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Some culture drops from Ecuador.. Based on my trip to Mitad Del Mundo and learnings from inside the monument Ecuador ethnographical museum.
There are mainly three different regions in Ecuador, each with different Climactic Characteristics, different lifestyles and different tribes in it..
i) The coast
ii) The Sierra (Mountains)
iii) The amazon (Jungle)
In total there are 20 different types of tribes with different characteristics living in Ecuador. The variety is simply amazing.
In the coast:
1. Chachis: They live in the north western part of the Ecuador. Their life is based on agriculture, hunting and fishing, and also provide workers for lumber companies. Are skilled canoe builders from a single tree trunk.
2. Afro Ecuadorian Culture: Located in urban centres like the city of Esmeraldas, they have their traditional dances and musics called marimba.
3. Montubio: Live in mountainous areas on the coast. They inherit the aboriginal traditions from the coast and are result of crossbreedings of races. They are talented in the craft of toquilla straw and make hats from Montecristi.
4. Cholo Pescador: Live all along the coastal region of ecuador. Their traditional techniques are changing to modern fishing systems, but still sometimes they fish from traditional tree trunk vessels too.
In the Sierra:
1.Tsachilas:
Live in south eastern part in the province of pichincha. Their hair is cut in form of a helmet and front part stands out like a visor. Their language is Tsafiqui and they still practice their traditional medicine, rituals and ceremonies
2. Afro-ecuadorian culture from El Chota:
Live in North Andean region. Their life is mixture of african and indigenous people. Their "mocha band" is a unique form of musical expression, hich utilizes informal instruments like rustic skin drums, leaves, gourds etc.
3. Indigenous groups of imbabura:
Most famous of those are ottavalanos, as they are very strong in textile and sell their crafts in the famous ottavala market.
4. Groups of Pinchincha:
They live close to quito, although they are urbanized they still keep their original traditions like feasts or handicrafts.
5. Groups of Cotopaxi:
They leave very high around volcano cotopaxi and have developed new activities like pottery and artistic painting on leather. They have their own festivities, one of which is "Corpus Christi"
6. Groups of Tungurahua:
Divided into Salsacas and Chibuleos. They are both dedicated to agriculture, yet salasacas are also well known for their fine multicolor weavings.
7. Groups of Chimborazo:
A lot of indigenous people live here, approximately 250000, which is consisted of 431 communitites each with their own clothing.
8. Groups of Bolivar:
Live around Bolivar province, breed cattle and work on agriculture. They are also skilled fireworks and fire weapons manifacturers.
9. Groups of Canar:
Live in Canar province, are agricultural, work with cattle and skillful weavers too.
10. Chola Cuencana:
Mixture of spanish and indigenous blood, live in cuenca. They wear a colorful dress and a handwoven woolen shawl.
11. Saraguros:
Live in the southern part of Ecuador. Mainly do cattle breeding but also do agriculture and trade as a side work.
In the amazonas:
1. Al Cofan
Live in the northern part of the jungle. Their language is "A ´ingae", which is in the danger of extinction nowadays. They work on agriculture, hunting and fishing.
2. Siona - Secoya
Live on northwestern zone of Ecuador that is in the border with Colombia. They speak Paicoca. Unfortunately this group is close to becoming extinct because of "colonization"
3. Quichuas of the amazon region
They have their own traditions manifested in their constructions, shamanism and quality ceramics for utilitarian and ceremonial purposes.
4. Untshuri Shuar
Live in Morona Santiago and Zamora Chiachipe. Their language is shuar, their house only has exterior walls and a roof and no interior walls. Their house is divide to two zones, one for men and the other for women and children. They don´t have sex inside their houses, it is accepted to be sacred.
5. Achuar
Similar to shuar, they speak Achuar language. Unfortunately they are in danger of extinction too as the forest around them is being destroyed, causing a dangerous situation for the ecological system in this zone.
6. Huaorani
Live between Napo and Curaray Rivers. Speak "Huao" language. Their activities are fishing, hunting and horticulture. They don´t have a judicial system, adults have control agains youth and against women...
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