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Savages
Savages is a firsthand account, by turn hilarious, heartbreaking, and thrilling, of a small band of Amazonian warriors and their battle to preserve their way of life. Includes eight pages of photos.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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March 3, 2010
I was a slap-happy travel writer looking forward to experiencing the most bio-diverse country on the plant for its size. Ecaudor is touted as a paradise for nature lovers with 46 different eco-systems, home to 1,600 bird species, 250 mammals, 358 amphibians 345 reptiles and 4,500 butterflies. Then I read Joe Kane’s horrifying expose of what has been taking place in the Amazon forests of Ecuador in a region called the Oriente since the 1970’s. Oil companies have systematically been destroying the forests, polluting the rivers with toxins that are destroying the beauty of the place and literally killing the indigenous people with toxic wastes and oil spills. The Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline has suffered more than 60 major ruptures since 1972, spilling 614,000 barrels of oil into rivers and streams—more than two Exxon Valdez tankers’ worth. How can this be happening in the poster child for eco-tourism? How can this continue in a world that is supposedly enlightened to the fact that the forests are the lungs of the planet and hold untapped medicinal knowledge? Kane lived with the Hourani Indians in their villages, and befriended their greatest leaders, while maintaining a journalist’s objectivity. His book is a sensitive, caring, thoroughly researched, deep look into the abuses of the oil companies. His account ends in 1996, but the travesties live on. “If oil exploration continues at the current rate, in another 30 years oil reserves will be exhausted, the last ancient Amazon cultures decimated and there won’t be any wilderness left.” Thomas Cook, Traveller’s Guide, 2008. I am now saddened beyond words, but still looking forward to seeing what remains of Ecuador’s glorious bounty. If the United States, the chief exploiter of Ecuador’s natural resources, weans itself off oil there could be hope of a recovery before the entire Ecaudorian Amazon forest is fouled and the Indians way of life gone forever.
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April 1, 2017
One day in 1991, a strange letter arrived at the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco, where Joe Kane was working. It was from members of the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador, wild folks who have lived in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years. Their jungle home had fantastic biodiversity, including many species that live nowhere else on Earth.
The letter said that DuPont-Conoco was planning to destroy their ecosystem and culture. The Indians were perfectly happy with their traditional way of life, and they had no interest in being destroyed. They just wanted to be left alone. Help! Kane quit his job and moved to South America. Several years later, he published Savages, which described his exciting, chaotic, and painful adventure.
Unlike our society, Huaorani men and women really have equal status. It is never OK to give orders, or to raise a hand against a child or woman. Family harmony is important. A priest was amazed by them, “They are joyful in a way that is complete and without self-consciousness.”
The Huaorani strive to be in tune with the abundance of the forest, so they will always have enough to eat. Sharing is essential. “There is no higher manifestation of this ideal state than unqualified generosity, and no act more generous than to give away food.” In the days prior to contact with outsiders, most natives never encountered more than seventy or eighty people during their entire lives, most of whom they knew by name. Imagine that — a world without strangers or loneliness.
Hunting in a dense rainforest is not easy. Their technology included spears and blowguns. Poison darts would kill monkeys in the branches above, requiring the hunter to climb up and retrieve them. Over time, the feet of men who spent a lot of time in the treetops changed shape, making it easier for them to climb (Photo). Big toes bent outward, providing a tighter grip.
Until the 1950s, the Huaorani had almost no contact with the outer world. Then, the missionaries arrived, to save the souls of the demon worshippers. They believed that the Indians needed to live in permanent settlements, clear the jungle, become farmers, join the cash economy, and pay taxes. Their children needed to learn Spanish, and get a proper civilized education, so they could abandon their backward culture and language. Maidenform brassieres were distributed to the jungle camps, so women could conceal their shameful boobs.
The missionaries were walking disease bombs, and they knew that the natives had no immunity to the pathogens they brought into the rainforest, but they were on a mission from God. Even ordinary influenza could wipe out uncontacted people. It was vitally important to convert the savages to the one and only genuine interpretation of Christianity, before other missionaries arrived and introduced them to one of the many false interpretations (especially Catholic), condemning their souls to the eternal fires of Hell.
The missionaries held the natives in low regard and, likewise, the natives resented the freaky aliens. The Huaorani word for outsiders was cowode (cannibals). In their culture, sickness, misfortune, and death were never the result of mere bad luck, they were always caused by sorcery conjured by others. When someone died, even an infant, justice required relatives to identify the culprit and kill him or her in revenge. While this clashes with the virtuous morals our culture has invented, it kept their numbers stable. Their ecological ethics were far superior to those of the aliens.
Kane became friends with Enqueri, a smart but unreliable Huaorani lad who could speak Spanish. In 1956, his father and friends killed five missionaries, because soon after missionaries visited, many died from ghastly diseases. It was easy to determine the source of this sorcery and deliver rough justice.
