THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JIM ELLIOT

Cultural Change

 

Jim Elliot was one of the first people who attempted to make contact with the Huaorani people.  Similarly, a missionary group, the Summer Institute for Linguistics went to Ecuador with the mission to convert the Huaoranis to Christianity.  The Ecuadorian government actually subsidized the SIL’s actions so that they could help them convince the Huaoranis to maintain permanent settlement. This was largely due to the fact it was discovered that parts of Ecuador were filled with oil.  So the stabilization of the Huaorani would allow the government to exploit these areas for drilling purposes. As time progressed the Huaorani Indians became more accultured and integrated into society.  This is evident through the clothes and the types of toys and tools laying in their villages.   Sources like Human Ecology and Building Heterotopia suggest that the two main attributing factors to Huaorani acculturation are missionaries, like Jim Elliot, and the presence of oil drilling: “sovereign authority…has come in a multiplicity of forms – evangelical missionaries, petroleum companies, and environmental activists group.”  Something not mentioned as having significant impact is the Ecuadorian government.