Comuna Cofán Dureno

The Community of Comuna Cofán Dureno, located in the province Sucumbios, is situated on the Aguarico river in the Amazon rainforest. The community is part of the larger Cofán indigenous group which has small communities dotted around the former oil boom town of Lago Agrio, the province’s capital city.   (For more information about the Cofan please visit www.cofan.org.

Totaling about 380 people, Comuna Cofán Dureno consists of eighty families who independently earn a living while supporting one another in their struggle for economic development. Most of the families rely solely on the sales of their artisan work in Lago Agrio. The families supplement the costs of their basic needs, not covered by craft sales, by utilizing the resources of the rainforest and agriculture. The community has been severely impacted by the petroleum industry over the last forty years.  To learn more watch the documentary: CRUDE.

Taught by one of the community’s former leaders Eduardo Silvio Chapal, in both Spanish and their native language Ai’ ngae, the children must leave the community after the ninth grade. They commute to a larger community across the river for high school. While part of the larger Cofán indigenous group Comuna Cofán Dureno is responsible for its own community development.  Although the Amazon rainforest is home to some of the most extensive natural resources on the planet, the community of Comuna Cofán Dureno lacks doors into prosperous markets. Sales made in Lago Agrio involve national middlemen who rob the artisans of any possible profits, forcing them to live on very small earnings. Furthermore, the mere travel to Lago Agrio is a complicated trip that requires additional transportation costs to each artisan.

INTO has provided training for more skilled understanding in the capital season of Quito.  These artisans have returned to the community to train others.  INTO strives is to use the artisans’ skills and the natural materials of the rainforest to create a unique line of jewelry for the North American market.