Iluku held
out a giant snail's shell to her husband.
- Call out for the warriors before you change, she told Killa, so that the
enchantment will brake and they will wake up.
The moon took the shell and lifted it to his lips.
It had been years, decades, maybe hundreds of years since he had blown into one
of them.
But his lips and hands still remembered.
He blew and the low sound shook his body and travelled through the air.
On the mountain top Amarun shook in his sleep and the mountain growled and shot
dark clouds of ash to the air.
Far away in her palace the queen sprung up and listened with attention.
In her village Sisa felt how her magic fluttered around her and the call
compelled her to leave and search for its origin.
Under the mountain the jaguar men growled and hissed their anger at the sound
of the shell.
In their cages the kings men held their heads up and felt the hope grow in
their desolated hearts.
Alone in his lonely cave king heard the sound and feared to hope and wish.
Behind the waterfall the warriors woke up from their enchanted sleep.
Ready to follow Iluku's instructions as soon as the sun reaches its zenith.
Killa lowered his hand and felt his heart stir.
There was a reason why the magic loved the humans.
- Take the clothes, Iluku's exasperated voice broke the spell, we don't have
all the night. In fact the night is almost over. And we still need to reach the
jaguar men's cave before the sun rises over the horizon and they close the
mouth of the cave.
Killa took the clothes and hid himself behind the trees.
When he had the garments on, he could feel the enchantment around him.
His back bended closer to earth, his eyes became watery and it was hard to see,
and his hands shaked and had huge wrinkles and brown spots on them.
Touching his face with his hands he could feel the wrinkles there too.
- I am old, he sighed.
- Look at me, he whined to Iluku, I have never been old. And now I have to look
like this just to humor you and to save some human king. Can't they find
another one to replace him instead?
- Oh, be quiet before you reveal your stupidity to everyone, Iluku hissed.
Angrily she started towards the mountain and the home of the jaguar men.
Their walk was not graceful anymore.
Instead of it, they waddled around the trees and panted while walking through
the bushes, heaving their disobeying old bodies up, higher and higher.
- Will we never arrive, Killa panted, when will we be there?
Iluku raised a gnarled finger to her lips and stood quietly waiting.
- We are here, she hissed.
- Finally, Killa sat down and rested his weary feet and back.
- Oh, don't be like that, Iluku shook her head, get up and let's go! It's almost
morning!
Zamora
Chinchipe is the southernmost province of Ecuador in Amazonian region and it is located at the southeastern end of the Amazon Basin.
The
province shares borders with the Ecuadorian provinces of Azuay and Morona
Santiago to the north, Loja and Azuay to the west, and with Peru to the east
and south.
The
province comprises an area of approximately 10,456 km² and is covered with
a uniquely mountainous topography which markedly distinguishes it from the
surrounding Amazonian provinces.
Zamora-Chinchipe
is characterized and largely identified by its mining industry; indigenous ethnic
groups with a rich archaeological legacy; its biodiversity; and its niche and tourist
attractions, which include a number of waterfalls well-noted for their beauty.
The
province takes its name from the bureaucratic fusion of the Zamora and
Chinchipe cantons.
The
provincial capital is the city of Zamora.
Natural attractions
in Zamora Chichipe include the Podocarpus National Park which is true extravagance ofnature.
The
vegetationis lush with virgin rain forest full of animals and birds.
National Park is home of many species of orchids and is one of the most biodiverse places in the world.
There is water everywhere; the jungle is filled with rivers, waterfalls,
creeks and lagoons.
It
is alsovery accessibleand easy to navigate.
History of
Zamora Chinchipe
Human habitation in the region is thought to date to at least 4500 BCE,
and was grounded in the Mayo-Chinchipe cultural complex.
In approximately 1548, Spaniards made their first contact with the
region's indigenous people.
On October 4, 1549, Hernando de Barahona, accompanied by Alonso de
Mercadillo and Hernando de Benavente, founded the city of Zamora de los
Alcaides.
Fifty years after their arrival, the Spanish were driven from the city
by the Shuar revolt.
In 1850, the Zamora de los Alcaides city ruins were discovered by
a group of colonists.
It cannot be established exactly when the first white and mixed race
settlers arrived in the province.
But the oldest verifiable data shows that in
the late 1840s, the Chinchipe River basin was already inhabited by people
arriving from the Loja Province of modern Ecuador and Peru.
The migration was also made from the Ecuadorian Province of Azuay to the
Yacuambi Canton, where the Saraguros and mixed race people arrived.
During the Spanish Colonial period, several explorers surveyed the
territory, such as the French geographer and mathematician Charles Marie de La
Condamine in a 1743 expedition.
In 1781, the Spanish made a second attempt at colonization in the area,
lured by the exploitation of gold deposits, but they found it impossible to
dominate the natives.
The current settlement known as Zamora was not permanently reestablished
by white and mixed race settlers until March 12, 1921.
The Catholic Church
founded the Apostolic Vicariate of Zamora, after many prior attempts at
colonization, each repelled by the resistance of the Shuar people.
In 1911, the Zamora parish became cantonal head of the Zamora Canton of
the Provincia de Oriente.
On December 15, 1920, the Santiago-Zamora Province was created, it
consisted of the Chinchipe, Macas, Morona and Zamora cantons.
War with Peru
On July 5, 1941, Ecuador was invaded by Peru, with part of the
unpopulated territory of the province in contention.
A ceasefire was brokered between the Foreign Ministers of Peru and
Ecuador (with the participation of the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina
as "guarantors") capped with the signing of the Rio Protocol.
The treaty officially brought an end to the state of war which had
existed between Ecuador and Peru, and left part of the Ecuadorian provinces of El
Oro, Loja, and Zamora-Chinchipe under Peruvian occupation.
After the 1941 war, forced migration of impoverished peasants and
citizens to the province was accelerated by drought in Loja Province.
This resulted in colonization of many areas of the Zamora-Chinchipe territory which had been
theretofore uninhabited.
In 1981, the tensions with Peru were rekindled by a military
confrontation over the Cenepa River in the Cordillera del Cóndor.
By 1995 the conflict had reemerged, and Peru and Ecuador were again fighting each other.
In 1999 the signing of the Peace
Agreement between Ecuador and Peru settled the contours of Zamora-Chinchipe's
borders with its southern neighbor.
The war is
still remembered in the province and fear of new attacks from Peru remain, even
though the new generations know of the confrontation only from stories, history
and the monuments.
·1 bunch of
cilantro, reserve some to add at the end
·1 bunch of
parsley, reserve some to add at the end
·1 tsp oregano
·2 tsp cumin
·Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1.Blend the
beer, quartered onions, whole garlic cloves, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot
pepper, cilantro, parsley, oregano and cumin to obtain a smooth puree.
2.In a large
saucepan or soup pot heat the oil over medium heat to prepare a refrito or
sofrito, add the minced red onion, minced garlic and achiote, cook for 2
minutes.
3.Add the
chicken and brown lightly on each side, add the blended puree mix
4.Cook on low
heat until the chicken is very tender and the sauce has thickened. Unless it's
a hen, the chicken should be tender in less than 1 hour. However it takes
longer for the sauce to thicken, so if the chicken is very tender - meat
falling of the bones - and the sauce isn't thick yet, then remove the tender
chicken pieces, turn up the heat and cook the sauce until it's nice and thick,
about 20-30 minutes.
