Life in oil : Cofán survival in the petroleum fields of Amazonia

Oil is one of the world’s most important commodities, but few people know how its extraction affects the residents of petroleum-producing regions. In the 1960s, the Texaco corporation discovered crude in the territory of Ecuador’s indigenous Cofán nation. Within a decade, Ecuador had become a member of OPEC, and the Cofán watched as their forests fell, their rivers ran black, and their bodies succumbed to new illnesses. In 1993, they became plaintiffs in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that aims to compensate them for the losses they have suffered. Yet even in the midst of a tragic toxic disaster, the Cofán have refused to be destroyed. While seeking reparations for oil’s assault on their lives, they remain committed to the survival of their language, culture, and rainforest homeland. Life in Oil presents the compelling, nuanced story of how the Cofán manage to endure at the center of Ecuadorian petroleum extraction. Michael L. Cepek has lived and worked with Cofán people for more than twenty years. In this highly accessible book, he goes well beyond popular and academic accounts of their suffering to share the largely unknown stories that Cofán people themselves create―the ones they tell in their own language, in their own communities, and to one another and the few outsiders they know and trust. Their words reveal that life in oil is a form of slow, confusing violence for some of the earth’s most marginalized, yet resilient, inhabitants. "Oil is one of the world's most important commodities, but few people know how its extraction affects the residents of petroleum-producing regions. In the 1960s, the Texaco corporation discovered crude in the territory of Ecuador's indigenous Cofán nation. Within a decade, Ecuador had become a member of OPEC, and the Cofán watched as their forests fell, their rivers ran black, and their bodies succumbed to new illnesses. In 1993, they became plaintiffs in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that aims to compensate them for the losses they have suffered. Yet even in the midst of a tragic toxic disaster, the Cofán have refused to be destroyed. While seeking reparations for oil's assault on their lives, they remain committed to the survival of their language, culture, and rainforest homeland. Life in Oil presents the compelling, nuanced story of how the Cofán manage to endure at the center of Ecuadorian petroleum extraction. Michael L. Cepek has lived and worked with Cofán people for more than twenty years. In this highly accessible book, he goes well beyond popular and academic accounts of their suffering to share the largely unknown stories that Cofán people themselves create--the ones they tell in their own language, in their own communities, and to one another and the few outsiders they know and trust. Their words reveal that life in oil is a form of slow, confusing violence for some of the earth's most marginalized, yet resilient, inhabitants."--Page 4 of cover A Note on the Photographs......Page 10 A Note on Corporate Actors......Page 12 List of Important Individuals......Page 13 1. Black Water......Page 18 2. Dureno......Page 34 3. The Death of Yori’ye......Page 74 4. The Cocama Arrive......Page 103 5. Damaged World......Page 141 6. Prohibition and Protest......Page 182 7. The Possibility of Coexistence......Page 213 8. Life in Oil......Page 249 Acknowledgments......Page 264 Notes......Page 267 Glossary......Page 281 Works Cited......Page 283 Index......Page 289 Black Water -- Dureno -- The Death Of Yori'ye -- The Cocama Arrive -- Damaged World -- Prohibition And Protest -- The Possibility Of Coexistence -- Life In Oil. Michael L. Cepek ; Photographs By Bear Guerra. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 266-271) And Index. Revealing how the key fuel of the global era affects the communities where petroleum is extracted, this beautifully written ethnography describes how the Cofan people are surviving at the center of the Ecuadorian oil industry.