“Somos Amazonía,” a New Inter-indigenous Identity in the Ecuadorian Amazonia: Beyond a Tacit jus aplidia of Ecological Origin?

Eric De Garine,Eva Béguet,Mehdi Saqalli,Nicolas Maestripieri

doi:10.19053/01233769.8983

Abstract

The double colonization of the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon, coming from the Southern Amazon but mainly from the Coast and Sierra, has multiplied perceptions, rights, and management methods in this territory. This article explores these differences and reconstructs the history of this colonization and the rights of access to land, which are private for the colonos (settlers) and mostly communal for the indígenas (indigenous people). These legally differentiated groups are similar in their perception of the territory and their socioeconomic and environmental limitations: most agricultural products are not profitable. Between thegrowing metropolises and the remaining forest, the countryside is slowly shrinking. Communities are appearing that combine indigenous people and settlers and that copy the indigenous communities’ rights and practices. However, this communal right is acquired for the Amazonian groups but not for others, indígenas or colonos, defining de facto a jus aplidia, along with jus soli and jus sanguinis.

Highlights

When the leader of Tiwiram —a Shuar village founded in the late 1970s— goes to town, he never fails to wear a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan Somos Amazonía (“We are the Amazon”) displaying the five colors of the five indigenous Amazonian nationalities
The 2009 Ecuadorian constitution refers to Huaorani, Kichwa, Shuar, Siona-Secoya, and Ai’Cofan in the northern Oriente as the “indigenous nationalities of Amazonia.”— It is intuitively understood that this identification, “indigenous” and “Amazonian,” is much appreciated by the Tiwiram leader
What can be said about these different pieces of research? Disparate in their approaches, each emphasizes a certain perspective on indigenous citizenship and territory issues

Summary

Introduction

When the leader of Tiwiram —a Shuar village founded in the late 1970s— goes to town, he never fails to wear a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan Somos Amazonía (“We are the Amazon”) displaying the five colors of the five indigenous Amazonian nationalities. The village is in the parroquia of Dayuma, province of Orellana, northern Ecuadorian Oriente, whereas Shuars were originally from the southern provinces. This area is recognized as historically falling within the Huaorani territory by both contemporary Shuars and decentralized local governments (parroquia and province alike). The 2009 Ecuadorian constitution refers to Huaorani, Kichwa, Shuar, Siona-Secoya, and Ai’Cofan in the northern Oriente as the “indigenous nationalities of Amazonia.”— It is intuitively understood that this identification, “indigenous” and “Amazonian,” is much appreciated by the Tiwiram leader. How can we understand the visible desire for a common identity? The purpose of this article is to analyze the construction of this “ecological” identification, which overcomes (in a way) the most used ethnolinguistic examples

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Conclusion