Ecuadorian History

After four days of Spanish classes, I feel like I am making significant strides. Yesterday, I made my first successful business transaction in public (that is, there was no confusion on either side...or so I thought). I bought a prepaid phone card, and was feeling pretty proud of myself. Until I showed it to my instructor today, and she told me that it was only for cellular phones (which I do not have here, of course). So that was a bit of a blow to my pride in my Spanish speaking abilities. But nonetheless, I am learning a tremendous amount - irregular verbs and their conjugations, various adjectives, common phrases, etc. I am even catching myself at times thinking in Spanish, or answering "si" instead of "yes" when speaking in English with other foreigners. I've been watching a bit of TV in the evenings (which I normally wouldn't do much of in the US), because it is good practice to hear Spanish spoken at real speed. Nevermind the fact that many of the sitcoms are reruns of terrible American sitcoms, like "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch". It's the Spanish that I'm interested in, trust me. I've been taking a nap (I prefer to call it a "siesta" - it sounds less lazy that way) almost every afternoon. Possibly because of the altitude that I am not used to yet (about 9200 ft.), but more likely because of the intense mental strain that learning a new language requires. I just feel so incredibly wiped out in the evenings, regardless of how much sleep I've been getting - which has been plenty.

I visited the "Museo Nacional del Banco Central" yesterday - a museum displaying the culture and art of the Ecuadorian people from the very beginning up until today. I tagged along with a group being given a tour by a guide that is a native of Ecuador. It was painfully obvious that this group of tourists was from the US. First of all, their clothes gave them away. In Ecuador, it is the standard that most all adults dress rather nicely - even many of the poorer citizens manage to dress in nice pants and collared shirts. Of course, youths will be youths and many wear jeans and less fancy shirts (similar to what may be found in the US), however, even they seem to make an effort to at least look presentable and decent. But these American tourists in the museum were dressed in faded and worn jeans, old t-shirts and showed no regard for their appearance. Not uncommon in the US, but certainly out of place here in Quito. However, their dress is excusable, what was inexcusable was their actions. This was a group of about 10 adults (most probably 30 years old or a bit older). Inspite of their age, they were very rude, inattentive, and interupting toward the guide. They were cracking jokes about the nature and nudity of some of the ancient artifacts. As with many ancient cultures, the ancient peoples of Ecuador worshiped fertility, and as such, many of the artifacts represented women and men involved in various intimate positions and stages of life. Of course, most of the statues and figures were nude - as was the reality of life back then. The artifacts were extremely old (several thousands of years BC) and very interesting. The guide showed a genuine pride (as he should) in his country and his people's long and rich history. But these Americans showed an overall disrespect and disinterest in it all. The low point was when we came to a life size statue of an ancient man and woman adorned in traditional costumes and jewels. After the tour guide had moved on out of sight, two women from the group went up to the statue of the man, and actually lifted up the loin cloth to "check out his package". They actually touched this extraordinary exhibit so they could snicker and crack jokes with eachother. At this point, I couldn't take anymore and I left the group. It was making me sick. I know that these people were on vacation, but that is no excuse to show such blatant disregard, ignorance, and insensitivity toward another culture and property. It made me ashamed just to be from the same country.

The history of Ecuador is very interesting and rich with culture and art. I won't pretend to know much of the details, only broad generalities. The history is broken up into several eras. The pre-Columbian era was before the arrival of the Spaniards. Artifacts from this era date back as far as 9000 BC. These artifacts consist of Stone Age tools, ceramics, figurines, statues, jewelry, etc. They are often extremely intricate and all are beautiful, if not in form, definitely in meaning and significance. It is fun to let one's mind wander back to what life must have been like. A predominant theme in these cultures was the concept of the duality of life - the sun and the moon, the man and the woman. Many of the artifacts attest to the fact that both sides of this duality seemed to be worshiped and honored in one form or another. In fact, a few of the cultures are believed to have been matriarchal. Of particular importance seems to be the Pachimama - or mother earth. One very interesting group of ceramics was a group of vases used to worship the gods. They were in the shape and form of different animals and would be filled with water when used for ceremonial dances. When the vessels were swished back and forth in the dance of worship, the movement of the water inside would make a sound similar to the sounds made by the animal that the vessel resembled (e.g., monkey, jaguar, etc.). There were also "whistling pots" that, when filled with water and tilted back and forth, would whistle in one direction and sound like the moan of a human voice when tilted in the other direction. The Incas arrived very late in this era (not more than a couple hundred years before the Spaniards arrived), yet they are the most well known pre-Colombian civilization.

