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For more than a week, the women of Sarayaku prepared the chicha and for five days the men fished to feed the 1,200 relatives, friends, and visitors who descended on their community this past Sunday, August 12.
After almost a decade in legal battles, Sarayaku celebrated their victory in the Inter-American Court on Human Rights at home in their selva.
The celebrations started at 3am in the early morning on Sunday with the beating of the drums from the furthest corners of the community.
The young men of Sarayaku walked the paths through the selva, slowly waking everyone, and using the singular, mellifluous rhythm of their drums to draw everyone to the community plaza.
The
pista de aterrizaje (landing strip) is seen below to the left, the bridge across the Bobonaza River, and the main plaza where the festivities commenced is in the top right corner.
There, the early morning hours commenced with guayusa - a sacred beverage made from plants of the Amazon and shared by the community – and continued with an ever-migrating drum circle.
In the photo above, an elder is serving guayusa to the community from the fire.
As the sky lightened, everyone moved into the communal house, the Casa del Mediodía, where José Gualinga, the Tayak Apu or president of Sarayaku, informed his people of the details of the sentence of Sarayaku v. State of Ecuador and possible future steps of their community.
The young man on the left filmed the proceedings using an iPad, part of
a communications initiative created in partnership with Fundación Pachamama.
After the Casa del Mediodía, the men created a large drum circle with a traditional dance by the women inside the circle.
Traditional dance of the Sarayaku women, pictured above.
José Gualinga, in the middle above, looked on as the women danced.
The largest drum circle that day. Needless to say, there wasn’t much shade.
In the shade of the selva, men adjusted their tambores (drums).
Other indigenous leaders traveled to participate in the celebration on Sunday as well. Pictured above, Jaime Vargas, president of the Achuar people, dances with his esposa (spouse) in the middle of the circle.
Also among the dirigentes (leaders) present were Marlon Santi ((pictured above), ex-president of CONAIE as well as current president Humberto Cholango. CONAIE is the federation of Ecuador's indigenous nations.
And as is tradition, the women prepared enough chicha for the day’s celebrations, fermenting it for 5 days in large clay gourds.
Above, a woman is seen mixing the chicha, which is ready to serve.
Here, a man is being served chicha.
The day’s activities lasted until after the sun left and everyone was filled with hot rice and fish soup, fried yuca, and thick, comforting chicha.
Traditional dancing and drumming continued, and an overwhelming sense of humbling pride emanated from the celebration. The community was grateful for their people, their culture, their land, and the survival of their ancient cosmovision.
The community of Sarayaku was able to celebrate their historic victory in the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, seen by many as a “key victory” for indigenous human rights.
In the end, they celebrated in the place they had been fighting for for almost a decade - home.
And the little ones celebrated too.
More pictures from Sunday’s celebrations
Photos courtesy of Lauren Barrett. Fire, communal house, and women dancing photos courtesy of Joke Baert.
