Ancestral Beliefs & the Fight for their Survival

For many, many years our ancestors had their own way of life, their beliefs, and their customs. Our grandparents have told us that in the old days our people lived in remote places isolated from civilization. They fundamentally shared the same customs and traditions, and were nomadic in nature. They established temporary shaded structures where they lived next to storehouses. On certain occasions they looked for more remote places to build their new dwellings. They made clothes completely comprised of leaves and animal skins, called “lizo, cushma, and maqui cotona,” to cover themselves. They used the “shumbi,” a wide belt made out of a variety of bright colors and woven with a vegetable fiber called “pita” to keep their clothes fastened, while small children walked completely naked. In this way, they maintained their ancient customs and their cultural wealth. Their beliefs have been revealed to us step by step. Their way of life was so intimately tied with nature and the ancient rainforest: the one thing that always provided them with their natural habitat, together with its animals, rivers, mountains, and spirits. They believed in the land, the sun, and the moon - which always had a predominant, fundamental place in the culture of the people, including the belief in Pacha Mama.

For a long time the rainforest was their refuge. Everyone took advantage of what she offered them and they reached for all that was needed. Each culture had its own gods, its shamans, its native tongues, and its customs, and each community grew with its own way of seeing. Through these times, the shaman had been the depository and custodian of the knowledge and ancient wisdom of the natives, a part of culture that was transmitted from generation to generation in order to carry out his magic utilizing the extract of a reed with hallucinogenic properties called, “ayahuasca,” which still grows in the jungle today. This beverage caused a state of ecstasy in him along with hallucinations, and in this state he had revelations from the spirits, the ones that guided him to cure illnesses, and to solve the problems of their community with wisdom. In his visions, the shaman looked at the whole world and his spirits protected him. It is said that when the “Bancos,” the ancient wise shamans, dominated, they drank of the greatest plant called “Puma Panga” and they acquired the power to become tigers in real life, and that in their death their souls took possession of the body of a cat. Unfortunately, these customs that maintained our ancestors have been lost in their greater totality, despite that we are still conserving a part of the forgotten customs.

With the entrance of the missionaries 85 years ago, and with the oil and lumber companies in the last 50 years, there has been a systematic pursuit and destruction of the ancient forest that was our home. This has become the worst environmental disaster for us. Moreover, since this has happened, our ancestral culture has undergone a dramatic change which for some ultimately means abandonment.

In 1922, when the first missionaries of Joseph stepped onto the Amazon’s land, they began to expand territories in different areas of the River Napo, bringing messages of Evangelization and the people rapidly lost their beliefs in the Gods of the land and in Pacha Mama.

We the Natives lived in the interior of the forest, where we felt free, independent, and where we were our own owners, far from civilization. We did not have greater obligations or social commitments, and so they were able to enslave us with their beliefs and customs.

We still conserved many of our traditional practices, but little by little with the arrival of colonists, lumber companies, petroleum businesses, etc., the traditional culture and the environment has been destroyed. We are using up the sources of food, dress, and sacred places where the spirituality of our people developed.

Continuing our struggle for cultural survival, the descendants and families of this community really began to look at the reasons for why we suffer from the exploitation of the environment. Already at present, we the youths were losing our languages, customs, beliefs, myths, legends, and history - all traditions of the Amazon people with such a vast cultural wealth.

All this brought us to a great revelation - that the forest is a home that guards secrets and experiences. We believe that it is worthy to initiate a rediscovery, and to rescue the characteristics and tracks of the culture of our ancestors.