PEOPLE OF ECUADOR-ETHNIC GROUPS

THE OTAVALEÑOS are a people and culture indigenous to the Otavalo valley in the Imbabura province of Northern Ecuador.Otavalo Indians are the descendants of the Caras Indians who inhabited this region in South America about 500 years ago.

The Otavaleño people today are skilled textile weavers, and are perhaps the most prosperous indigenous group in all of South America. Today, there are upwards of 50.000 Otavaleños; the majority of them still live in the valley,but they are a common site in virtually any Ecuadorian city.

Within the past two decades or so, increasing numbers of Otavaleños have also been travelling overseas to sell their handicrafts in Europe, North America and other countries in South.

HUAORANI, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from de Amazonian Region of Ecuador (In te Orient Region) with some marked differences from the others ethnic groups from Ecuador. Auca is another pejorative name. (Auca-awqa in Quechua-means "enemy".

They comprise almost 4.000 inhabitants and speak the Huaorani language.

Their ancestral lands are located between the Curaray and Napo rivers, about 50 miles(8o Km.)South of El Coca. They are threatened by oil exploration and illegal logging practices.

In the past, Huaorani guarded their lands from both indigneous foes and outsides colonials.

In the last 40 years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements. As many as five communities: The Tagaeri, the Huiñatare, the Oñamenane and two groups of the Taromenane, have rejected all contact with non-Waodani, and continue to move into more osilated areas-