
00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:40,066
now going in because 
of the, this rights that 
the oil companies...

320
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,933
got to come in here.

321
00:18:42,066 --> 00:18:44,200
The Amazon Region 
belonged to settlers...

322
00:18:44,333 --> 00:18:46,666
and to indigenous groups 
like the Huoaroni...

323
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,000
We have dozens of 
different nations.

324
00:18:49,133 --> 00:18:54,400
Ecuador is a country 
that recognizes these 
nations as they are...

325
00:18:54,533 --> 00:18:57,600
And they have the 
ancestral territories...

326
00:18:57,733 --> 00:19:02,233
the land that where these 
people's grandparents 
were living on.

327
00:19:02,366 --> 00:19:05,400
The Huaorani were 
supposedly 
a millennium culture.

328
00:19:05,533 --> 00:19:07,433
They have the rights 
of the use of land...

329
00:19:07,566 --> 00:19:09,366
but the land is not 
theirs. It belongs 
to the state

330
00:19:14,266 --> 00:19:24,233
♪

331
00:19:25,366 --> 00:19:29,400
It's early morning 
on the Shirapuno River 
after a big rain...

332
00:19:29,533 --> 00:19:35,800
last night and 
the fog makes it hard 
to see birds.

333
00:19:35,933 --> 00:19:37,966
But that doesn't 
muffle the sound

334
00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:41,533
It's almost as good 
hearing them as seeing█ 
them.

335
00:19:41,666 --> 00:19:50,166
(sounds of crickets)

336
00:19:50,300 --> 00:19:55,633
The Huaoranis most 
significant Eco project 
is the Huaorani Lodge.

337
00:19:55,766 --> 00:19:59,133
Jasci teamed with 
community members 
to build it...

338
00:19:59,266 --> 00:20:03,866
and it is a place 
of places.

339
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,466
I've never sat on a 
bench park from a 
dugout canoe.

340
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,466
So thank you,that i 
s a new one for me.

341
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,266
Well, it's all about 
recycling, right?

342
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:12,433
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

343
00:20:12,766 --> 00:20:14,566
The structure as you 
saw it is a beautiful 
place...

344
00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:17,833
five little cabins, 
you know it's very 
intimate property...

345
00:20:17,966 --> 00:20:19,333
and experience.

346
00:20:19,466 --> 00:20:23,133
But the intention is 
to just create an 
ambiance for people...

347
00:20:23,266 --> 00:20:26,266
to explore like to 
go out and learn 
about these...

348
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,333
conservation areas that 
the communities have 
developed.

349
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,400
Dombai has demonstrated 
a spear...

350
00:20:38,533 --> 00:20:41,833
which is particularly 
adapted for hunting 
a tapir...

351
00:20:41,966 --> 00:20:44,533
which can be very big, 
four or five hundred 
pounds.

352
00:20:44,666 --> 00:20:46,600
It's carved, 
believe it or not...

353
00:20:46,733 --> 00:20:51,333
from a palm and it has 
these barbs on it that 
keep the animal...

354
00:20:51,466 --> 00:20:52,433
from escaping.

355
00:20:53,166 --> 00:21:00,266
Which you can see from 
that sound how rigid 
and strong the wood is.

356
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:10,566
With this you can kill 
large animal deer, taínos, 
tapirs...

357
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:14,133
and even jaguars when 
they threaten us

358
00:21:21,333 --> 00:21:27,133
So, my name is a very 
large powerful ant.

359
00:21:27,266 --> 00:21:28,833
Probably the bullet ant.

360
00:21:28,966 --> 00:21:31,500
it's a huge ant that 
lives in nests up in 
the trees...

361
00:21:31,633 --> 00:21:35,800
and inflicts a ferocious 
bite as it protects 
the tree.

362
00:21:35,933 --> 00:21:37,933
I think that's 
appropriate.

363
00:21:38,066 --> 00:21:40,600
♪

364
00:21:40,733 --> 00:21:43,533
In Ecuador, we have very 
few uncontacted tribes

365
00:21:43,666 --> 00:21:44,600
compared to other countries.

366
00:21:45,066 --> 00:21:48,666
So we have emblematic 
ones, the ?? 
which are Huaroni.

367
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,933
that decided to 
separate as well 
as the Taromenane

368
00:21:54,066 --> 00:21:56,833
which are not Huaroni. 
This is a different 
tribe.

369
00:21:56,966 --> 00:21:58,966
And they all live 
together down 
river inside...

370
00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:01,366
the Yasuni National 
Park.

371
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:06,733
Where several years 
ago the zone called 
the Intangible Zone

372
00:22:06,866 --> 00:22:10,366
was created with the 
idea to protect these 
two uncontacted tribes.

373
00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:14,100
And ideally an 
intangible zone will be 
in place where...

374
00:22:14,233 --> 00:22:15,200
nobody will go.

375
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,500
No one except the 
people who live there 
themselves.

376
00:22:17,633 --> 00:22:18,800
Exactly.

377
00:22:19,233 --> 00:22:23,566
In practical terms, 
in Ecuador at least, 
an intangible zone...

