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Waorani: From Warfare to Peacefulness
| Article
# : |
15807 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1989 |
5,492 Words |
| Author
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Clay and Carole Robarchek
Clay and Carole Robarchek are anthropologists associated with
Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, where Clay is
assistant professor and Carole is research associate. They
are interested in peaceful and violent orientations as aspects
of complex cultural systems. They recently completed extensive
filed work among the Waorani and have also conducted long-term
filed research among the Semai of Malaysia, one of the least
violent societies known. Their article "The Peaceful Semai"
appeared in the July 1988 issue of THE WORLD & I. |
The Waorani, living at the headwaters of the Amazon in eastern Ecuador, were until quite recently the most warlike society known to anthropology, with a homicide rate exceeding 60 percent as a result of warfare and raiding. In a notably violent part of the world, the Waorani, called Auca (savage) by surrounding peoples, were among the most feared.
Although the Waorani numbered fewer than one thousand people and possessed no firearms, their viciously barbed nine-foot hardwood spears and fearsome reputation allowed them to maintain control over a vast territory. The drove out or killed all who intruded or attempted to settle in the approximately eight thousand square miles of deep valleys and dense tropical rainforest that they regarded as their own. Living in extended family bands in widely dispersed settlements, they also raided each other constantly. Blood feuds and vendettas arising from past killings and quarrels over marriage arrangements or accusations of sorcery were a way of life, even among closely related bands. Fully 40 percent of deaths were the result of intragroup raiding.
The Ecuadorian Oriente, the region east of the Andes, is inhabited by some of the most warlike people in the world, including the famous Jivaro. Nevertheless, its riches--especially the gold in its rivers--have, since Inca times, attracted would-be conquerors from the mountains to the west. Missions were established following the Spanish conquest, and the haciendas that came later enslaved entire tribes and uncounted thousands of Indians died. During the rubber boom of the late nineteenth century, the region and its people were ruthlessly exploited; thousands more were enslaved and many others died of cholera and other introduced diseases.
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