The ancient inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest.

The ancient inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest. Gareno is a town where people from the Huaorani culture live. Millennial population that has survived for hundreds of years in the deep Amazon jungle of the Ecuador.

Related Posts:

Descubre las Maravillas de Ecuador.

El Mejor Momento para Tu Aventura en Ecuador.

Talk to a destination expert!

Talk to our destination experts who have designed our itineraries!

The Huaorani of Ecuador

This culture has survived despite the displacement suffered by parts of other cultures, internal disputes that divided the community into various clans.

The rubber tappers killed and enslaved the Huao, recently the invasion by oil companies, which invade their hunting and fishing territories, to profit through the destruction of natural resources.

It is known that the first contacts with modern civilization occurred around the 17th century, approximately in 1658, by Jesuit priests.

At that time they were just beginning to arrive in these territories, however, it is not known for sure whether they actually had contact with this culture or with another, since the details are scarce to say the least.

In several chronicles and documents this culture is described with various names Aucas, Aushiris, Shiripunos, Tiahuacunos, Cononacos; It can be deduced – from the geographical location in which they were described – that it is indeed the Huaorani culture.

Its territory is traditionally delimited to the north by the Napo River, to the south by the Curaray River, to the east by the dividing line of the 76° meridian and to the west by the Arajuno River, and the foothills of the Andes mountain range.

The Spanish Conquistadors and the Amazon

The thick and deep jungle, to which the Spanish first arrived in 1542, is an ecosystem that has existed for more than 100 million years. It is an environment with particular characteristics, a lot of water, sun, humidity and above all gigantism.

When Francisco Pizarro crossed through this ecosystem, motivated by the greed of finding the country of cinnamon and gold, he should never have imagined the inhospitable conditions that were going to be presented to him and his expedition companions.

In their 16th century European mentality they still preserved the ancient myths and legends of that old continent.

Origin of the Name of the Amazon River

When they saw these jungle warriors, without clothing, with spears and wearing long hair, their minds immediately associated these people with the myth of the Amazon warriors. Strong and brave women who, due to combat reasons, supposedly did not have breasts.

For this reason and when they reached the longest and mightiest river in these lands, they decided to name it “of the Amazons” – term that means without breasts. – later this entire region was known by this name.

Ultimately, the Spanish confused the jungle warriors with the mythical Amazon women.

Find the best offers for accommodation:

Huaoranis and the Ecuadorian Amazon

The ancient inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest, the same members of this culture, call themselves Huaorani. Huao means person and Huaorani a group of people; grouped in clans or families. Their traditions and customs are very different from ours.

They conceive the world differently. They live day to day surviving, hunting, fishing and collecting fruits in the deep Amazon jungle, without taking more resources than they need.

As in any human group, there are internal discussions that were resolved by killing the head of the family who had committed an offense, including his wife and children, so that no descendants would remain.

Thus, there were internal divisions, leaving the Huaorani groups that we know today, settled near and within the Parque Nacional Yasuní.

Also several groups that decided not to have contact with civilization, and went further into the jungle, the Tagaeri y los Taromenane whose location is not known.

The Huaorani in the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, contacts with these people occurred again, this time by evangelical missionaries from the United States, with a tragic outcome for the foreigners.

Throughout the 50s and 70s there were several cases of attacks and murders by the Huaorani.

At the time they were considered very dangerous and bloodthirsty warriors; On the other hand, we must understand the motivation of this group of people who are ancient inhabitants of the jungle.

They are simply defending their families, their territories, their way of life and subsistence. They were forced to defend themselves with violence, protecting themselves from foreign invaders to their community.

In the words of Jesuit priest Juan Santos Ortiz in his book Los Ultimos Huaorani from 1980 written:

The Huaorani people are a cry for freedom, courage and valor throughout the centuries. It is a palpable reality of survival in the most hostile environments. In the jungle that has preserved the vigor of the race, its old legend transmitted orally, its knowledge of the environment, its respect for the laws that govern the communities, the value of men and the sweetness of women. The Huaorani has maintained the concept of community value, the free and conscious education of children, respect for the rights of others, the heat of fire and total nudity – physical and mental – of all psychological trauma.

Juán Santos Ortíz. Los últimos Huaorani. 1980

The anthropological or social issue, if you will, is knowing that we cannot force the Huaorani to leave their territories and live in a “civilized” way, but we cannot leave them in total abandonment either.

We cannot condemn them to oblivion and complete extinction, they must be the ones who decide the fate of their community. The ancient inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest.

Anyway, before this pandemic, the Huao were dabbling in community tourism. Professional and specialized guides carried out visits. Firstly to learn about its culture and also for bird watching.

Would you like to visit this community? Don't forget to leave us your opinions in the comments.

Make your travel dreams come true!

Fill out the form and find out how we can take your adventures to the next level. We can't wait to talk to you and help you plan a unique experience that you will remember forever.