{"id":2409,"date":"2024-11-27T16:06:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2024-11-27T19:48:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T19:48:06","slug":"pela-cara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/27\/pela-cara\/","title":{"rendered":"Pela Cara"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2409\" class=\"elementor elementor-2409\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2d2fe03b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2d2fe03b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;,&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ae2cee elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4ae2cee\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.18.0 - 20-12-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">A<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">few years ago whilst<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> wandering through the Peruvian jungle<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> near <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Atalaya<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I&nbsp; came across a group of children playing in a stream, the smallest one, about three years old, looked at me and started screaming hysterically whilst all his older friends bawled with laughter.&nbsp; Asking what the problem was I was informed that a common bedtime story was about a white man who steals the fat from small children to use as fuel to <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">\u201c<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">fly his spaceship<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp; to<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> the moon<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">\u201d<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">. \u201cDon&#8217;t worry \u201c I said to the toddler, \u201cI&#8217;m vegetarian\u201d the toddler probably didnt know what a vegetarian was, but his terror was transformed into unsettled curiosity. This is the legend of the<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp; &#8220;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Pishtako<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8221; <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, the fat stealer, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">once famously exploited by Peruvian Police to cover <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">up their extrajudicial killings<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">. Another sinister gringo &#8211; the Pela Cara (Face peeler) roams the jungle at night pe<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">e<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">ling <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">peoples<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> faces off and is often accompanied by high tech gadgets , expensive motorbikes etc. Not the best myth to surround a gringo who spends a lot of time wandering remote parts of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">the jungle recording sounds on <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">ta<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">rt<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">rek<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8211;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">esque<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> devices. On the surface these myths are as absurd as Schrodinger\u2019s Haitian &#8211; immigrants who are accused of pocketing 1000s of dollars of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">foodstamps<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> each month, yet also need to eat cats to survive. &nbsp;Nonetheless an introduction from a local is essential in remote part of the Peruvian Amazon and once introduced they become some of the most funloving and delightfully sarcastic communities on <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Earth .<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> Yet legends such as these <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">likely<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> have roots in deep and painful history of European colonisation of the area.&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">When we think of the lost civilisations of the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">pre <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">columb<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">i<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">an&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Americas<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> we tend to think of the Maya, the Aztec and the Incas. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">When we think of the Amazon we generally think of small scattered tribes hunting with <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">blodarts<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> and bows and arrows. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Yet recent <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">research, as well as old accounts, speak<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">sophisiticated<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">civilisations in the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">A<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">mazon. Initial reports of Spanish conquistadors such as <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gaspar_de_Carvajal\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Francisco de Orellana<\/span><\/span><\/a><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, the first European to travel the length of the Amazon, d<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">escribed<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> huge thriving civilisations along the banks of the river;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">large cities populated by <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">thousands<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> and thousands of people<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, and <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">an e<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">xtensive road<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">network<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">with roads<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> 30 metres wide and &#8220;so clean you would not find a leaf on them<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8221; .<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> He <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">was not believed for centuries, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">but recent <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-67940671\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">lidar<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> scans<\/span><\/span><\/a><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> of the Amazon have <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">indeed <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">revealed huge cities and wide roads many km long,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp;capable<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> of supporting tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2405 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_3684-256x300.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_3684-256x300.webp 256w, https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_3684-875x1024.webp 875w, https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_3684-768x899.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_3684.webp 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-67940671\">BBC news \u201chuge city found in Amazon<\/a>\u201d)<\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> There is more evidence with the presence of areas of &#8220;<\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablefootprint.org\/terra-preta-catching-carbon\/\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Terra <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Preta<\/span><\/span><\/a><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8221; or black soil &#8211; a self-regenerating super fertile dark soil developed by the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Omaguas<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> who lived on the river bank. It is now <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">believed<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> that most of them died of Smallpox and other <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">diseases<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> that were bought with the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">conquistadores<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">. Their descendants can still be found around Yurimaguas &#8211; a town who&#8217;s name I was informed comes from two tribes, the Yuris, and the Omaguas.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">In Addition to this huge loss,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp; the<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> rubber trade was one of the most brutal and repressive episodes in human history with a large part of the Amazon population in the area being murdered and &nbsp;enslaved.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> Where I was staying in lagunas they told me Pacaya Samiria used to be populated by German rubber tappers and they had a pit with 3 hungry jaguars in it that they used feed uncooperative native people to. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">There is much speculation that the uncontacted tribes who still live in the Amazon \u2013 originally left to flee the rubber trade.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> When Irish revolutionary <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Roger_Casement\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Roger Casement wrote his report<\/span><\/span><\/a> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">to the British <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">govt<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">of the atrocities committed by the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Britain\u2019s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> partnership organisation<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">the&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Peruvian Amazon company<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> amongst the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Putamayo<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp;group it helped end the rubber trade in the area. Roger <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">C<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">asement is still remembered fondly to this day in the area around Iquitos.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">So It\u2019s understandable with such a traumatic history of contact that there\u2019s a few unflattering myths around white people \u2013 what&#8217;s really amazing is despite all of this how friendly people <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">still <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">are to outsiders\u2026. once they know you&#8217;re not going to peel their face off.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s5\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago whilst wandering through the Peruvian jungle near Atalaya ,I&nbsp; came across a group of children playing in a stream, the smallest one, about three years old, looked at me and started screaming hysterically whilst all his older friends bawled with laughter.&nbsp; Asking what the problem was I was informed that a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2409"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2420,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions\/2420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augustineleudar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}