ERIC Number: ED147067
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1977-Jun
Pages: 68
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
An Indian Federation in Lowland Ecuador. IWGIA Document 28.
Salazar, Ernesto
Official involvement of the Ecuadorian government with colonization of the southern lowlands, lands traditionally belonging to the Shuar Indians, began in the early 60's when the CREA (Centro de Reconversion Economica del Azuay) was created to provide assistance to white settlers. Until that time, the Shuar lands had been dominated by the Salesian Mission, initially established in 1893 and gaining considerable power by the 60's with 13 mission centers and 22 elementary schools under its control. The Mission, then, taught, converted, attempted to acculturate, and worked the Shuar on Mission lands. Presently, the Salesians support (and probably initiated) the Shuar Federation, but this 12-year old organization (17,500 members distributed in 13 Asociaciones or regions and 108 centros or small groups of families) has become fairly influential itself. The Federation has initiated a process for gaining Shuar title to the lowlands, and it has instigated a return to the traditional ways of the Shuar, generally assuming responsibility for the Shuar destiny. Currently, the Federation seems to be struggling in a maze of contradictory forces for current government ambiguity (colonization policies vs Shuar land policy) both hinders and helps the Indian effort, and the Salesians' advocation of self-sufficiency is marred by an attempt to control the Federation, while the Federation itself is developing its own administrative elite. Nonetheless, the Federation's determination to survive as an ethnic and cultural entity makes it one of the most active and promising Indian movements in Ecuador. (JC)
Descriptors: Acculturation, American Indians, Catholics, Culture Conflict, Foreign Countries, Government (Administrative Body), Individual Power, Land Acquisition, Land Use, Organizations (Groups), Politics, Self Determination
International Secretariat of IWGIA, Frederiksholms Kanal 4A, DK-1220 Copenhagen K, Denmark ($2.00)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Copenhagen (Denmark).
Identifiers - Location: Ecuador
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A