Documental salud y vida en la mitad del mundo: Los tzachilas
Chapter 1
Ecuador, a country of equal distance from both poles, an Andean, tropical, & Amazonian country facing the Pacific Ocean, owes its name to the Knowledge Society.
Welcome to Salud y Vida en la Mitad del Mundo.
Hello, I’m Dr Max, a doctor who has worked with the family of Alfonso Aguavil in the community of Chiguilpe, helping with the ecological & cultural development of the Tzachila community.
The medicines of the Tzachilas are widely used both within & outside the country, thanks to their great knowledge of medicinal plants & the power of the mind as a therapeutic resource, & the use of ayahuasca.
In this visit to the Tzachilas, I am accompanied by Dr Vun Lim from Malaysia, who is a Rheumatologist in North Wales, UK.
INTERVIEWS
How long have you had this back problem for?
This pain in the back, I’ve had it for about 3 years.
In the assessment of musculoskeletal problems, the most important question is this – is it inflammatory or non-inflammatory.
She is providing free medical attention & giving professional lectures in the rural areas covered by the Ministry of Health.
Rheumatic diseases are chronic, weakening & painful disorders that requiring prolonged periods of treatment that result in the highest healthcare costs in the country.
Hello, I am Antonella. In this programme, we will get to know the history & the culture of the Tzachailas by visiting the Aguavil family in Chiguilpe, with whom we have worked in the pursuit of sustainable development since 2002.
The Tzachilas are a group of indigenous people from the inner coast of Ecuador, who live in the new Santo Domingo de los Tzachilas province, at the edge of the the busiest road/highway of the inner coast.
INTERVIEWS
Anything else? Only this? Do you have any illness or pain in your body?
No
Chiguilpe is an indigenous community living practically within one of the fastest developing cities in the country, Santo Domingo de los Tzachilas. What I am interested in is how the city influences the youths & the children of this community.
The women used to only wear a simple skirt called ‘tuna’, but are now obliged to cover their breasts following the establishment of catholic & urban moral values.
INTERVIEWS
What do you call this type of skirt?
For men or for women?
What is the name of the men’s skirt, and the women’s skirt?
The men’s is called ‘mam pesampac’
‘Mam pesampac’
And the women’s is ‘tunan’
‘Tunan’
Yes
Nowadays, women do almost everything that men do & are highly respected. However, they still retain certain ritual activities that are exclusively female.
INTERVIEWS
Try to dispossess someone of their bad energy, prepare herbal baths, both hot and cold baths, cleanse the house and the business. I am working.
Every part of their attire & decoration has its significance.
Men also wear a sash known as “bereque o paniú”, a piece of coloured cloth/fabric worn on the left shoulder, or the “jalí”, a cotton blanket/poncho for cold days. The “calatushilli” is a silver bracelet that is worn when one is married, & removed should one become widowed. This is the “mishilli”, a little cotton crown....
INTERVIEWS
He is putting a piece of cotton on my head. This is done by a father to his son to hand over power.
To the Tzachilas, the universe is a vital space, inhabited by a rich variety of gods, superior beings & spirits, amongst which are:
Pipowa – a male god, who lives in the skies & who comes to connect with men through the shamanic rituals.
INTERVIEWS
That’s the ceremony to cleanse the body.
In the water, it’s the contact with nature at this moment, one of the 3 important elements. That’s why it’s important to enter into the water, the element that gives life.
He manifests himself/is most obvious in the horizon at sunset in the evening. They believe that these mysteries created the sun .
Mapiyan – a female god, who is the creator of the mountains, the fields, the rivers & who gives life to the oceans. She is the guardian of the farmers, the fishermen & the hunters.
Pe, the moon, is a goddess who illuminates the sky in the dark nights. She is the mother of the lonely, & the companion of the travelling nomads.
Tsabó, symbolised by the stars & the fertile land where the seeds lie & flourish, gives life to the seedlings & bestows health to living beings.
INTERVIEWS
Is this the ayahuasca plant?
No
Ajomacho. This is the strongest plant that dispels all the bad spirits and bad energy that are brought into the Tzachila community from outside and which contaminate the community, and we defend ourselves with this.
It’s not ayahuasca?
No
Oh, it smells of garlic!
Yes
Chapter 2
The Tzachilas are the only indigenous nation of the Ecuadorian coast, who have survived living in places close to cities & who retain a culture in tune with nature. Situated in the main highway connecting Quito to Quayaquil, the Tzachilas managed to survive the terrible pestilences circulating this road.
