Ecuadorian people & culture:

People I Rules, customs & Etiquette I Andean people I Rainforest people I Native organizations I Afro-Ecuadorians

 

People

Of the current 13 million Ecuadorian population over half are Mestizos, those of Spanish and Indian descent. According to the area they habit they are called "montuvios" or "cholos" in the coastline for example. Where as in the Andes they are nicknamed "longos" or "indios". The main concentration of black people are in the province of Esmeraldas in the north west of Ecuador with the rest spread around the other provinces along with other white cultures in the major cities.

Rules, customs & Etiquette

Clothing

Due to the vastness in climatic differences in Ecuador we can easily see that the Ecuadorians dress customs vary widely across the country. As a general rule of thumb the people of the highlands dress more fully in comparison to the Oriente and coastal provinces where shorts are acceptable and even bare chests where as in the Sierra this is considered offensive, (Playing sports is the exception). Generally for areas like Cuenca and Quito it is sensible to pack spring attire and also a sweater or jacket where as in Guayaquil you should bring more light clothing for temperatures up to the 90s is not untypical. In summary the Ecuadorians are proud of their clothing in all regions and respect is mutual when the traveler can reflect the same respect in taking time to dress accordingly to the local custom and area.

Conduct

The main ingredients in all levels of effective communication from transport to restaurants, buying goods or down to having your shoes cleaned involves the reciprocating of much politeness and good conduct from the Ecuadorian. It is better to be over polite as is the custom here than to be aggressive and overly direct just as we must watch not to be over critical when in another culture's country, even facial expressions are maps for interpretation and so patience in the end will prevail but do be strong in any negotiation and agree on a cost first. In reference to transport most Ecuadorians will jump on buses as they pass by them outside major bus stops but be careful as the buses will not be stationary and in the two major trolley routes of Quito the queue line system is at best ad-hoc and you may have to push during rush hour your way into the trolleys that run from North to South and vice-versa. The hand shake is also another emphasized custom in Ecuador along with the time of day, for example, good morning till 12 am (buenos dias), afternoon (tardes) and evening (noches) you can take if not fluent from your local guidebooks on basic Spanish along with excuse me (disculpas) and asking for permission (con permiso). Be warned giving money to children is down to the individual, some families place their children on major roads hoping to find sympathetic Westerners. Or other country's tourists and is part of the game to extract pity funds. People with limbs missing and old ladies is another matter of compassion.

Andean people

The Quichuas number around 2 million alone in Ecuador. The local dialect is similarly related in tongue to the language spoken in Bolivia and Peru. © Picture by Isabel de Wuth. 02-2282841. The main difference within the regions and provinces in Ecuador is symbolized within the clothing though all indigenous folks will have similar hats, sometimes referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin style of head gear". The Saraguros main color is black due to the continual respect in mourning the deceased leader Atahualpa, while in Otavalo the ladies sport multi colored embroidered shirt blouses with bright and royal blue skirts. Originally there were 11 main indigenous cultures in Ecuador. Today the number of surviving cultures has diminished due to disease, hard times and as with the North American Sioux, Cheyenne, Navajo Indians, etc. have been similarly ostracized from their lands for capital gain and exploitation amongst other reasons weakening the structural roots of each culture to near extinction.

Rainforest people

The provinces of Napo and Pastaza in the Oriente contain the largest groups of Quichuas totaling around 60,000 while in the lower southerly province of Morona Santiago the Shuar and Achuar community is a third less. © Picture by Isabel de Wuth. 02-2282841. The main contrast between the Amazonian Quichuas and all other indigenous people is in lifestyles. This race is under constant threat from oil companies forever looking for greater land expansions for exploiting along with their area being overdeveloped by property developers. The situation is compounded further due to the larger than normal lands required for farming that allows the jungle time to recover as with the three crop rotation method employed for centuries by European and Western farmers. This technique is also known as Itinerant farming. © Picture by Isabel de Wuth. 02-2282841. The Pastaza Indians (Shuar, Quichua and Siona-Secoya) can all provide you if pre-booked beforehand with marvelous guided tours and also have novel hand made crafts for sale that are high quality gifts and should be taken advantage. Pre-booking has also become a must with the Huaorani and ONHAE, the official organization for this race will only allow guided tours that have passed their test of merit and are therefore the main controlling body here and rightly so as no indigenous group wishes to be viewed by random unwanted tourists out of their respect for privacy. Smaller clusters of groups may also be seen in Santo Domingo de Los Colorados, who have monk, basin hairstyles dyed orange named Tsáchilas (around 2,000). They are nicknamed the "Colorados". The other smaller groups inhabit the coastal areas. In Esmeraldas and Carchi provinces, there are around 4,000 Awas known also as Cuaiquer. The Cayapas known as Chachi are nearer the coast (7,000) but again relocation of outsiders due to the Colonization process again threatens the locals lands and lifestyle forcing them to move out or live in more cramped spaces.

Native organizations

Between the indigenous groups who occupy lands from the Sierra and into the Amazon rainforests the local is constantly reminded of the twin threats of timber and oil extraction developers invading his space and privacy. For this reason the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE) was set up. The confederation as well as being politically active and aggressive within eco-circles also works with overseas nature conservancy organizations and Governments that all aid equally in the fight and help further conserve the local natives prime goals and objectives. Equally the Local native has also grouped himself into several regional bodies that includes all groupings and keeping everyone well informed of latest changes, laws and creating effective time responses for planning systematic countermeasures.

If you're interested in visiting independently these organizations in the Oriente contact the Organización de Indigenas de Pastaza (OPIP) in Puyo, Tel. 3885461; they can help and provide you with lists of indigenous museums and artists workplaces.

Afro-Ecuadorians

Around 15% of the total country are black people who are dotted around the country and major cities but most live around Esmeraldas and Imbabura. © Picture by Isabel de Wuth. 02-2282841. The majority of the population are direct ascendants from the slave trade during the 18th century and were brought over in boats from Africa to work on the Coastal areas and food plantations you can still view from the major roads today consisting mainly of bananas, fruits, coffee and rice. Although slavery was completely abolished in 1821 it actually was a continued practice in Ecuador till 1852 and ended in 1881 as the archaic debt tenancy system was finalized. Today many blacks still suffer class rankings leading to racism due to their poor education as with the Indians as is reflected in the U.S.A with whites.

Ecuadorian people & culture:

People I Rules, customs & Etiquette I Andean people I Rainforest people I Native organizations I Afro-Ecuadorians

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