Although not all of
the conquistadors had earned good reputations, Diaz de Pineda always
had a good name. He was part of the first great Spanish conquests
into the jungle areas after the long conquest of the mountains. Diaz
de Pineda completed many important tasks for Francisco Pizarro; he
explored the territory of theYumbos, opened a road to Esmeraldas,
and occupied a post in the local government of the town Pasto, until
he received orders to make the journey to the country of La Canela.
His house in Quito was always open to everyone: including the people
of high society (nobles) and those who returned from adventures, and
even the former soldiers who were no longer able to carry a sword
and shield, those who risked their lives to succeed but for whom the
price of failure was paid in blood. The ruler gathered together
adventures waiting for action in December 1538 and ordered a
conquest of unification.
Reunited and equipped,
the group of 130 Spanish men, including 45 horsemen, 30 crossbowmen, and
10 craftsmen, left for the adventure. Thousands of pounds of gold were
paid to the men by Diaz de Pineda to buy the necessary equipment. This
money came from gold he sold from his own ranch and the chronicles say
that they made the gunpowder with their own hands.
In
September he climbed Guamani to look for a route; alter he passed
Hatunquijos where he suffered many troubles from the Indians like rock
attacks from above and by way of slingshot. Additionally during this
time, the Indians lost their fear of the horses and the men and attacked
with no intent of negotiating. Furthermore, the Indians set up
fortifications, traps and other surprises on their land. There followed
a tough battle.
He set up a camp where
20 years later Gil Ramirez would establish Baeza; he abandoned the
horses and departed on the journey with 60 Spaniards. They crossed the
Cosanga River and founded the Borja River, then climbed the Huagraurca
and made their way around the slopes of Sumaco near the Suno River.
Diaz de Pineda had
interpreters previously captured by merchants in Quito and through the
use of Kichwa, a common language, they were able to organize under the
leadership of the chief of La Canela (valley of the Payamino) and with
the powerful ruler Hatunique (headwaters of the Aguarico River). After
27 days they returned to Cosanga. The jungle was impenetrable for the
Spanish.
Four months later the
captain finally made a second entrance trying a route further to the
north, following the trail used by travelers, merchants, Cofanes and
other Indians, what became later the community to Tuza, today, nearSan
Gabriel de Carchi. They said that the chief ruled many communities and
possessed much land rich in minerals and gold.
But at the moment of
departure, disturbances in Quito between news of the Francisco Pizarro
and Benalcazar forced
Diaz de Pineda
to name Gonzalez Pizarro to the position of Governor of Quito; who later
conquered the land of La Canela (Cinnamon). This first discovery taken
to Quito informed them of formerly unknown populations and communities
in an inhospitable place, but the greatest piece of information
concerned an amazing geological monument, Sumaco.
Translations by Hewlett,
Christopher 2007 (taken from the original “Coca La Region y sus
Historias” written by Miguel Angel Cabodevilla, Cicame 1998.
Legend of the Jungle
The Flood
During the time of our
forefathers, there began a period of ten years when the banks of the
Marañon River were destroyed and in the mud that was left, small holes
were made to filter out the water. The river rose rapidly and the water
flooded the jungle past the backs and for ten years the jungle was
submerged under water like a lake, like an ocean. It even covered the
mountains including Sumaco, which was the tallest and it stayed under
water. Only very few men and women were saved from the flood by building
a little boat in which they also saved some animals and reptiles. On the
boat they had a little earth on which they grew corn and yucca and
eating just enough, they were able to survive the whole period of the
flood. After a long time they unplugged the holes and filtered out the
water from Lake Marañon, little by little, until the land appeared
again. The people left the boat and set off in every direction
repopulating the jungle.
Translations by Hewlett,
Christopher 2007
Several Waorani Myths
The Beginning
“One day, the two
cultural heroes Nene (squirrel) and Boya (spider) tied the vulture on
the highest branch during his sleep with a cotton hip cord (other
versions say with a vine). When he woke up to swoop down on new victims,
he fell from the branch, remained in the air upside down, and died soon
after. Squirrel was then ordered by the Waorani to cut the vine which
attached the giant tree to the sky. By falling, the tree became the
Amazon watershed and its leaves were transformed into the different
species of fish. However, if Coba had saved the Waorani from the
vulture, it was to let them perish in the big flood that followed the
fall of the giant ceibo tree. There was nowhere to escape, and most of
the people died, except for a brother-sister pair which was sent
downriver inside a waterproof log. From their union, the Waorani grew
numerous again, careful as they were exclusively marrying cross-cousins”
(Rival, Laura 1991, 92).
The Moon
A brother and a sister,
who have always been very close, sleep in the same hammock. In his
sleep, the brother turns into a mosquito, and unwillingly penetrates his
sister’s mouth. She is awakened by the tickling and soon realizes with
horror that her face is stained with genipa. The young man, mortified
and terribly ashamed, asks his younger brother to propel him to heaven
with his blowpipe. The incestuous brother becomes the moon. The younger
brother and his sister become close allies. Chagrined by her son’s
absence, and heart-broken by the irreparable distance their mother
watches the moon every night. (Rival, Laura 2002: 157)
Pregnancy and Birthing
It was a tragic,
terrible period in our history for married men could only have one
child, whom they delivered by killing their wives. Women had a birth
canal and a hole, but it was too narrow to let the child out, so men had
to cut their pregnant wives open to get the baby out. One day, Wegonhue observed an expectant couple from a distance. The woman was
close to giving birth, so her husband went to the forest to prepare the
spears for the caesarian section. He was in grief at the thought of
having to kill and bury his wife and raise the baby on kapamo
juice. But while he was busy making his spears, the little rodent came
near the pregnant woman, held her in the back and taught her muscular
movements to dilate the birth canal. The baby was born just before its
father’s return. He was absolutely stunned and delighted. The word
spread around, and pregnant women from the vicinity came to learn from
the woman who had given birth without losing her life. From then on the
Waorani race grew and multiplied. (Rival, Laura 1998: 452)