Twenty-five years after a renowned ethno-botanical study in the Ecuadorian Amazon region inhabited by the Waorani, the central figures involved reunite. Members of the community talk about the genocidal colonization that still threatens their people.
At the turn of the century, a renowned ethno-botanical study took place in Quehueiri-Ono, a village in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. It was a partnership between botanists and the native Waorani community, who had lived isolated from the rest of the world until the 1950s. Director Manolo Sarmiento reunites the researchers with community members for a new expedition, aimed to give thousands of plants threatened with extinction a scientific name alongside their Waorani name. More than a record of this enterprise, Toroboro: The Name of the Plants chronicles the history of a people who have been the victims of genocidal colonization since the arrival of Christian missionaries. The main threats to the survival of the Waorani are now the oil and timber industries.