Members of the indigenous Waorani Tribe, who live in Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest, experienced modern life for the first time in Türkiye. The tribe members Mayra, Wareka and Cominta visited Istanbul, Anıtkabir and Tuz Gölü before arriving in Bursa, where they encountered snow for the first time at Uludağ, a popular ski resort known as the “white paradise” by winter sports enthusiasts. While they were not fond of the cold, they were fascinated by Turkish cuisine.
Social media influencer and content creator Alper Rende, who had previously established contact with the Waorani Tribe – first reached by five Christian missionaries in 1956 – arranged their visit. Having spent time in their village, he first took them to a city in their home country before bringing them to Türkiye.
Mayra, Wareka and Cominta wore modern clothes for the first time, boarded a plane and immersed themselves in urban life upon arriving in Istanbul. In Ankara, they paid their respects at Anıtkabir and visited Tuz Gölü.
After a journey of 11,568 kilometers (7,189 miles) from their village, they reached Bursa, where they encountered snow for the first time at Uludağ. While they found the cold uncomfortable, Turkish food left a lasting impression on them.
The tribe members returned to their village in Ecuador’s Amazon after their visit to Türkiye, which lasted from Jan. 28 to Feb. 24. Rende, who organized the trip, had previously lived with the tribe for a total of 15 days over multiple visits, documenting their daily lives and experiences.
Communicating mainly through body language and a translator, he reached their village after a 15-hour canoe journey from the city of Coca.
Rende explained: “They had never seen city life before. We first filmed a documentary about their tribal lifestyle. Since they come from the Amazon, I visited them first and stayed for about nine days. Later, we went to their country’s city center together.”
“I visited them again and spent another week with them. Now, I brought them to Türkiye. They had dreams of seeing a city, and we made it happen. It was a cultural exchange – we shared in their culture, and now they are experiencing ours,” he said.
Rende noted that the Waorani tribe members attracted significant interest in Türkiye, with many people wanting to take pictures with them. “Everywhere we went, people asked, ‘How can we help? Can we host them? Can we send them gifts for their village?’ We received a lot of offers. They stayed in Türkiye for about 25 days before returning home.”
“Many people were curious about the feathers they wear. They insisted on wearing them in our video, and when I asked why, they said the feathers symbolize love, peace and brotherhood,” he said.
Rende also shared their experiences in Uludağ: “Right now, we are at one of the snowiest places in Türkiye. We tried skiing and sledding today. They had a lot of fun.”
Rende explained that the Waorani tribe still practices polygamy and that their diet is based on hunting.
“Wareka has three wives and many children. Mayra has four children, and I estimate that Cominta has about four as well. They go hunting and eat monkeys, crocodiles and rodents – some of which we can’t even identify. I even tried some of their food while living with them. They eat whatever they can find, and since they don’t have refrigerators, they must consume what they catch immediately. They don’t have any food shortages, though their cuisine is very different from ours,” he said.
Waorani tribe members, who sustain themselves by hunting wild boars, monkeys, crocodiles, rodents and plants, were particularly surprised by sugar cubes.
“The focus of my project is to observe their reactions to city life. They are amazed by everything. For example, they have seen sugar before but never in cubes. They wanted to take some sugar cubes back to their village and asked me, ‘How did you turn it into a cube?’ For them, this is like a science fiction movie.”
“Their culture is vastly different from ours, from their diet to their way of life. They live in isolation – it takes a 15-hour canoe journey to reach the nearest town. They truly live under very challenging conditions,” Rende explained.
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