IPS-English ECUADOR:Hidden Indigenous Communities Fight Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 14:42:29 -0700 X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61] X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST ROMAIPS LA CR EN HD PR IN=20 ECUADOR:Hidden Indigenous Communities Fight Extinction with Spears Milagros Aguirre QUITO, Jul 13 (IPS) - Under persistent harassment by oil, logging and tou= rist operations, Ecuador's indigenous Tagaeri and Taromenani peoples, who= shun all outside contact, have been launched into the public eye followi= ng several deaths in their territory deep in Yasun=ED National Park. The 982,000-hectare park covers vast swaths of tropical rainforest in Ecu= ador's Amazon basin, in the central-eastern provinces of Napo and Pastaza= . In 1989, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or= ganisation) declared Yasun=ED a Biosphere Reserve.=20 In this protected area live scattered groups of indigenous people who hav= e chosen to live in isolation from all other cultures; the handful that r= emain are defending their territory and staving off extinction with spear= s.=20 Andr=E9s Moreira almost lost his life to those spears on April 12 -- a da= y he would prefer to wipe from his memory. He had been cutting down a thi= ck ceibo (cockspur coral) tree deep in the jungle when he heard his colle= ague William Angulo scream and saw him collapse, a spear driven into his = chest. Moreira tried to flee, but tripped, and the point of a spear pierced his = back. The assailants were tall, white, unclothed men, according to the wounded = logger, who was later rescued. The attackers belonged to a Tagaeri-Taromenani community. Moreira recalle= d that after they wounded him, the men vanished quickly into the jungle. Angulo is not the first person slain in the supposedly protected park. In= August 2005, a logger was brutally killed, found with 33 spears lodged i= n his body.=20 Both attacks took place in the same area: on the Cononaco Chico River, pa= rt of the area the government declared off-limits in 1999 to protect such= hidden or voluntarily isolated indigenous communities. However, seven ye= ars after the declaration, the boundaries of the area have not been demar= cated.=20 In 2003, a group of Waorani warriors (neighbours of the Tagaeri-Taromenan= i) who work in the logging industry attacked a dwelling and murdered 26 T= agaeri women and children -- the massacre was condemned internationally.=20 In late April 2006, rumours -- to date unsubstantiated -- attributed anot= her massacre to Waorani loggers.=20 What is certain is the harassment suffered by Tagaeri-Taromenani people a= t the hands of loggers, oil workers, tourists and some neighbours, such a= s the Waorani (also spelled Huaorani) of the =D1oneno, Tig=FCino and Sand= oval communities. The latter sell lumber from their territory at one dollar per board. They= let loggers into off-limits areas and have even organised expeditions to= hunt down the fast Taromenani jungle wanderers -- to =94bring back a wom= an=94 or to =94civilise them.=94 The Waorani have turned to lumber sales because since they abandoned thei= r traditional lifestyle (only 50 years ago, under pressure from evangelic= al missionaries) they have continuously had to search for sources of inco= me to survive. Exacerbating the situation, oil exploration and extraction have made them= even more dependent on the currency-based economy, as pollution has deci= mated fish stocks in rivers, and animals they traditionally hunt have fle= d as roads push through the jungle. The companies have also created a sit= uation in which the Waorani must scrounge to find ways of obtaining motor= s, zinc roofs, medicine and other basic supplies.=20 The Tagaeri and Taromenani are the two known groups in Ecuador who mainta= in a strict distance from outsiders, although other groups of wanderers a= nd nomads are presumed to exist in the country's Amazon region. The Tagaeri-Taromenani have made it clear on several occasions that =94en= ough is enough.=94 Yet foreign oil companies -- Andes Petroleum, Petrobra= s, Petrobel -- and state-owned Petroecuador, which operate in the main IT= T (Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambacocha) oil fields, as well as illegal logging a= nd some tourist complexes continue to be mainstays in Yasun=ED National P= ark. Only a few days after the April 12 incident, Manuel Kawilla, a Waorani lo= gger from =D1oneno, organised an expedition to search for the Taromenani.