Waorani - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Tropical-forest horticulturists, the Waorani spend much of their energy clearing the forest and growing manioc, plantains, peach palms, maize, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and a number of minor cultigens. Once a garden matures, the women harvest the products on a daily basis, according to need. As they harvest, they take stalks and racemes from the freshly harvested plants and replant them in a nearby garden site that the men have just cleared, ensuring that as a garden is consumed, a new one is simultaneously prepared. Typically, a garden will be consumed in a few months, and the family then moves off to another settlement up to a day away where they have previously planted another garden that is now mature. They harvest and replant at that site and then move on to a third location. By the time they have harvested and planted at the third site, the first garden site is mature for consumption. This keeps the families moving every few months in a cycle of semipermanent sedentarism, which reduces their impact on a given area and facilitates defense from enemies. It also provides alternate sites where refuge can be taken following spearing raids. This slashand-mulch horticulture provides most of the carbohydrates; most of the protein is supplied through hunting and fishing. Monkeys and numerous species of birds are hunted or blowguns with poison darts, peccaries with spears. In addition to horticulture and hunting, the Waorani also continuously collect wild foods from the forest as they travel through it. Prior to intensive contact with Europeans, the Waorani were extremely healthy and well nourished.

Industrial Arts. Traditionally, the Waorani made whatever they needed from forest products. Pottery, wooden weapons and tools, baskets, hammocks, string bags, and nets were crafted for daily use. They did not manufacture their own stone tools, relying instead upon those they could find in the forest, left behind by past cultures. Canoes were not made until the 1950s.

Trade. Because there is almost no specialization in Wao culture, when people need something, they make it themselves. Some internal trading does occur, but until the spread of European influence, this was simply generalized reciprocity. Goods and services were not evaluated, and no form of currency existed. The important feature was the act of the exchange itself, which cemented social relationships. Until 1958 Waorani maintained no trading relationships with other peoples. Since then, however, they have entered into the market system of the external world, working for money as oil-company employees and purchasing many manufactured goods and some processed foods. Sale of artisanry for the tourist market has become important. Generalized reciprocity has begun to give way to the profit motive.

Division of Labor. Men are responsible for chopping the huge forest trees to clear garden sites, for providing meat, for protecting the family, and for engaging in warfare. Women perform most of the agricultural tasks (planting, weeding, and harvesting), prepare meals, and care for the children. Neither sex's role is given higher status than that of the other, they are considered equally valuable. Children begin limited participation in adult activities as soon as they are physically capable, and at marriage they are expected to carry out full adult responsibilities.

Land Tenure. The concept of land ownership by individuals or groups was unknown until the late twentieth century. Every individual had right of usufruct to any land that was not already under cultivation. When the protectorate was created in 1983, the tribe, as an entity, was given the land. Individuals may not own or sell any part of it, but all may use it. Once a garden is consumed it is abandoned and becomes available for anyone, although in most cases the land is allowed to fallow for at least eight years—until the softwoods mature—before it is cultivated again.