PLEASE ROTATE YOUR DEVICE
2015
Jose Miguel Santi leads a night hunt along the Rotuno River before the Pachamama celebration. This river is believed to be sacred and hunting is only permitted before important celebrations. It is known for being relatively shallow and during the dry season, nocturnal animals use it as a source of water, making it a good location for night hunting.
2017
An enormous catfish, scarred by the harpoons used to trap it. In the Amazon jungle, these fish can grow to the size of a human adult.
2019
Caiman skulls in a shigra (traditional kichwa bag).
2016
Jose Miguel Santi baths in the Sarayakillo River. This tributary, along with the Rotuno River, are particularly clean.
2017
A catfish floats in the Rotuno river bed. The community constantly inspects this river as they believe it to be sacred. Hunting and fishing is only permitted here before important occasions, such as in this case as the community prepares for the Uyantza Raymi celebration.
2019
A bag with gifts and a machete lies on the floor of the community’s central plaza. The machete is one of the main tools for life in the jungle. It is used to cut weeds while walking in the jungle, as a protection device against snakes and as a harvesting tool.
2017
A young man holds the wing of a toucan. Toucans are used not only as food but also as ornamental pieces: their heads and beaks are used as hats. Sarayaku men take only what they need in order to survive and take advantage of everything they hunt. The meat is used as food, pelts and feathers as clothes and skins are converted into drums.
2017
Blood from a catfish in the Bobonaza River. Before important celebrations, the men organize a communal fishing trip in which they use barbasco, a milky substance extracted from the root of the barbasco plant. Once this is thrown into the river, it temporarily reduces the amount of oxygen in the water, confusing the fish and causing them to rise to the surface. The fishermen then use harpoons to capture them. The uncaptured fish are only momentarily affected by the substance.
2017
A hat made from a toucan beak, sitting in a plastic bag along the shore of the Bobonaza River. Before important celebrations, men often go deep into the jungle to hunt, returning with food for the entire community. When they return to town, they dress in elaborate costumes made from the animals they have killed.
2019
An elderly woman rests on her bed during a hot day.
2017
A monkey pelt and bird feathers being smoked at one of the hunting camps. This is located deep in the jungle within the Sarayaku territory.
2017
A live snake in a community’s house. This kind of encounters are common in the Amazon Rainforest.
2015
Kawsak Sacha, the Living Forest, provides us with energy and the spirit of life. It is fundamental to our world view, knowledge and sense of being as a native people. Breaking with this structure means cutting the vital link between the Supreme Beings and human kind.
2019
Nunkuli is the protector, Chakra mama or Lumu Mama, is the strength and feminine energy of the earth. She fertilizes the land for healthy and abundant crops.
2016
Several types of catfish lay in the bottom of a canoe. Catfish is the most common fish found in the Ecuadorian Amazon region and as a result, is an essential part of the local communities’ diet.
2017
The last day of the Uyantza Raymi celebration. One of the priostes, or festival sponsors, wears the pelts, feathers and heads of all the animals that his team managed to hunt. According to tradition, these pieces must be returned to the jungle to complete the cycle of life. The prioste is responsible for the ritual that closes this cycle.
2017
The entrails of a catfish are washed in the Bobonaza River in order to be cooked at one of the hunting camps before the beginning of the Uyantza Raymi festivities.
Eriberto Gualinga - Sarayaku
2019
The Sarayaku territory is not just a physical and geographic space, but also a space within which we can elevate our emotions as we connect with the world of the Supreme Beings.