Cofán
Encyclopedia
The Cofán people are an indigenous
people native to Napo Province
northeast Ecuador
and to southern Colombia
, between the Guamués River
(a tributary
of the Putumayo River
) and the Aguaricó River
(a tributary of the Napo River
). Their population is now only about 1,500 (2000 servey) to 2,100 (2010 servey) people, down from approximately 15,000 in the mid-16th century, when the Spanish
crushed their ancient civilisiation, of which there are still some archeological remains. They speak the Cofán language
or A'ingae a language of the Chibchan family. The ancestral land, community health and social cohesion of Cofan communities in Ecuador
has been severely damaged by several decades of oil drilling. However, reorganization, campaigning for land rights
, and direct action
against encroaching oil installations have provided a modicum of stability. Major settlements include Sinangué, Dovuno, Dureno and Zábalo, the latter of which has retained a much more extensive land base.
, a successful Jesuit missionary
who arrived in 1602, was chased out only after soldiers and colonists
sought to follow his lead. Occasional visits from outsiders seeking gold
, land, trade, and converts
occurred over the next few centuries as European diseases caused a population crash.
, in the 19th and early 20th century, brought increased contact, especially with missionaries, both cultural and religious. Measles
, malaria
, and tuberculosis
brought the population down to no more than 350; before contact there had been 15,000-20,000 Cofáns.
Randy Borman describes the Cofan response to this traumatic history as follows: an attitude “which can be best termed stoic acceptance of the incomprehensible ways of the outsiders as a survival strategy. Rape and robbery are preferable to death, and if we do not rock the boat, the outsiders will eventually go away, and we will pick up the pieces and continue.”
A Cofan Foundation has been formed to help preserve the culture, restore traditional foods in the rivers and to raise money to send a few children to Quito for education. The tribe does build large fibreglass canoe for river travel which it uses and sells. They use the new canoes to preserve the few large trees alongside the rivers. It takes 7 hours my motorized canoe to get from the nearest road to Zabalo.
Bub and Bobbie Borman, a husband and wife team of missionaries from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, were among the few outsiders to stay. SIL’s mission was to translate the New Testament
into new languages and introduce Christianity
. The Bormans provided medicines, opened a school in the Cofán language
, and offered skills training. The Bormans went further by raising their children in Cofán culture and acting in cooperation with the Cofán chief Guillermo Quenama.
surveying mission by Shell Oil visited Cofán territory from 1945 through 1949.
In 1964, Geodetic Survey, Inc. cleared seismic trails and detonated underground explosives to locate petroleum deposits for a Texaco-Gulf consortium, which were finally drilled in 1967. A road was built in 1972 from Quito
to the new oil town of Lago Agrio and oil extraction began. Colonization by landless peasant
s from the highlands followed. By 1982, 47% of the population consisted of migrants, 70% of whom had arrived in the last decade of major oil development. Meanwhile, oil spills, gas flaring, and untreated wastes undermined the environment, and compromised the subsistence and health of both the Cofáns and the colonists. The rainforest
around Lago Agrio has been all but obliterated in this region and environmental degradation
is severe, with catastrophic oil
pollution
in some areas.
An oil industry waste water dumping pit was dug in the Sucumbíos Province
of Ecuador's Amazon in 2005 to the local’s disgust. 2 Ecuadoran born Cofán activists, Luis Yanza
and Pablo Fajardo
, who are demanding that the Chevron Corporation clean up a major toxic waste spills in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon rainforest received the 2008 and 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize.
Later in 2009, they filed a class-action legal suit in Ecuador
against the oil company Texaco
, which had been bought out by Chevron
in 2001. They legal claim is that, between 1964 and 1990, Texaco dumped 18,000,000 gallons of post-drilling wastewater into the rainforest around the north western town of Lago Agrio, heavily contaminating the land and threatening the health of up to 30,000 Amerindians and local peasants who live there. Cases of cancer
had increased dramatically in the region since oil drilling began. Shushufindi Attorney
, Pablo Fajardo
and 2 of his colleagues also started their own related local campaige in 2009.
As of 2009, Chevron was also mounting a public relations campaign to tell its side of the story.
The indigenous Kichwa
tribal leader Guillermo Grefa, joined forces with them and turned up at Houston to confront Chevron
at the annual shareholders meeting. Both tribes were more than a bit miffed by what the oil companies had done to their ancestral lands.
where they live. They are raising turtles and caimans to be released. They are also starting to raise chickens as a source of food. Many animals that live within their domaine are endangered in other regions, including several monkeys, tapir
and pink dolphin
. All have healthy populations in Cofan territories.
created the Nace Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary, a 10,204.26-hectare National Park
intended to protect the plants traditionally used by the Cofan.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
people native to Napo Province
Napo Province
Napo is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Tena. The province contains the Napo River. The province is low developed without much industrial presence. The thick rainforest is home to many natives that remain isolated by preference, descendents of those who fled the Spanish invasion in the Andes,...
northeast Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and to southern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, between the Guamués River
Guamués River
Guamués River is a river of Colombia. It is part of the Amazon River basin and is a tributary of the Putumayo River....
