AWA'KWAI INDIANS IN ECUADOR

KWAIKER WAS USED BY SPANISH MISSIONARIES WHO NAMED THE GROUP FOR THE RIVER THEY DISCOVERED. AWA MEANS PEOPLE. THE LIVE IN SOUTHWEST COLUMBIA AND THE NORTHWEST ECUADOR. THEY LIVE IN A RAIN FOREST 500 TO TO 1500 M OF STEEP HILLS. IN 1989 THEY HAD A POPULATION OF 7000.

RECENT EXCAVATIONS LINK THEM TO THE MEXICO. IN 100 TO 400 B.C. THE TUMACO LIVED ON THE PACIFIC COAST. THE REMAINS SHOW LINKS WITH MAYA AND AZTECS. WHEN THE SPANIARDS ARRIVED THEY FOUND ONLY INDIANS WITH A LOW LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT. SOME OF THE KWAIKER DESCENDANTS WERE ON THE COAST WHEN SPANIARDS CAME HERE.

THE PRESENT DAY DESCENDANTS WITH 30% OF THE AWA KWAIKER POPULATION HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS. THEY LIVE ON SMALL PLOTS OF OF LAND. AT THE PRESENT TIME 35% OF THIS GROUP ISW BEING ASSIMILATED INTO THE ANGLO CULTURE. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MORE UNACCEPTING OF THEIR IDENTITY. THE OTHER 35% AVOID CONTACT WITH OUTSIDERS AND ARE IN HARD TO REACH AREAS.

THE KWAIKER LIVE IN ABOUT 3500 SQ, KM, THEY HAVE ABOUT 70 SETTLEMENTS WITH 100 FOLKS. THEY HAVE SMALL HEALTH CENTERS, SCHOOLS, AND SOME PLACES WITH HIGHER POPULATIONS.

ORIGINALLY THEY WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS WHO GREW A VARIETY OF MAIZE IN IN WILD CONDITIONS. THEY CUT THE JUNGLE DOWN AND THREW THE CORN SEEDS DOWN AND WAITED FOR THEM TO SPROUT. THEY MOVE TO A NEW LOCATION AFTER 5 YEARS. TODAY THEY RAISE FARM ANIMALS, WITH LITTLE TIME OR ENERGY IN THEIR CARE. THEY SELL SOME PRODUCE AND ANIMALS.

THEIR CRAFTS ARE MAKING BASKETS TO CARRY ON THEIR BACKS, AND BUILDING CANOES FROM HUGE TREES. THEIR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT HERE AS WELL. THE COUPLE IS THE BASIC UNIT OF DOMESTIC CHORES. WOMEN RAISE CHILDREN, DO DOMESTIC CHORES, FEED THE ANIMALS, AND GATHER AND PICK WILD FOOD. THE MAN FARMS, HUNTS, AND FISHES. THE MAN IS THE LEAD OF THE FAMILY.

THE CHILDREN DO NOT RECEIVE SPECIAL ATTENTION AND ARE NOT OVER PROTECTED. BY 6 OR 7 YEARS OLD THEY WORK WITH THEIR PARENTS AND HAVECHORES. THEY HAVE NO ADEQUATE FORMAL EDUCATION. THEIR TEACHERS ARE STRANGERS TO THE COMMUNITY AND ARE NOT THEIR TRIBE.

THEY HAVE RESERVED BEHAVIORS AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. THEY BELIEVE THE JUNGLE HAS SPIRITS WHO CONTROL THEIR LIVES. THEY HAVE A SUPERNATURAL WORLD POPULATION WITH IMAGINARY BEINGS SIMILAR TO THE INDIANS BUT WITH DIVINE POWERS. THEY WATCH OVER PEOPLE'S LIVES. THEY ORGANIZE THE WORLD ACCORDING TO VALUES OF THE KWAIKER. MANY ATTEND CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICES BUT DO NOT BELIEV IN MANY OF THESE BELIEFS. THEY HAVE SHAMANS WHO BASE THEIR RITUALS FROM MANY GENERATIONS AGO. THEY HONOR THEIR ELDERS AND ANCESTORS AND TRADITIONAL BELIEFS THAT DOMINATE THE FUNERALS AND OTHER EVENTS. THE KWAIKER MANIFESTS THE OLD ELEMENTS OF THEIR CULTURE. THEIR CEREMONIES ARE PRIVATE WITH INTOXICATING DRINKS. AND SPONTANEOUS BEHAVIORS.

THEY MAKE INSTRUMENTS SIMILAR TO THOSE FROM AFRICA. MANY SONGS ARE FROM AFRICA AND THE MAKE AND PLAY MARIMBAS AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRUMS. THEY PREFER ECUADORAN RHYTHEMS. THE KWAIKER SEE ILLNESS AS A PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATION OF BEHAVIORAL NORMS. THEY HAVE A PSYCHOSOMATIC COMPONENT TO ILLNESS AND THEY HAVE A FEELING OF GUILT AND LACK OF APPETITE. THE SHAMAN REESTABLISHES GOOD RELATIONS WITH THE SPIRITS PUNISHING THE PERSON AND GIVES THEM NATURAL MEDICINE. IF THEIR PROBLEM IS NOT SOLVED THEY GO TO A DOCTOR.

DEATH IS SEEN AS PASSING TO ANOTHER LIFE. THEY BURY THEM WITH FOOD AND TOOLS TO FULFILL THEIR JOURNEY IN THE NEXT LIFE(REINCARNATION). FUNERALS FREE WIDOWS TO REMARRY.

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