Achuar

Achuar

Achuar head ring, NMAI, ca. 1925
Total population
(18,500)
Regions with significant populations
Ecuador: 15,000, Peru: 3,500,  Spain: 1,500
Languages
Shuar language, Achuar-Shiwiar language
Religion
Shamanism, Animism

The Achuar are an Amazonian community of some 18,500 individuals along either side of the border in between Ecuador and Peru. As of the early 1970s, the Achuar were one of the last of the Jivaroan groups still generally unaffected by outside contact.

The name Achuar means “the people of the aguaje palm”.

Achuar life centers on the domestic household, which consists of a basic family unit often including close relatives. Although the Achuar ideal is household autonomy and independence in terms of subsistence economy, there are usually about ten to fifteen households within the society dispersed throughout the area but still in a relatively close distance of each other. Each of these groupings tends to be uxorilocal. Marriages are typically polygynous, with partners somewhat related, or in some instances women are taken from nearby groups during raids. Co-wives are often sisters (see sororal polygyny).

The standard Achuar home is settled near a river or lake, but within a distance from major waterways because of mosquitoes and to protect the household against raids by canoe. It is shaped as a large oval, commonly without outer walls to allow ventilation, with a high roof with straight sides. The roof is often made out of palm tree fronds while two types of palm are used for house beams. Temporary walls are made out of large palms when danger seems close. A large yard and gardens then surround the home on the outside. The size of a house plays a pivotal part in the ego of an Achuar man. The bigger the house is to fit multiple wives and children the more likely that man will be considered a juunt, or "great man".

Conflicts within the Achuar society are minimal. The constant fight is between neighboring tribes and when tensions greatly increase, the Achuar find refuge in large protected houses that hold six to seven families.

Women and men hold separate daily tasks that are all beneficial for the survival of a family. The women gather and carry the game, sometimes with their children, while also preparing meals. They also have the opportunity to fish with baskets or with lines but overall their role pertains to domestic duties. Men, on the other hand, work in the forest and hunt. They are also involved in making the tools they use for hunting, like blowguns and traps, and use the technique of clearing for the expansion of their spouses’ gardens.