In 1526, the Spanish arrived and, with their horses, armor, and cannons, soon conquered the Incas. Of course, the Spanish conquistadors brought with them their own style of art and their religion, Catholicism. This was the beginning of the Colonial era of Ecuadorian history. The story of colonial Ecuador is not much different than that of most of Latin America. The natives were conquered, killed, and persecuted, the land became a colony to a European country, and eventually there was a revolution in which the inhabitants of the land gained their independence. The mix of Spanish Catholic influence with the native art and lifestyle led to the development of a very unique blend of artistic influences termed the "Quito School of Art" or "Escuela Quiteña". The Spaniards trained the local indigenous people to create art with religious themes, such as the Virgin Mary, Christ, etc. The art became very elaborate and embellished with much gold - very baroque. Beautiful in its own way I suppose, but not nearly as interesting as the pre-Colombian work.

In the museum, the works are arranged somewhat chronologically, with the oldest artifacts first and then the Colonial works, followed by more modern works. It is this juxtaposition of pre-Colombian work (mostly made with ceramic, stone, shells, and some metals) with the ridiculously flamboyant, gold-embellished Colonial work that causes one (me at least) to somberly reflect on the influence of the European conquests on the indigenous peoples. It was really sort of sad, to see the complete loss of a very beautiful and rich (in meaning and significance) culture and its violent replacement with a culture so foreign and out of place.

Of course, I am a Christian and am not commenting on the overall goodness of the Church and spread of Christianity. However, I do question the manner in which European cultures (often in the name of the Church) have killed, tortured, enslaved, or eliminated entire cultures and people groups throughout history. The story is not much different than that of the history of relations between the US and Native Americans. I'm not so sure that the story is much different than that of the influence of the US today throughout the world. We are no longer in search of the fountain of youth or gold necessarily, but rather black gold (oil), the sale of cheap, manufactured goods, the source of new pharmaceuticals, or our own tourist desires. What beautiful cultures, lands, and ways of life are we destroying in order to further our own ideals, and fatten our own wallets? Is this justified simply because we are bigger and stronger, and that is the nature of capitalism? Relatively recently, oil was discovered in Ecuador. Many lumber and pharmaceutical companies are progressively decimating the rainforest in search of more, more, more. Take a beautiful, diverse, and resource-rich land, add capitalism and Western ideals, top off with some oil and what do you get? It saddens me to think about the prospects for the future of this country.

The rest of the history of Ecuador is interesting and beautiful, but more common. There is the era of the Republic, with many portrait paintings of heroes of the Revolution, florid landscapes, etc. And then there is the modern era, with many wonderful works of art, paintings, sculptures, etc. Most likely you haven't heard of many Ecuadorian artists - probably because Ecuador is poor, small, and has a fairly small international voice. However, this doesn't take away from the diversity and beauty of this proud country.

Did you know?...There are over 1500 species of birds in Ecuador, twice the number found on any one of the continents of North America, Europe, and Australia. There are 120 different species of hummingbirds alone in Ecuador. There are 25,000 species of vascular plants in Ecuador, compared with 17,000 in North America. There are 350 recorded reptile species in Ecuador, 100 more than North America. Pretty impressive for a country that is the size of the state of Nevada.