378
00:22:23,700 --> 00:22:27,066
means that they have 
the Huaroni who believe 
that they own that land.

379
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,933
You have a national 
park that is handled 
by...

380
00:22:30,066 --> 00:22:31,633
the environmental 
authority.

381
00:22:31,766 --> 00:22:36,366
And you have an oil 
block that who allows 
for oil companies...

382
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:40,200
to do extraction and 
exploitation of oil.

383
00:22:40,333 --> 00:22:41,966
(Spanish)

384
00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:45,700
Unfortunately, the 
long-term history of 
the Ecuadoran Amazon...

385
00:22:45,833 --> 00:22:50,600
has been a series 
of conflicts caused 
by oil companies...

386
00:22:50,733 --> 00:22:54,800
disrupting the lives 
of indigenous villages 
and people.

387
00:22:54,933 --> 00:22:59,866
Environmental damages 
always create cultural 
problems

388
00:23:00,066 --> 00:23:04,733
that affect how the 
native peoples organize 
their way of life.

389
00:23:04,866 --> 00:23:10,433
Oil exploration brings 
with it a host of 
disruptive activity.

390
00:23:13,366 --> 00:23:17,600
It is hard to say who 
is the winner or loser 
in the longrun.

391
00:23:17,733 --> 00:23:22,966
When these kinds of 
conflicts appear, 
someone has already lost.

392
00:23:23,100 --> 00:23:28,000
And here, especially, 
communities suffering 
environmental intrusion...

393
00:23:28,133 --> 00:23:32,300
always lose because 
they break down the 
mechanisms...

394
00:23:32,433 --> 00:23:33,833
that organize 
their culture.

395
00:23:33,966 --> 00:23:36,900
From that point on, 
they can only regroup 
based on...

396
00:23:37,033 --> 00:23:39,366
whatever rights remain

397
00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:43,400
and to establish 
minimum agreements 
that they can only...

398
00:23:43,533 --> 00:23:45,700
hope will create 
the possibility

399
00:23:45,833 --> 00:23:50,033
that this conflict can 
be transformed and 
changed for the better.

400
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,366
Most Ecuadorians don't 
realize that their 
countryis basically...

401
00:23:55,500 --> 00:24:00,466
an Amazon country 
because most of it lies 
in the Amazon basin.

402
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,466
It is cloud forest and 
rainforest and an 
immense international...

403
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,166
planetary resource.

404
00:24:07,300 --> 00:24:10,700
In recent years, the 
integrity of that 
vast forest...

405
00:24:10,833 --> 00:24:12,900
has been compromised...

406
00:24:13,033 --> 00:24:17,066
by the discovery of oil 
and the development that 
goes along with oil.

407
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,633
And the cultures of 
the people of eastern 
Ecuador are constantly...

408
00:24:21,766 --> 00:24:24,333
threatened every day.

409
00:24:24,466 --> 00:24:30,766
♪ 
(native singing)

410
00:24:50,966 --> 00:24:53,933
Join me next time in the 
americas, 
with me David Yetman.

411
00:24:56,133 --> 00:25:00,533
In 1325 AD, Aztecs founded 
a city in a lake

412
00:25:00,666 --> 00:25:03,233
in a high basin in central 
Mexico

413
00:25:03,366 --> 00:25:05,400
They called it Tenochtitlán.

414
00:25:05,533 --> 00:25:10,533
Almost 2 centuries later, 
Spanish conquered the city.

415
00:25:10,666 --> 00:25:13,200
And over the centuries, changed 
to La Ciudad de México, Mexico .

416
00:25:13,333 --> 00:25:18,300
That metropolis is now one 
of the world█s great cities.

417
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,100
So the houses are 
pretty easily made.

418
00:25:25,233 --> 00:25:27,833
They have a native 
bamboo that grows 
very quickly.

419
00:25:27,966 --> 00:25:32,366
In one day, people 
can make several of 
these.

420
00:25:32,500 --> 00:25:33,866
They know how to 
put them together.

421
00:25:34,166 --> 00:25:37,466
And they shield water, 
and they get a couple 
hundred inches of rain...

422
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,300
a year. So it has to 
be leak proof.

423
00:25:53,900 --> 00:25:56,800
Funding for In the 
Americas with David Yetman

424
00:25:56,933 --> 00:25:59,600
was provided by 
Agnese Haury

425
00:26:05,633 --> 00:26:08,433
Funding for In the Americas 
with David Yetman

426
00:26:08,566 --> 00:26:11,866
was also provided by 
the Guilford Fund.

427
00:26:20,866 --> 00:26:24,500
Copies of this and 
other episodes

428
00:26:24,633 --> 00:26:27,466
of In the Americas 
with David Yetman

429
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,833
are available from 
the Southwest Center

430
00:26:29,966 --> 00:26:32,200
to order call 
1-800-937-8632

431
00:26:32,333 --> 00:26:35,866
Please mention the episode 
number and program title

432
00:26:36,700 --> 00:26:39,800
Please be sure to 
visit us at intheamericas.com

433
00:26:39,933 --> 00:26:43,000
or at intheamericas.org