The A'i Kofán communities are spread across 14 settlements in Ecuador and Colombia. They have lived there for several hundred years by hunting, fishing, and gathering.
The A'i Kofan people are one of the smallest in the world, with just over a thousand people in total. Their environment and traditional way of life are threatened by the pressure of the Western development model, especially through oil activities that have been searching for oil for more than 50 years.
This has caused massive deforestation (and the consequent loss of food, medicinal plants, and other materials), pollution of rivers and air, and extensive fires. It is also destroying the community's cultural traditions.
The Kofan see the forest as a living entity that is being violated by drilling into the land. The oil boom has also brought diseases, to which they have no natural immunity, and poverty has also increased. The Kofan have lost 90% of their land and what remains is fragmented, causing a breakdown of community cohesion.
The Kofan see the forest as a living entity that is being violated by drilling into the land. The oil boom has also brought diseases, to which they have no natural immunity, and poverty has also increased. The Kofan have lost 90% of their land and what remains is fragmented, causing a breakdown of community cohesion.
The A'i Kofán people of the Ecuadorian Amazon are on the brink of extinction.
In their worldview, the laws that govern their territory are respect for life, nature, and the underground world. Fidel Aguinda (young Kofan leader) tells us the story of Coan Coan where he describes how the oil industry destroys not only their environment but also their connection with the natural world.
“COAN COAN is an underground being. He has a house, like we do. He is not a god, he is not a monster, just a being.
When the Shaman (wise man) needs advice, he always seeks advice from COAN COAN, just as if he needs to ask for a favor for the community, for example more hunting or fishing. COAN COAN belongs to the Cofán people, it is a part of our life.
Like any other being, COAN COAN needs to rest, sleep... when he sleeps he turns into rock and his blood turns into oil. The oil companies kill the COAN COAN when they drill to extract the black gold, COAN COAN breaks into pieces.
The Kofán people cannot allow part of their life to be destroyed, they cannot allow the COAN COAN to be killed, this is the reason why in the Cofán communities we do not accept oil activity in our territory."
By: Fidel Aguinda
April 2014
April 2014
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