Trinkets and Beads

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After twenty years of devastating pollution produced by oil companies in the Amazon basin of Ecuador, a new kind of oil company - Dallas based MAXUS - promises to be the first company to protect the rainforest, and respect the people who live there.

TRINKETS and BEADS tells the story of how MAXUS set out to convince the Huaorani - known as the fiercest tribe in the Amazon - to allow drilling on their land. It is a story that starts in 1957 with the Huaorani massacre of five American missionaries, moving through the evangelization efforts of Rachel Saint, to the pollution of Huaorani lands by Texaco and Shell, and then the manipulation of Huaorani leaders by MAXUS.

Now the Huaorani leader, Moi, is trying to unite the tribe in opposition to MAXUS. 'It's not just about exploiting oil,' says Moi, 'it's about who controls the rainforest... it's everyone's concern because this is the heart of the world...'

Filmed over two years, TRINKETS and BEADS reveals the funny, heartbreaking and thrilling story of the battle waged by indigenous people to preserve their way of life. The story of how the Huaorani are attempting to survive the Petroleum Age on their own terms exposes hidden consequences of our relentless drive to 'develop' the world.

'TRINKETS AND BEADS' is a wonderful old-school type anthropological film, telling a powerful story in a well-formed narrative. As the title suggests, the link between the 20th/21st century Amazon and 15th century North America is clear: what is happening now in the Amazon is equivalent to what happened to more northern natives at and since the arrival of Columbus.' -Anthropology Review Database

'[The Huaorani] have developed considerable skepticism and sophistication about outsiders' intentions. This forceful documentary leaves the impression that accommodation will not prove easy.'-The New York Times

'Upsetting and finally, infuriating... a fine work.'-Peter Matthiessen, author of At Play In The Fields Of The Lord

'A heartbreaking tale, laden with harrowing images of waste and ruin, that shows how the rampant greed of oil companies has managed to destroy a once peaceful and pristine village in Ecuador.'-Chicago Metromix

'An important film that should be seen by anyone concerned about the environment, first-third world relations, globalization, ethnology, and the role of missionaires. This film...helps us move closer to understanding how the common good [the entire earth and all its peoples] is to be incorporated into our decision-making. Unfortunately, it also makes you want to weep.'-Bridges, An Interdisciplinary Journal

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Main credits

Walker, Christopher (film director)
Walker, Christopher (film producer)
Avirgan, Tony (film producer)
Avirgan, Tony (photographer)

Other credits

Photography, Tony Avirgan, Gordon Durnin; editor, David Fox; music, Ian Hill.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

oil; petroleum; exploration; exploitation; drilling; production; company; companies; Ecuadorian; Amazon; Amazonian; Amazonia; Huaorani; Indians; indigenous; traditional; rain forests; rain forest; documentary; film; video; DVD; pollution; missionaries; Rachel Saint; Christopher Walker; ; "Trinkets and Beads"; Icarus Films; ,doc,env

TRINKETS & BEADS TRANSCRIPT

Huaorani in forest

Moi (voice-off) Subtitle: “Huaorani means “people of the forest..inside the forest

Moi

Huaorani Leader

S/T: “We are people – with the same feet, the same eyes.. but a different culture & language. We live in the forest.

Huaorani with blowpipe

Moi voice-off: S/T: “The Huaorani have existed for thousands of years ..

We always had our traditions..face painting and holes in our ears.

Aerial shot of forest and river

Text: 50 YEARS AGO OIL WAS DISCOVERED IN ECUADOR’S AMAZON RAINFOREST, HOME TO OVER 20 INDIAN TRIBES.

ONLY THE HUAORANI, A TRIBE OF 1500, HAVE SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT TO KEEP OIL COMPANIES OFF MOST OF THEIR LAND.

Various shots :

Man in canoe ,

Oil in river,

Oil flames

Title: TRINKETS & BEADS

Oil in river,

Cars

Road through forest

Text: THIS IS THE STORY OF A THREE YEAR STRUGGLE BETWEEN ONE SMALL AMAZON TRIBE AND INTERNATIONAL OIL COMPANIES.

Various shots :

Demonstration ,

Oil spill,

Houston skyline at night

Alan Hatly (voice-off): “I really don’t know where the idea of an environmental impact or the idea of some kind of wrong-doing by the oil companies ..where this was all generated.

ALAN HATLY

Consultant to U.S. Oil Industry (on camera)

I can’t believe that these are the same people that I knew in the early sixties when I was living in Ecuador ..er..that are causing these problems and making these complaints.

Houston skyline at night

Alan Hatly (v-off) : “In those days the Indians in Oriente in Ecuador were relatively simple people.”

Aerials forest

Moi and pilot in plane

Plane lands

People approach

Title: QUEHEIRE ONO

Huaorani Village

Moi exits plane

V-off. S/T: In the past, the rubber merchants were very scared of us ..

And they called us Aucas, or savages.

Moi on camera

S/T: But the Huaorani didn’t want

To make friends with them ..

And we always killed them .

End of spear

Kids

Moi v-off. S/T: We always fought them..

For one or two hundred years.

Unfortunately, when the missionaries came, things changed.

Moi on camera .

S/T. : The oil companies came

after the missionaries…

because they made it less dangerous

to come and exploit the resources.

Rain storm, child running

Old man & Moi

Moi (v-off)S/T: He’s explaining how it was before

In the other communities..

Twenty or thirty years ago.

The missionaries came and brought their civilization.

