The boys and I were extremely blessed to be able to attend a lecture by retired missionaries, Dan and Elly Derr. A local newspaper ran an article on them Auburn Journal.
You might be aware of the incredible story about the missionaries Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian. In the mid-1950’s,these men, along with their families, traveled into Ecuador’s Amazon Rain Forest to share the gospel with an indigenous tribe known as the Waorani/Auca . This tribe was well known and feared by other tribes. They were fiercely private and attacked all intruders without provocation.
Mission stations had been established and other area tribes had built relationships with the missionaries. They traded medical care and services for local fruit and game.
Getting to the mission station from Ecuador’s capitol, Quito, used to be a two week trip, partly by truck and partly by hiking. Nate Saint was a pilot who build a small landing strip that cut the time getting to the station to 40 minutes by plane.
(By the way…this area has an average of 20 feet of rain per year! Yes, I typed that correctly….)
These five men began to establish communication with the Auca’s by flying over their land a few times a day, in the same plane with distinguishable markings. Then, after a few weeks, they began circling the area and lowered a bucket containing gifts. The Waorani received the gifts and after a while reciprocated by placing gifts of their own in the bucket. One was a roasted monkey.
After several months of these exchanges, the men decided to land their plane on a strip of sand along the river. They met a man and a woman and spent the day with them. Encouraged by this encounter, the men began to make plans to visit others when they were attacked and killed.
Life Magazine found out about the incident and had a 10 page photo essay printed by famous photographer Cornell Capa. (I’ve been trying to find these photos online, but have had no success. If anyone finds them, I’d appreciate the link.)
A movie was made about this, titled, “The End of the Spear.”
Incredibly, some of the wives of the slain missionaries decided to stay in Ecuador with their children, and continue the work their husbands had started. Elizabeth, the wife of Jim Elliott, wrote a couple of books and created a documentary, titled, ” Beyond the Gates of Splendor”. It was during this time that the Derr’s served alongside Elizabeth Elliott.
The Derr’s showed this documentary and we saw how they were able to continue communication with the Waorani, then make contact and establish relationship. There is some sweet footage of Elizabeth Elliott’s little girl swimming in the river with some of the Waorani children. They had made friends with two Waorani women who had left the tribe. These women learned to communicate with the missionaries in either english or spanish (I’m not sure which), then went back to their tribe to explain why the missionaries were there.
The Waorani believed that everyone who was not a part of their tribe were cannibals and hence, had to be killed. When they learned that not everyone was a cannibal or a threat, they were open to establishing relationship with the missionaries and other local tribes.
The Derr’s shared their story and items that they brought back with them…
Dan Derr showing us the blow darts that the Waorani added poison to…
A headdress that a man would wear…
My friend, Shanti, “kissing” the shrunken head of a sloth…
These are earrings that the men wore. They pierce their ears and expand the holes to accommodate larger sticks, etc. These adornments are made out of beetle wings!
‘R’, modeling the headdress, earrings, and blow darts…
‘A’, doing the same…
More adornments: chief headdress and earrings
‘R’, with the shrunken sloth head…
Having fun with ‘K’…
‘N’, showing the handmade comb…
A picture of a Waorani man…