Clever missionaries realized that two could play this game. After deaths, they would accuse the native shamans of demonic acts, and grieving families believed them. By 1991, most shamans had been murdered. Kane met a shaman named Mengatohue. “He could enter an ayahuasca trance and become a jaguar.” Missionaries told schoolchildren that he was an agent of the devil. Kids mocked him.
Rachel Saint was the sister of one of the speared missionaries, and she continued to pursue his work. One of her first native converts, Toña, became a preacher. He attempted to convince the Huaorani that their traditional culture, everything they knew, was totally wrong. Enqueri said that Toña “brought with him an evil so strong that it killed a child.” To avenge this misfortune, he was killed with seven spears.
In 1967, oil was discovered in Huaorani country, an estimated 216 million barrels, enough to fuel American gas-guzzlers for about thirteen days. In 1969, Saint created a protectorate (reservation) for the Huaorani, with a school and chapel. Before long, all 104 Indian residents had polio, 16 died, and another 16 were crippled.
The Company (oil interests) helped Saint create and operate the protectorate. They wanted to clear the Huaorani off their traditional lands, so they could build roads, do seismic testing, drill wells, and construct pipelines without bloody resistance. Saint was thankful for their kind assistance, but regretted their dark side, the booze, prostitution, and violence that came with the full-scale capitalist blitzkrieg. However, she never doubted that God was smiling on her holy ethnocide.
Ecuador’s government was impressively corrupt and incompetent. They excelled at boosting debt, stashing stolen funds in Miami banks, and driving up food prices. Seventy-nine percent of the people lived in poverty. Officials were desperate for income from the oil industry, and they cooperated in every possible way. Soldiers kept journalists and activists out of oil country, and the Company was free to pollute the land to the best of their abilities. Toxic crud was dumped anywhere, and pipelines often leaked. Rivers turned black, fish died, birds died, caimans died, bananas died, and natives got very sick. For natives, middle age was 25.
Ecuador was also eager to rid their crowded cities of poor people. The government promoted the colonization of the rainforest. When roads were built, a four-mile strip (6.5 km) on each side was dedicated for settlement by colonists. They flooded into the wilderness, erased jungle, built flimsy shacks, and attempted to produce coffee and cattle on low quality rainforest soil that was quickly depleted. Many became laborers for the Company, where the work was hard, and the pay meager. No effort was made to interfere with widespread illegal logging.
Colonization was a rapidly spreading cancer that wouldn’t stop until its ecosystem host was destroyed, including the tribal people. There was fierce conflict between the Indians and colonists, many died, and many shacks were burned, but the cancer persisted. A wise guy once noted that the words “road” and “raid” come from the same root. No place is safer than a vast roadless forest.
The struggle against modernity continued, on and on, with little success. Kane liked his Huaorani friends, but he wasn’t willing to dedicate his life to their struggle. To the powerful, he was an annoying troublemaker, so he was unlikely to die from old age. Kane returned to California and wrote his book. By the last page, everything was worse, a saga of endless bullshit, craziness, and tragedy. There are millions horror stories similar to Kane’s, for every commodity utilized by industrial civilization.
José Miguel Goldáraz was a Spanish priest who had spent 20 years in South America. By and by, he lost interest in soul saving, and became an activist. He had no doubt that the natives would kill oil workers in defense of their land. “When the Huaorani kill, there is a spiritual discipline to it. Americans kill without knowing they are doing it. You don’t want to know you are doing it. And yet you are going to destroy an entire way of life. So you tell me: Who are the savages?”
Chevron vs. the Amazon is a 2016 documentary on YouTube. Abby Martin visited oil country in Ecuador to observe the current state of affairs.
The letter said that DuPont-Conoco was planning to destroy their ecosystem and culture. The Indians were perfectly happy with their traditional way of life, and they had no interest in being destroyed. They just wanted to be left alone. Help! Kane quit his job and moved to South America. Several years later, he published Savages, which described his exciting, chaotic, and painful adventure.
Unlike our society, Huaorani men and women really have equal status. It is never OK to give orders, or to raise a hand against a child or woman. Family harmony is important. A priest was amazed by them, “They are joyful in a way that is complete and without self-consciousness.”
The Huaorani strive to be in tune with the abundance of the forest, so they will always have enough to eat. Sharing is essential. “There is no higher manifestation of this ideal state than unqualified generosity, and no act more generous than to give away food.” In the days prior to contact with outsiders, most natives never encountered more than seventy or eighty people during their entire lives, most of whom they knew by name. Imagine that — a world without strangers or loneliness.
Hunting in a dense rainforest is not easy. Their technology included spears and blowguns. Poison darts would kill monkeys in the branches above, requiring the hunter to climb up and retrieve them. Over time, the feet of men who spent a lot of time in the treetops changed shape, making it easier for them to climb (Photo). Big toes bent outward, providing a tighter grip.
