"Land of Cinnamon and Guayusa"
The city of Tena is
called by many historians the City of St. John of Two Rivers Tena.
Tena is named after the
two rivers, Tena and Pano, that cross the city.
In reality Tena is a small
town, divided in two by the rivers.
The tranquility and
friendliness of its people can be felt in its narrow streets.
By a Spanish
ordinance the founding date of the city was set for November 15th on
1560.
Tena celebrates many important dates
The Tena Canton has a
diversity of natural attractions and cultural events that are located in each
of the parishes which have the same special features that allow visitors to
learn about its history and traditions of the Kichwa and Huaorani ethnic
groups.
The foundation date
of Tena is on November 15th and this anniversary of the city is
celebrated by its municipality and habitants with as much pomp and circumstance
as possible.
The anniversary
festivities last eleven days, starting at November 6th and continue
until the 16th.
On the first day there
is a civic parade but most of the people feel that the real festivities start
when the carnival parade is held on the second day.
This is where the
local barrios, organizations, companies, schools and everyone else has the
chance to participate with their carnival float to honor Tena.
Tena's two beauty queens
This is also where
the candidates for the Beauty Queen of Canton and Waysa Ishpinku Warmi, the
Kichwa beauty queen of the canton, have their own floats and the chance to
present their charms to the public.
Ishpinku is Kichwa
for cinnamon and waysa (or guayusa) is a local plant that is used to make an
energetic drink by indigenous people, warmi is the Kichwa word for woman, so
the beauty queen is called Guayusa and Cinnamon Woman.
Tena is often called the
land of cinnamon and guayusa because of they are both native to the area and
traditionally very important to the people.
This year’s party
This year’s
celebration has been full of color and culture.
The different
organizations had done their best to top each other and every float from last
year.
Besides the parades
and elections of the two beauty queens there are different cultural and sport
events, music, gastronomy and a fair lasting through the festivities with its
own activities.
