Exploitation of Waodani Resources- Nia Bryant

Oil, Contact and Conservation

The Waodani have lived their life relying on the Amazon and the resources around them. The gatherers and hunters grow their own food, drink from the local rivers and have been accustomed to they way of living for years.
Around the 1950s the way the Waodani knew life changed. Missionaries and European settlers invaded the Waodani's land and came in demand to find new oil reserves. Many of the Waodani lived near one of Ecuador's largest oil deposits. As time went on the people of the Waodani were forced to try to conserve their land from avid oil companies and they have struggled to maintain their culture and other valuable resources.
With regard to the exploitation of oil, the Waodani had no say. A law has been made to reduce any other contact with the indigenous and decrease the exploitation of oil. Even though that law is intact, that still doesn't change the fact that their land has been damaged and their rivers have been polluted. The Waodani have not gotten any compensation for the loss of their land or for the exploitation of the Amazon's oil and timber.

Sources

picture: http://crookedtrails.org/communities/partner-communities/huaorani-territory-ecuador/
informational resources: Judith Kimerling. Environmental Justice. October 2012, P. 236-251.


Reflection:
 
The exploitation of the Waodani was honestly not shocking. European settlers and other powerful nations have exploited hundreds of indigenous people beginning with the Native Americans of North America. It was a disappointment that the Waodani had to go through what they did and it is sad that they are now one of many that can say their native land had been invaded. Especially because the Waodani have been residing in the Amazon for hundreds of years and had to be basically pushed out of their home is sad.