Until the 1950s, the Huaorani had almost no contact with the outer world. Then, the missionaries arrived, to save the souls of the demon worshippers. They believed that the Indians needed to live in permanent settlements, clear the jungle, become farmers, join the cash economy, and pay taxes. Their children needed to learn Spanish, and get a proper civilized education, so they could abandon their backward culture and language. Maidenform brassieres were distributed to the jungle camps, so women could conceal their shameful boobs.
The missionaries were walking disease bombs, and they knew that the natives had no immunity to the pathogens they brought into the rainforest, but they were on a mission from God. Even ordinary influenza could wipe out uncontacted people. It was vitally important to convert the savages to the one and only genuine interpretation of Christianity, before other missionaries arrived and introduced them to one of the many false interpretations (especially Catholic), condemning their souls to the eternal fires of Hell.
The missionaries held the natives in low regard and, likewise, the natives resented the freaky aliens. The Huaorani word for outsiders was cowode (cannibals). In their culture, sickness, misfortune, and death were never the result of mere bad luck, they were always caused by sorcery conjured by others. When someone died, even an infant, justice required relatives to identify the culprit and kill him or her in revenge. While this clashes with the virtuous morals our culture has invented, it kept their numbers stable. Their ecological ethics were far superior to those of the aliens.
Kane became friends with Enqueri, a smart but unreliable Huaorani lad who could speak Spanish. In 1956, his father and friends killed five missionaries, because soon after missionaries visited, many died from ghastly diseases. It was easy to determine the source of this sorcery and deliver rough justice.
Clever missionaries realized that two could play this game. After deaths, they would accuse the native shamans of demonic acts, and grieving families believed them. By 1991, most shamans had been murdered. Kane met a shaman named Mengatohue. “He could enter an ayahuasca trance and become a jaguar.” Missionaries told schoolchildren that he was an agent of the devil. Kids mocked him.
Rachel Saint was the sister of one of the speared missionaries, and she continued to pursue his work. One of her first native converts, Toña, became a preacher. He attempted to convince the Huaorani that their traditional culture, everything they knew, was totally wrong. Enqueri said that Toña “brought with him an evil so strong that it killed a child.” To avenge this misfortune, he was killed with seven spears.
In 1967, oil was discovered in Huaorani country, an estimated 216 million barrels, enough to fuel American gas-guzzlers for about thirteen days. In 1969, Saint created a protectorate (reservation) for the Huaorani, with a school and chapel. Before long, all 104 Indian residents had polio, 16 died, and another 16 were crippled.
The Company (oil interests) helped Saint create and operate the protectorate. They wanted to clear the Huaorani off their traditional lands, so they could build roads, do seismic testing, drill wells, and construct pipelines without bloody resistance. Saint was thankful for their kind assistance, but regretted their dark side, the booze, prostitution, and violence that came with the full-scale capitalist blitzkrieg. However, she never doubted that God was smiling on her holy ethnocide.
Ecuador’s government was impressively corrupt and incompetent. They excelled at boosting debt, stashing stolen funds in Miami banks, and driving up food prices. Seventy-nine percent of the people lived in poverty. Officials were desperate for income from the oil industry, and they cooperated in every possible way. Soldiers kept journalists and activists out of oil country, and the Company was free to pollute the land to the best of their abilities. Toxic crud was dumped anywhere, and pipelines often leaked. Rivers turned black, fish died, birds died, caimans died, bananas died, and natives got very sick. For natives, middle age was 25.
Ecuador was also eager to rid their crowded cities of poor people. The government promoted the colonization of the rainforest. When roads were built, a four-mile strip (6.5 km) on each side was dedicated for settlement by colonists. They flooded into the wilderness, erased jungle, built flimsy shacks, and attempted to produce coffee and cattle on low quality rainforest soil that was quickly depleted. Many became laborers for the Company, where the work was hard, and the pay meager. No effort was made to interfere with widespread illegal logging.
Colonization was a rapidly spreading cancer that wouldn’t stop until its ecosystem host was destroyed, including the tribal people. There was fierce conflict between the Indians and colonists, many died, and many shacks were burned, but the cancer persisted. A wise guy once noted that the words “road” and “raid” come from the same root. No place is safer than a vast roadless forest.
The struggle against modernity continued, on and on, with little success. Kane liked his Huaorani friends, but he wasn’t willing to dedicate his life to their struggle. To the powerful, he was an annoying troublemaker, so he was unlikely to die from old age. Kane returned to California and wrote his book. By the last page, everything was worse, a saga of endless bullshit, craziness, and tragedy. There are millions horror stories similar to Kane’s, for every commodity utilized by industrial civilization.
José Miguel Goldáraz was a Spanish priest who had spent 20 years in South America. By and by, he lost interest in soul saving, and became an activist. He had no doubt that the natives would kill oil workers in defense of their land. “When the Huaorani kill, there is a spiritual discipline to it. Americans kill without knowing they are doing it. You don’t want to know you are doing it. And yet you are going to destroy an entire way of life. So you tell me: Who are the savages?”
