Editing Shuar

{{short description|Ethnic group of Ecuador}}
{{for|the language|Shuar language}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Shuar
| image            = Shuar in Huamboya.jpg
| population       = 100,000
| religions        = [[Christian]], [[Shamanism]], [[Animism]]<ref name=bbc>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/amazon/sites/peruvianjungle/pages/content.shtml "Achuar: Culture."] ''BBC: Peruvian Jungle.'' (retrieved 4 July 2011)</ref>
}}
The '''Shuar''', also known as '''Jivaro''', are an indigenous ethnic group that inhabits the [[Ecuadorians|Ecuadorian]] and [[Peruvian Amazonia]]. They are famous for their hunting skills and their tradition of head shrinking, known as [[Tzantza|Tzantsa.]]

The Shuar language belongs to the Jivaroan linguistic family and is spoken by over 50,000 people in the region. The Shuar are known for their skill in warfare, both in defending their territories and in offensive actions against external enemies. Currently, many Shuar live in communities organized around agriculture and hunting, although there are also some who work in mining and the timber industry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-03 |title=Warints y Yawi, los shuar que abrieron la selva a la minería |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/ecuador/warints-y-yawi-los-shuar-que-abrieron-la-selva-a-la-mineria-nota/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=El Universo |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=null |date=2017-03-27 |title=La minería amenaza a los indígenas shuar en Ecuador |language=es-LA |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/es/2017/03/27/espanol/opinion/la-mineria-amenaza-a-los-indigenas-shuar-en-ecuador.html |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Name==
Shuar, in the [[Shuar language]], means "people".<ref>As [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] demonstrated, most indigenous people call themselves "people" or "human", designing the "[[Other (philosophy)|Other]]" as "barbarians" or simply "others".</ref>  The people who speak the Shuar language live in [[tropical rainforest]] between the upper mountains of the [[Andes]], and in the tropical rainforests and [[savanna]]s of the [[Amazon River|Amazon]]ian lowlands, in [[Ecuador]]. Shuar live in various places &mdash; thus, the ''muraiya'' (hill) Shuar are people who live in the foothills of the Andes; the ''achu'' (swamp-palm) Shuar (or [[Achuar]]) are people who live in the wetter lowlands east of the Andes (Ecuador).

Shuar refer to Spanish-speakers as ''apach'', and to non-Spanish and non-Shuar speakers as ''inkis''. Europeans and European Americans used to refer to Shuar as "''jívaros''" or "''jíbaros''"; this word probably derives from the 16th century Spanish spelling of ''shuar'' (see Gnerre 1973), but has taken other meanings including "savage"; outside of Ecuador, ''jibaro'' has come to mean "rustic", and in [[Puerto Rico]] to describe a [[Jíbaro (Puerto Rico)|self-sufficient farmer]]. The Shuar are popularly depicted in a wide variety of travelogue and adventure literature because of Western fascination with their former practice of [[Shrunken head|shrinking human heads]] (''tsantsa'').

== Social organization and contacts with Europeans ==

From the time of first contact with Europeans in the 16th century, to the formation of the Shuar Federation in the 1950s and 1960s, Shuar were semi-[[nomadic]] and lived in separate households dispersed in the rainforest, linked by the loosest of kin and political ties, and lacking corporate kin-groups or centralized or institutionalized political leadership.<ref name="Salazar1977">{{cite book|author=Ernesto Salazar|title=An Indian federation in lowland Ecuador|url=http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/0106_28Ecuador.pdf|access-date=16 February 2013|year=1977|publisher=[[International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs]]|page=13}}</ref>

The center of Shuar life was a relatively autonomous household consisting of a husband, his wives (usually two), unmarried sons, and daughters. Upon marriage sons would leave their natal household, and sons-in-law would move in (see [[matrilocal residence]]). Men hunted and wove clothes; women gardened. In 1527, the Shuar defeated an incursion by the [[Inca Empire|Inca]] armies of [[Huayna Capac]].<ref name="Salazar1977"/>

When Shuar first made contact with Spaniards in the 16th century, they entered into peaceful trade relations. They violently resisted taxation, and drove Spaniards away in 1599.

Colonization and missionization in the 20th century have led Shuar to reorganize themselves into nucleated settlements called ''centros''. Centros initially facilitated evangelization by Catholic missionaries but also became a means to defend Shuar land claims against those of non-indigenous settlers. In 1964 representatives of Shuar centros formed a political Federation to represent their interests to the Ecuadorian state, non-governmental organizations, and transnational corporations.

