Last month, about fifty indigenous leaders met in Quito to watch the film "Avatar" in 3D. The parallel of this film to the real life experiences of the indigenous in the Amazon is clear. Conflict in the Amazon over resource exploitation and territorial rights shed a very similar story to that of the indigenous Na’vi of Pandora; one filled frequently by frustration and power struggles. Mayra Vega, head of the Shuar Nation’s Women’s Association, commented after watching the film that it hit home for her and her people. Like in "Avatar", the Shuar are fighting to protect their land from mining companies. “It left a huge impression on us. We have to defend just as the indigenous so clearly defended in the movie. We have to defend just as the indigenous so clearly defended in the movie. We had an uprising; we had a confrontation with (tear) gases: It’s the same as what we just saw in the movie.”
Some of the indigenous leaders described how they had never even seen a movie before, let alone visited a theatre. Consequentially, those who watched "Avatar" left with many comments and thoughts about the future.
One interesting idea was that of Achuar leader Ernesto Vargas who suggested that another group of people get to see the film: “Think of how much better it would be if we showed this film to people who actually want to exploit petroleum. I think it would serve them very well, even more than us.”
The film was criticized by some indigenous viewers in that it promoted violence as the only form of winning the struggle against exploitation; in the Ecuadorian Amazon this is not always the case. The Kichwa Community of Sarayaku took CGC, an Argentine energy company that began exploratory actions for oil in its territory in 2002, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Marlon Santi, President of the National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador (CONAIE) and a Sarayaku native, sees the Sarayaku case as a real life Avatar story, where the indigenous triumphed over the oil company, but unlike in the film, they didn’t use violence. Sarayaku is one of the emblematic cases in the struggle for territorial and environmental defense, and for human rights.
Another case involves the Waorani. Beneath their territory in the Yasuní National Park lie 846 million barrels of oil. Yasuní is a biodiversity hotspot that is often referred to as a great lung for the planet. It is also one of the few places left on Earth where uncontacted indigenous groups live in voluntary isolation. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa offered to forego drilling in certain oil blocks in this pristine environment on the condition that the international community would pay Ecuador more than three and a half billion dollars, about half the value of the Yasuní oil reserves. But in early January, Correa questioned the feasibility of the deal, causing uproar at home. The future of this innovative proposal is still unknown, but many hope that it will succeed in protecting both the underground and above ground ecological and cultural diversity found in the Yasuní. The importance of maintaining the park is symbolic for environmental protection throughout Ecuador, valuing conservation over exploitation, as well as setting a precedent within the nation and throughout the region.
See a video presented to BBC’s The World on YouTube here.
