In the middle of the Ecuadorian jungle, the nation of Sarayaku is erected. This nation was able to stop the advance of oil companies who, in the name of development, threatened the life of the community.
In order to get to Sarayaku by land, two days of travel are needed by ways of a motorized canoe, along the river Bogomaza. The other alternative is to take an aircraft from Puyo which takes 25 minutes.
Sarayaku is a village comprised of five communities: Kali Kali, Parayaku, Chaymi, Siwakoya and Chintayaku. Authority is exercised by a representative of the community, followed by the Kuraka, who carries a staff proving his authority.
The particularity of the people of Sarayaku is that they are Kichua but they live in the jungle. There is still doubt as to whether this is due to the Inca expansion to the jungle or if it was part of a migration to the east, where the Spaniards would not be able to follow them.
In 1992, the community of Sarayaku organized a march to Quito which lasted approximately 20 days and to which 2,000 natives from the Amazon assisted, accompanied by other native groups from the Andes. The purpose of this demonstration was to demand that president Rodrigo Borja and the Ecuadorian State recognize the territory that the natives inhabit.
In 1996, the Ecuadorian government handed over a strip of the jungle’s land to the Argentinean oil company CGC, but the owners of the land were never consulted. 
The leader José Gualinga who was president of the community, told Renacer that seeing the situation, Sarayaku was “in a state of emergency, which meant paralysing everyday activities, as well as activities related to education and the economy. This struggle allowed us to evaluate our capacity of discourse and position in the defence of the land”.
What did this situation mean to you?
For us it was a historic point in which the youth also expressed their opinions. It was an important precedent for all the indigenous peoples who are currently resisting.
It was during Marlon Santi’s presidency that the Ecuadorian government sent the military to defend the company and resistance from Sarayaku was able to make the government and the oil company back away.
A lawsuit took place against the Argentinean oil company “Compañía General de Combustibles” (CGC) due to the ecological damages it caused in Sarayaku.
There was a persecution of the leaders of the community, but the resistance was peaceful. The oil company was able to dig exploration wells, but after 3 years of resistance and of complaints filed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the exploration was stopped.
For more information regarding the deed of the community you can watch the documentary “Los guardianes de la selva” (The Jungle’s Guardians) by Heriberto Gualinga.
Sarayaku’s relationship with the Ecuadorian State was negotiated but it is still tense. When the State proposed education for the community, Sarayaku accepted but adopted a different model: in Sarayaku, a school functions with a program that takes into account the necessary knowledge related to the place in which the Kichua live.
José Gualinga, explains it this way: “having our own potentials and knowledge we cannot wait for the doctors from outside, in Sarayaku there is no western doctor, but there are yachays and it is with them that we will work. And this knowledge will be introduced in the education system”.
Solar energy feeds generators that allow the use of electricity for everyday life.
Currently, the community is finishing the installation of satellite internet, so that they can be connected to the world’s events without having to go to Puyo; Internet arrived before the telephone.
The European Economic Community’s project consists of the construction of two houses, the way they are built in the community, with a roof made of Huayuri plants.