Guiyero Stories

In the farming plot

Carolina Wagicamo Ahua

While Wampi Ahua and Ageda are cutting down bananas to bring home from the farming plot where they have planted bananas and cassava root plants, they find that chontacuro (a beetle larvae) has invaded their crops. As the day continues, they use machetes to clear the land so that tayra (an animal native to Yasuní), will not eat their crops. In their community of Guiyero, it is tradition to survive off of the forest resources that surround the community. Therefore, these natural resources are vital to our everyday life.

Living the mix

Nampahue Eduardo Ahua

There are many different activities the people of the Guiyero community practice that demonstrate the mix of new and traditional hunting and fishing customs. Despite facing many changes, the community members continue to live as Waorani of Yasuní. Fifty years ago, civilization arrived to their ancestors, and with time, the grandchildren of the current generation now live like people from the city. The lifestyle for the Waorani is mixed, but they maintain their customs and traditions by caring for the Amazon jungle and sharing Waorani technology. That is their only hope as caretakers of this land.

Wild pets in the community of Guiyero

Gayaque Ramón Enqueri

In my house in the community of Guiyero, my sons, Michael and Bryan (Wawe and Nampa), and my wife, Clara, feed a baby tapir that sometimes visits from the jungle. The tapir doesn’t like the noise from the cars along the road. Each day, my sons examine the tapir for insect bites and wounds it may have received while sleeping in the jungle. After caring for the tapir, they feed it with chicha (a fermented drink made from cassava root) and chucula (a hot drink made from smashed banana and water) that my wife prepares. There are many stories about pets in the community, but this is a unique story of a wild pet that lives without fear of people and without a cage, unlike many typical pets. Here, we maintain our customs, traditions, and language in relation with nature.

Weaving chambira palm

Guima Irumenga

While it is raining at my sister Omamo’s home in the community of Guiyero, she weaves a chiagra (traditional bag) as many of the women in the community do to earn money for their families. It is a Waorani custom for these women to make chigras to sell and to carry things. The art of weaving these bags and bracelets is passed down from generation to generation. Omamo will teach her daughters to weave just as her grandmother taught her mother and as her mother taught her.

The entrance of Yasuní: Guiyero celebrates education

Kaguime Ramon Ahua

At the end of the school year in Guiyero, the community members celebrate with a meal. The community members employed by Ecuambiente contribute to this celebration by fishing in the ponds owned by the community. Inside Yasuní, the community’s successes and challenges are leaving important footprints.

Conservation in the community of Guiyero   

Victor Winary Irumenga

At the dock on the bank of Tiputini River that runs past the community of Guiyero, Germán Ahua organizes an evening of fishing with his and other families from the community. They use harpoons and spears to catch catfish and piranha that they will prepare later for a delicious dinner, typical of the Waorani culture. The Waorani culture continues to fish between families as part of a time-honored tradition in Yasuní National Park. Despite facing constant change from outside civilization, the Waorani still use the same methods of their warrior grandfathers.

Tiputini River

Wilmer Enqueri

On Tiputini River in Yasuní, several families from the community of Guiyero fish in their canoe. At midday, it begins to rain and the families are forced to return to the community. With these images, we want to share Tiputini River with those who have not seen it before. The river is a vital part of our culture and diet; without it, we wouldn’t have the biodiversity we rely on in the area.