MYTHOLOGIES OF ECUADOR
Last Inca Emperor’s Tomb Discovered in Ecuador
Mountains, Gods, and the Tupacs
Landscape of Ecuadorian Culture
Andean Sky. Ecuador in the Future
Across the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia live an indigenous people who revere The Earth Mother or Pachamama. In ancient Incan mythology she is a fertility god, a personification of nature, that helps to nourish and protect animals and plants. In the past, offerings to her included animal and even human sacrifices, but present day offerings are usually limited to dried Llama fetuses, rice, or peanuts buried. Though known as a fairly gentle and easygoing personage, Pachamama is also said to be responsible for earthquakes, landslides, and lightning which she employs in her anger. These are directed at those who fail to care for the earth or its creatures in a kind way. This vengeful side of hers is reinforced by her frequent depiction as a dragon or a serpent.
Ecuador’s Mythological Creatures
AZEMAN: (SOUTH AMERICAN VAMPIRE)
- A female who dons an animal skin at night and sucks blood from the big toes of its victims ( creepy foot fetish, don’t you think?)
- The creature is responsible for spreading disease.
- Similar to other vampire myths, the Azeman turns to ash if caught outside when the sun rises.
- To keep the she-demon away from your house, lay a broom across the doorway–she will become so engrossed with counting the bristles that little notice will be taken of the deadly rising sun.
BAKRU: (EVIL FAIRY OR EVIL FAMILIAR)
- A tiny creature created from wood pulp and flesh and controlled by witches.
- Their appearance resembles that of children.
- They always work in pairs, enjoy loud music and shiny things.
- They are familiars– demonic supernatural entities used to serve the evil witches who created them
El duende: (goblin or brownie)
- These mischievous little gnomes inhabit the walls of human homes. The naughty goblins like to dash about, scaring folks half to death, and playing mean-jokes
- Parents tell their naughty children to behave or el duende will steal their soul.
ENCANTADO
- One of the most feared sexual predators in the land, they lure unsuspecting humans to their death with their beauty, voice, and sexual skills.
- But before killing them, they drive their victim insane, enchanting them with their seductive ways.
- They live in a secret place in the Amazon, morphing from the Amazon river dolphin into a human to do evil.
PISHTACO ( BOGEY MAN)
- A legend from the High Andes, this scary pale monster-man hybrid stalks folks walking late at night on deserted roads ( isn’t that always the way).
- He commits unspeakable acts of horror upon his victims, devours them, and harvests their fat.
- He sells the fat to people as fried chicharrones
EL MONO ( BIGFOOT )
- Aka marimondas or maribundas, or el Mono Grande
- The hirsute beast attacks and eats humans, but likes to carry off the bonita senoritas (pretty ladies) to his secret lair for some monkey time.
- Sightings have been reported in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.
CHUZALONGO
- This dwarfish creature lives in the craggy rocks of the Andes.
- Folks swear the creature possesess human facial features, pale skin, and blue eyes.
- Their feet are backwards ( forget about following them)
- They attack women
- Not surprisingly, the lil’ creature appeared about the same time as the Spanish conquistadors–perhaps as a way for the native woman to explain a light-haired, blue-eyed, fair skinned child from a lusty conquistador.
Other Tales
- Werejaguar: Obvious, right..and ever so much sexier than a werewolf
- Lajabless: A demonic being who appears as an attractive and volumptous women, but has talons as feet
- Yurupari: A race of Ogres
ECUADOR’S ETHNIC IDENTITIES
Ecuador recognizes five different ethnic identities: Amerindian (or indigenous peoples); mestizo (multiracial group of mixed Amerindian and European ancestry); Afro-Ecuadorian; Montubio; and white. At over 70%, the majority of Ecuador’s populace are recognized as mestizo, and Montubios, Amerinidans, and Afro-Ecuadorians each account for around 7% of Ecuador’s population.
The Amerindian’s 7% of Ecuador’s population accounts for much of Ecuador’s rich indigenous heritage, and many indigenous groups with distinct cultural backgrounds comprise that seemingly small percentage. Recent census data accounts for 13 distinct indigenous peoples including Tsáchila (also known as Tsafiki), Chachi, Epera, Awá-Cuaiquer, Quichua (Kichwa), Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar, Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Zápara, and Waorani. When considering minority groups, Afro-Ecuadorians are also included in this list, bringing the number up to 14.