= All he found was an abandoned dwelling containing a pot, a blanket and s= everal spears made from chonta (a kind of thorny palm), which he is now s= elling for 100 dollars each. In response to rumours of more slayings, Ecuador's ministers of Environme= nt and Defence met May 2 in Coca, the province of Orellana, with provinci= al officials and Waorani leaders, and committed to implementing basic for= estry control measures.=20 On May 10, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Commission (IACH= R) ordered the implementation of protective measures, =94to safeguard the= life and personal well-being of the Tagaeri and Taromenani people who li= ve in Ecuador's Amazon jungle.=94 The IACHR proclamation specifically urged Ecuador's government to =94adop= t the measures necessary to protect the territory in which these people l= ive, including initiatives to prevent outsider intrusions.=94 But a number of reports indicate that full-scale logging activity is stil= l going on near the Shiripuno, Cononaco, Tiguino and Tiputini rivers. Giant canoes, loaded with cedar logs, cut heavily through the rivers. The= timber is unloaded at the Shiripuno bridge, then brought by truck to Col= ombia, say loggers themselves, tourists who have visited the area and ant= i-logging Waorani who work in the tourism industry. Environment Minister Ana Alb=E1n got a first-hand view of the problem whe= n she flew over the zone on Jun. 28.=20 David Gilbert, a Fulbright scholar who visited the Waorani community in B= ameno, told IPS that on his river journey he spotted at least 10 logging = camps, canoes full of wood and logs pulled by mules and horses in the hea= rt of the park.=20 Leaders of the Organisation of the Waorani Nationality (ONHAE) have focus= ed their actions on oil issues.=20 Vicente Enomenga, president of the organisation, speaking before the U.N.= Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues May 18, said the operations of Braz= il's Petrobras company in the Block 31 oil field is threatening the life = of isolated communities, but did not mention the logging issue.=20 =94Petrobras has breached international regulations by conducting operati= ons in an off-limits region, and has violated indigenous rights, as the W= aorani people were not consulted about the project, nor have they given t= heir free, prior and informed consent,=94 said Enomenga. =94Even though the project has been temporarily suspended, Petrobras coul= d resume operations at any time, putting the isolated Taromenani and Taga= eri people at risk,=94 he added.=20 Armando Boya, who was president of ONHAE for eight years, embarked on a t= rip to the Boameno community to learn more about the Taromenani, =94becau= se they are our brothers -- we want to protect them, gather them in one p= lace and help them,=94 he said, noting that his interest in the issue was= sparked when he went to recover the bodies of the 2003 massacre. Boya told IPS he went to =94explain to Manuel Kawilla, Babe Ima and other= s that they should not be harvesting wood,=94 and vowed he would find log= istical support to continue visiting the communities.=20 ONHAE is dealing with internal divisions and external pressures on three = fronts: illegal logging; contracts handing out the rights to exploit its = territorial resources; and oil operations, according to the Yasun=ED Rain= forest Campaign, of the U.S.-based Save America's Forests organisation. Some ONHAE members have accused Boya of handing over the rights to exploi= t part of the Waorani territory to EcoGenesis, owned by U.S. citizen Dani= el Roscom. The Environment Ministry has already drafted a proposal for a decree to m= ark the boundaries of the off-limits zone, in which any extractive operat= ions would be banned. =20 In a workshop to convince several sectors to get on board with the propos= al, Minister Alb=E1n noted that some details still needed fine-tuning, bu= t that she expected President Alfredo Palacio to sign the decree into law= soon. However, given the complexity of the problem, hammering out definitive bo= undaries of the =94Untouchable Zone=94 is only the first step towards pro= tecting the hidden peoples who are fighting to keep themselves from disap= pearing.=20 ***** + Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (http://www.cidh.org/DefaultE= .htm) + Yasun=ED Rainforest Campaign (http://www.saveamericasforests.org/Yasuni= /) + ECUADOR: Is Indigenous Unity More Than Skin Deep? (http://www.ipsnews.n= et/news.asp?idnews=3D33615) +CULTURE-LATIN AMERICA: Indigenous Languages in Final Throes (http://www.= ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32884) + PERU: Rights of Isolated Indigenous Communities Violated by Amazon Pipe= line (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32355) (END/IPS/LA/EN HD PR IN CR/TRASP-SS-LD/MA/DCL/06) =20 =3D 07132325 ORP011 NNNN