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Quichua in Ecuador

  • Profile 

    Quichua (or Kichwa) are a diverse group inhabiting both highland and lowland regions of Ecuador. This name also refers to the most widely spoken indigenous language in South America. In addition to Ecuador, Quichua is spoken in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, where speakers of this language represent a variety of different ethnic groups. Article 2 of the Ecuadorian Constitution establishes that Quichua, along with Spanish and Shuar, are official languages for intercultural relations. 

    Historical context 

    Quichua are arguably the single largest indigenous people in the world. They are known for their important contributions to architecture and elaborate roads from the pre-colonial period. In Ecuador alone, there are at least 15 sub-groups of Quichua people. With a unique tradition of making textiles, the Otavalo Quichua have established relationships with national and international trade that has afforded them a better socio-economic status than other indigenous communities in Ecuador.  

    In 2004, the Network of Quichuan Nationalities of the Amazon, representing 18 Quichua organizations of the Napo region, opposed a series of policy talks aimed at increasing oil production. In May 2006 Quichuan organizations were instrumental in a series of protests and roadblocks leading to President Alfredo Palacio’s ordering of US oil giant Occidental to leave Ecuador. The company subsequently turned to a World Bank arbitration panel with a claim of US$3.2 billion. In November 2015 the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ordered the Ecuadorian government to pay US$1 billion to Occidental; in January 2016, the two parties agreed to a US$980 million compensation payment after the Ecuadorian government canceled the contract in 2006, under which the oil company was extracting about 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the Amazon. 

    Quichua continue to play a central role in significant development of indigenous peoples’ rights, for instance in the noted case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). In 1996, Ecuador signed a 20-year contract with an Argentinean oil company, Compañia General de Combustibles (CGC), which had been granted governmental permission to search for oil on Sarayaku ancestral lands without informing or consulting the community. In 2002, the project started, and in 2004, CGC planted mines which destroyed part of the forest and put at risk indigenous people’s lives. In 2010, the case was brought before the IACtHR which reached a decision in 2012. According to the Court’s judgment, Ecuador violated the right to free, prior and informed consultation (expressly recognized in International Labour Organization Convention No. 169, to which Ecuador is a party) as well as the right to communal property and cultural identity and the right to life and physical integrity. 

    Current issues  

    Although Quichua people have tried to spread awareness of the challenges they face through the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (La Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador, CONAIE), segments of the population continue to face serious socio-economic challenges. In the highlands, Quichua farmers have been compelled by their worsening economic situation to earn their livelihood as day labourers in commercial agriculture or as seasonal migrant workers. Similarly, lowland Quichua continue to suffer from high rates of poverty, little access to education and inadequate health services. The growth of the eco-tourism industry has benefited Quichua communities to some extent. However, international companies without indigenous representation continue to dominate the tourism industry. 

    The Ecuadorian government indicated in 2014 its intention to allow expansion of oil extraction on Quichua ancestral land in Napo province. Quichua leaders have made clear their opposition to oil companies carrying out their activities on this land.  

    However, since 2021 the oil company Petroecuador has been negotiating with Comuna Quichua El Edén some social investment measures in the area, although indigenous leaders state that the agreements are not being fulfilled. 

    Indeed, in April 2020, thousands of barrels of oil leaked from two pipelines, contaminating the Coca and Napo Rivers and causing pollution that affected hundreds of Quichwa communities. CONAIE and other organizations filed an emergency legal petition with the courts, but the case was dismissed by the first and second instances. Judges criminalized Quichwa leaders and lawyers.  One year on, hundreds of Quichwa activists marched through the streets of Coca to protest against this injustice. In 2021, the plaintiffs turned to Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, but as of this update, the judge has yet to make a ruling. Meanwhile, new spills have taken place in 2022 and 2024, according to Amazon Frontlines, one of the organizations supporting Quichwa communities in their legal claim.  

    In an interview with Mongabay in 2022, Patricia Gualinga Montalvo, a human rights defender and member of the Quichua people of Sarayaku, commented that the primary issues experienced in their territory are linked to extractive industries such as oil, mining and logging. ‘If we still have forests, it is because indigenous peoples have fought with our lives,’ Gualinga stated. 

Updated August 2024

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