[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 26 (Friday, February 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E234-E235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ECUADOR TRIP REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 12, 1999

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues a report on 
my recent trip to Ecuador. I traveled to that South American country 
January 9-15. I spent two days in the rain forest, one day traveling in 
country, and two days in Quito, the capital. With the spread of 
populations and industry into the Amazon Basin, tribal groups are 
having to come to grips with the realities of 21st century life and I 
was asked to visit in order to better understand those challenges.
  The world was stunned 43 years ago, in January of 1956, when the 
speared bodies of five young men, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, 
Nate Saint and Roger Youderian, were discovered in the Curaray River of 
southeastern Ecuador. These were evangelical missionaries from three 
different missions, who, in their attempt to make meaningful contact 
with the Auca tribe, had been murdered. Aucas (the Spanish word for 
``savage'') had a long history of killing outsiders, friendly or not. 
In their desire to make contact, these young men--from age 28 to 32--
had known the risk. The response to their deaths was broad and 
immediate, as other young men and women followed in their steps, led by 
a wife and a sister of two of the men who had died. As a result of the 
continued contacts, most of the tribal members stopped their killing 
within two years of that incident, and for the most part they have 
lived peacefully since.
  A few months ago, however, the son of one of the original five men, 
Steve Saint, contacted my office regarding some of his humanitarian 
concerns for the people in this tribe, now

[[Page E235]]

called in their native language, the Huaorani. As a result, I journeyed 
with a friend to the Ecuadorian rain forest and also Quito, the 
capital, between Saturday, January 9, and Friday, January 15, for the 
purpose of meeting the people, becoming acquainted with the region, and 
assessing whether I could be of any assistance by understanding the 
particulars of their situation.
  The challenges of tribal life in the Amazon Basin, particularly with 
the inroads of industry, are not small and have been well documented by 
sociologists, anthropologists, and others. This huge area of rain 
forest, which is home to as few as 175,000 people in various tribal 
groups scattered throughout it, has received much attention from the 
scientific, industrial and religious communities.
  Upon arrival at Quito airport Saturday evening, we were met by Peter 
Harding, political officer at our embassy, and Alicia Duran-Ballen, 
daughter of a former president of Ecuador. She acted as host and 
interpreter for us while we were in Quito. We left the next morning 
early by private plane for Nemompade, a very small village in the 
Amazon Basin, 150 miles southeast of Quito, a few miles from the site 
on the Curaray where the young men had been killed. We were met there 
by Steve Saint and spent the next two days and nights with the Huaorani 
learning how they lived, being shown their ways, and talking with them 
about their concerns for the future.

  Generally, we observed their way of life, their culture and their 
interactions with each other and learned what it is like to live on a 
day to day basis in the rain forest. A group of high school students 
from Wheaton Academy, a private school in the Chicago suburbs, were 
there at the same time.
  The challenges facing the Huaorani are not on the same order as other 
groups which I have visited and for which I have expressed great 
concern previously. However, they are faced with learning to live 
interactively with hi-tech civilization in the coming years, and 
learning to do so while maintaining their own identity. Historically, 
they have been a highly egalitarian group, without much vertical social 
order. That has been moderated some in the last 40 years to include 
community elders, who help guide life in the tribe. They have also 
become somewhat less nomadic in recent years.
  Government requirements for personal registration, voting at 
designated venues which may be several days away by jungle trail, and 
other things necessary to interact with the national culture are 
matters which are currently under discussion with the Ministry of 
Government in Quito, and more specifically the Office for Indigenous 
Affairs. As hunter-gatherers in the rain forest, the national language, 
use of money, and means of transportation all critical to engagement 
with the outside world are foreign to the Huaorani and all need to be 
addressed. Additionally, the request for a radio frequency from the 
government by which to communicate and educate within the tribal region 
was in process.
  Steve Saint's approach has been to understand that the people in this 
region will continue to interact more and more with interests outside 
their local environment. The question is not ``When will this process 
happen?, but ``with whom and can they survive it as a tribal group?'' 
The people feel that they need to learn to be both independent and 
interdependent within the national culture, avoiding the pitfalls of 
becoming welfare recipients. To assist then in that journey, he has 
invited groups--such as the Wheaton Academy students--to visit for a 
few days in the rain forest at a neutral site constructed like a 
village, not an actual settlement. In that manner, the visitors can 
interact with the Huaorani without interrupting village life. Each 
person pays a fee and the profits are put into an account in the 
nearest large town in the names of the village elders. In that way, the 
Indians are creating a productive economy which they can control.
  Additionally, health-care skills are being practiced to improve their 
health without having to journey outside their territory. A simple, but 
ingenious, form of dentistry is in place so that they can fill teeth, 
again without journeying long distances. Although sickness does not 
seem to be prevalent, except diseases that might be ``brought'' from 
the outside, the Huaorani do have significant problems with decaying 
teeth. Much of this malady, apparently, stems from their eating 
staple--manioc roots. Manioc is a starch that converts to sugar 
readily, hence, tooth problems abound. I use this illustration only to 
highlight the fact that every effort is being made to help them be 
self-sufficient on their own terms and with their own resources.

  Transportation is another significant factor as relates to commerce 
and healthcare. Although rivers abound in the rainforest, in this area 
their serpentine characteristic prohibits speed in travel. We traveled 
40 minutes by dugout canoe and ended up 100 yards from where we began. 
The rule of thumb is ``one minute in the air is two hours on a jungle 
trail.'' Therefore, an attempt is being made to procure an 
accommodation in the regulations to allow for a plane in the tribe and 
a ``designated pilot.''
  When we returned to Quito, we were able to spend time with our 
ambassador, Leslie Alexander, and his colleague, Peter Harding. We 
discussed the nature of our visit and other topics of mutual concern 
and interest. The following day we visited the persons responsible for 
the Office of Indigenous Affairs and articulated why we had come to 
Ecuador and what we had seen. They were grateful for the interest and 
assured us that they would marshal whatever resources at their disposal 
to address the issues raised.
  We then had the opportunity for a good discussion with the president 
of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad, joined by Ambassador Alexander. Not only were 
we able to discuss the situation of the Huaorani, we were also able to 
invite the president to the National Prayer Breakfast, which he 
subsequently attended on February 4.
  In the words of Steve Saint, what the Huaorani need are the 
following:
  1. The right to vote and establish their citizenship within their own 
territory, which would include a place to register their birth, 
marriage and death, and to acquire the ``cedulas'' (identity cards) 
that are required of all citizens.
  2. The right to develop their own means of disseminating information 
throughout their own territory, in their own language, without meeting 
stringent communication requirements that were established for densely 
populated territories. They need favorable concession in the 
acquisition or radio frequencies.
  Although much of my interest has focused over the years on the 
violation of human rights around the world, it was encouraging to see a 
situation in which thoughtful assistance in a timely way could nurture 
self-determination and the democratic process. I am grateful for the 
efforts of our Foreign Service Corps in Ecuador for their skill and 
dedication in the public sector, as well as the work of private U.S. 
citizens in the humanitarian arena, which enhances the lives of peoples 
in both countries.

                          ____________________