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The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an
Indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
from the Amazonian Region of
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
( Napo, Orellana, and
Pastaza Province Pastaza () is a province in the Oriente of Ecuador located in the eastern jungle. The capital is Puyo, founded on May 12, 1899 and which has 36,700 inhabitants. The city is now accessible by paved roads, a recent development; the main road from ...
s) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
used by the neighboring
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...
natives, and commonly adopted by Spanish-speakers as well. ''Auca'' (' in
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...
) means "savage". They comprise almost 4,000 inhabitants and speak the
Huaorani language The Waorani (Huaorani) language, commonly known as Sabela (also ''Wao, Huao, Auishiri, Aushiri, Ssabela'' ; autonym: Wao Terero; pejorative: ''Auka, Auca'') is a vulnerable language isolate spoken by the Huaorani people, an indigenous group li ...
, a linguistic
isolate Isolate may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film * ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007 * ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992 Language * Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...
that is not known to be related to any other language. Their ancestral lands are located between the Curaray and Napo rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) south of
El Coca Puerto Francisco de Orellana (), also known as El Coca (), is the capital of province of Orellana in eastern Ecuador. The city is located in the Amazon Rainforest at the confluence of the Coca River and the Napo River (the smaller Payamino R ...
. These homelands—approximately 120 miles (190 km) wide and 75 to 100 miles (120 to 160 km) from north to south—are threatened by
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
exploration and
illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...
practices. In the past, Huaorani were able to protect their culture and lands from both
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
enemies and settlers. In the last 40 years, they have shifted from a hunting and gathering society to living mostly in permanent forest settlements. As many as five communities—the
Tagaeri The Tagaeri are an eastern Huaorani people living in Yasuni National Park, in the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin, named (in Wao-Terero, the Huaorani language) after one of their members, Tagae. Nearby Kichwa communities sometimes refer to them as Awashiri ...
, the
Huiñatare The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...
, the
Oñamenane The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...
, and two groups of the
Taromenane The Taromenane are an uncontacted people living in Yasuni National Park, at the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin. Together with the Tagaeri they make up the two last known indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation in Ecuador. The clan is believed to ...
—have rejected all contact with the outside world and continue to move into more isolated areas.


Etymology

The word ' (plural of ' "person") means "humans" or "men" in '. Before the mid 20th century, it included only those kin associated with the speaker. Others in the ethnic group were called ''Waodoni'', while outsiders were and are known by the derogatory term '. This structure duplicates the in-group/out-group naming conventions used by many peoples. It reflects a period of traumatic conflict with outsiders during the 19th and early 20th century
rubber boom The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and comm ...
/
oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...
. The name ' (or the alternative English spelling ''Waorani'') represents a transliteration by English-speaking
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. The phonetic equivalent used by Spanish-speakers is ' (reflecting the absence of ''w'' in Spanish spelling). The sounds represented by the English and Spanish letters ''d'', ''r'' and ''n'' are
allophones In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
in '. retrieved 8/21/19


Tribal subgroups

The Waorani are subdivided into the Toñampare, Quenahueno, Tihueno, Quihuaro, Damuintaro, Zapino, Tigüino, Huamuno, Dayuno, Quehueruno, Garzacocha (río Yasuní), Quemperi (río Cononaco) Mima, Caruhue (río Cononaco) and
Tagaeri The Tagaeri are an eastern Huaorani people living in Yasuni National Park, in the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin, named (in Wao-Terero, the Huaorani language) after one of their members, Tagae. Nearby Kichwa communities sometimes refer to them as Awashiri ...
.


First encounter, as told by Scott Wallace

According to journalist Scott Wallace, American missionaries in Ecuador attempted to contact the Huaorani in the 1950s with airdropped gifts. However, the photographs included in the package baffled the Huaorani (since they had never seen photographs before), and they believed the images were evil magical creations. When some Huaorani tribesmen found some missionaries who had landed a plane on a riverbank, the tribesmen killed the Westerners with spears.


