Waorani indians of the Amazon in Ecuador (Nomadic Stone-Age lifestyle) - Nomads of the Rainforest

• published: 11 May 2015
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The Waorani, once considered the most violent of the tribes inhabiting the Amazon rain forest, now live a nomadic Stone-Age lifestyle marked by peaceful cooperation and sharing. This look at one small Waorani village shows how they make their tools, keep their customs, hunt, raise their children, and how they interact with each other and with the jungle that is their home. The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador (Napo, Orellana and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by Spanish-speakers as well. Auca -- awqa in Quechua -- means "savage". They comprise almost 4,000 inhabitants and speak the Huaorani language, a linguistic isolate that is not known to be related to any other language. In the last 40 years, they have shifted from a hunting and gathering society to live mostly in permanent forest settlements. As many as five communities -- the Tagaeri, the Huiñatare, the Oñamenane, and two groups of the Taromenane -- have rejected all contact with the outside world and continue to move into more isolated areas. For them, the forest is home, while the outside world is considered unsafe: living in the forest offered protection from being attacked and enslaved by Spanish Conquistadors, cultural deprivation from Jesuit and Franciscan Missionaries and Inquisition tribunals. Today the Waodani struggle to maintain their cultural beliefs and presently, Waodani Shamans are working as hard as they can to preserve their spiritual and cultural beliefs and their story has been recorded in the book Waodani Shamans of the Forest by Bradford Keeney Phd. 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. The Waodani believe that all life exists spiritually and physically and do not observe a separation between these states of being. To the Waodani as many other cultures the directions North, South, East and West are sacred. They believe that a person who dies walks a trail to the afterlife from the West to the East, which has a large anaconda snake lying in wait. Those who have not led a good life will not escape the snake and not be able to travel east, instead they will journey to the West and return to Earth to become animals, often termites. This underlies a mix of practices that recognize and respect animals, but does not shield them from harm for human use. Hunting supplies a major part of the Waodani diet and is of cultural significance. Before a hunting or fishing party ensues the community Shaman will often pray for a day to ensure its success. Traditionally, the creatures hunted were limited to monkeys, birds, and wild peccaries. 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, on the grounds that deer eyes look similar to human eyes. While a joyful activity, hunting (even permitted animals) has ethical ramifications: "The Guarani [Waodani] must 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 demonstrated respect through the ritual preparation of the poison, curare, used in blow darts. Hunting with such darts is not considered killing, but retrieving, essentially a kind of harvesting from the trees . While never hunted, two other animals, the snake and the jaguar, have special significance for the Waodani. Snakes are considered "the most evil force in the Guarani [Waodani] cosmology", particularly the imposing (though nonvenemous) anaconda, or obe. A giant obe stands in the way of the forest trail that the dead follow to an afterlife with the creator in the sky. Here on earth, snakes are a bad omen, and traditionally killing them is considered taboo. Their Shamans identify with Jaguars spiritually. A Waodani may become a shaman at any age but must be chosen. In the Waodani belief system, jaguar shamans are able "to become as or enact as a jaguar, at this time they can telepathically travel through time and distance to communicate with other Guarani [Waodani] and shaman anywhere." Plants, especially trees, continue to hold an important interest for the Waodani. Their store of botanical knowledge is extensive, ranging from knowledge of materials to poisons to hallucinogens to medicines.