Who Are the Secoya?
The Secoya (Airo-Pai, meaning "People of the Forest") are an indigenous Amazonian people numbering approximately 1,500, split between Ecuador (~700) and Peru (~800) along the Aguarico, Eno, and Napo river watersheds. They speak Paicoca (Secoya), a Western Tucanoan language closely related to Siona. The Secoya once controlled vast territories in the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon; oil development, colonization, and disease devastated their population and lands from the 1960s onward. They are plaintiffs in the landmark Chevron-Texaco litigation over oil contamination.
Oil Devastation
The Secoya territory became ground zero for Texaco's Ecuadorian oil operations (1964-1992). The company dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into rivers and unlined pits. Cancer, birth defects, and skin diseases increased dramatically. The Secoya population crashed from approximately 10,000 to barely 1,000 by the 1990s. Their territory was carved up by colonization roads, oil wells, and palm plantations. This destruction exemplifies the "resource curse"—how extractive industries can devastate indigenous peoples while wealth flows elsewhere. The Secoya became emblems of oil's human costs.
Chevron Litigation
The Secoya are plaintiffs in the decades-long lawsuit against Chevron (which acquired Texaco) over contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The 2011 Ecuadorian judgment ordered $9.5 billion in damages—the largest environmental verdict in history. Chevron has refused to pay, challenging the verdict in U.S. courts and attacking the plaintiffs' attorneys. The case became mired in jurisdictional disputes, corporate counter-attacks, and political complexity. Regardless of legal outcome, the Secoya's ruined homeland cannot be restored. The litigation demonstrates both the power and limits of legal remedies for indigenous peoples facing corporate destruction.
Contemporary Secoya
Modern Secoya work to preserve culture while coping with contamination's legacy. Some communities have relocated to less polluted areas. Traditional practices—yagé (ayahuasca) ceremonies, shamanic knowledge, forest subsistence—continue despite territorial loss. Language transmission remains relatively strong. The Secoya nationality organization (OISE) represents community interests. Health programs address contamination-related illness. Reforestation and restoration projects attempt to heal degraded lands. How this small population maintains identity while living amid oil's aftermath defines the Secoya's survival as a people.
References
- Kimerling, J. (1991). Amazon Crude
- Vickers, W. T. (1976). Cultural Adaptation to Amazonian Habitats: The Siona-Secoya of Eastern Ecuador
- Barrett, P. M. (2014). Law of the Jungle: The $19 Billion Legal Battle Over Oil in the Rain Forest