Leaving Ecuador

Resumen

This chapter describes opposition to the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Ecuador that had been building throughout the 1970s and that crested with the decision in May 1981 by President Jaime Roldós to issue Decree No. 1159, ending Ecuador’s contractual relationship with the Institute. The decree gave SIL a year to complete projects or turn them over to Ecuadorians. Although Roldós did not expel SIL, he curtailed the organization’s size and influence. He was responding to political supporters, to critical books by David Stoll and others, and to voices like that of Dayomæ’s son Sam Padilla Cænto, who characterized missionaries as the “worst enemy” of the Waorani. Some SIL staff, including Catherine Peeke and Rosi Jung, were allowed to stay to finish translation projects. Amid the upheaval, 1981 also marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the five missionaries’ deaths, bringing with it scrutiny and unwanted publicity.