Founder Tsukanka Juank as a little boy with his father Ernesto Tseremp featured in the 1974 documentary “IPIRAK”, or “The sound of rushing water”.
WARRIOR BEGINNINGS
Shuar Cultural Center was founded by Tsukanka Juank and Carmelina Mashumar, both members of the Shuar people. Tsukanka Juank started working in tourism when he was 15 years old with his father Ernesto Tseremp Juank, who was a great indigenous leader and fought for decades to defend and organize the Shuar people. Ernesto was one of the founders of the SHUAR federation, CONFENIAE and CONAIE.
Meet Carmelina
Carmelina Mashumar is a protective warrior of the jungle, Shuar leader, and wisdom keeper of ancestral medicine. Her ancestral knowledge was inherited by her mother and father, and she lives passionately safeguarding and transmitting their traditional customs to new generations.
Dreams come true
The dreams and desires of Patricio Juanka and Carmelina Mashumar were transmitted through the taking of Yajee and Maikiua to Pedro Ganan, Marco Juank, Heidy Juank and Xavier Briones, who from then on would lead the Shuar Cultural Center.
In December 2018, the dream was achieved by creating the Shuar Cultural Center, a cabin designed with the art of construction implemented by the Shuar, using totally environmentally friendly materials, and whose members belong to different Shuar communities in the province of Orellana.
THE SHUAR CULTURE
Known for being “Tsantza” head reducers, Amazonian warriors and protectors of the jungle.
The Shuar nationality, an indigenous people of the Amazon, is located in the countries Ecuador and Peru. In Ecuador the Shuar are located in the provinces of Morona Santiago, Pastaza, Zamora Chinchipe, Sucumbíos, the coast, and in the province of Orellana, where SHUAR CULTURAL CENTER is located. The center sits within the UNESCO Natural Heritage site Yasuní Biosphere Reserve.
Our language is Shuar Chicham, which means “people, or person”, but we also belong to the Shiwiar and Achuar culture family in Ecuador, and Aguaruna or Awajún, and Wampis in Peru.
COSMOVISION AND SPIRITUALITY
Our cosmovision is made up of two realities: material and immaterial. The Shuar culture is connected with nature and the laws of the universe, but also with the phenomena related to the creation of the world.
Under this approach, the Shuar live in a relationship with balance between human’s and nature. That is to say: in symbiosis, one depends on the other.
Shuar spirituality is represented in mythologies, prayers, songs and traditions. We live in constant communication with the living universe, and in permanent contact with our ancestors, divinities, and Archetype “the substantial forms of things that exist eternally in divine thought”
SHUAR SPIRITS:
ARUTAM: The God of Gods, he is the supreme, transcendent, protective and supernatural spirit that transmits a special force to man. It is the root and mentality of the Shuar world (INPC. Ecuador). It does not have a body, but manifests itself in a wide range of higher beings related to phenomena such as the creation of the world, life, death, and diseases. The main ones are:
Nunkui: creator of fertility, crops, ceramics, Goddesses of women
Tsunki: spirit of water, provides food and health.
Shakain: Spirit of the forest. It is the masculine strength, as well as the skills and abilities of him.
Etsa: The Sun God, provides strength to men and women through the heat of him, also the creator of the animals that inhabit the earth.
We are a Shuar community that promotes experiential or knowledge tourism as the main alternative to learn about ancestral knowledge and link it with adventure activities in the Amazon jungle.
Our Partners
Disclaimer: This website is possible with the generous support from the country of the United States from the United States Agency of National Development. The content of this website is covered by the organization NESsT and may not necessarily reflect the points of view from USAID or from the government of the United States.