Who Are the Achuar?
The Achuar are an indigenous Amazonian people numbering approximately 18,000, divided between Ecuador (~12,000) and Peru (~6,000) along the Pastaza and Morona river watersheds. They speak Achuar-Shiwiar, a Jivaroan language closely related to Shuar. The Achuar remained largely isolated until the 1970s, resisting Spanish colonization and later Ecuadorian and Peruvian state expansion. Their territory encompasses some of the most pristine rainforest remaining in the Amazon basin. The Achuar are famous for their dream practices and organized resistance to oil development.
Dream Culture
The Achuar place extraordinary importance on dreams (kara). Community members rise before dawn to share and interpret dreams, which guide daily decisions including hunting, gardening, and social interactions. This practice caught international attention through John Perkins' writings, though anthropologists emphasize that Achuar dream interpretation is complex and culturally embedded. Dreams connect the waking world to the spiritual realm; through dreams, Achuar receive guidance from ancestors, spirits, and the forest itself. This orientation toward the non-material shapes Achuar relationships with nature and each other.
Oil Resistance
The Achuar have organized one of the Amazon's most effective indigenous movements against oil extraction. In the 1990s, they rejected Arco and other companies seeking oil concessions. The Nationality Achuar of Ecuador (NAE) and Peruvian counterparts coordinate territorial defense. The Achuar argue that oil development destroyed neighboring Cofán and Secoya territories—they watched and learned. Their resistance includes legal action, international advocacy, and community organizing. Unlike some neighboring peoples who accepted oil money, the Achuar maintained territorial integrity, though pressure continues from new concessions on their borders.
Contemporary Achuar
Modern Achuar balance cultural preservation with selective engagement with the outside world. They have embraced satellite communication while rejecting roads that would bring colonization. Indigenous tourism, managed by communities, provides income without large-scale development. Traditional practices—ayahuasca ceremonies, hunting with blowguns, dream sharing—continue alongside schools and health clinics. Climate change and deforestation pressure mount on their borders. How the Achuar maintain their dream-centered culture and pristine territory while navigating global pressures shapes this resistant people's ongoing defense of the Amazon.
References
- Descola, P. (1996). The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle
- Taylor, A. C. (1993). "Remembering to Forget: Identity, Mourning, and Memory Among the JĂvaro"
- Perkins, J. (1994). The World Is As You Dream It