A Welcome from Warriors
- 9 Dec 07, 02:35 PM
Posted from: Wijint
Well, we got here at last, but haven't had the smoothest of rides so far. The Achuar seem pretty underwhelmed to see us and so far we're having some trouble working out how to make this film.
We got here a day late, because the boats were so slow and found that the 'Apus' or elders had all gone out hunting for the day. They'd had a big welcome ceremony prepared for us the day before, traditional dancing and stuff, so it was a real pity we missed it.
First thing this morning we were summoned to the hall for a traditional greeting and then a meeting. All the team had to walk in single file and take our seats in front of the Apus (Matt and Zubin were exempt and allowed to film).
Matt filming some of the Achuar men
They greeted us with their traditional war dance, hopping from foot to foot, screaming challenges, and waving shotguns and spears at us. Although it's ceremonial, it was actually pretty intimidating and gave me a real sense of how little they welcome outsiders around here. These old guys were warriors once, not that long ago, locked in bloody tribal wars with their neighbours.
There then followed a long meeting. The Achuar like meetings. They like meetings more than anything. They can go on all day. Everyone has their say and all are encouraged to speak at length. And because we are having to translate everything from Achuar to Spanish to English and back again, it takes three times as long. We must have set some kind of record.
Achuar men in their red war paint
The old men, dressed in bright red toucan feather head-dresses and red war paint, told us they had never seen so many white faces in the village before and it couldn't be anything but bad news. They accused us of being part of the oil companies that are threatening their land (including Jorje and Linton who are their elected representatives and speak on their behalf). We got an overwhelming sense of suspicion and hostility. They didn't want us there. They were scared of us and what we represented. However, they know they need their story to be told to the outside world and so, eventually, they agreed that we could stay.
The Achuar happen to live in a beautiful rainforest that sits on top of a massive oil field. The oil reserves beneath their feet have been sold and they are now fighting to keep the oil companies from starting seismic testing. So far, on this river, they have been successful. Their neighbours elsewhere have been less so and are suffering the effects of widescale pollution.
Willow, our brilliant assistant producer, has done an amazing job of winning the Achuar tribe's trust and convincing them to allow us to film. But we don't have much time. Because we lost so much time with Matt's illness, our schedules have gone out the window. We've got just over a week here to film this story so we've got our work cut out.
Because we're so short of time, instead of moving on to another community, another day away, we decide to stay here and film.
Bruce is moving into an Achuar house first thing tomorrow morning. The head of the house is a cantankerous old bugger called Saris. He looks grumpy as hell but I reckon he'll be good value and put Bruce through his paces. A snigger went round the room when his house was chosen. Maybe the Achuar like a laugh after all.
Find out more about producer-director Matt Brandon's illness and watch video of his emergency evacuation from the jungle
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