Stories From The Territories
Indigenous Amazonian worldviews are deeply connected with the rainforest and all the animals that shape and participate in its tapestry of life. Stories, myths, and ancestral teachings about animals all help to transmit the sacred importance of all beings, from the smallest insects to the largest mammals.
Jaguars – the largest cats in the Americas – are considered particularly sacred and indispensable to the harmony of the forest, and they play key roles in the cosmovisions of many Amazonian Indigenous nations. Renowned for their strength and intelligence, jaguars often represent the fierce defense of territory, and the powerful spirit of Indigenous communities.
In this series, storytellers and leaders from the Waorani, Siekopai, and A’i Cofán nations share reflections and ancestral teachings about what jaguars mean to them and their nations.
Shakira Yumbo from the A’i Cofán nation reflects on her elders’ understanding of the relationship between shamans and jaguars.
English Translation
There are some elders and leaders who say: we are jaguars. This spiritual energy is abundant in our rainforest.
My grandparents taught me that a shaman would turn into a jaguar. When shamans are about to die, three or four days before, they gradually begin to transform. As jaguars, they would then prowl around the territories. They wouldn’t eat our people. They would eat outsiders who threatened the surroundings, like invaders. So, they would eat those people, and animals too, but never our people.
Jairo Irumenga from the Waorani nation reflects on the central role jaguars play in Waorani culture and spirituality.
English Translation
Every time we speak badly of the rainforest, of the territory, of animals, the tigers, or the jaguars, they are listening. For the Waorani Nation, since long ago, over many generations, our elders have taught us that life physically ends, but spiritually we continue existing. The jaguar represents deep strength, because no other species can come close to the jaguar. The spirit of the Waorani is like this. It’s about being strong and continuing to defend the territory, for the sake of life.
Milena Piaguaje from the Siekopai Nation talks of Wateja’ko, a female jaguar figure in Siekopai culture. Wateja’ko is a very powerful entity, capable of transfixing human beings, causing them to fall in love with her.
English Translation
Wateja’ko is a tiger. She is a jaguar but a woman. Kakotëkawë is the perfect season to connect with the spiritual world. In this season, from August to September, the jaguar is a young woman. Once you drink medicine and have a connection with her, or fall in love with her, you become transfixed. In this state of love, if you don’t understand and if you don’t know your way out, you stay with her. As the Kakotëkawë season passes, she grows old again.
Coordinator, Photography and Audio: Michelle Gachet
Illustration: Morelia Mendúa
Design and Animation: Omar T. Bobadilla
Edition: Alejandra Alzate y Sophie Pinchetti
