Napo - Curaray - Ecuador - Peru Border
Consultant: Enrique Vela Karpova
Collaborators: Marco Andrade Echeverria, Juan Sebastián Medina e Mateo Ponce Chiriboga
2022
GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE AND INDIGENOUS TERRITORIES
In Ecuador, the study area corresponds to the provinces of Orellana (Municipality of Aguarico) and Pastaza (Municipalities of Pastaza and Arajuno), in the so-called “Yasuní Biosphere Reserve” (declared as such by UNESCO in 1989). Including the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone (ITZ) and the territory of the Waorani people, Kichwa and mestizo peasant communities that are located on both banks of the Napo and Curaray rivers, and the Sápara people.
Towards Peru, Department of Loreto, provinces of Maynas and Loreto, districts of Napo, Torres Causana and Tigre – area comprising the “Pucacuro National Reserve”; and in the indigenous lands and territories of the Kichwa, Secoya and Arabelas peoples and mestizo communities.
Ecuador:
The Waorani:
Speakers of the isolated Wao terero language, they occupy extensive area in the Yasuní Park region in the provinces of Napo, Pastaza, and Orellana. Their economy is based on the Nanicabos family groups, the development of tourism projects, handicrafts, as well as receiving royalties and services from oil companies. They maintain itinerant plantations, mainly of manioc.
The Kichwa (Curaray):
Of homonymous language, they live in traditional communities in the province of Pastaza. They develop projects and actions to protect their native forests and produce crops for their own consumption that are complemented by hunting and fishing.
The Kichwa (Napo Runa):
Of homonymous language, they live in traditional communities along the Napo River (Orellana provinces). They develop tourism projects, as well as other alternative incomes from oil services. They also maintain cultivation and fishing activities.
The Sapara:
Of homonymous language, they are in the southeast of Pastaza province. They live mainly from hunting, fishing, and forest conservation projects. Their agriculture is based on cassava, bananas, potatoes, and pupunha.
The Secoya:
Speakers of the Pa̱aikoka (Eastern Tukano) language, in the Ecuadorian area they live on the banks of the Eno, Napo, Aguarico and Cuyabeno rivers. They have an economy based on hunting, fishing, growing crops and harvesting, as well as developing conservation and tourism projects.
Peru:
The Kichwa:
Of homonymous language, who in the Peruvian area of the study are located in the basins of the Napo, Curaray and Tigre rivers (Departments of Loreto and San Martín). They are dedicated to agriculture (cassava, sweet potato, corn, peanuts, rice, bananas, papaya, and sugar cane), fishing, hunting, and raising domestic animals.
The Arabela/Sapara:
Speakers of the Saparoan language family, they live near the Arabela River region that widens to the north with the Napo, Tigre rivers; and, to the south, the Amazon and Marañón rivers. They engage in hunting, fishing, and agriculture (mainly manioc and banana). They are also beneficiaries of oil exploration.
The Secoya:
Speakers of the Pa̱aikoka (Eastern Tukano) language, they live north of the Peruvian region of Loreto. They have an economy centered on hunting, fishing, gathering, and growing cassava to produce essential products for their diet.
MAPA INTERATIVO
Observe no mapa interativo do Módulo Povos Indígenas, onde se localizam os territórios indígenas na região amazônica e observe as regiões fronteiriças estudadas pelos consultores da OTCA:
ISOLATED PEOPLES
Lack of protection and threats to health and life
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, at least three groups of peoples in voluntary isolation have been identified inhabiting the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone and its buffer zone. Two of these groups are of Waorani origin: the Tagaeri and the Dugakairi. Finally, the third group has been identified as the Taromenane, who also share the same Waoterero language family; however, they differ in terms of material culture. The territory “Zona Intangible Tagaeri Taromenane” corresponds to the area of legal protection recognized by the Ecuadorian state specifically for the protection of these populations and to maintain their right to isolation.
Already in the study area of the Peruvian Amazon there is evidence of groups of indigenous peoples living in a situation of isolation near the native Arabela/Sapara community of Buena Vista. On this territory, the Peruvian government is carrying out the Preliminary Recognition Study of isolated indigenous peoples for the then creation of the Napo-Tigre Indigenous Reserve.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Interethnic relations and colonization
The first documented records on Amazonian peoples date from the XVI-XVII centuries with the entry of armed expeditions and later with the appearance of European missionaries and/or scientists. At the end of the 19th century, with the intense exploitation of rubber in the region, numerous indigenous peoples disappeared, including the Tetetes, and there was a radical reduction of the last groups of the Secoya, Sápara, and Waoterero linguistic families.