Indigenous people groups within Ecuador continue to be an active part of the country’s culture and sociopolitical structure. The Quechuan language continues to be spoken throughout the Andes, and the Ecuadorian people’s pride in their indigenous heritage can be seen in their continuance of traditional dress codes, adherence to shamanistic practices, and the celebration of folklore and legends in festivals held yearly throughout the country.
Cultures and Customs of Ecuador
Ecuadorian culture has distinct roots in its rich and multi-ethnic history with both indigenous and colonial influences. Many indigenous customs are only practiced by indigenous communities, whereas other customs have been adopted throughout Ecuadorian culture.
Ecuadorians have a distinctive dress code that indicates the region that they come from. Their dress displays specific cultural diversities that are characteristic of that particular region. In the Quito area, men typically wear blue ponchos and calf-length trousers. Andean women tend to wear white blouses, colourful shawls and layers of gold and red coral bracelets.
Inti Raymi – Inti Raymi Ecuador Feiern Inka Festival Des Sonnengottes
The inti raymi’rata (quechua for inti festival) is a traditional religious ceremony of the inca empire in honor of the god inti (quechua for sun), the most venerated deity in inca religion.
La Fiesta de la Mama Negra is a well-known traditional festival in Latacunga. It takes place twice a year, and originates from a mixture of indigenous, Spanish and African influences. The first one was organized in September by the people from the markets “La Merced y Del Salto” in honor of the Virgin of Mercy, Virgen de la Merced. The Virgin is venerated because she allegedly stopped the Cotopaxi Volcano eruption in 1742. Inhabitants of Latacunga call her Abogada y patrona del volcan, meaning “advocate and patron of the volcano”.
The Quechuas are held to be Ecuador’s most populous indigenous ethnic group, and indeed the Quechua are the largest indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. The indigenous group were amongst the earliest people conquered by the Incans, though the Incan empire itself was comprised largely of Quechua speakers. Many historians postulate that before the Incans conquered Ecuador, the language began to permeate into the different indigenous culture’s dialects via trade routes because Quechua served as a lingua franca. As the Incan empire began its invasion into present-day Ecuador, the Quechua language’s presence in Ecuador became more stable fixture.
The Quechua language continues to be spoken throughout the Andes and is even an official language of Peru. However, in Ecuador, the Quechuan language is Quichuan—a related dialect but with historical and political significance. For that reason, it’s common to see the spelling ‘Kichwa’ throughout Ecuador for simplicity’s sake. Although many people in Ecuador speak and write in Kichwa, it’s important to note that the word may be referring two different things. The term Kichwa may be used in reference to the language but it may also be referring to the Kichwa-speaking nation that descended from the Incans—a modern tribe that identifies as Quechua. In Ecuador, there are an estimated 80,000 people who identify themselves as this ethnicity.
THE HUAORANI AND THE DISCOVERY OF OIL
The Huaorani people have inhabited Ecuador’s Amazonian rainforest for over a thousand years. The Huaorani remained isolated from the outside world until 1956, and their name reflects their seclusion as Huaorani means “human beings” or “the people.” They commonly refer to outsiders as cowode, or “non-humans.”
The Huaorani people traditionaly practiced a sustainable, self-sufficient economy that allowed for their isolation. Athough the Huaorani had defended themselves against alien tribes surrounding their community as well as the occasional rubber and gold prospectors, the ethnic group have developed a unique culture with a completely unrelated language and singular artistic tendencies.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF ECUADOR
Indigenous peoples in Ecuador, or Native Ecuadorians, are the groups of people who were present in what became Ecuador before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term also includes their descendants from the time of the Spanish conquest to the present. Their history, which encompasses the last 11,000 years, reaches into the present; 25 percent of Ecuador’s population is of indigenous heritage, while another 55-65 percent are Mestizos of mixed indigenous and European heritage. Genetic analysis indicates that Ecuadorian Mestizos are of predominantly indigenous ancestry.
