The Huaorani are an Indigenous culture in Ecuador. Roughly sixty years ago, some missionaries from the U.S. entered their territory. The Huaorani are an isolated tribe and saw these people as intruders. So, they killed them. Rachel Saint, the sister of one of the missionaries who was killed, saw the Huaorani as savages who worshipped demonic Gods and needed Christ to save them. She set up missionaries on their land and changed their culture dramatically. Her settlement brought disease to the people, and dramatically changed their culture. In addition, oil companies began drilling on the Huaorani's sacred land. The people had less access to clean water and were relocated off their land so the oil companies could continue drilling. The Huaorani have tried to fight the oil companies, even sending one of their own to America to advocate for the tribe. By some of the Huaorani, Rachel Saint was considered a sister of the tribe and was respected. To others, she dissolved their culture, imposed a new one on them, and introduced decades of hardships with the oil drilling that followed her arrival. Check out these articles and video clips in the following blog post, and see what you think. What do you believe about the Huaorani?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Review of Chapters Fourteen, Fifteen and Sixteen
Chapter Fourteen was so interesting to me because it talked about the Europeans and their various conquests in the Americas. I was specifically interested in the Spanish Conquest of the Indigenous cultures of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Many people think that because the Spanish conquest happened about 500 years ago that discriminating and threatening indigenous cultures in Latin America is a thing of the past. However, it still happens today. I took a class at NDNU and learned about a tribe in Ecuador called the Huaorani. A couple of other people in our class will be familiar with this story, because they were in the class with me. =) Still, it is something we should be aware of and possibly get involved with. See if this story touches you as much as it affected me.
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Very intersting article with info on Rachel Saint. Sort of typical that a modern missionary might see indiginous people as savages without toally knowing their culture first. I'd imagine most of these types of people were steeped in culture, that culture just being thier own and quite differnt to the modern eye.
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