Chevron vs. the Amazon is a 2016 documentary on YouTube. Abby Martin visited oil country in Ecuador to observe the current state of affairs.
August 4, 2019
Copyright 1995, 1996 but still OH SO relevant. In the first half or so, you read Joe Kane's first hand account of an indigenous culture and their interactions with United States oil companies and missionaries. The names and locations are challenging, so keeping them straight, was a little slow going for me. It was helpful to refer to the map and pictures. The last third of the book is jaw dropping.
Where there is oil, there will be exploitation.
It is still happening. Everywhere.
We won't get past the greed until many more people "wake up".
Where there is oil, there will be exploitation.
It is still happening. Everywhere.
We won't get past the greed until many more people "wake up".
September 10, 2012
Wow, what a great read. It is incredible to me that of all the people who are blamed for the deforestation of the rain forest (colonists, indigenous groups, agricultural workers), you never hear about one of the worst offenders–big oil companies. The descriptions of the oil spills that occurred in the middle of what used to be primary virgin rain forest was heart-breaking. The author was a journalist who became acquainted with a group of amazonian people, the Huaroni. He described their way of life as well as their efforts to stop the Ecuadorian government from allowing a large oil company from coming into their territory to look for crude. The book told a complicated story without offering any easy solutions. The history of all of the different groups who have gone into the rain forest and tried to “help” the indigenous groups, from missionaries to environmentalists, was fascinating. The one negative about this book is the author occasionally went from journalist to anthropologist (a role he was not qualified for) and made some pretty broad statements about the Huaroni people.
November 26, 2012
Since I live in Ecuador, this book was especially gripping to me. I appreciate the author's willingness to engage deeply with (actually living with) the Huaorani he's reporting on. Those very actions, however, mean he presents a strongly biased report, verging into the romanticism of seeing most of the Huaorani as "noble savages". The truth is much more complex, and we do get glimpses of that now and then amongst the Huaorani; however, any foreigners are painted bleakly in black or white.
Overall, the book made me very curious to read more recent work on the state of indigenous-oil company relations here in country, as much has changed in the last 18 years, hopefully for the better. It was almost comical reading some of Kane's descriptions of the provincial nature of Quito, when now it is quite modern and similar to many large cities around the world.
Overall, the book made me very curious to read more recent work on the state of indigenous-oil company relations here in country, as much has changed in the last 18 years, hopefully for the better. It was almost comical reading some of Kane's descriptions of the provincial nature of Quito, when now it is quite modern and similar to many large cities around the world.
February 27, 2013
I was nervous about this book because the title seemed racist. However, the title is purposeful & aptly used. The author discusses his choice & also allows the reader to reconsider who is (or isn't) "savage."
Anyone traveling in the Ecuadorian jungle, or concerned about the rainforest & its inhabitants, should read this book. I had such a better understanding of Ecuador's history, US involvement, & the role of multinational companies after reading this book. The author also offers a more complete version of how Indigenous Ecuadorians have formed resistance against exploitative companies. Given that the author is a journalist, even though this is non-fiction the book reads with a plot. It has a pulse and a pace that makes the reading enjoyable, even if the subject matter is heavy.
Anyone traveling in the Ecuadorian jungle, or concerned about the rainforest & its inhabitants, should read this book. I had such a better understanding of Ecuador's history, US involvement, & the role of multinational companies after reading this book. The author also offers a more complete version of how Indigenous Ecuadorians have formed resistance against exploitative companies. Given that the author is a journalist, even though this is non-fiction the book reads with a plot. It has a pulse and a pace that makes the reading enjoyable, even if the subject matter is heavy.
October 5, 2011
I had this book out going through airport security in Guayaquil in 2003. One of the female security officers pointed at her colleague and laughed: "Savage!"
"No, no!" I interjected, "the petroleros are the 'savages'," but it didn't do any good, they ignored me.
"No, no!" I interjected, "the petroleros are the 'savages'," but it didn't do any good, they ignored me.
September 15, 2009
In the 90s, Ecuador was in such hopeless debt that the gov allowed oil companies to destroy pristine jungle and manipulate the "simple-minded natives" with impunity. Conservation groups protested, but few of them had relationships with the tribes deep in those jungles. Joe Kane is crazy enough to befriend the Huaorani -what we get is a rare look at how they live, how they think, and how difficult it is for illiterate hunter-gatherers who live in the moment to take on a cynical and seemingly invincible corporate juggernaut.
January 14, 2017
Poignant and hilarious. Joe Kane walks an extremely fine line on some very complicated subjects and triumphs in creating an extremely warm and delightful portrait of the Huaorani people. Anyone who loves adventure books would love this, and Kane's writing is extremely engaging and addicting.