A group of Huaorani

Near Tonampare…

Man with model plane

Moi (v-off) S/T: ..saw their plane land on the beach ..

And they speared them .

They didn’t know what the plane was ,

They called it a “wooden vulture”..

And didn’t know these were human

Beings.

Archive:

Commentary

Title: THIS IS YOUR LIFE

“This is Your Life – a program for all Americans . Brought to you by Ivory Soap.

Ralph Edwards

1957

DAYUMA

Member of Huaorani Tribe

“Thank you very much. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to present to you two very charming and interesting ladies. First the lady who’s been working among the most primitive and savage tribes in Peru and Ecuador – Miss Rachel Saint.

And her traveling companion and good friend - the very first member of the fierce Auca tribe ever to leave the jungles of Ecuador – Dayuma.

“Hello Dayuma..how are you ..alright . Daymua speaks only the language of the Aucas – a tribe that is actually still living in the stone age ..

Archive of sad looking
Indians

Dayuma on camera

Still of river and huts

Still of Nate Saint

Ralph Edwards (v-off) : “ having not let learned to dwell in communities, still living in scattered and isolated family units along jungle streams and rivers.

It was a group of Auca Indians, members of Dayuma’s tribe who were responsible last year for the massacre of five young missionaries on the banks of the Curare River in Ecuador

You’re fine young brother Nate was one of them ..isn’t Miss Saint , is that right “

(Rachel Saint: “yes”)

Rachel Saint:

“yes’

Rachel Saint

1993

Missionary

“The fact that they killed my brother only underscored their need and the fact that the scriptures would answer their problems.

Huaorani hut, bird,

Singing, woman and child

Rachel Saint (voice-off): “All my life I wanted to see ‘God’s carving” as they call it here, the scriptures or the Bible , cut through a culture where they never had it.

Rachel Saint (on camera)

“When I finally came here I had a wonderful reception. I rounded the bend on the next river over and they looked wonderful to me.

Parrot pans down to girl

Man singing in hammock

“And they looked maybe better than they look today with all the things that they’ve picked up from outsiders.

The men wore G-strings and in their thinking (on camera) when they had their G-strings on they were dressed, they were not naked and the women also so they did not consider themselves naked and therefore had no shame and I was prepared for this because by the time I got in here I knew something of the culture , and something of the killings and something of the language .

Boy in canoe

Moi (voice-off) S/T: She went on her own form community to community

Moi

She said she was our sister so they couldn’t kill her .

She told lies – that God was coming, that the world was going to end.

Boys in canoe

Moi (voice-off) S/T: There were many deaths just after the missionaries came. There were lots of diseases we didn’t know of in those times.

Moi

S/T: Ten, twenty would die in one day. We are what was left over.

Boys in canoe

Rachel Saint

“The most I can say is that as the diseases came in , we tried to control them , and we had very few losses,

until the polio epidemic struck and that would have struck anyway. We told them how to prevent it, but they would not listen .

Wooden house

Title: TONAMPARE

Rachel Saint’s Mission Reserve

Girl washing clothes

“The changes have been tremendous. We came here to a naked tribe believing in ..

Rachel Saint

(on camera) : demons and witchcraft and sorcerers and this controlled their whole life. Now in this part of the tribe at least there are Christian communities and the New Testament has recently been dedicated in the language - written in their own language -

Girl washing,

Man showering

And we have some few readers in almost every clearing now.

Houston skyline at night

Alan Hatly (voice-off) : The missionaries’ job , of course, in addition to bringing a certain amount of missionary work – Godly work to the Indians – were mainly there as medical missionaries and I can’t imagine that being bad for anyone .

New people bring into an area new diseases , but the Indians were also gaining something from the contacts .

(on camera); I would suggest to you that an Indian who lives in a jungle and who ends up dying at the age of 37 years old and sees most of his children die before they’re one or two years old , is hardly a type of life that most people want to protect.

Huts

Kids swimming

Moi

(On camera) S/T: In this community , some live by hunting and some by fishing. We go swimming and bathe in the river. We travel to neighboring villages for visits or celebrations …that’s always been our normal life.

Moi walks , feeds bird

Moi

Makes fire

On camera S/T: I go to the city to tell people how we live here..and teach them that we don’t want to leave.

Voice-off: We have everything here. I laugh more here..and it’s more peaceful.

Aerial shots forest and oil well

Oil workers

TEXT: IN THE 1960’S, SHELL OIL , THEN TEXACO AND PETRO CANADA, BEGAN DRILLING ON THE FRINGES OF HUAORANI TERRITORY

FR. JOSE MIGUEL

Catholic Priest

S/T: The evangelization of the Huaorani began with Rachel Saint..working with Shell Oil, and later with Texaco.

Houses in rain

The missionaries gathered all the Huaorani into a reservation..near Tonampare. This left the area free for Texaco to come in.

F. Jose Miguel

Oil rig

Photos of dead priest.

The Huaorani have always fought against the oil companies.

In 20 years I’ve come 3 times to collect the bodies of dead workers.

They clash with the company and then withdraw .

To avoid a massacre between the company and the Indians ..Monsignor Alejandro Labaca went in (on camera) to make contact ahead of time . And the Indians reacted as they always do .. when anyone enters their territory without warning: They killed him immediately.

And this group still keeps out of contact.

Moi

On camera S/T: The missionaries said to the companies , “We have civilized them…so for a percentage we can stop the killing and control them”