www.achuarmovie.org
The lives of indigenous people and their struggles to protect their lands and rights can seem pretty abstract to outsiders. We may support their rights in theory, but what have we done to help? And do we truly understand the consequences of failing to protect these rights?
Recently, a group of filmmakers collaborated with the Achuar, an indigenous people who live in the Pastaza river basin of Peru and Ecuador, to create a film called “Chumpi and the Waterfall.” In the film, a boy named Chumpi visits a sacred waterfall with his father and grandfather. Today this waterfall is at risk because Peru’s government has opened the territory for oil drilling. The Achuar fear that if the waters become polluted, they will lose their connection with their ancestors. Also, they will be unable to sustain their current way of life if the forest becomes contaminated by drilling activities and byproducts.
This film is an excellent opportunity for outsiders to get a glimpse of daily life in a traditional indigenous community, and to hear the Achuar people describe their lives, their spiritual traditions, and their connection to the land in their own words.
Check it out! Chumpi and the Waterfall