== ''Tsantsa'', the shrunken heads ==
[[File:Cabeza reducida Jíbaro (M. América, Madrid) 01.jpg|thumb|A shrunken head exhibited at the [[Museum of the Americas (Madrid)|Museum of the Americas in Madrid]].]]
In the 19th century ''muraiya Shuar'' became famous among Europeans and Euro-Americans for their elaborate process of shrinking the heads of slain [[Achuar]]. Although non-Shuar characterized these [[shrunken heads]] (''tsantsa'') as [[war trophy|trophies of warfare]], Shuar insisted that they were not interested in the heads themselves and did not value them as trophies. Instead, they sought the ''muisak'', or [[soul]] of the victim, which was contained in and by the shrunken head. Shuar men believed that control of the ''muisak'' would enable them to pass the soul's power to their wives' and daughters' which would aid them in their labor.<ref name="ReferenceA">Bennett Ross, Jane. 1984  "Effects of Contact on Revenge Hostilities Among the Achuara Jívaro", in Warfare Culture, and Environment, ed. R.B. Ferguson, Orlando: Academic Press.</ref><ref name="Steel 1957">Steel, Daniel 1999 "Trade Goods and Jívaro Warfare: The Shuar 1850–1957, and the Achuar, 1940–1978," in Ethnohistory 46(4): 745-776.</ref>

Since women cultivated [[manioc]] and made ''[[chicha]]'' (manioc beer), which together provided the bulk of [[calories]] and [[carbohydrates]] in the Shuar diet, women's labor was crucial to Shuar biological and social life. In the late 19th century and early 20th century Europeans and Euro-Americans began trading manufactured goods, including shotguns, asking in return for shrunken heads. The result was an increase in local warfare, including [[head hunting]], that has contributed to the perception of the Shuar as violent.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Steel 1957"/> In 1961 [[Edmundo Bielawski]] made the only footage showing what appears to be their head-shrinking process.

== Adulthood rituals ==
[[File:A’shuar-Canelos tunique MHNT.ETH.AC.1708 .jpg|thumb|Tunic in toucan feather [[MHNT]]]]
Prior to missionization in the 1940s and 1950s Shuar [[culture]] functioned to organize and promote a warrior society. Boys of about eight years would be taken by their fathers or uncles on a three- to five-day journey to a nearby waterfall, during which time the boy would drink only [[tobacco]] water. At some point the child would be given ''maikua'' (''[[Datura arborea]]'', [[Solanaceae]]), in the hope that he would then see momentary visions, or ''arútam''. These visions were believed to be produced by a ''wakaní'' or ancestral spirit.

If the boy was brave enough he could touch the ''arútam'', and acquire the ''arútam wakaní''. This would make the boy very strong, and possession of several ''arútam wakaní'' would make the boy invincible. Shuar, however, believed that they could easily lose their ''arútam wakaní'', and thus repeated this ritual several times.

A Shuar warrior who had lived to kill many people was called a ''kakáram''. Shuar believed that if a person in possession of an ''arútam wakaní'' died a peaceful death, they would give birth to a new ''wakaní''; if someone in possession of an ''arútam wakaní'' were killed, they would give birth to a ''muísak''.

== Illness and shamanism ==

Shuar generally do not believe in natural death, although they recognize that certain epidemics such as measles and scarlet fever are diseases introduced through contact with Europeans or Euro-Americans. They fought primarily with spears and [[blowgun]]s, but—like many other groups in the region—also believed that they could be killed by ''[[tsentsak]]'', invisible darts.

Any unexplained death was attributed to such ''tsentsak''. Although tsentsak are animate, they do not act on their own. [[Shaman]]s (in Shuar, ''uwishin'') are people who possess and control ''tsentsak''. To possess ''tsentsak'' they must purchase them from other shamans; Shuar believe that the most powerful shamans are [[Quechua language|Quichua]]-speakers, who live to the north and east.

To control ''tsentsak'', Shuar must ingest ''natem'' (''[[Ayahuasca]]''). Many Shuar believe that illness is caused when someone hires a shaman to shoot ''tsentsak'' into the body of an enemy. This attack occurs in secret and few if any shamans admit to doing this. If someone takes ill they may go to a shaman for diagnosis and treatment.

They have many plants that they use for common everyday illnesses. Most people know these plants and how to prepare and use them. Occasionally, an older woman will be asked for advice or help especially with fertility control, childbirth and new infants. ''Piripiri'' (Cyperus species) are used for a variety of ailments.