(a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Putumayo River
Putumayo River
The Içá or Putumayo River is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, west of and parallel to the Yapura. It forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well as most of the frontier with Peru...
) and the Aguaricó River
Aguarico River
The Aguarico River is a river in northern Ecuador. It is the main river of the Sucumbíos province. In the last part of its course it is the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border. It empties into the Napo River...
(a tributary of the Napo River
Napo River
The Napo is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.The total length of 1075 km. Catchment area of 100,518 square kilometers...
). Their population is now only about 1,500 (2000 servey) to 2,100 (2010 servey) people, down from approximately 15,000 in the mid-16th century, when the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
crushed their ancient civilisiation, of which there are still some archeological remains. They speak the Cofán language
Cofán language
The Cofán language is the language of the Cofán people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River .Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their...
or A'ingae a language of the Chibchan family. The ancestral land, community health and social cohesion of Cofan communities in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
has been severely damaged by several decades of oil drilling. However, reorganization, campaigning for land rights
Land rights
Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these species of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use agreements, including renting, are an important...
, and direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
against encroaching oil installations have provided a modicum of stability. Major settlements include Sinangué, Dovuno, Dureno and Zábalo, the latter of which has retained a much more extensive land base.
Pre-Spanish history
The Cofán are an ancient civilisation of Chibchan people and have lived in the region for many centuries.Spanish colonial history
The Cofáns have had many encounters with Europeans, Spanish colonial forces and Ecuadorians and Colombians over the years. They defended their vassals and allies from Spanish colonization in the late 16th century and eventually destroying the Spanish town of Mocoa, inducing a Spanish retreat. Padre Rafael FerrerRafael Ferrer (Jesuit)
Rafael Ferrer was a Spanish Jesuit missionary and explorer.-Life:His father had intended him for a military career, but he entered the Society of Jesus, and in 1593 was sent to Quito, Ecuador. In 1601 he penetrated the territory of the Cofanis, a tribe hostile to the Spanish Government...
, a successful Jesuit missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who arrived in 1602, was chased out only after soldiers and colonists
Settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a specific colonial formation whereby foreign family units move into a region and reproduce. Land is thus the key resource in settler colonies, whereas natural and human resources are the main motivation behind other forms of colonialism...
sought to follow his lead. Occasional visits from outsiders seeking gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, land, trade, and converts
Evangelization
Evangelization is that process in the Christian religion which seeks to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. It can be defined as so:-The birth of Christian evangelization:...
occurred over the next few centuries as European diseases caused a population crash.
Post-Spanish history
The Amazon rubber boomRubber boom
The rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
, in the 19th and early 20th century, brought increased contact, especially with missionaries, both cultural and religious. Measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
brought the population down to no more than 350; before contact there had been 15,000-20,000 Cofáns.
Randy Borman describes the Cofan response to this traumatic history as follows: an attitude “which can be best termed stoic acceptance of the incomprehensible ways of the outsiders as a survival strategy. Rape and robbery are preferable to death, and if we do not rock the boat, the outsiders will eventually go away, and we will pick up the pieces and continue.”
A Cofan Foundation has been formed to help preserve the culture, restore traditional foods in the rivers and to raise money to send a few children to Quito for education. The tribe does build large fibreglass canoe for river travel which it uses and sells. They use the new canoes to preserve the few large trees alongside the rivers. It takes 7 hours my motorized canoe to get from the nearest road to Zabalo.
Bub and Bobbie Borman, a husband and wife team of missionaries from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, were among the few outsiders to stay. SIL’s mission was to translate the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into new languages and introduce Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The Bormans provided medicines, opened a school in the Cofán language
Cofán language
The Cofán language is the language of the Cofán people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River .Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their...
, and offered skills training. The Bormans went further by raising their children in Cofán culture and acting in cooperation with the Cofán chief Guillermo Quenama.
Oil drilling
An abortive oil shaleOil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
surveying mission by Shell Oil visited Cofán territory from 1945 through 1949.