In 1842, yellow fever or ‘black vomit’ arrived in Guayaquil. This attacked the cocoa region, transforming the port into the focal point of the epidemic in South America. This affected the traffic going through the Panama Canal constructed by the United States.
In 1904, Theodore Roserveldt, president of the United States, declared the construction of the Panama Canal. The main problem was Yellow Fever & he sent the army doctors to try to eliminate it.
It was Yellow Fever that stopped the French, who later built the Suez Canal. The French, who initiated this colossal engineering feat, lost 27 000 workers to malaria, yellow fever & construction accidents.
An effort to eradicate Yellow Fever, which had plagued Guayaquil for 80 years, especially the cocoa region, saw the arrival of Dr Hideyo Noguchi, a distinguished Rockefeller Institute scientist. He worked in the region from 1918 to 1924, until Guayaquil was finally declared a clean port.
In the 20th century, the Tzachilas formed part of the contracted workers of some of the biggest cacao plantations, which had now extended into the province of Los Rios. Ecuador became the first country in the world to export aromatic cacao.
It has been noted that the Tzachilas started dyeing their hair following the arrival of Yellow Fever to avoid succumbing to the disease. Apparently, the smell of achote acts as a repellent to the Haemagogus as well as the Aedes Egypti mosquitoes which transmit the disease.
INTERVIEWS
The Tzachilas of old did not use the red colour on their hair daily because they did not need it at that time. After the appearance of a very bad spell of Yellow Fever, smallpox, and other diseases, the Tzachilas then turned to and discovered the achote plant. The spirits channelled to them through the ceremonies they performed, told them to use this antidote. After that, the Tzachillas began to shell the achote and examine its contents.
The smell is very strong. They initiated a ritual. Also, the worshipping of the sun creates a very powerful energy that connects the men’s hair with the colour, and so this was the strongest and most real connection that the Tzachila men had as their salvation from all the epidemics of diseases that arrived in the village, and the threat to the culture of our ethnic group.
Their fame as therapists spread as they managed to save the lives of many of the victims of Yellow Fever, for which there is still no specific treatment. The disease can only be prevented by vaccination which has been available since 1932.
Yellow Fever is a viral illness, which according to the medical historian Rodolfo Pérez Pimental, first arrived on the 31st of August 1842. Together with the bubonic plague in 1908, it became the worst epidemic during the Republican period to hit Guayaquil.
Following a bite by an infected mosquito, there is an incubation period of 3 to 6 days. Most people only develop a mild illness characterised by several days of fever & feeling generally unwell. Only 15% develop the serious illness.
This is characterised by jaundice and high fever up to 42 degrees C, occasionally improving, only to rise again. The patient rapidly deteriorates due to the inability to ingest anything. Mortality is high for patients who develop the toxic phase with ‘black vomit’. If the patient does not develop ‘black vomit’ within the next 8 days, he/she is said to have entered the ‘definitive phase’ and will recover completely.
This disease is still endemic in Amazonia as well as several South American countries such as Brazil. The vaccine is effective within 10 days of vaccination and lasts for 10 years, and the Ministry of Health recommends revaccination afterwards.
In 1899, the city of Santo Domingo became a parish.
In 1968, the Aloag Santo Domingo highway was opened, an engineering wonder for the roads in the Andes. However, with its sharp bends and steep ravines, it also became a road that claimed the most road traffic accident victims. For this reason, the chapel of the Virgin of Mercy is always filled with the faithful and lit candles.
These asphalted carriageways turned Santo Domingo into the vital/central hub of the coastal region, where the major highways from Quito, Esmeraldas, Manabí and Guayas meet.
INTERVIEW
Which part of Peru are you from?
Piura
As a result of this close coexistence with the mestizos, many indigenous people have taken spouses or have had children with people outside their ethnic groups, a cause of controversies and conflicts.
INTERVIEWS
How do you feel, how have you adapted now, have you given up your love for Peru?
I went to school in Peru, and I am an economist by profession.
Really?
Yes, but I don’t feel that it’s been hard, I’m content
Even though I have left behind my family, my profession, my work, everything, but I’m fine and I’m happy.
Really?
Yes.
I am still learning how to prepare the food here, especially since I like eating. The food is good.
For example, I have never eaten ?guarca
This is called anoila.
Noile?
Anoila
Anoila
How is it made?
Ground plantain, isn’t it? Then fried?
No, just cooked.
The Tzachilas maintain a very healthy diet every day.
Chapter 4
Santo Domingo has become a city that is rapidly developing in a disorganised way, with shantytowns without basic amenities. The social conflicts resulted in the development and expansion/spread of prostitution, and even child trafficking. In fact, just at the entrance of the Tzachila community of Chiguilpe, at the Km7 of the Quevedo road, is the red light district which had (adversely) influenced the behaviour of the men and the youths of the community.
