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