“Our Land Is Not for Sale!” Contesting Oil and Translating Environmental Politics in Amazonian Ecuador

Abstract

En abril de 2019 el pueblo Waorani en la Amazonía ecuatoriana ganó una batalla legal contra planes de vender concesiones petroleras en su territorio indígena. En este artículo analizo sus relaciones con petróleo como parte de un emergente "middle ground" politico que se caracteriza por hombres Waorani trabajando en las empresas petroleras y nuevas alianzas contra la extracción de petróleo. Muchos Waorani describen su tierra (wao öme) o territorio (ögïpo) como un nexo de relaciones interdependientes entre seres humanos y no humanos amenezados por la presencia de petróleo. No lamentan la violación de una naturaleza pristina independiente de ellos mismos, sino las amenazas para las cualidades de wao öme que permitan que los humanos y otros seres "viven bien." En el contexto de cambios generacionales y una agenda de desarrollo nacional que promueve "los derechos de la naturaleza," activistas Waorani dependen de la abilidad de traducir wao öme como "naturaleza" y "cultura." Aunque estas traducciones indican la fragilidad de las alianzas del "middle ground," algunos adultos jóvenes Waorani hoy en día operan eficazmente a través de tal diferencias para desafiar el petróleo. Este middle ground en construcción demuestra que conceptos indígenas como wao öme no son fijos en oposición a' "occidente," sino son una parte importante de la participación reflexiva y estretégica en las politícas ambientales. [Amazonía, "middle ground," economías extractivas, petróleo, traducción, Waorani/Huaorani, Ecuador]

Shamanic alliance in the touristic borderzone: Strategic hospitality at Surama Eco‐Lodge in Guyana

“…Similar to how shamans obtain spirit allies elsewhere in Amazonia (Santos‐Granero, 2007, 12; Halbmayer, 2019), villagers in Surama manage partnerships with outsiders “by initial offers of gifts, and maintain their friendship through a subsequent stream of offerings” that situate them within mutualistic relations centered around hospitality. Although rarely examined in tourism contexts in Amazonia, Makushi relations with tourists resonate with regional patterns of extracting resources from outsiders (Conklin & Graham, 1995; High, 2020). However, they place a higher emphasis on symmetry than some other regional groups.…”

Non-state actors, extractive industries, and the investment regime: What can be learned from six Amazonian investor-state disputes?

“…Extractive operations can cause severe social problems to local indigenous groups. Indigenous groups know that contaminants can destroy the ecological balance that sustain themselves and important non-human entities (High, 2020). Meanwhile, the incoming workers-mostly male, young, and unaware of the local culture-, can disrupt preexisting social structures and norms (Wetzlmaier, 2012).…”

Contemporary Populism and the Environment

“…Afro-Brazilian This role of both defending the land and demonstrating alternatives is essential to preserving both the land and other ways of thinking and being. For example, Waorani people in Amazonian Ecuador have engaged with national courts and won legal battles in defense of not a pristine, unblemished landscape, but in defense of Waorani Land and the people's right to Buen Vivir (Living Well) (116). This resistance requires the invocation of stereotypes of Amazonian people and essentialization of the Amazon itself in order to court alliances with environmental coalitions and at the same time defends Waorani notions of nature and culture that reject both extractivism and essentialism.…”