I think it also says a lot about the quality of his writing that this book, as funny and personal as it is, is frequently cited in journal articles about the Huaorani (which is initially how I heard of it--it just kept getting cited in articles I was using as sources for a paper).
I think it also says a lot about the quality of his writing that this book, as funny and personal as it is, is frequently cited in journal articles about the Huaorani (which is initially how I heard of it--it just kept getting cited in articles I was using as sources for a paper).
December 17, 2008
insight to the one existing native tribe living in the amazon (Ecuador region) and how the oil industry and drilling has effected their lives. Rowling is a great author
October 23, 2023
Given the events occurred in the early '90s, I shudder to think about what it's like today in the Ecuadorian Amazon. "Savages" refers ironically to the epithet ("Aucas") given by the Quichua (aka Kichwa since this was written) speakers who are the majority of the indigenous. No, neither they, the Huaorani's other rivals the "cannibal" Shuar, RFK Jr., Texaco and ARCO, the World Bank, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the Summer Institute of Linguistics Christian evangelical missionaries, the governments of Ecuador and the U.S., the "ecochica" and native activists come off as angels. Joe Kane investigates the intricate tangle of allegiances the Huaroni face as oil development hits, and the loyalties of various members of this small nation divide. I found it quite dispiriting, but those who continue to be starry-eyed romanticists or naive do-gooders may find these pages instructive, if they can get through what is a tough subject. Like his previous book "Running the Amazon," Kane inserts himself within the wilds of Latin America, and does his best to relate his story.
September 7, 2010
Reading this book kinda made me want to burn down every gas station I saw.
March 23, 2021
Thomas King wrote in The Truth About Stories (published in 2005, some 10 years after Kane’s novel):
“Native people have always been an exotic, erotic, terrifying presence…The panorama of cultures, the innumerable tribes, and the complex languages made it impossible for North Americans to find what they most desired…A single Indian who could stand for the whole. But if North Americans couldn’t find him, they could make him up.”
Joe Kane’s novel makes boldly plain how true this statement is with regards to how modern entities treat diplomacy with native peoples. For instance, when the company “buys” Valerio Grefa, leader of Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONFENIAE), they weren’t interested in him as an individual, but his position as speaker for natives in the Oriente. If presented the right way, the company could create the appearance of collaboration and cooperation, undermining the intricate culture of the Huaorani. Grefa didn’t need to actually speak for the Huao, or be supported by them, he just needed to appear to. To Maxus, a contract with one is a contract with all. Later, when the company’s “Indian” is denounced, they must find another (and do!). They make a habit of conducting secret deals with individuals for conditions that affect the whole community.
Meanwhile, Kane tells the story of a diverse people, introducing us to an array of personalities--the Huao are humorous, mischievous, optimistic, hospitable--and ways of life. Even under the “Huaorani” umbrella, each community he visits is different, nuanced. It’s a stark contrast to the stereotype used by “the company” and others to acquire control of land. And that, dear reader, makes this novel heartbreaking.
“Native people have always been an exotic, erotic, terrifying presence…The panorama of cultures, the innumerable tribes, and the complex languages made it impossible for North Americans to find what they most desired…A single Indian who could stand for the whole. But if North Americans couldn’t find him, they could make him up.”
Joe Kane’s novel makes boldly plain how true this statement is with regards to how modern entities treat diplomacy with native peoples. For instance, when the company “buys” Valerio Grefa, leader of Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONFENIAE), they weren’t interested in him as an individual, but his position as speaker for natives in the Oriente. If presented the right way, the company could create the appearance of collaboration and cooperation, undermining the intricate culture of the Huaorani. Grefa didn’t need to actually speak for the Huao, or be supported by them, he just needed to appear to. To Maxus, a contract with one is a contract with all. Later, when the company’s “Indian” is denounced, they must find another (and do!). They make a habit of conducting secret deals with individuals for conditions that affect the whole community.
Meanwhile, Kane tells the story of a diverse people, introducing us to an array of personalities--the Huao are humorous, mischievous, optimistic, hospitable--and ways of life. Even under the “Huaorani” umbrella, each community he visits is different, nuanced. It’s a stark contrast to the stereotype used by “the company” and others to acquire control of land. And that, dear reader, makes this novel heartbreaking.
February 22, 2021
Reporter Joe Kane comes across a plea for help from an indigenous tribe in the Ecuadorian jungle, whose way of life is threatened by encroaching oil companies. Finding that few environmental organizations who claim to represent the tribe's interest have actually contacted the tribe, he ventures to Ecuador and ends up moving there. The book follows his relationships with Enqueri, Moi, Nanto, and Amo, the officers of ONHAE, the first political organization of the Haorani tribe. You get to know the Haorani, their fierce pride, their silly sense of humor, their voracious appetite, and their near-constant reckoning of living between their traditional lifestyle and the modern world.