There are 7 Tzachila communities who have been living in a constant power dispute following the death of their great leader Abraham Calazacón. This dispute has worsened since 2008 following the creation of the province of Santo Domingo de los Tzachilas, with each community fighting over the various central and district governmental projects and favours.
INTERVIEWS
Damn it! All the people have been damaged, all the ‘Casa Comuna’ (a committee of elders of the village).
One would like to be friends with the other family, but they’re aggressive and full of conflict. It was never like this before.
This year, or perhaps the previous year, all the redheads have been damaged.
It was never like this before, but now, all the redheads have been damaged. They don’t want to visit us, or chat to us. I don’t know what happened. Before, we used to live happily together, all of us, all the redheads, how nice it was, greeting each other, chatting with each other.
Now, everyone is in conflict with each other, one here & the other there, not living together peacefully anymore.
Fuck it all, they’re so aggressive & conflicting, (what are they thinking)
Today, ecotourism and health tourism form a major part of the economy of the Tzachilas.
INTERVIEWS
What attracts you here?
For me, the attraction is to see how the Tzachila culture coexists, what their customs and their worldview are and how they embrace their culture which is very interesting, above all to know more about the Ecuadorians that we have as part of our tangible heritage
Well, I’ve heard several versions about ayahuasca, and I have come here to try this potion, as apparently one can find what one is looking for, for me perhaps my dreams, or perhaps it’ll sow some seeds.
The most common psychological problems for which people attend the Tzachilas are emotional crisis, autosuggestion, pessimism and depression, mostly associated with sentimental and economical problems.
INTERVIEW
What are the commonest conditions you have come across?
Well...
Just the commonest problems
Psychological
Psychological problems?
Yes, psychological. They are traumatised by economical problems, family, personal, spouse issues. The reason these people then become generally unwell is because of these worries.
Health tourism at Chiguilpe has a long history. Patients with all sorts of illnesses come to the community.
INTERVIEWS
Are there as many women healers here, or are they fewer in number?
There are fewer female healers
How many are there here?
Around 10 Tzachila women
Healers?
Healers.
What about midwives? Are there more of them?
Very few
So there’re no midwives now?
Very few
So the women give birth without midwives present?
They look for them mainly at the maternity hospital now.
The healers jealously guard their secrets on medicinal plants, their combinations and usage.
INTERVIEWS
What a great plant! What’s it called?
......
How is it used?
We prepare baths with this to remove stress in people with an excess of bad energy
However, their most powerful resource is the use of alcohol, tobacco and ayahuasca, which was studied by Dr Plutarco Naranjo.
INTERVIEWS
The most powerful energy, it is the mother of all the existing powerful medicinal plants. Its spirit is that of a serpent of thousands of colours, that, through a ceremony, channels its energy, a spirit that concentrates in our body, and its energy appears for all the good things that we wish for.
The main active compound in ayahuasca is dimethyltryptamine or DMT, and cause cardiac agitation, vomiting and profuse diarrhoea, vertigo and hallucinations for up to 8 hours without any loss of consciousness or orientation.
Before using ayahuasca, the shamans perform a preparatory ceremony with the aim of concentrating the attention of the patient on his/her own problem, and through intuitive medicine, finds out the health issues of the patient, and channels his/her thoughts to resolve the situation.
INTERVIEWS
What illnesses do you have?
None
Any illness, need some luck in business, work?
Yes, in my studies
Studies?
Yes
However, the national and international fame of the shamans has also seen the rise of charlatans who misuse the prestige of the great healers.
INTERVIEWS
They don’t even know which plants are good, in the healings that don’t go well & which people complain about. That’s not right. One always has to think properly. If it’s possible to perform the healings, then one will be able to heal well. One should not lie too much.
That’s what I think. Don’t you agree?
Currently I am playing a national music, happy Ecuadorian music.
But also Tzachila music
Yes, of course, it is our indigenous music. I learnt it from my father.
How are you? What are your names?
My name is Lida Luisa Aguavil Aguavil
I am Tatiana Angélica Aguavil Calazacón
Melia Aguavil Calazacón
You work in a tourism company, don’t you?
What does this company highlight about the Tzachila community?
Its music, dance, traditional craftworks, tourism & shamanism
How long have you worked there?
About 6 months
Can you say something in Safiqui?
Yes, ....................................
Can you translate that for us please?
Yes. We send you our regards and long live this channel.
END
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