The Achuar people live in Ecuador between the Macuba and Conambo Rivers along with the related Shuar peoples. The number of Shuar natives in the Amazon Basin is upwards of 40,000. For centuries, the Shuars have been known and feared for their ritualistic shrunken human heads. As with other tribes, the Achuar and the Shuar have struggled to sustain themselves amongst the onslaught of the quickly expanding oil industry, and have been forced on more than one occasion to abandon their lands.

The millions of Quichua natives are the only people who continue to exist on both sides of the Andes, in the highlands and in the Oriente. While the Quechua and Quichua languages are quite similar, the words and pronunciations vary slightly, making it difficult for the speakers of the two dialects to completely understand one another. Also, the Quichuas of the sierra do not necessarily speak the same dialect as those of the rainforests.

The Cofán live along the Aguarico and Bermejo Rivers in the settlements of Sinangué, Doriño and Dureno.  The Cofán are an endangered tribe with a population of less than 1,000. They too have been greatly affected by the influence of missionaries and the intruding oil companies that have destroyed the lands where they live.

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Ecuador´s Amazon rainforest jungle has sustained hundreds of indigenous tribes for centuries. While scientists and archaeologists have found evidence of communities with populations in the millions, the number of natives in the jungles of modern day Ecuador has decreased substantially since the arrival of the Spanish.

When the Europeans first arrived they not only brought advanced weaponry, but also disease, which decimated the population of the Amazonic peoples. Since then, logging and oil companies have expanded into the area, profiting at the expense of the environment and the homes of the native peoples. Tribes have been forced to either adapt to a changing world, or abandon their lands for less fertile land.

The archaeological research in Ecuador’s Amazon basin shows that the area was populated by different tribes who came from the Amazon river Basin and movedup to the Andean slopes where they established settlements 15.000 years ago.

The pre Inca cultures located during research are the Pastaza culture located in the Pastaza river area at around 2.000 years A.C., Cosanga Pillaro (this culture belongs to Napo Pastaza), Carchi, Imbabura and Tungurahua provinces, in the period between 500 to 1000 B.C. . Research has shown that they were the base for the Panzaleo culture in the Central Andes. Finally there was the Napo culture, located downstream on the Napo river, between 1100 to 1450 B.C. The remains of this culture show that the culture left the area at the same time that the Spanish conquerors arrived.

Many Amazon cultures and tribes still living in their home area moved away due to the impact of petroleum facilities and mestizo colonization. However, a lot of them do still live in the region.

The Siona and Secoya people are Tucano speaking tribes. There were approximately 16,000 Tucano speakers when the Spanish first discovered the region, but now the population is less than 500 people. They are primarily based near the Cuyabeno reserve near the Putumayo and Cuyabeno Rivers. Three major Siona communities include: Biaña, Orahuëaya and Puerto Bolivar. The Secoya live on the Aguarico and Cuyabeno rivers in the communities of San Pablo Cantesioya and Seqoya. Since 1972 and from then until 1986, Siona-Secoya territories were devastated by oil companies, which led to inhabitants suing Texaco for over one billion dollars in damages. At 2010 the process is ongoing and a final decision will be taken by an Ecuadorian court.

The Huaorani are one of the more isolated tribes in the Oriente, and are based near the Napo, Curaray and Cononaco Rivers. Even since the arrival of the Spanish, the Huaorani have fought for their land with little desire to open their society to the outside world. Their history is violent and bloody because the Huaorani were willing to do whatever necessary to fend off conquistadors, missionaries, migrating Ecuadorians and oil barons. Today, there are at least 1,000 Huaorani people still living in the jungles of Ecuador.

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