Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Siekopai people believe that the river’s turtles never swim alone. Each charapa travels under the protection of Koouwajëo, a deity regarded as the turtles’ mother, chief, and ancestral guardian. In Siekoya Remolino, a community on the Aguarico River, they say she weeps these days because her children are in danger. Now a group of seven women is answering her cry, one riverbank at a time.
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