Canelos Quichua - Orientation

Identification. The name "Canelos Quichua" is of foreign origin. It designates the mission site of Canelos that ranged historically from near Puyo to its present Río Bobonaza location. "Runa" means "human being" in Quichua, and "Runapura" means "people among ourselves," "us." "Ala" is a form of address among people acknowledged as "us," but use of "Alama" as a reference to Canelos Quichua people is pejorative.

Location. The Canelos Quichua occupy the territory south and east of Puyo, capital of Pastaza Province, and the Río Bobonaza region north of the Curaray and Villano river regions in Ecuador. The territory south of the Bobonaza, from the Río Yatapi east, is Achuar Jivaroan territory, and the territory north of the Curaray from its conjunction with the Río Villano is Waorani territory. The climate is equatorial rain forest that ranges from 300 to 1,000 meters in elevation.

Demography. Ten thousand is a reasonable estimate of the contemporary, expanding Canelos Quichua population. Historically, severe population decline was experienced on many occasions because of infectious diseases.

Linguistic Affiliation. Quechua was the language of the imperial Inca. All Quechua dialects, including those known as Quichua (Kichwa, Kichua) are frequently, although erroneously, associated exclusively with the high Andean regions of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Quichua was a language of conquest in Andean Ecuador in the fifteenth century, but its entry into what has become Canelos Quichua territory and its eventual domination over Jivaroan and Zaparoan languages in parts of Ecuador's Amazonion regions remain an intriguing problem. It may have been introduced from the southeast (Amazonian) region. Related dialects are found on the upper and lower Río Napo. Today it is estimated that at least 20 percent of the Canelos Quichua speak Achuar Jivaroan as a second language, and speaking Spanish as a second or as a third language is common. In a few areas some Zaparoan-Quichua bilingualism also exists.