"The Sapara do not believe in cemeteries," said Rosa Dahua, an
Indigenous leader from the Ecuadorean Amazon. She was seated on a wooden
stool with an anaconda carved into its base, and she leaned forward as
she spoke, her dark hair falling in waves over her shoulders.
Dahua is the vice president of the Association of Sapara Women of
Ecuador, an organization dedicated to maintaining the cultural identity
of the Sapara and promoting equality for Indigenous women. She was eager
to describe some of the ancestral customs that are still practiced by
the Sapara today.
"We bury our deceased alongside the rivers, in the mountains, or in the
lowlands of the forest. These burial sites then become sacred and are
inhabited by the spirits of loved ones," she said. "We might say
something like, 'my mother lives in that mountain', or 'my father lives
by the river over there'. However, if the oil companies enter our
territories and deforest our land, then we worry that they will also
destroy the spirits of our ancestors."
The Sapara are one of seven Indigenous nations that will be affected by a
new oil boom in the central south region of the Ecuadorean Amazon. On
Nov 28, Ecuador is set to open its 11th licensing round for oil
exploration – a chance for private oil companies to bid for 13 blocks in
the Amazonian provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago. Petroamazonas,
Ecuador's state run oil company, has also announced plans to collaborate
with foreign companies to develop three additional oil blocks in the
region.
Ecuador's Minister of Nonrenewable Natural Resources, Wilson Pastor, has
said that companies will have until May 30 to place offers and that all
contracts should be cemented by September 2013. Ecuador is expecting
some $1.2 billion in investments from the oil blocks.
According to Amazon Watch, the 11th round will affect up to 10 million
acres of primary forest that encompass the ancestral territories of the
Indigenous Andoa, Achuar, Kichwa, Sapara, Shiwiar, Shuar, and Waorani
nations.
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