A Night In An Aschuar Community

The day began with an early morning trip up the river to a clay lick where we saw an amazing array of birds. It should be pointed out that it is hard to see wild life in this part of the rain forest as it is a hunting ground for the Aschuar, so the animals are wise to humans. After that we headed back to the lodge to get ready for our hike to the Aschuar community. As part of the trip we got to spend the night in the community and witness a traditional healing ceremony. The Aschuar are a dream culture, they use their dreams and powerful teaching plants to guide their actions. Several years ago they started to have dreams that something bad was going to happen and sure enough the big oil companies came snooping around trying to get lease rights on their land (the Aschuar own over two million acres of rain forest in Ecuador). The Aschuar had witnessed the damage the oil companies had done in the north, so they decided to do everything the could to keep them out. Part of the plan is running this lodge to raise money, so they don't have to give in to the oil money.

The Aschuar community was a five hour hike through the rain forest. We were lead by our Aschuar guide Celistino. He was a great guy, he spoke fluent Spanish (as well as Aschuar) and was also learning English. The rain forest is an amazing place. Where the canopy is high it is easy to hike through as the brush below is thin due to lack of sunlight. When a large tree falls, it allows all the underbrush to get sunlight and grow really thick. This is where Celistino's machete came in handy as he cleared us a path. Again you don't see a lot of animals in the rain forest due to the hunting, but there are a lot of interesting insects if you look closely. After a long hike we came upon the first Aschuar house in the community. The first thing you notice is that the houses have no walls. They are open air and there is sometimes an interior wall that separates the women's part of the house and the kitchen. Another thing is that they always have a fire burning inside. They take three long logs and they push them into the middle of a flame as they burn down. The fire serves multiple purposes, one is that the smoke helps waterproof the thatched roof and it also allows the Aschuar to communicate with their ancestors.

We were greeted warmly by the community and invited to one of the houses that was big enough to hold us all in the common area. There was a couple of school buildings and a soccer field in the village and all the houses were spread out around the central area. We spent the afternoon getting our tents set up and chatting with some of the men in the community. When you enter an Aschuar house, you are immediately offered checha, a drink made by the women of the house. They chew a root plant found in the rain forest and spit into a big bowl. They add water and as it ferments it turns into something like beer without the carbonation. The bowl I got smelled so bad I could not drink it, but one of the guys who was with it drank down two bowls right away. He didn't feel so good later when we told him how it was made. As it got dark we ate a traditional dinner and some of the group prepared to take ayahuasca, a combination of plants that produces a hallucinogenic effect including visions that the Aschuar believe can help guide your future. The ayahuasca is blessed by a shaman and he oversees the people who take it. Usually people who take ayahuasca throw up within 45 minutes of taking it, but no one in our group did for over three hours. Once everyone was tucked away in their tents, we tried to sleep, but there are a lot of animals snooping around and making noises, so it was hard to stay asleep very long. I had hoped to sleep outside under the stars, but it rained most of the night so I had to stick in the tent. Then the ultimate insult, a rooster started crowing at about 3:00 AM and kept it up for about four hours. It was a long night.