==Shuar and the Ecuadorian state==
{{organize section|date=June 2022}}

The discovery of [[petroleum|oil]] in the upper Amazon has motivated Ecuadorian and Peruvian interest in the region. In the 20th century Ecuadorian Shuar and Peruvian groups like the Achuar have had significantly different histories.

[[File:Shuar in Parque de Logroño.JPG|thumb|300px|Shuar in [[Logroño, Ecuador]].]]

There are at least 40,000 Shuar, 5,000 ''Achuars'' and 700 ''Shiwiars'' in Ecuador.

At the end of the 19th century [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Jesuit]]s re-established missions among the Shuar, and poor and landless Euro-Ecuadorians from the [[Altiplano|highlands]] (''colonos'') began to settle among Shuar. Shuar entered into peaceful trade relations, exchanged land for manufactured goods, and began sending their children to mission boarding schools to learn Spanish. In 1935 the Ecuadorian government created a Shuar reserve, in part to regulate Euro-Ecuadorian access to land, and gave [[Salesian]] (Catholic) missionaries charge over the reserve.

Missionaries were largely successful in the [[acculturation]] process, teaching Shuar Spanish, converting Shuar to [[Christianity]], encouraging the Shuar to abandon warfare and the production of shrunken heads, encouraging Shuar to abandon the puberty rites through which Shuar acquired an ''arútam wakaní'', and encouraging Shuar to participate in the [[market economy]]. They were largely but not completely successful in encouraging Shuar to abandon [[polygyny]] for [[monogamy]]. They were relatively unsuccessful in discouraging the practice of shamanism.

By the 1950s Shuar had lost a considerable amount of land to settlers. At this time they abandoned their semi-nomadic and dispersed settlement pattern and began to form nucleated settlements of five to thirty families, called ''centros'' (Spanish for "centers"). These ''centros'' facilitated missionary access to Shuar. They also provided a basis for Shuar petitions to the Ecuadorian government for land; in return Shuar promised to clear rainforest to convert to pasture, and the government provided loans for Shuar to purchase cattle which they would raise for market.

In the 1960s Salesian missionaries encouraged leaders of the ''centros'' to meet and form a new organization. In 1964 they formed the ''Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar-Achuar'' ("Interprovincial Federation of Shuar and Achuar Centros"; many ''Achuar'' live in Ecuador, although most live in Peru). The Federation is democratic and hierarchically organized, most of its leaders are salaried by the Ecuadorian state.
[[File:Asambleísta Diana Atamaint (3860584752).jpg|thumb|300x300px|Diana Atamaint, Ecuadorian Shuar politician]]
In 1969 the Federation signed an accord with the Ecuadorian government in which the Federation assumed administrative jurisdiction over the Shuar reserve. The Federation assumed the duties of educating children, administering civil registration and land-tenure, and promoting cattle-production and other programs meant to further incorporate Shuar into the market economy. Since that time the Federation has splintered into several groups, including a separate Achuar Federation, although the various groups maintain cordial relations.

Thanks to the work of the Federation, Shuar identity is very strong. Most Shuar also identify strongly to the Ecuadorian [[nation-state]] and have entered Ecuadorian electoral politics.

In the last few years, conflict emerged as result of mining projects in the provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe<ref name="elcomercio">{{cite web|title=La CIDH pide a Ecuador explicaciones por la muerte de tres líderes indígenas &#124; El Comercio|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/cidh-ecuador-explicaciones-muerte.html|access-date=2 September 2016|publisher=elcomercio.com}}</ref>

On 20 November 2018, [[Diana Atamaint]], a Shuar woman, became the president of the [[National Electoral Council (Ecuador)|National Electoral Council]].<ref name="distance">{{Cite web |date=2019-02-28 |title=Pachakutik marca distancia de Diana Atamaint y rechazan "vinculos" con Nebot|url=https://www.larepublica.ec/blog/2019/02/28/pachakutik-marca-distancia-de-diana-atamaint-y-rechazan-vinculos-con-nebot/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-20 |title=Diana Atamaint, nueva presidenta del Consejo Nacional Electoral, con votos de tres vocales |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2018/11/20/nota/7060419/falta-acuerdo-impide-elegir-nuevas-autoridades-consejo-nacional |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=El Universo |language=es}}</ref>

== Jungle Commands Group (Iwias) ==
[[File:Iwias en Tena.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the Jungle Commands Group Iwias parading in Tena|300x300px]]
Many Shuar also serve in the [[Ecuadorian Army]], and the Army has appropriated the perception of Shuar as "fierce warriors", forming elite "Iwia" units of Shuar soldiers (although all commissioned officers are non-Shuar). These units distinguished themselves in the 1995 [[Cenepa War]] between Ecuador and Peru. The name Iwia means "Jungle Demon"; it comes from the Shuar mythology: the Iwia is a feared demon that devours people.

