Yesterday was the national holiday of Santa Rosa, and we had a special invitation to attend the 25th anniversary of the political founding of the Shipibo Conibo indigenous community of Santa Rosita. Last summer, three University of Richmond students and I conducted research there and developed friendships with the community. This year, I was determined to visit them to celebrate this important date and present them with a video I shot of their dancing and singing last year. Since the kids had no school, they could go too. Unfortunately, Leigh works on a US schedule and thus could not shake free. However, we persuaded Edith to go, and our friends Jorge and Mirella were coming too, along with a few UNU students.
Given the children and the 6 hour distance, we decided to rent an aluminum boat with an outboard motor, an expensive luxury that more than halved our transportation time: down to 2.5 hours upriver. Heading up the Ucayali River, one of the Amazon’s largest tributaries, we saw Amazon River Dolphins jumping completely out of the water as if on cue.
The village heard our noisy approach and began transmitting our arrival by loudspeaker before we arrived. Once there, they greeted us with great enthusiasm and we immediately joined in their greeting dance. I quickly realized it is hard to skip/dance with 30+ lb. Felix in my arms. As you can see, Ruby galloped along beside. The sun was fierce, and the dancing fiercer, but Ruby and Felix did not mind in the least.
Following the dance, there was a ceremony that included raising the Peruvian flag. The village announced their padrino, Godfather, would raise the flag along with the village beauty queens. Unfortunately, not all was perfect as their padrino turned out to be the representative of the Pacific oil company which was starting exploration in an oil concession upriver. Oil and indigenous people has only led to tragedy for the indigenous elsewhere in the Amazon. Thus, for me, the flag raising was a disappointing and nuanced symbolic action.Nobody else seemed phased however, and we watched a series of dances performed by the University of Ucayali dancers my colleague Jorge Vela had brought. Then an overwhelming beef barbecue, an expensive occurrence in a village that subsists on fish.
Felix and Ruby received a lot of attention throughout with each being true to their personalities: Ruby a bit shy, and Felix hamming it up. Once lunch was over, the kids were a bit overwhelmed by the activity and attention, and each sought their solace. Felix napped in a hammock on the banks of the lake while Ruby found a series of small trees to climb in the shade.
Meanwhile, I was being drafted into playing for the village Master’s futbol team (40 and up… I snuck in at 39). With the establishment of the new school and court, they created a soccer field that was essentially baked earth. There we played under the intense tropical sun in as brutal conditions I had seen since my Guatemala Peace Corps days. We ended up tied 1-1 and every one of my movements, clumsy or clever, was laughed and commented on. More clumsy these days I think, but great to run around with the guys I used to play with every afternoon during our visit last year. We don't play well, but boy do we look good in the uniform. :)
It was an incredible trip for the kids. They saw a totally different world, one that most in Pucallpa neer see. They received gifts and did things for the first time. Felix was fascinated by the live music. Ruby learned the intricacies of the squat outhouse under the expert tutelage of the Chief’s wife, Adelina. What an adventure!
