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Related Pieces
Piece Description
The Zapara people once ranged far across the western Amazon. During the 20th century they were all but wiped out by assimilation, violence and disease. In fact by the 1980s, anthropologists concluded that their culture was extinct. But a handful of native speakers survived in Ecuador and Peru. With help from UNESCO, the Zapara are now trying to resuscitate their language and culture. But a new danger looms -- oil. Alan Weisman and Nancy Hand go to see how the Zapara are faring.
Broadcast History
First broadcast on Living on Earth, June 2004
Transcript
FOREST-RIVER AMBIENCE, BIRDS WHISTLING]
[SOUND OF MINGA BEING CALLED, POUNDING ON DRUM]
WEISMAN: A young man, his face cross-hatched with red paint, circles beneath a thatched roof, beating a drum made from a hollowed palm trunk.
[FLOCK OF PARROTS APPROACHING]
WEISMAN: The dawn mist rising from the forest canopy carries his drumbeats to neighbors up and down the winding Rio Conambu, tributary to the Upper Amazon.
[ROOSTER CROW; SOUND OF DRUM CLANGING]
WEISMAN: He's calling the neighbors to his village. The occasion is a "minga," the Amazon equivalent of a barn raising.
[BANGING OF MINGA DRUM IN BACKGROUND; CHICKENS PEEPING, MEN CONVERSING AND DRINKING IN FOREGROUND]
WEISMAN: Today, the men will clear a field to plant cassava. But the minga must first begin with food and drink. Off to one side, Zapara women are frying catfish and perch. From a stew pot jut several...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
SUGGESTED INTRO:
A hundred years ago the Zapara [ZAH-pa-ra] people ruled a huge swath of the Amazon jungle of Ecuador. But by 1980 anthropologists considered them extinct -- wiped out by assimilation, violence and disease. What the anthropologists didn't know was that a handful of Zapara were still hidden in the jungle -- a few in Ecuador, and a few more across the border in Peru. In 2001, the United Nations declared Zapara culture "a masterpiece of the intangible heritage of humanity" and awarded them 70 thousand dollars. As part of the series Worlds of Difference, producers Alan Weisman and Nancy Hand traveled to Ecuador to see if one shaman, a few aging native speakers, and world recognition can save a dying culture.
00:00 Piece begins (drums) "A young man..."
14:03 Piece ends: "... before there's time to find out."
14:33 Deadroll music ends
OUTRO: That piece was produced by Alan Weisman and Nancy Hand for Homelands Productions. For more information, go to www.homelands.org.
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Taki Telonidis
Posted on June 11, 2007 at 07:38 PM | Permalink
Review of Resurrecting the Zapara
This is a compelling documentary about the struggle for cultural survival of a tiny indigenous tribe in the Amazon known as the Zapara. In just 14 minutes, this piece weaves seamlessly between Zapara history, explanations of their present plight, and sound-rich scenes of contemporary village life. It?s an inspiring story of a people making a conscious decision to regain control of their destiny after being dominated by outsiders for more than a century. It?s an effective piece of radio with strong scenes, well-recorded sound, and descriptive narration. I did find some of the voiceover translations a bit flat, but this was offset by strong content.