Written in the early 1990s, some of the language and conflicts in this book were outdated. But the conflict of resource extraction and the depth of environmental injustices hurt just as sharply. I knew from the start that this book would not have a happy ending. It's a fascinating and compassionate view of a tribe struggling to survive in an impossible situation. While it is written from the white man's perspective, it tells an important story and makes me want to keep learning about the people and history of the region.
Written in the early 1990s, some of the language and conflicts in this book were outdated. But the conflict of resource extraction and the depth of environmental injustices hurt just as sharply. I knew from the start that this book would not have a happy ending. It's a fascinating and compassionate view of a tribe struggling to survive in an impossible situation. While it is written from the white man's perspective, it tells an important story and makes me want to keep learning about the people and history of the region.
October 23, 2022
This book was recommended to me by others in my book group who had read it before I joined the group. I found myself very interested in learning more about the Huaorani people as I read the account by the author of his initial contact and the subsequent travels and relationships formed with the people. At times heart wrenching and other times laugh inducing this is an eye opening story of the Indigenous people living in the Amazon rain forest. I had no idea of the extent of the oil production in that area and the pressures the Indigenous people are put under to succumb to the oil development and production on their home areas. The amount of oil pollution from spills was horrifying, second only to the devastating way that it affected the health and lives of those who live in the forest. Overall this is a good story that should be read by anyone concerned with what is happening/has happened on our planet - to the environment and the Indigenous people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2020
Written in 1996, a good coverage of the indigenous Amazonian tribes and their (still ongoing) fight to survive despite oil drilling on their native lands. I remember reading about Christian missionaries first contacting these tribes back in the late 50s. It was interesting to see the other side of the story and what that has done to these tribes’ culture, health, and future survival. Turns out the missionaries encouraged the tribes to sign contracts with the oil companies that were not in the tribes’ best interest.
An enjoyable, compelling, and heartbreaking read from the viewpoint of the tribes—the author depicts them in their very humanity, and you can’t help but feel you KNOW these people and care about what happens to them.
An enjoyable, compelling, and heartbreaking read from the viewpoint of the tribes—the author depicts them in their very humanity, and you can’t help but feel you KNOW these people and care about what happens to them.
July 6, 2019
An engaging real-life account of the effects that missionaries, oil companies and government interests have had on the Huaroni, an indigenous tribe in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
First published in 1995, a lot has happened since then however Kane's account of his days living with the Huaroni gives the reader an appreciation and insight into their daily life following contact with outsiders and the adverse impact that neoliberalism has had on a group of people who have lived of the land for hundreds of years.
The Huaroni's battle against the Ecuadorian Government and oil companies continues to this day. This book provides anyone interested with valuable background reading.
First published in 1995, a lot has happened since then however Kane's account of his days living with the Huaroni gives the reader an appreciation and insight into their daily life following contact with outsiders and the adverse impact that neoliberalism has had on a group of people who have lived of the land for hundreds of years.
The Huaroni's battle against the Ecuadorian Government and oil companies continues to this day. This book provides anyone interested with valuable background reading.
August 14, 2017
Upon beginning this book, I did not know much of the plight of the Huaorani. I have family members who are part Quichua Indian, but were much removed from the native living that is described in this book. The picture painted is a rich and diverse one, and made me want to learn more of the Huaorani people. I felt a deep kinship with Moi. I highly recommend this.
March 6, 2024
I read this book after my trip to Ecuador last month which included time in the rainforest. Oil companies are still extracting oil from the Amazon. While eco-tourism offers some reimbursement to local indigenous groups, I am glad that some indigenous people are still living sustainably in the rainforest. Oil companies must be held accountable for spills.
June 25, 2024
This book does a really interesting ethnography of the Huorani in Ecuador and a changing environment and world due to fossil fuel exploitation and corruption. Very interesting read. Despite the controversial title, the author does well portraying the story in a tasteful way.
August 10, 2020
I read this for my EE and it was rly good and sad. Fuck the oil industry 🖕. ❤️indigenous ppl.
May 19, 2022
A very detailed and ineresting book. Also very sad the way native people are being treated and forced to live. The destruction of the native jungle habitat with petroleum wastes is deplorable.
January 3, 2023
Eye opening. Big oil destroyed a culture and a forest .
April 26, 2023
Exceptional storytelling about indigenous communities in Ecuador and their slow destruction by oil companies.
July 22, 2018
I feel fortunate to have this personal account of the Huaorani. I read this while in Ecuador, and though I wasn't able to visit the Amazon, I was happy to learn about them. Unfortunately, I did not realize that some members now have a cafe in Quito. I believe I saw the storefront but did not expect them to be represented. When I got home I discovered a story in the newspaper I had bought about their financial and cultural enterprise. The story continues, even as corporations threaten their land.
April 8, 2011
You might have recently heard recently of that an Ecuador court ordered Chevron Co. pay an $8.6 billion fine for polluting the Amazon for Texaco’s oil-drilling activities of the 70s and 80s.
