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(from the handwritten notebook on Infierno)ESE EJA PEOPLE

The Ese-Eja people belong to the Tacana linguistic family. This

group has been the object of very few studies, especiallyanthropological ones. They probably constitute one of the mostimportant ethnic groups to reconstruct the history of human groupsin the State of Madre de Dios.

The Ese-Eja people actually live on the settlements scattered alongthe Bahuaja (Tambopata), Madre de Dios and Heath rivers. Thereabout 600 of them in Peru, distributed in two main settlements;Infierno and Palma Real.

In Bolivia there are approx. 1000 Ese-Eja. Though someinformation sources say there were more than 15,000 before 1948,many of them were exterminated in internal tribal conflicts with otherethnios and the majority, during the systematic genocide of therubber exploitation.

The Ese-Ejas actual location is the result of continuous migrations,not only motivated by the internal conflicts but also by numerous

pressures and oppression from outside; among these are the effortsof the catholic missionaries and more recently of other religiousgroups. Due to these pressures and other reasons, the Ese-Ejahave grouped and integrated themselves in a moment that theirgroup spirit and the values of their cultures has been seriouslyendangered.

THE NATIVE COMMUNITY OF INFIERNO

Officially this community have existed since 1976, with a titledterritory of 3,558 hectares (see map of expansion). The census ofthat same year recorded 180 inhabitants. Today there might beabout 460 people, half native, half non-natives.Non native people are a result of the immigrants who started tocome down from the Andes in the 1940s, in search of betterconditions for their lives and the fulfillment of the Amazon dream,the government fed them with.

The Ese-Eja people have seen their land and their community slowly

invaded by non native people. Under the pressure of a new systemof production, imposed by the non native society, especially the

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extractive system the native society has entered a new crisis ofidentity and process of transformation. Families have forged anindividualistic way of life and parted from the previous communalone.

The extractive system has a destructive nature as it does not helpreproduce itself. It also is a system that destroys the native people,their ethnicity and culture, for it makes him/her lose the ideologywhich make him/her feel he/she is part of a society integrated into adefinite environment.

Most of the native population has settled on the right bank of theriver, a dozen families, the last Ese-Eja families of Tambopata. Thethree dominant native families are the Mishaya, Pesha andLehue. Perhaps they are the last representatives of the 3 groupswho lived along the Tambopata river that was about 40 years ago.

The group of Ishajoa, the great chief was camping at TresChimbados (one mile down the river from La Torre). From there hewas taken away captured by the Guardia Repulicana and sent to a

jail in Puno, where he soon died of cold and sadness. That was thebeginning of the end for the Ese-Eja people.

Today forty years later, noone seems to remember and the oldestpeople dont speak anymore, after they were told so often by theirchildren to stop telling those stories of past times for now a new lifewas to begin for them.

Life is based on agriculture. The main crops are manioc (yucca),corn (maize), rice (arroz) and beans (frijoles). Bananas andpapayas are grown all year round. Other fruits include; oranges,limes, mangoes, avocadoes, pineapples and other exotic fruits such

as guava, pacae, caimito, anona and cashew.

Most families have chickens and ducks pigs are also kept. In thelast two years cattle have been introduced to the community andpeople have been made to think about what is the best for the futureof their community. Until today the results are not so good withcattle, and most of the investors are giving up.

Hunting is still the main source of protein game includes; pecanny,

paca, agouti, tapir, monkey and several birds (guans and macaws).Fishing is also good for the diet but only during a limited time of the

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year, when the lakes overflow. The overall diet is rather poor andlacking in protein, because game has become scarce due to overhunting as well as over fishing.

Income is provided by the harvest of Brazil Nuts between Decemberand January, the sale of lumber and roofing material made fromPalmiche leaves woven between two canes of cana brava (seeroof of lodge). Occasionally people bring some of their produce bananas, papayas, avocadoes, oranges etc to the town PuertoMaldonado, but the market is not big enough and competition hasdiscouraged many people.

In Infierno there is a central ground where the General Assemblyhouse stands, as well as the school, the medical house and thesoccer field. But all the people have individual pieces of land, eachbeing about 300 metres of river front and no limit very far in theback. The 45 families are living along an approximate stretch of 20kilometres, which can make communication and relationships a bitdifficult.

This separation was probably the cause of the first breaking of thecommunity in two: Infierno and Casuyal though it is all calledInfierno. Now Casuyal with about 40% of the Infierno population,

has its own school and internal organization, also their own soccerteam to play against Infierno.