This is an index to the Native American information on our website pertaining to Ecuador Indian tribes and the languages they speak. Some pages contain more information than others. If you belong to an indigenous tribe from Ecuador that is not currently listed on this page and you would like to see it here, please contact us about contributing information to our site.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Indigenous_peoples_in_Ecuador
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN ECUADOR
Sponsored Links
http://www.native-languages.org/ecuador.htm
THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE AREA THAT IS NOW ECUADOR INCLUDE:
Achuar and Shiwiar Indians
Awa-Cuaiquer Indians
Cara Indians
Chachi Indians
Cofan Indians
Pasto Indians
Quichua Indians
Secoya Indians
Shuar Indians
Siona Indians
Tsafiki Indians
Waorani (Auca) Indians
Zaparo Indians
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ABOUT ECUADOR’S NATIVE AMERICANS:
Life and Death in Early Colonial Ecuador: Interesting book about the post-Columbian history of the Indians of Ecuador.
Highland Indians and the State in Modern Ecuador: History of the modern indigenous rights movement in Ecuador.
Blood, Revenge, War and Victory Feasts Among the Jibara Indians of Eastern Ecuador: An anthropology book on the Jibaras.
OTHER RESOURCES ABOUT AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY, CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN ECUADOR:
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador: Advocacy group representing the indigenous peoples of Ecuador.
Sumak Allpa: Native Ecuadorian organization working to preserve indigenous culture.Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador: Article dealing with the various Ecuadorian Indian tribes.
Languages of Ecuador: Map showing where Ecuador’s languages are spoken.
Native American Nations in Northern South America: Information and photographs of the Quechua and other tribes in this region.
Inca History of Ecuador: Article on the history of the Incan empire in Ecuador, with pictures of Inca ruins.
Citizens, Indians and Women: Article on the sociological challenges that have faced the Indians of Ecuador since the 1880’s.
The oldest artifacts discovered in Ecuador are stone implements discovered at 32 Cotton Pre-ceramic (Paleolithic) archaeological sites in the Santa Elena Peninsula. They indicate a hunting and gathering economy, and date from the Late Pleistocene epoch, or about 11,000 years ago. These Paleo-Indians subsisted on the megafauna that inhabited the Americas at the time, which they hunted and processed with stone tools of their own manufacture.
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/otavalo.htm
Alberto Taxzo, Quichua medicine man from the Ecuadorian Andes
sang a beautiful song to the Sun and the Creator at the UN recently:
“We must work with sacred powers and understandings today,
and every day into the future, to heal ourselves and our world.
The condor and the eagle have met. Now is the time. We must choose our pathway now.”
“A People who have a past, have a history and culture.
A Culture with history will never die.”
“Ali Shungu”
(good heart)
We are here anew.
America Is Ours!
“Conquered, maybe – forgotten, NEVER!” “We Are the Inkas!!”
“Un pueblo que tiene un pasado
Tiene una Historia, una Cultura.
Una Cultura con Historia nunca puede morir.
ASI SOMOS LOS INKAS. Nos conquistaron,
Cosecharon nuestros frutos
Cortaron las ramas
Destrozaron el árbol.
QUE MALO!
Pero olvidaron matar la raíz
Aqui estamos de nuevo.
Aunque traten do ocultarnos y borranos. América es NUESTRA
Reclamamos lo que nos pertenece”
“We, the Ecuador Inkas, carry on the traditions of our ancestors, in the music we play. Ours is a young generation, but we carry the soul of our people through our songs. It is with heart-felt expression of love, peace, and brotherhood that we dedicate this home page to you, as a means to discover our rich culture. Our music is a popular music – in the fight for dignity and true independence! We are the inhabitants of the altiplano: sons and daughters of the hard earth, the implacable winds, and the summits held in silence.”
The music of the Andean peoples
It is not a dead music,
Not a museum article.
It is a rich source
Full of magical sounds,
An inheritance to cultivate and defend.
Plows, crops and love,
Bring the Indian into this world.
Joy in your pain
The hurt of my ailments
To be happy
Unhappy because I was born.
The indigenous Otavaleño people, who make up approximately 50% of the town’s population, have been weavers since pre-Incan times. In colonial days, their skills resulted in many of them being forced into obrajes (textile workshops), creating a textile trade that continues freely today. The scene at the market is one of contrasts, with traditionally dressed Otavaleño stallholders surrounded by a modern town centre. The 4,630m-high Imbabura volcano, which gives its name to the province, rises nearby, and the capital city of Quito is just 90km to the south, a journey that takes you over the equator and into the southern hemisphere.
