History of the Shuar Culture

The Shuar people are indigenous to the tropical rain forests and savannas in Ecuador and Peru. In their language, Shuar means "people". These people first came to worldwide attention in the late 19th century for their bizarre ritual of head hunting.

The Shuar people are known warriors, and they tend to hunt for their enemies heads and shrink them to about the size of an orange! They would even consider a victory incomplete if they did not bring back a few "trophy" heads. But getting back to the history of this culture, much of their history before being discovered is unknown.

It is known that their tribe entered history in 1549, when the spanish came in contact with them. The Spanish attempted to conquer this tribe, but encountered hostile Shuar forces. Another attempt was met with cooperation from the Shuar, however this lasted only briefly. The Shuar people liked their independence and rebelled against the Spaniards, resulting in 30,000 Spanish deaths, and regained their freedom. To this day the Shuar people remain free, and in 1964 a governing body was set up, known as the Shuar Federation.