Savages Joe Kane Summary

Savages by Joe Kane follows the author as he engages with the Huaorani, an indigenous group who is found in the depths of the Oriente in Ecuador. His journey has several parts, for he has a wife and child that he goes home to on occasion, yet there is a common theme throughout each: The Huaorani just want to be heard [by the world]. The Huaorani first interacted with white people when missionaries attempted — and finally succeeded — in contacting these “savages” to educate and “civilize” them. This initial contact opened up an access channel which oil companies eventually took advantage of when Ecuador discovered oil beneath its rainforest. Contact with oil companies created a lot of problems for the Huaorani. Their territory was invaded

Any education that the Huaorani have access to is also most often provided by missionaries and demonizes the Huaorani’s traditions. Therefore, as they are trying to protect their land and their way of life from oil companies, it is also being jeopardized. Kane addresses this contradiction when he expresses concern that his presence is changing the way that the Huaorani think and act but he acknowledges that his work is necessary. I find this dichotomy incredibly interesting since education is commonly thought of to benefit its recipients and while it does so, the question is whether or not the Huaorani are losing more than they are gaining. Is it possible that if they had received more direct help that could serve as liaisons between them and the Company that they would have been able to maintain their culture? Or would any level of exposure to Western culture and its people have the same effect: gradual or drastic changes to their way of life. To be certain Rachel Saint and her missionaries’ primary concern was not to the preservation of the Huaorani culture even if they presumed to have their best interests at heart. In addition, many of the NGOs that could have fought with the Huaorani ended up prioritizing biological diversity or

In Kane’s book, he describes how the Cofan established their own site and used it to make money instead of working for the oil companies. In the update on the Huaorani that we read, it stated that they had done something similar at Queheri-Ono — once so far into the jungle it was inaccessible by anything but canoe and foot. The Huaorani Ecolodge was run by Tropic Journeys in Nature and had been asked by the Huaorani in 1994 to help them establish ecotourism as a way to escape working for the oil companies. However, the tourists who visit the village do not pay the community members, only the guide — who is usually Ecuadorian — and the staff who works at the Ecolodge. The Huaorani make traditional tools and handicrafts to sell to the tourists, but they will often buy one or two things so the community as a whole receives very little income. I can understand the tourists’ perspective as I assume they believed that part of their payment to Ecolodge went to the Huaorani, yet I can also understand the Huaorani’s confusion at not receiving direct payments for their labor. However, it also reminds me of the number of times Kane mentions giving money to the Huaorani and having them spend it without considering the future because of their belief in la abundancia. I dislike hesitating in this way because it is not up to me how they spend the money they receive, what