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Sarayaku (Quechuan: "The River of Corn"; also transcribed Sarayacu) is a territory and a village situated by the Bobonaza River in the Pastaza Province in the southern part of el Oriente, the Amazonic region of Ecuador. The territory incorporates a number of villages.
It has a total population figure of between 1,000 and 2,000 Kichwa-speaking people, who call themselves the Runa people of Sarayaku, or the Sarayaku people. The leader of the Sarayaku people is Tupak Viteri (2022).
Since the early 21st century, the Sarayaku have engaged in a decade-long effort to resist efforts to drill for oil in their community, putting them at cross purposes with the Ecuadorian government and various multinational oil companies. The Sarayaku have used protests and legal challenges, successfully pursuing a suit in court.
Since the late 20th century, the Sarayaku people have emphasized ecotourism as a means to make a sustainable living while preserving their culture and lands. They work to preserve the distinctive character and ecology of their delicate rainforest.
In the fall of 2003, university studies were established in Sarayaku. The program was developed through the cooperation of the universities of Cuenca, Ecuador, and Lleida, Spain. The main goal of the university program is to raise the quality of multicultural and multilingual education among the indigenous communities in the province of Pastaza. The people will be able to develop their own educational resources and have an opportunity to learn at the university level about cultural identity and cultural traditions, other philosophies, and the Indian cosmo vision.
The Sarayaku protested and resisted CGC activities, as they believed that petroleum development would threaten the fragile nature of the Amazonian rainforest and their subsistence society. To stop the resistance, the government sent federal soldiers to Sarayaku and closed the Bobonaza River as traffic artery.
The Sarayaku people have accused the oil companies of ethnocide, as they believe oil development would destroy their subsistence economy and the unique rainforest habitat of their territory. Oil development can adversely affect the cultural, nutritive, ecological, and spiritual resources on this place. The Sarayaku believe it will undermine the social balance in the community. They claim that the oil industry is also the biggest threat to the recently founded university program in Sarayaku.
Among the activist leaders is Franco Viteri, former president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE). Made up of peoples of the Amazon Basin in Ecuador, this group "has been involved in nationwide protests for more than 30 years."
The Sarayaku filed suit against the government in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in Costa Rica, saying it had failed to consult fully with the indigenous community before undertaking disruptive activities on their lands and threatening their environment. In 2011, Sarayaku activists and their attorneys traveled to Costa Rica to appear in court, when some had never been to the capital of Ecuador. The court directed "the Ecuadorian government to abide by international law and consult with the community regarding any project."
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "Solidarity From the South: Indigenous Leaders From Ecuador Come to Standing Rock", Indian Country Today, 1 October 2016; accessed 2 October 2016
Released at film festivals, Children of the Jaguar was awarded "Best Documentary" by the All Roads Film Project of the National Geographic Society. The film also received Colombia's Indigenous Festival prize for best depiction of a struggle by an indigenous people. In December 2012, Eriberto Gualinga received the Award for International Recognition, by Ecuador's Ministry of Culture for his film. Gina Yauri, translator Victoria Robertson, "Ecuador: 'Children of the Jaguar' Documentary Wins National Geographic Prize", Global Voices, 8 January 2013; accessed 2 October 2016
In 2003, two French friends made a documentary about the story of oil exploitation in Ecuador.
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