Ecuador: Dreams, Tears, Laughs and Inspiration with the Shuar

"Live life to live, not for power or money or for immidiate gratification. Live with your heart, with love. I live not for today, or for the next 50 years or for the next hundred years, I don't live for my life, I live for my children, and for my grandchildren and my great grandchildren, and their great grandchildren. I live for the next 1,000, for the next 5,000 years. And I do that by protecting the Amazon, by loving nature, because the Amazon is life." -Tzama

Okay, now for the most impactful experience of our trip so far.  It's hard to try to capture the time we had in words, but we'll try.

After spending two nights in Puyo - a little town that is a launching point for Jungle access - we caught a bus to a small community where we were to meet a person whose name might have been lost in translation. When we met Gyru he was immediately welcoming and sincere.  After a quick introduction we slung on our packs and started walking out to the even smaller Shuar community called Tawasap. Tawasap is one of 18 "front country" communities of the Shuar that have sprung up over the last few years because they have needed to make their presence official with the Ecuadorian government to send children to school and protect their land rights. Up until the construction of the few simple dwellings that make up Tawasap two years ago the Shuar lived spread out in the jungle.  All of the families still have jungle homes as well. Upon arrival Gyru told us to rest for a minute while he put on his traditional garb, a crown of colorful feathers and jaguar skin skirt accessorized with a boa skin and tooth necklace. We then headed up to their sacred mountain called Mura, where we stayed for the week. Mura was built with rock, sand and dirt by the Shuar ancestors as one in a set of high ground hills in an otherwise flat basin of the Amazon.

Ry playing guitar in front of our hut

Our bed: wood planks with a couple blankets on top. We actually slept very well

Once we got our stuff thrown down and had a bowl of a special tea to protect from mosquitoes and immunize us from infection, "muy bien para la sangre", we got our first face painting with the red paste from achiote seeds. Over the next few days we were guided around the close-by areas of the jungle, rested on Mura, and listened to Gyru and Tzama (our host and a leader of the local communities which total about 1,900 people) telling us about their lives, traditions, beliefs, and many of the properties of medicinal plants in the jungle.  They use the plants for all manner of cures, disease prevention, strengthening and cleansing of the body and mind.

Lunch cooking in the kitchen

Tzama offered to prepare a cleansing ritual for us so on Sunday we fasted all day, having only an egg broth in the morning, drinking tea and sucking on sugar cane until the evening. To prepare our bodies that morning we had a "plant bath" of mashed up jungle plants and cold water. Later in the day Tzama explained that the plants we were going to drink were very strong and it wasn't uncommon for people to have their arms or hair turn into snakes during the ceremony, so we were both a little nervous and pretty hungry when dark fell and it was time to begin. Tzama told us that this plant was to reset and enhance our spirit and our energy and that we would receive small doses as first-timers. He guided us through the process, checking on us frequently throughout the night.

We sat and meditated in a dark hut, listening to him play some traditional flute and making other sounds from unidentifiable, yet beautiful sounding instruments.  After a while we were told we could lay down and we both slept on and off for some unknown period of time, listening to the enhances jungle sounds of frogs, cicadas, birds, bats, and watching amazing firefly bugs before we eventually were guided to our bed.  We awoke with more energy in the morning, not even feeling all too hungry after over 24 hours of fasting. Upon debriefing, neither of us noticed a significant effect, but the experience was amazing and led to a lot of reflection.

Anne chilling on the top floor looking out west towards the Andes

Gyru jamming and an Anaconda skin drum

Over the next two days we hung out with Tzama's family, eating their delicious food, playing card games or soccer with the kids, jamming with Gyru, and swimming in the river in between relaxing naps and reading time. Tzama himself was called away last minute to a reunion of the leaders of the local Shuar communities because they are currently dealing with some difficult times.

While we were there they got news from government officials that their piece of jungle that they have lived on for countless generations was next up on the government's list of places to greenlight for oil extraction.  The highly publicized issue here in Ecuador is President Correa changing position back in August and saying that the government was going to have to allow the exploitation of the Yasuni wilderness area for oil. What has not been highly publicized, and what the Shuar were told last week, is that they are plan B if the Yasuni are able to block the oil extraction from their national park. The Shuar and the Yasuni met multiple times last week to discuss how they will work together to protect both their territories peacefully, realizing that they are stronger together than alone.

This was all very sad and very wrenching experience for us as we were acutely aware of our privilege and the impact that our modern society's addiction to oil is having, not only on climate change globally, but on people locally.  In one sad moment Tzama said to us as we were staring into the fire, "We are losing our culture, we are losing the jungle, we are losing everything."

Anne, Shiram (the baby monkey), and the two youngest of Tzama's kids, Tamya and Naikim

It was also a unique experience for us as the income disparity was brought up so many times. One step to protecting their land is to have a complete survey done, that was estimated at costing $1,700. Three hundred community leaders came together last week to give anything they could to pay for it and it totaled a little over $300.  Although we had already given one donation we felt compelled to take a day to bus back into town to an ATM to contribute more.  The sacrifice for us and the hit to our travel budget seemed minuscule compared to the sacrifices the Shuar will have to make if they can't block the exploitation of their piece of the jungle. We have been dreaming up ideas for giving additional help so stay tuned because we may be reaching out to our networks--and if you have ideas, please let us know!

Despite these problems, it is truly incredible how happy and healthy the community is. They live off the jungle and don't go wanting for food or healthcare, drawing on the ancestral knowledge of their culture.  We had many greatly profound conversations with Tzama about life, the human spirit, the importance of a connection with nature, and general happiness.

Tzama when his wife told him to smile: "Maria, when have you ever seen a tiger smile?"

Face paint: Ryan's is an anaconda design and Anne's is a sun goddess

The morning we left was the most beautiful of the week. We started the day with two snorts of tobacco--the fresh tobacco leaf is mashed up and the squeezed into our hands so we can literally snort to green liquid,  it clears the sinuses, and gives you a jolt of energy for the day--which was not too shortly followed by a round of vomiting on both our behalf (which is your body ridding itself of bad energies or excess energies it does not want). After we did in fact feel amazing and truly energized. Tzama had many beautiful and hopeful words to say that morning, both about life in general and the Shuar and Yasuni's situation with the petrol companies and the government.

We left feeling very energized and frankly blown away by the generosity of the family.  We got gifts from the adults and children alike, including a handmade kalimba, a vile of rare orchid oil to heal our feet and allow us to absorb the earth's energy when we walk barefoot, and the necklace and bracelet straight from Tzama's own neck and wrist. They even offered to help us build our own hut so we could live with them for a few years (VERY tempting!). It was truly an unforgettable experience. We know we have family in the Amazon, and we are ever grateful to Tzama and his beautful family for the experience we had.

Sangay Volcano at sunset