The Kichwa, Sapara, Arabela, and Secoya peoples have territorial connections between them that span the two countries. The Waorani live on a kind of “island” in this ethnic and territorial context, maintaining little relationship with the others. Located in the Amazon region, they depend on agriculture by preparing the land (plantations), hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants that are essential for their way of life and reproduction (development) in connection with nature.
Until the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the indigenous groups of the region maintained a close sociocultural and territorial unity; however, with the evolution of armed conflicts between Ecuador and Peru, the border and its security zones ended up dividing communities and families, as in the case of the Kichwa, Sapara, and Secoya.
SOCIOECONOMIC OVERVIEW
National development projects and indigenous territories
SOCIOECONOMIC OVERVIEW
National development projects and indigenous territories
Different economic activities in the region, both legal and illegal, place indigenous peoples in a vulnerable situation, especially groups of isolated peoples. These activities have reduced the circulation territories and, therefore, the means of subsistence of these peoples.
In Ecuador, for example, state development policies, such as oil prospecting and extraction activities in territories shared with the Waorani, have caused tensions and internal conflicts between families and communities, as well as between the Waorani and indigenous groups. isolated.
On the other hand, the absence of state institutions and public policies in the cross-border region, leads to the contamination of rivers, illicit colonization, illegal deforestation, incidence of diseases, hunting and fishing by external agents in indigenous areas, action of missionaries, among other activities that can threaten the integrity of the peoples who live there.
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE
The constant prevalence of infectious diseases
Infectious diseases, especially respiratory diseases and intestinal parasitosis, are the most frequent in the population.
The presence of parasitic diseases is similar in both countries, making it necessary for the countries to meet the sustainable development goals by improving hygiene, access to drinking water and basic sanitation, and implementing deworming programs recommended by the WHO. The picture of parasitic diseases is aggravated by childhood malnutrition, which seriously affects boys and girls and may be related to incomplete or inadequate nutrition due to lack of iron and multivitamins or inadequate diet. Added to these elements, anemia is part of this problem, reflecting in the delay in child development.
Another point considered is the high number of abortions in girls and adolescents, which leads us to consider that the cases of sexual abuse in these age groups may also be high, although the registered cases of violence are limited in percentage terms. In this sense, the numbers of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases must be constantly evaluated, emphasizing the attention to priority groups such as pregnant women.
Considering the geographical area, there are not high rates of cases of tropical diseases, however, efforts must be maintained with prevention measures.
HEALTH SYSTEMS
Access to Primary Care Services
In Ecuador, of the nine communities in the region, four have health facilities, the largest of which is the hospital located in Nuevo Rocafuerte. In Kawimeno, Dicaro, and Lorocachi, the health units are health centers and health posts. In addition to these, the Tiwino Waorani health center serves the communities located in the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone (ITZ), such as Bameno. The health units have senior level staff including a medical professional in all of them. However, as for health technicians, they are only present in the Lorocachi and Kawimeno centers, while only Tiwino Wao has health promoters and only Lorocachi has midwives.
While in Peru, only the community of Buena Vista has a primary level health post, the same one that serves the communities of Chambiral, Shapajal, and Flor de Coco. The other communities or when they need specialized care, the population travels for care to health centers in other locations such as the Tello hospital, located in Nuevo Rocafuerte, Ecuador.
Although there are 8 first level health centers and two hospitals in the region, the indigenous populations do not receive adequate attention, a situation that is manifested in community meetings, which makes it necessary that the health systems be better defined to meet the context and needs of the people.
COVID-19
Importancia del control y la supervisión
Ecuador y Perú cuentan con marcos legales e institucionales creados para hacer frente a COVID-19 que abordan los problemas de salud con enfoques interculturales. En el transcurso de la pandemia, hubo diferentes respuestas al problema de salud pública de la pandemia. Al principio, ambos países presentaron problemas de articulación con las instituciones sanitarias locales.
El movimiento para hacer frente al COVID-19 cobró fuerza en estos lugares, especialmente a través de la participación de instituciones no gubernamentales. En Ecuador, por ejemplo, se generó una coordinación estratégica con la Organización Panamericana de la Salud, así como con actores no gubernamentales, especialmente organizaciones indígenas que desempeñaron un papel destacado en la intervención temprana de la pandemia.
Aunque la región no presentó registros alarmantes de COVID-19, hay que considerar las posibilidades de subregistro, dadas las grandes distancias entre los puestos de salud y las comunidades. Aún así, el control y la vigilancia de la enfermedad en la región revisten una importancia significativa, ya que, además de las dificultades de acceso a los servicios de salud, el perfil epidemiológico de la población, marcado por la alta incidencia y prevalencia de enfermedades respiratorias y parasitarias, puede agravar el desarrollo de síntomas que desemboquen en casos más graves que no puedan tratarse a nivel regional.
