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Effect of Migration Flows on the Ethnic Identity of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazonian Communities

Abstract:

The indigenous communities in the Amazonia are in an accelerated process of acculturation. In this context, one of the main elements in order to determine the cause and effect of migration would be to measure the degree of ethnic identity of each indigenous individual or an entire community as a whole. In this research, a study is carried out that quantitatively determines the ethnic identity that the indigenous people of the Waorani Amazon community have in relation to the inhabitants of the cities that have a western identity. For this purpose, a function is provided to measure the distance of cultural identity between two individuals. The proposed method is able to determine the ethnic distances between individuals. Specifically, this article presents a study of the identity distances of three populations with different cultures (the indigenous Waorani community, Tena and Quito), also determining those indigenous Waorani inhabitants who can be considered ethnically closer to their own culture. The results show that ethnic identity is being modified in several ways. Firstly, it affects the relationship that indigenous people have with their habitat and customs. On the other hand, it affects migration to towns and cities, mainly those with western culture.