Intertribal peace building in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
WE THE TREES
We the Trees
An Inter-Tribal Peace Initiative
We the Trees is an intertribal initiative to bring together three tribes (the Waorani, Kichwa and Shuar) that have historically been in conflict. The program is a multi-year initiative that began with ceremonies, progressed towards visioning and has now resulted in the creation of an award winning film (co-created with the community), the signing of the region’s first Inter-Tribal Peace Agreement, the rematriation of 12 acres of primary Amazon Rainforest, and the construction of an Inter-Tribal Peace Center.
Our first community produced film was screened at the 2025 Stellenbosch Triennial (South Africa) and won best cinematography in the Environmental Film and Screenplay festival (2026). Produced by Xi’im Ek Balam. Written by Ixchel Xochitlzihuatl with contributions from the Kichwa, Waorani and Shuar through an iterative, community-led screenplay process, directed by AnAkA.
“The forest is not separate from indigenous people and indigenous people are not separate from the forest. Environmental protection needs to include cultural revitalization.
We thrive when the forest thrives and the forest thrives when we thrive. Our traditions are technologies developed over centuries. Our languages are codes of environmental activation and celebration.”
Orlando Gualinga (Kichwa Shaman) sings a traditional song of love about the Macaw bird.
-Tribal elder and project lead Freddy Gualinga
Waorani people lead a dance honoring the Kichwa matriarch at our March Equinox gathering, 2024. This was the first time these tribal elders had met.
Writing a New Story
Colonization perpetuated intertribal divisions between the Waorani, Kichwa and Shuar for decades.
Now tribal leaders are coming together. They are using art and revitalizing ancestral cultural practices to timeline jump into more favorable multiverses, for themselves, the Amazon rainforest and the entire cosmos. Our practice is inspired by the cultural reclaimation of our partnering tribes and the Haudenosaunee story of the Great Peace.
Our findings and progress was shared at the University of Buffalo Story Tellers Confrence in alignment with peace prophesies and the Great Eclipse of 2024.
A Unified Vision.
These three tribes are connecting on a shared vision to steward the water, plants and wildlife, the very energies that unite their DNA and future/ past ancestors.
Using art, meditation, traditional storytelling, participatory action research and design justice we are building a vision for an intertribal and intercultural peace. This vision will become a global model for indigenous led eco-cultural tourism and social enterprise.
Freddy Gualinga and Ixchel explain why land purchase is critical to this program’s success.
Part of our shared vision is to rematriate numerous hectars of primary and secondary rain forest. We will build an intertribal peace sanctuary and a teaching center for cultural revitalization. Programing will include teaching local tribes about reforestation practices, language revitalization and traditional building. The land will be co-stewarded by all three tribes.
Land Rematriation is Critical:
At the Center is the Water, and Love.
Participating tribes are finding common purpose in defense of the water and the desire to heal the conflicts of their ancestors. Our gathering at the March Equinox of 2024 was the first time that members of all three tribes had sat together to share food, song, dance and ideas.
The tribes realized that they had a common concern: water pollution that was impacting all three communities. As part of our shared vision for the future we also imagined (and began planning) a shared campaign to increase regional awareness on the impacts of poorly maintained sewage systems and oil drilling. Tribal leaders are building this campaign with a frequency of love and respect for the water, instead of anger towards those causing pollution.
Image of land neighboring our proposed project site and the river that connects our tribal partners.