Ecuador's Culture and People

Ecuador's population is ethnically mixed: 55 percent mestizo (mixed indigenous - Caucasian), 25 percent Indigenous (Indian),10 percent Caucasian, nine percent African, and one percent other. Years of oil exploration destroyed large sectors of the Amazonian rainforest ecosystem and displaced an indigenous people, the Huaroni, who made the rainforest their home and have now been pushed to the edge of extinction. In Otavalo, many Indians still speak their native Quichua language, despite years of colonization. Migration toward cities - particularly Quito and Quayaquil - in all regions has increased the urban population to more than 50 percent. A large percentage of this population is children.

Indian identity in traditional dress. People familiar with native dress can often tell roughly where an Indian is from based on what they wear. Otavalenos, most often seen in the Quito area, are very distinctive. For men, dress consists of a blue poncho, a fedora, or felt hat, and white calf-length knickers. A shimba - a long braid that hangs down nearly to the man's waist - dates back to pre-Inca times, and is deeply rooted in tradition. In fact, the shimba is so important as a symbol of Indigenous ethnic identity, that when Indigenous men serve in the Ecuadorian army, they are not required to cut it off. The women's dress is the closest to Inca costume worn anywhere in the Andes. Women dress in a white blouses, a blue skirt and shawl. Jewelry is important - layers of necklaces of predominantly gold beads, and red coral bracelets are the most common form of jewelry worn by the Otavalo women. Although visitors to the area view their dressing styles as quaint, to the Otavaleno, their dress is a way to outwardly express their ethnicity.

The vast majority of the nation's wealth still sits in the hands of a very few, while a diminutive middle class struggles to survive, and more than half of the country's population exists at or below the poverty level. In general, indigenous peoples in Ecuador suffer from economic deprivation, but are well-endowed in social capital (for example, social organization, family cohesiveness, and shared cultural values). Extremely well- organized at the grassroots, regional, and national levels along the lines of political, labor, or religious affiliation, they contribute to a vibrant social process that is contributing to the revitalization of the indigenous identity. Organizations along ethnic lines were recognized during the Inca Empire. The Conquistadors tried to dismantle and destroy these organizations, and during colonial times community-based organizations were used by the Spaniards to wring taxes and labor from the indigenous population. However, these organizations stubbornly persisted, and in the period following Ecuador's independence they were known as "parcialidades indígenas."