In 1991, Joe Kane was working at a Rainforest Action Network, one of many environmental organizations squabbling over the expansion of oil drilling by Dupont-Conoco within the protected lands of native Huaorani in the Ecuadorian Amazon. But despite the Ecuadorian government and all these organizations claiming to protect the interests of the Huaorani, none had actually spoken to these natives, until a mysterious letter convinced Joe Kane to go find the voice of the Huaorani himself… and found him deeply involved with their brave and ingenious battle to stop the complete destruction of their very society.
When Joe Kane sticks to speaking about the shocking negligence of oil drilling in the Ecudaorian Amazon, the effects of this mass pollution on the Huaorani culture, and the struggle of the natives to stop this Conoco plan is when Savages works best:
- of people hanging laundry upon the omnipresent pipelines, of gushing leaks in said pipelines that remain undiscovered for weeks before they’re mended, of sludgy pits where oil byproducts were disposed
- how whole villages are poisoned by the river or suffer low birthrates
- how this ecological destruction has only further degraded a lifestyle already weakened by missionary colonialism
- the attempts of corrupt bureaucracy and greedy oil companies to further prevent the Huaorani from having a political voice
- & the counter-attempts of certain individuals of the Huaorani to mobilize against the “cannibals” who would cripple their native way of life using their unique know-how of both cultures.
But Kane often loses this thread in the confusion of his intention: Is he mere reporting these politics or is he involved in helping the Huaorani? Is he studying them anthropologically fairly (on their own terms) or is he casting them into roles of the “savage”—noble or child-like? Is his book intended to be informative ecological expose or is it a colorful travelogue about a white man’s foibles in the jungle among hunter-gatherers? Kane doesn’t really seem to know, either in the present moment or in looking back upon the experience, and the resulting book is rather jagged and unfocused as a result. He frequently jabbers on, forgetting to place important events in context and merely spews forth a mountain of names, dates, and meetings that occurred without generally explaining their significance… that is when he’s speaking about something with significance at all (and not pondering his foot rot or his friendships or making some ponderous sweeping statement… with touches of ethnocentrism).
I can see why this was a text in my Cultural Anthropology class: it presents a riveting real-life case study of globalism, cultural clash, and the desperate need in this world for applied anthropology (even if it is only through the example of a fiasco). However, I can’t really recommend it as a primary read—both because of Kane’s flimsy reporting and unchecked bias, the lack of scope, and its general outdated-ness. Rating: 2.5 stars
In 1991, Joe Kane was working at a Rainforest Action Network, one of many environmental organizations squabbling over the expansion of oil drilling by Dupont-Conoco within the protected lands of native Huaorani in the Ecuadorian Amazon. But despite the Ecuadorian government and all these organizations claiming to protect the interests of the Huaorani, none had actually spoken to these natives, until a mysterious letter convinced Joe Kane to go find the voice of the Huaorani himself… and found him deeply involved with their brave and ingenious battle to stop the complete destruction of their very society.
When Joe Kane sticks to speaking about the shocking negligence of oil drilling in the Ecudaorian Amazon, the effects of this mass pollution on the Huaorani culture, and the struggle of the natives to stop this Conoco plan is when Savages works best:
- of people hanging laundry upon the omnipresent pipelines, of gushing leaks in said pipelines that remain undiscovered for weeks before they’re mended, of sludgy pits where oil byproducts were disposed
- how whole villages are poisoned by the river or suffer low birthrates
- how this ecological destruction has only further degraded a lifestyle already weakened by missionary colonialism
- the attempts of corrupt bureaucracy and greedy oil companies to further prevent the Huaorani from having a political voice
- & the counter-attempts of certain individuals of the Huaorani to mobilize against the “cannibals” who would cripple their native way of life using their unique know-how of both cultures.
But Kane often loses this thread in the confusion of his intention: Is he mere reporting these politics or is he involved in helping the Huaorani? Is he studying them anthropologically fairly (on their own terms) or is he casting them into roles of the “savage”—noble or child-like? Is his book intended to be informative ecological expose or is it a colorful travelogue about a white man’s foibles in the jungle among hunter-gatherers? Kane doesn’t really seem to know, either in the present moment or in looking back upon the experience, and the resulting book is rather jagged and unfocused as a result. He frequently jabbers on, forgetting to place important events in context and merely spews forth a mountain of names, dates, and meetings that occurred without generally explaining their significance… that is when he’s speaking about something with significance at all (and not pondering his foot rot or his friendships or making some ponderous sweeping statement… with touches of ethnocentrism).
