Oneida
Established Nation
[FONT=&]Natalia and Amparo were sitting in the back of a truck that was completely enclosed so it was pitch dark and with about twelve people stuffed in made it unbearably crowded and humid. Driving in Puerto Clave, especially in these regions, was a task. No matter how much investment goes into roads, the mountains and terrain still poses a challenge. Going from Amparo and Natalia’s village down to the fincas was a nearly three hour event. Amparo always argued that it would be easier to walk, but his mother would quiet him whenever he raised a fuss.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Amparo was 10 years old and Natalia was 14. They were brother and sister and accompanying them was their mother, Rosario, and the newest member of the family, Carlos, who was only 11 months old. Normally their father, Davíd, would be there too, but he was sick this month and had to stay back. This meant this was Rosario’s second consecutive month in the Fincas. Carlos was one of three babies in the truck, there were likely more in the other trucks. Obviously, Carlos wasn’t useful for work, but the mother must always be with her baby in their culture. Amparo and Natalia were good for working and they were by no means the youngest workers in the group. As soon as a child can walk with ease they are useful for work. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]The tribe that Amparo and Natalia came from is located high in the mountains. The village was actually founded by Natalia and Amparo’s grandparents. Rosario and Davíd are currently the village’s unofficial leaders. All of the villages in the area collected money either by cultivating rare plants in the mountains or working on the fincas. Amparo and Natalia’s village worked mainly with the fincas for thirty day periods. Every day for thirty days the group makes a trip down to the fincas to work from the rise of the sun till its passing. The climate of the lowlands was hot and humid all the time with the occasional breeze from the sea. It was nothing like the mountains and some of the children simply couldn’t adapt. The work was hard and it wasn’t uncommon for people to die in the fincas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The fincas were owned by what the villagers called “aakes.” Translated to English, it would mean “Recents.” They were called this because all of them were Puerto Clavens, who were not native to the land but had captured it anyway. The people driving the trucks and the operators of the fincas were called “Aakes Chiches” or Strong Recents. This is of course the proper term. Almost none of the Operators took the time to learn the language of the villagers, so the villagers would call the Puerto Clavens whatever derogatory term they so pleased – it made no difference to the Operators. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]When the truck stopped, the back was opened up and a wave of sunlight invaded. The villagers jumped out of the truck and for the first time Natalia got a view of where she was working, and it was, as always, absolutely stunning. This particular finca was owned by a man who was more wealthy than normal and it was situated near the coast. Natalia looked around; she could see the hills and the blue waters of the ocean. She turned around and on the top of the hill was one of the most beautiful houses she had ever seen, she had assumed that was where the family lived. She could see two horses with riders walking on the hill, but she couldn’t make out who they were. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Natalia’s sightseeing was abruptly interrupted by yelling. The Operators had arrived and were already barking orders on where the workers were to go. As it would turn out, a surprising 5 villagers knew how to speak Spanish and were translating what the Operators were barking. Rosario could speak Spanish, but she kept this as a closely guarded secretly that was used solely to benefit herself and her children. If the Operators found out you could speak Spanish, they would be all over you to tell the others what to do and sometimes you’d be held accountable for the short comings of the others. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]The group of people was put into several lines. Amparo was put into a different line than Rosario and Natalia, this was a normal thing and Amparo thought no differently about it. Rosario had explained to Natalia that the Aakes had a very clear set of customs that they’d like to live by. Some of them took issue with young women or pretty women working in the fields and they’d rather them work in the house or doing more “womanly” work. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Usually Rosario is forced to work in the fields, but because of Carlos, she was able to go to the house. After a few moments of standing, the lines began to march off. Rosario and Natalia’s line walked up the hill and into the courtyard of the home. It was even bigger than Natalia had originally thought. They were told to go into the outside bathroom to wash up and put on their aprons before they could enter the home.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Amparo walked with his line a bit of a distance. After about fifteen minutes of walking, they arrived at the cotton field. Amparo let out a sigh. The cotton fields were the worst ones to work in. The work was incredibly tedious and all around awful, however the pay was a little better. Rumors were that the cotton workers even got bigger portions of food. The workers dispersed and went onto their daily business.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Natalia emerged from the bathroom all cleaned up and ready to go. She overheard the bickering of two Aakes. One of the Aakes was finely dressed and the other was clearly an Operator. There was another Aak who was with them that was dressed over the top, he wasn’t participating in the argument however. The Operator looked submissive, almost as if he was apologizing for something, but Natalia couldn’t make out a word. After a few minutes of arguing, the Operator came back over to the group and barked more orders, again, Natalia had no idea what they were saying. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Rosario came up and laid her hand on Natalia’s shoulder and calmly said “come, they want us to go.” The group walked back down the hill and kept on marching until they saw the coffee fields. Natalia’s happiness was crushed. She never got to work in the house before, especially one as nice as that, and now she wouldn’t gain the opportunity. The group dispersed and went to work. Operators all over were barking orders and yelling into people’s faces as the language barrier would always persist.