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Last Updated: Wednesday, 4 May 2005, 16:37 GMT 17:37 UK
In pictures: A visit to Chichirota

Canoe in the Amazon basin, Ecuador

The Achuar Indian hamlet of Chichirota is a six-hour journey by motorised canoe from the Kapawi Lodge, in the heart of the Amazon basin in Ecuador.

Young men from the Achuar tribe, in Ecuador

The Achuar combine old and new. They wear T-shirts and jeans with their feather headdresses, and use both guns and poison blowpipes to hunt.

Chichirota shaman

The village has two leaders. A traditional shaman, or spiritual head...

Chichirota Sindico Hilario Kuja

... and another leader, the Sindico, elected by both men and women to make decisions about work and hunting rotas.

An Achuar man drinks ijiamanch

The villagers are keen to maintain their traditions - such as drinking ijiamanch, a drink made from manioc fermented with the help of human saliva.

Children make up a large proportion of the village's small population.

Chichirota school

They are now taught in schools - an institution brought by evangelical missionaries but now embraced by the Achuar as key to their survival.

Amazon forest tree silhouetted at dusk

The villagers say they want to welcome in the outside world to see the wonders of the forest...

Achuar chief Milton Callera

... but only on their own terms. The Achuar president, Milton Callera, is leading the tribe's campaign to stop energy companies exploring for oil and gas.






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