“La música de los pueblos andinos
No es una música muerta,
No es una artículo de museo.
Es un rico mañantial
Lleno de mágicos sonidos,
Una herencia que cultivar y defender.
Los arados, los sembríos,
Las cosechas y su amor,
Dan al indio en este mundo.
Alegría en su dolor
Duelte de mis dolencias
A ser felíz
Porque infelíz yo he nacido.”
The Otavalos are an indigenous people native to the Andean mountains of Imbabura Province in northern Ecuador. The Otavalos also inhabit the city of Otavalo in that province. Commerce and handcrafts are among the principal economic activities of the Otavalos, who enjoy a higher standard of living than most indigenous groups in Ecuador and many mestizos of their area.
“For as different as we all may seem,
When details are compared,
We are all one,
and the same.”
Pues por muy diferentes que podamos parecer,
A la hora de comparar complejidades
Todas somos una,
y la misma.
ECUADOR INKAS
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/ecuainka.htm
Ecuador Inkas
6120 North Kenmore Avenue 6E
Chicago, IL 60660-2727
Telephone Numbers:
1-888-761-8671
1-312-761-8671
(5936) 595-885 (in Ecuador)
Andean music
is a waterfall
encountered in a quiet forest:
playful and powerful at the same time.
I dedicate this home page to the people of Otavalo and especially to:
whose Andean folk group “Ecuador Inkas“
personifies the very essence and soul of the indigenous people for whom this web site was created.
Anyone who has the honor to hear this music will know what I mean. The sounds of Marcelo’s flute truly capture the heart and soul of what it means to be an “American” (a true citizen of the Americas).
Mother Earth (Pachamama) hears all of her people.
“Vamos a Ecuador – INKAS”
(a people always on the move)
“Tierra de la gente MORENA”
LAMENTO DE INDIO
“I pray for the night to come,
So that I can have in my dreams;
Everything which I can not have
When I am awake.”
“Yo oro por la noche por venir,
Así que puedo tener en mis sueños;
Todo lo que no puedo tener
Cuando estoy despierto “.
“El indio huyó desde su piel al fondo…
Desmenuzó sus torres torrenciales y
Recibió su paquete de harapos.”
Pablo Nerudo
“At my death,
I should like to be buried
In an earthen jar,
To be worthy of, and
Equal to my ancestors.
“A mi muerte,
Me gustaría ser enterrado
En una vasija de barro,
Para ser digno de, y
Igual a mis antepasados.
Vasijo de Barro
(The Earthen Jar – Song from Ecuador)
“LAND OF THE BROWN / RED RACE”
ANTIKUNA ÑAURAYTAKI
By June Ireland
Antikuna ñauraytaki
Chay paqcha tarikun
juk sunqoyakusqa sacha sachapi:
puqllayqachaq ye atipaq chay kikinmantapacha. La música andina
es una cascada
que se encuentra en un bosque tranquilo:
juguetona y poderosa al mismo tiempo.
Marcelo comes from the town of Otavalo, two hours north of Quito, Ecuador. Otavalo is located in a spring-like valley at 9,203 feet high, between the Imbabura and Cotacachi volcanoes. There are approximately 40,000 Otavaleños living in this area, plus 5,000 more who live in Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, and other parts of Ecuador. Otavaleños are recognized world-wide for their famous feltand straw hats, knitted sweaters, and daily handicraft market. The Saturday market is the most well-known in all of Ecuador.
My people come from high up in the mountains of Ecuador. We are direct descendents of the Inkas and the Caras or Caranqui, who came to Ecuador from Colombia a thousand years ago.
The name which we call ourselves is “Runa”, meaning “The People”.
Otavalo is one of many Indian towns such as Peguche, Illuman, Agato, San Roque, and Carabuela, and is near many lakes: Cuioccha, Mojanda, and Yaguarcocha. Yaguarcocha is known as the “Lake of Blood” because of the many Incan battles fought there.
Taita Inti and Taita Quilla are what we call father sun and moon in our language, which is Cara. The mountains in our valley are called Taita Imbabura and Mama Cotacachi (also known as Warmi Rasu: snow lady). Their son’s name, Urku Mojanda, is given to another mountain peak in the area. We also speak of “Mama Puyo”, mother cloud.
Although some of us live in towns,
“WE STILL ARE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH”
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