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Day 1 in the Fincas[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Amparo was 10 years old and Natalia was 14. They were brother and sister and accompanying them was their mother, Rosario, and the newest member of the family, Carlos, who was only 11 months old. Normally their father, Davíd, would be there too, but he was sick this month and had to stay back. This meant this was Rosario’s second consecutive month in the Fincas. Carlos was one of three babies in the truck, there were likely more in the other trucks. Obviously, Carlos wasn’t useful for work, but the mother must always be with her baby in their culture. Amparo and Natalia were good for working and they were by no means the youngest workers in the group. As soon as a child can walk with ease they are useful for work. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]The tribe that Amparo and Natalia came from is located high in the mountains. The village was actually founded by Natalia and Amparo’s grandparents. Rosario and Davíd are currently the village’s unofficial leaders. All of the villages in the area collected money either by cultivating rare plants in the mountains or working on the fincas. Amparo and Natalia’s village worked mainly with the fincas for thirty day periods. Every day for thirty days the group makes a trip down to the fincas to work from the rise of the sun till its passing. The climate of the lowlands was hot and humid all the time with the occasional breeze from the sea. It was nothing like the mountains and some of the children simply couldn’t adapt. The work was hard and it wasn’t uncommon for people to die in the fincas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The fincas were owned by what the villagers called “aakes.” Translated to English, it would mean “Recents.” They were called this because all of them were Puerto Clavens, who were not native to the land but had captured it anyway. The people driving the trucks and the operators of the fincas were called “Aakes Chiches” or Strong Recents. This is of course the proper term. Almost none of the Operators took the time to learn the language of the villagers, so the villagers would call the Puerto Clavens whatever derogatory term they so pleased – it made no difference to the Operators. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]When the truck stopped, the back was opened up and a wave of sunlight invaded. The villagers jumped out of the truck and for the first time Natalia got a view of where she was working, and it was, as always, absolutely stunning. This particular finca was owned by a man who was more wealthy than normal and it was situated near the coast. Natalia looked around; she could see the hills and the blue waters of the ocean. She turned around and on the top of the hill was one of the most beautiful houses she had ever seen, she had assumed that was where the family lived. She could see two horses with riders walking on the hill, but she couldn’t make out who they were. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Natalia’s sightseeing was abruptly interrupted by yelling. The Operators had arrived and were already barking orders on where the workers were to go. As it would turn out, a surprising 5 villagers knew how to speak Spanish and were translating what the Operators were barking. Rosario could speak Spanish, but she kept this as a closely guarded secretly that was used solely to benefit herself and her children. If the Operators found out you could speak Spanish, they would be all over you to tell the others what to do and sometimes you’d be held accountable for the short comings of the others. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]The group of people was put into several lines. Amparo was put into a different line than Rosario and Natalia, this was a normal thing and Amparo thought no differently about it. Rosario had explained to Natalia that the Aakes had a very clear set of customs that they’d like to live by. Some of them took issue with young women or pretty women working in the fields and they’d rather them work in the house or doing more “womanly” work. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Usually Rosario is forced to work in the fields, but because of Carlos, she was able to go to the house. After a few moments of standing, the lines began to march off. Rosario and Natalia’s line walked up the hill and into the courtyard of the home. It was even bigger than Natalia had originally thought. They were told to go into the outside bathroom to wash up and put on their aprons before they could enter the home.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Amparo walked with his line a bit of a distance. After about fifteen minutes of walking, they arrived at the cotton field. Amparo let out a sigh. The cotton fields were the worst ones to work in. The work was incredibly tedious and all around awful, however the pay was a little better. Rumors were that the cotton workers even got bigger portions of food. The workers dispersed and went onto their daily business.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Natalia emerged from the bathroom all cleaned up and ready to go. She overheard the bickering of two Aakes. One of the Aakes was finely dressed and the other was clearly an Operator. There was another Aak who was with them that was dressed over the top, he wasn’t participating in the argument however. The Operator looked submissive, almost as if he was apologizing for something, but Natalia couldn’t make out a word. After a few minutes of arguing, the Operator came back over to the group and barked more orders, again, Natalia had no idea what they were saying. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Rosario came up and laid her hand on Natalia’s shoulder and calmly said “come, they want us to go.” The group walked back down the hill and kept on marching until they saw the coffee fields. Natalia’s happiness was crushed. She never got to work in the house before, especially one as nice as that, and now she wouldn’t gain the opportunity. The group dispersed and went to work. Operators all over were barking orders and yelling into people’s faces as the language barrier would always persist.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Day 1 in the Fincas[/FONT]