Last Updated on May 19, 2019
The Waorani have a reputation for being some the fiercest warriors in the Amazon. Despite being dragged into the colonial world fifty years ago, they have retained that fierceness, and throughout the years they have continuously struggled to regain what was taken from them: their land and freedom to live their own way of life.
The struggle continues even now, as it does for so many others around the world, with oil companies ripping through the land, and with the government of Ecuador threatening to open up the Yasuni National Park—dragging the Waorani, and others to the cutting edge of extinction.
There is a fleeting chance that Yasuni will be left untouched, but only as long as the world is willing to pay a price. And now matter the payout, the Yasuni will remain vulnerable to oil exploitation forever in the future.
This is not reasonable nor acceptable to the Waorani — or to the Kichwa, Shuar, Tagaeri, Taromenani, Zaparoan and all other land-based peoples in the region.
That much has been made clear since the first oil companies arrived — and it will remain as such, regardless of what anyone says or does or forgets.
After all, their struggle is not merely some ‘trivial pursuit’, as if the Waorani are ‘savages’ who need to be taught a lesson so they can live the so-called modern life.
Indeed, it is a struggle for life itself. The Waorani want to live their own.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