I can see why this was a text in my Cultural Anthropology class: it presents a riveting real-life case study of globalism, cultural clash, and the desperate need in this world for applied anthropology (even if it is only through the example of a fiasco). However, I can’t really recommend it as a primary read—both because of Kane’s flimsy reporting and unchecked bias, the lack of scope, and its general outdated-ness. Rating: 2.5 stars
January 15, 2013
"Savages" is the personal account of the author and his relationship with Huaorani Indians in Ecuador, who are collectively and generally besieged by oil companies encroaching on their traditional land and way of life. This is a good but not great book; it may be the author or it may be the subject matter, but there's too much -- about the Huaorani themselves and the inter-tribal politics of the rainforest -- that is hinted at without being fully explained, perhaps because for an outsider it is not fully understandable.
In the end, what becomes clear is that the "savages" are NOT the natives, who want generally only to live their lives as they always have, but rather the oil companies and their allies, who are all too willing to chew up and spit out anyone or anything that gets in their way. I do wish the author was even more explicit about that point, though every reader who chooses and makes it through this book will certainly get it.
I read this book prior to my 14 year-old son's trip to this part of Ecuador next month; I can't wait to see how his account compares to Joe Kane's!
In the end, what becomes clear is that the "savages" are NOT the natives, who want generally only to live their lives as they always have, but rather the oil companies and their allies, who are all too willing to chew up and spit out anyone or anything that gets in their way. I do wish the author was even more explicit about that point, though every reader who chooses and makes it through this book will certainly get it.
I read this book prior to my 14 year-old son's trip to this part of Ecuador next month; I can't wait to see how his account compares to Joe Kane's!
September 2, 2019
The true story about the Huaorani living in the jungle heart of Ecuador and their fight to maintain their way of life despite "the company" (oil companies, government, politics) coming in to destroy the finest for $.
Writes like fiction almost, so great to get through while simultaneously learning the facts and depressing realities. Great look into the two extremes of humanity - jungle indigenous 'uncivilized' people and big oil CEO 'heartless' people in the context of a poor resource rich, debt ridden country.
Sometimes his writing style was very annoying as he tried too hard occasionally to romanticize - But the Huaorani are just so fascinating themselves you can't stop - you just want to learn more about them, and it's amazing Joe Kane got so close to them and became a confidant. (And so deep in the jungle, it was great to hear all about the jungle as well, sounds terrifying!)
Overall a great book - and an excellent one to read while in Ecuador itself in Quito - the busy markets and dark streets you can just imagine how the Huaorani felt when they visited the big city, and imagine also that they just might be walking around too!
Writes like fiction almost, so great to get through while simultaneously learning the facts and depressing realities. Great look into the two extremes of humanity - jungle indigenous 'uncivilized' people and big oil CEO 'heartless' people in the context of a poor resource rich, debt ridden country.
Sometimes his writing style was very annoying as he tried too hard occasionally to romanticize - But the Huaorani are just so fascinating themselves you can't stop - you just want to learn more about them, and it's amazing Joe Kane got so close to them and became a confidant. (And so deep in the jungle, it was great to hear all about the jungle as well, sounds terrifying!)
Overall a great book - and an excellent one to read while in Ecuador itself in Quito - the busy markets and dark streets you can just imagine how the Huaorani felt when they visited the big city, and imagine also that they just might be walking around too!
February 12, 2015
I'm finally just going to say I finished this. I'm about 10 pages from the end and haven't picked it up in weeks. The bureaucratic elements lost me. It was the encounters with the Huaorani that kept me reading. Having already known the gist of the horrific oil endeavors in South America, still I learned a little more of the gritty details. For example, the streets in the larger cities are literally wet with shiny oil that covers everyone's feet, vehicles, clothing, and yet the CEOs and presidents of various organizations are able to pretend it isn't a problem at all. The oil spills into rivers, working conditions, violations into native lands to continue drilling and piping, the missionary influence still actively involved in shitty education systems. It's depressing then to compare these facts, the powerful and seemingly unstoppable oil corporations and their corrupt politician friends, with the backward-seeming Huaorani who used to be fierce killers in their day, but who now seem to be defeated.
Maybe that's another reason why I could barely make myself finish the last 40 pages. I knew all along it wasn't going to be a happy ending.
Maybe that's another reason why I could barely make myself finish the last 40 pages. I knew all along it wasn't going to be a happy ending.
March 3, 2010
I highly recommend this compulsively readable and manically engaging true tale of Amazonian "Indians"--the Huaorani--at war with oil companies deep in the jungle. The Huaorani had lived isolated and content with their traditional way of life for so long that their language cannot be connected to any other language known to humankind. Basically, if anybody tried to encroach upon them, they would simply tell them to leave and if they didn't, the Huaorani would kill them. Stoic to godlike degrees, they wanted to be left alone and made sure that their wishes were granted by honor, by fearlessness, by the power of the sacred jaguar spirit, and--most of all--by spear. That is, until a sea of oil was found under their land and the Ecuadorian government teamed up with American oil titans to suck it dry. Joe Kane does an incredible job of keeping as close to the Huaorani as possible while maintaining an observational and honest, objectifying account of the struggle. An incredible book.
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