Oil and defensor
(Left)
Burning of gas to process the oil extracted in the Province of Sucumbió.
Dureno, Sucumbio Province, Ecuador. July 18, 2017.
In 1964, the oil company Texaco (now Chevron) arrives in Ecuador with a concession for 1.5 million hectares in the Amazon jungle, in the province of Sucumbio and Orellana. Between 1972 and 1992, the company extracted 1.5 million oil barrels while 19 billion of waste barrels were intentionally spoiled in the region, mainly in rivers. According to environmental associations, this has been the worst oil disaster in the world. The company argued that in the area where they worked there was no human presence, disqualifying the presence of the indigenous people in the area.
(right)
Doña Rosa and her husband founded the Tsumtsuim Community 50 years ago. They also had to hide in the jungle when the military attacked.
Shuar Community of Tsumtsuim, Morona-Santiago Province, Ecuador. July 3 2017.
Intro text of the serie:
PIATSAW*: A diary on the Resistance of the Native Peoples of Ecuadorian Amazon.
The project tells about the different ways of Resistance of the indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Amazon who are threatened by the ongoing concessions for foreign companies for extraction activities. The extractive activities would not only destroy the jungle, they would also deprive the natives of their lands as well as their identities and traditions. The Shuar and Achuar territories are rich in copper and gold; more in the north, in the province of Pastaza y Orellana where Sáparas and Kichwas live, the threat comes from the extraction of oil. The concept of territorial identity and control of the lands, the conservation of the ethnic identity and its traditions, the War of 95 that divided them between Ecuadorians and Peruvians, the victory of the Sarayaku against the government, the attack on Nankinz and the following eviction of Tsumtsuim, are the central themes that compose this diary on the resistance of what is left of the Amazon peoples in Ecuador.
*Piatsaw: the first man in the Sápara mythologie who prophesied the end of his people’s culture.
NICOLA ÓKIN FRIOLI, Mexico, CDMX
