Indians in Ecuador Struggle To Gain and Save Their Land

Like a roll of thunder, the growing strength of Indian federations in the lives of indigenous people in Ecuador often obscures a quiet, universal fact: The trench work for change is done by tireless individuals.

The Monitor's coverage of indigenous people in the International Year for Indigenous People continues today, focusing on Ecuador, one of Latin America's smaller countries, as a case study. In the final part of this three-part series, Miguel Angel, an Indian organizer in the Andean highlands of Imbabura Province, battles against the authorities to gain more farming land for his people. And a group of Quichua Indians, deep in the rain forest, builds a profitmaking ecotourism facility in their village besid e the Rio Puni in an effort to share their culture while they save it.