According to its culture, young men become soldiers when they shrink the head of their enemies. The motto of IWIAS is "Never defeated"; this marks his warrior history defeating intruders e.g. Incas led by [[Huayna Capac]].<ref name="Salazar1977" /> in 1527.

EWIAS (''Escuela de Iwias Crnl. Gonzalo Barragán'') is the entity in charge of training indigenous people from the Amazon region. Located in [[Shell, Ecuador|Shell]], [[Pastaza Province]], around 35 Iwia soldiers graduate from this school annually.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eiwia.mil.ec/ |title = Escuela de IWIAS}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*In [[James Rollins]]' novel ''Amazonia'', Dr. Favre's Shuar mistress, Tshui, is described as a "witch" who concocts poisons, brews psychoactive tea, and maintains a large collection of shrunken heads. Her process of shrinking one such trophy, which she wears around her neck, is described in  great detail.
*Luis Sepúlveda's 1989 novel ''[[The Old Man Who Read Love Stories]]'' explores the Shuar people and their culture/traditions/beliefs as the main character is adopted/befriended by their people. The author was close friends with a Shuar union leader and built aspects of the story around the stories he told him about his way of life.
*In the film ''[[Back from Eternity]]'' (1956) the Shuar (called Jivaros in film) attack the stranded crew in an unnamed South American country.

==See also ==
*[[Ecuador]]
*[[Jivaroan peoples]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Gnerre, Maurizio (1973). "Sources of Spanish Jívaro", in ''Romance Philology'' 27(2): 203–204. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*Harner, Michael J. (1984). ''Jivaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls'' Berkeley: University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-05065-7}}
*Karsten, Rafael (1935). ''The head-hunters of Western Amazonas: The life and culture of the Jibaro Indians of eastern Ecuador and Peru ([Finska vetenskaps-societeten, Helsingfors] Commentationes humanarum litterarum. VII. 1''  Washington, D.C. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletins. ASIN B00085ZPFM)
*Mader, Elke (1999). ''Metamorfosis del poder: Persona, mito y visión en la sociedad Shuar y Achuar''. Abya-Yala. {{ISBN|9978-04-477-9}}
*[[Steven Rubenstein|Rubenstein, Steven]] (2006). "Circulation, Accumulation, and the Power of Shuar Shrunken Heads" in ''Cultural Anthropology'' 22(3): 357–399.
*Rubenstein, Steven (2002). ''Alejandro Tsakimp: A Shuar Healer in the Margins of History''  Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|0-8032-8988-X}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=LA-Ub96rAV0C&pg=PP1&dq=alejandro+tsakimp&sig=s7ahRw6pKJljsDWxf27qDT3Sork Google Books]
*Rubenstein, Steven (2001). "Colonialism, the Shuar Federation, and the Ecuadorian State," in ''Environment and Planning D: Society and Space'' 19(3): 263–293.
*Lowell, Karen (1994). "Ethnopharmacological Studies of Medicinal Plants, particularly Cyperus species, used by the Shuar Indians" Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois Health Science Center, Chicago, Illinois, 420 pp.

==External links==
*[http://www.fundecoipa.com/ Organizations: Shuar grassroot organisation in the Pastaza region] Fundación para Desarrollo Comunitario de Pastaza (FUNDECOIPA). Sustainable development and conservation projects in the Pastaza region.
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=JIV Ethnologue report on Shuar]
*[http://amazon-explorer.blogspot.com/2011/07/shuar-jibaro-people.html The Shuar (jibaro) people: History and information]
*[http://www.head-hunter.com/ Head Hunting:  History of the Shuar]
*[http://shuar.de/?p=proj_en Project to support the Shuar] initiated by the shuar with German support. Besides most of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630142559/http://www.codenpe.gov.ec/shuar.htm information from CODENPE about the Shuar] is [http://shuar.de/?p=proj_en#situation_und_geschichte_der_shuar translated] here into the  English language.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080212191208/http://seedjewelry.net/photo-gallery/ Photo gallery of Shuar & Jungles & Seed Art]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Jíbaro Indians}}
*[https://www.spanishlearningprogram.com/ Study Spanish in the Shuar Territory]

{{Pre-Columbian}}
{{Ethnic groups in Ecuador}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuar People}}
[[Category:Jivaroan peoples]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Ecuador]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Peru]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Amazon]]
[[Category:Headhunting]]