Shuar and their Neighbors

In recent times, the relationship between the Shuar and their neighbors has gotten better. In the past, relationships have been a little more hostile. In the 1500s, the Spaniards first made contact with the Shuar. At first, this contact was "friendly". There was trading going on between the two and things were looking good. Then the Spanish tried to colonize the Shuar and tax them, but were met with the sheer force of the Shuar. The Shuar resisted, killing thousands of Spaniards and were left alone. In the 1900s, peaceful contact was made by missionaries. Schools were set up along with trading. Recently, many of the Shuar have lost their land from Ecuador and Peru due to oil findings in their land. However, Ecuador has set up a land preserve for the Shuar that is supposed to be protected. Till this day, there is still distrust, even between different tribes of Shuar people. Some men bring rifles into the woods when they are going to gather foods in the event that they "see another Shuar".

Ecuador is also trying to sell off some gold-enriched land to China, however the Shuar occupy this land, and will rest.

Source: https://seeker401.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/ecuadorian-officials-want-to-sell-gold-laden-land-to-china-legendary-shuar-tribe-will-resist-correa-ahead-in-exit-polls/

Birds of the Shuar

         As you will read in this blog, the Shuar people are animists to a certain point. Everything has a spirit. The Wakani Birds, or spirit birds, are a form of Shuar spirit culture. The Shuar shamans would send in this kind of bird to frighten an enemy and make him vulnerable, and then go in for the attack himself, with Tsentsak, which are pathogenic darts or projectiles. These Wakani birds have also been given Tsentsak by a shaman, to carry and launch from its beak into enemies. This shows that the Shuar shamans had a very tight connection with these birds that they were able to get them to do such a specific request.
        The physical aspects of these Wakani birds are they could be any sort of small bird. This means no large birds such as hawks or eagles.

The Shuar also use birds as a means for survival, or in simpler terms, they usually hunt them.

Cosmos of the Shuar

From my understanding, the Shuar people were mainly animists and had shamans before Judeo-Christian missionaries showed up in the 1900s. The shamans of this culture believed only in the "Middle World" spirits (Cave and Cosmos, Harner, p.63). This means that they tend to be strong on bewitching and sorcery. A decent amount of these once dominant cosmos have since dwindled, due to missionaries who focused on the Shuar. These people came in and began teaching children, and adults, spanish, opened up a trade with the Shuar, and converted many of them into Christians. However, according to Harner's Cave and Cosmos, the Shuar still have a spiritual dependence on a spirit of the element of water, due to its underlying source of sheer power. Although so many cultures around the world have lost many of their traditional ways, including the Shuar, these people still hold on to many of the key values that has kept them independent in their hundreds of years of existence.

World of the Shuar People

As I stated before, the Shuar people live in the Amazonian regions of Ecuador and Peru. With this type of landscape, like many others, the people living there (in this case, the Shuar) need to find ways to adapt to their environment.

The Shuar live in huts made up of wood, grass, and leaves. These huts are spread out and usually consist of a man, his wife/wives, and any unmarried children he may have. A man can have multiple wives as long as he can provide food and protection for them. They settlements that they live in usually have very loose political and kin ties.

Source: http://blogs.globalvolunteers.org/tag/shuar-culture/

Men spend their time hunting, while women spend their time cooking, gardening, and washing clothes. The women also make a drink called chicha. This is a fermented beverage that is made by chewing up cassava and then putting it into a bucket with other ingredients to let it ferment. Only the women are allowed to touch this drink, the only way the men are allowed to touch is is with their lips. The Shuar mainly eat yuca, meats, fish, potatoes, rice corn, and vegetables. They never eat pork or boa constrictors, as they are seen as sacred.