The Waorani and cultural relativism

The Waorani (or Huaorani) are an indigenous population of the Amazon Rainforest; they were the most feared in Ecuador, often referred to by other peoples as 'Auca', which in Quechua language means 'savage'. The Christian missionary Pete Fleming described them as 'an unreachable people who murder and kill with extreme hatred' (he was later killed by them).

Operation Auca was the first peaceful attempt to contact the Waorani, started in October 1955 by exchanging gifts by plane with a bucket hanging on a long rope. The Operation was led by Christian missionaries Nate Saint, Ed McCully and Jim Elliot (they also ended up killed by the Waorani).

Some anecdotes on the Waorani:

• Lived by hunting (particularly spearing), and they didn't have knowledge of metal tools as of 1957.
• Gave birth in hammocks hung in the forest; the mother then examined the newborn and, if it wasn't acceptable (disability, malformations, etc.), she would bury it alive at once before returning to her family.
• Not religious, but believed that health = physical/spiritual harmony
• Believed the Earth to be a disc, with an 'underworld' beside it (populated by mouth-less creatures) and 'heavens' above it (where all the dead would go).
• Murder was by far the most common cause of death, either by themselves or by outsiders.
• Equal and respectful relationships between wife and husband (no beating, unlike what was common at that time in many Christian societies).
• No perceived difference (nor in family dynamic nor wording) between 'mother' and a mother's sisters, or between 'father' and a father's brothers; therefore all their children were considered brothers and sisters rather than cousins.
• Marriage was expected to be between one’s mother’s brother’s and father’s sister’s offspring (cross‑cousins).
• Marriage was arranged by the families and happened simply by bringing the girl and boy to a 'wedding hammock' in the forest, after which a 'wedding song' was sung by the people to celebrate.

The basic source of knowledge about the Waorani in terms of ethnography is the work of Jim Yost, an American anthropologist who lived for more than seven years among the Waorani with his family.
After being approached, the Waorani proved very curious about other cultures and were interested in trading goods, etc. Jim Yost later (in the ’70s) realised these dynamics were likely to 'threaten their way of life' and tried to 'encourage them to disperse', an option they strongly rejected with anger. He then described his own attempt as the result of romanticism, or in his words: 'We idealise a past we never experienced and deny those who knew that past from changing'.
This, according to him, is 'the most disturbing lesson in anthropology' and is linked to cultural relativism. Lévi‑Strauss said, 'The people for whom the term cultural relativism was invented, have rejected it'.

Resources

• Davis, W. (2014) One river : explorations and discoveries in the Amazon rain forest. London: Vintage Books.
• https://www.oed.com/dictionary/cultural-relativism_n