In 1964, Geodetic Survey, Inc. cleared seismic trails and detonated underground explosives to locate petroleum deposits for a Texaco-Gulf consortium, which were finally drilled in 1967. A road was built in 1972 from Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
to the new oil town of Lago Agrio and oil extraction began. Colonization by landless peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s from the highlands followed. By 1982, 47% of the population consisted of migrants, 70% of whom had arrived in the last decade of major oil development. Meanwhile, oil spills, gas flaring, and untreated wastes undermined the environment, and compromised the subsistence and health of both the Cofáns and the colonists. The rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
around Lago Agrio has been all but obliterated in this region and environmental degradation
Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...
is severe, with catastrophic oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
in some areas.
An oil industry waste water dumping pit was dug in the Sucumbíos Province
Sucumbíos Province
Sucumbíos is a province in northeast Ecuador. The capital and largest city is Nueva Loja . It is the fifth largest province in the country, with an area of 18,009 km²...
of Ecuador's Amazon in 2005 to the local’s disgust. 2 Ecuadoran born Cofán activists, Luis Yanza
Luis Yanza
Luis Yanza is an environmental activist from Ecuador, of Cofán descent. He serves as president of the Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia , an NGO representing the interests of the campesinos and indigenous peoples in Ecuador.-Honors:...
and Pablo Fajardo
Pablo Fajardo
Pablo Fajardo Mendoza is an Ecuadorian native of Cofán descent, who was raised in extreme poverty. With the help of the Roman Catholic Church, he put himself through law school...
, who are demanding that the Chevron Corporation clean up a major toxic waste spills in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon rainforest received the 2008 and 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize.
Later in 2009, they filed a class-action legal suit in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
against the oil company Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
, which had been bought out by Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
in 2001. They legal claim is that, between 1964 and 1990, Texaco dumped 18,000,000 gallons of post-drilling wastewater into the rainforest around the north western town of Lago Agrio, heavily contaminating the land and threatening the health of up to 30,000 Amerindians and local peasants who live there. Cases of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
had increased dramatically in the region since oil drilling began. Shushufindi Attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, Pablo Fajardo
Pablo Fajardo
Pablo Fajardo Mendoza is an Ecuadorian native of Cofán descent, who was raised in extreme poverty. With the help of the Roman Catholic Church, he put himself through law school...
and 2 of his colleagues also started their own related local campaige in 2009.
As of 2009, Chevron was also mounting a public relations campaign to tell its side of the story.
The indigenous Kichwa
Kichwa
Kichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...
tribal leader Guillermo Grefa, joined forces with them and turned up at Houston to confront Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
at the annual shareholders meeting. Both tribes were more than a bit miffed by what the oil companies had done to their ancestral lands.
Area
The Cofan are entitled to live in and patrol the 195 square miles (505 km²) Bermejo Cofán Ecological Reserve (Reserva Ecológica Cofán de Bermejo), which was created on January 30, 2002. The Cofan are presently in control of almost 4,000 square kilometres (1,000,000 acres) of rain forest. Although this may seem like a lot, it is only a fraction of the more than 30,000 km² originally belonging to their former nation.Agriculture
At the moment they are doing things in Zabalo to bring back some of the traditional animals of their culture to the tributaries of the Amazon RiverAmazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
where they live. They are raising turtles and caimans to be released. They are also starting to raise chickens as a source of food. Many animals that live within their domaine are endangered in other regions, including several monkeys, tapir
Tapir
A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...
and pink dolphin
Pink dolphin
Pink dolphin is the common name of two different species of dolphins:* The Chinese white dolphin of the Pearl River Delta that live in and around Hong Kong...
. All have healthy populations in Cofan territories.
Political representation
Tribal political representation is through the Federacion Indigena de la Nacionalidad Cofan del Ecuador (FEINCE), translated in English as the Federation of the Indigenous Nation of the Cofan of Ecuador. Until December 22 of 2006, FEINCE was a member of CONFENIAE, the regional indigenous confederation. Membership was withdrawn, however, in protest to the political infighting presently going on in this organization. FEINCE maintains its headquarters in Lago Agrio, in the province of Sucumbios.The Nace Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary
In June 2008 ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
created the Nace Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary, a 10,204.26-hectare National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
intended to protect the plants traditionally used by the Cofan.
Sources
- Randall B. Borman, “Survival in a Hostile World: Culture Change and Missionary Influence Among the Cofan People of Ecuador, 1954-1994,” Missiology 24, no. 2 (1996).
- Randall B. Borman, “Survival in a Hostile World: Culture Change and Missionary Influence Among the Cofan People of Ecuador, 1954-1994,” Missiology 24, no. 2 (1996): 186.
- Hicks, James F., et al. Ecuador’s Amazon Region: Development Issues and Options. Washington, D.C.: The World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, 1990.
- Article from Washington Post
- Official Website