Culture


Worldview

In traditional
animist Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
Waodani worldview, there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds, and spirits are present throughout the world. The Waodani once believed that the entire world was a forest (and used the same word, ', for both). The Oriente's rain forest remains the essential basis of their physical and cultural survival. For them, the forest is home, while the outside world is considered unsafe. In short, as one Waodani put it, "The rivers and trees are our life." In all its specificities, the forest is woven into each Waodani life and conceptions of the world. They have remarkably detailed knowledge of its geography and ecology. Hunting supplies a major part of the Waodani
diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
and is of cultural significance. Before a hunting or fishing party ensues, the community
shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
will often pray for a day to ensure its success. Traditionally the creatures hunted were limited to
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s, birds, and wild
peccaries A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...
. Neither land-based predators nor birds of prey are hunted. Traditionally there was an extensive collection of hunting and eating taboos. They refused to eat
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
, on the grounds that deer eyes look similar to human eyes. While a joyful activity, hunting (even permitted animals) has ethical ramifications: "The Guarani aodanimust kill animals to live, but they believed dead animal spirits live on and must be placated or else do harm in angry retribution." To counterbalance the offense of hunting, a
shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
demonstrated respect through the ritual preparation of the poison, ''
curare Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...
'', used in blow darts. Hunting with such darts is not considered killing, but retrieving, essentially a kind of harvesting from the trees. Plants, especially trees, continue to hold an important interest for the Waodani. Their store of
botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
knowledge is extensive, ranging from knowledge of materials to
poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
s to
hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...
s to medicines. They also relate plants to their own experiences, particularly that of growing. Among trees, certain kinds are auspicious. Canopy trees, with their distinctly colored young leaves and striking transformation as they mature to towering giants, are "admired for their solitary character... as well as for their profuse entanglement" with other plants. Other significant trees are the pioneer species of the
peach palm ''Bactris gasipaes'' is a species of palm native to the tropical forests of Central and South America. It is well spread in these regions, where it is often cultivated by smallholders in agroforestry systems or more rarely, in monoculture. Commo ...
(used for making spears and blowguns, as well as for fruit), and fast-growing
balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...
wood, used for ceremonial purposes. Peach palm trees are associated with past settlements and the ancestors who live there. Shamanic ethnomedicine uses the
ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...
beverage and a newly identified mushroom ( ''Dictyonema huaorani'') with the analogous substance of
Psilocybe ''Psilocybe'' ( ) is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Most or nearly all species contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Taxonomy Taxonomic history A 2002 study of the mole ...
genus.. As with many peoples, the Waos maintain a strong in-group/out-group distinction, between ' (people who are
kin __NOTOC__ Kin usually refers to kinship and family. Kin or KIN may also refer to: Culture and religion *Otherkin, people who identify as not entirely human *Kinism, a white supremacist religious movement * Kinh, the majority ethnic group of V ...
), ' (others in their culture who are unrelated) and '. The use of Waodani as a term for their entire culture emerged in the last fifty years in a process of
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...
. This was accelerated by the creation of ONHAE, a radio service, and a soccer league. The Waodani notion of time is particularly oriented to the present, with few obligations extending backwards or forwards in time. Their one word for future times, ', also means "tomorrow".


Weapons

Spears are amongst the hunting tools of the Waodani culture and therefore available in person to person conflict. Their main hunting weapon is the
blowgun A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created by ...
. These weapons are typically from 3 to 4 meters long. The arrows used are dipped in
curare Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...
poison, which paralyzes the muscles of the animal with which it is hit, so that it cannot breathe. Kapok fluff is used to create an air-tight seal, by twisting the fibers around the end of the dart or arrow. With the introduction of Western technology in the 20th century, many Waodani now use rifles for hunting.


Land rights

In 1990, the Waorani won the rights to the Waorani Ethnic Reserve . The protected status of
Yasuní National Park Yasuni National Park () is in Ecuador with an area of 9,823 km2 between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Napo, Pastaza, and Orellana Provinces in Amazonian Ecuador. The national park lies within the Napo moist forests ecoregion and i ...
, which overlaps with the Waorani reserve, provides some measure of environmental protection.


See also

* ''
Beyond the Gates of Splendor ''Beyond the Gates of Splendor'' (also ''Beyond the Gates'') is a documentary film that was released in 2004. It chronicles the events leading up to and following Operation Auca, an attempt to contact the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador in which five Ame ...
'', 2005 documentary. * List of Huaorani people * Operation Auca * Steve Saint


References


Literature

* * Man, John (1982). ''Jungle Nomads of Ecuador: The Waorani. ''Time-Life Books. ISBN 7054 07047 * . * . * . * . * Lawrence Ziegler-Otero ( 2094), ''Resistance in an Amazonian Community; Huaorani Organizing against the Global Economy''. Berghahn Books, New York,


External links

* . A film about the missionaries who were killed by the Waodani.
Acclaimed documentary about the Huaorani community near Yasuni.
{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Ecuador Uncontacted peoples