The Waodani Indians of Ecuador were killing six of every 10 of their tribesmen when American missionaries entered their isolated community in January 1956. Anthropologists say the tribe, identified then as the Aucas, had one of the most violent cultures ever documented and was headed toward extinction.
(Editor’s note: The film “End of the Sphere” is set
to open in select theatres nationwide Jan. 20. The movie tells the
story of a tribe who killed five missionaries in their village but
later befriended their victims’ family members. In addition to the
upcoming movie, a documentary about the incident has been released and
made available to persons free of charge.)
The Waodani Indians of Ecuador were killing six of
every 10 of their tribesmen when American missionaries entered their
isolated community in January 1956. Anthropologists say the tribe,
identified then as the Aucas, had one of the most violent cultures ever
documented and was headed toward extinction.
Missionary pilot Nate Saint had located the tribe in circling the
Amazon Basin jungle. Wishing to establish contact, Saint hoped that a
slow, circular flying pattern would allow him to stabilize a long rope
and basket dropped from the airplane down to the members of the tribe.
A difficult maneuver, it worked, and over 11 weeks
in late 1955, Saint and fellow missionaries Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming,
Ed McCully and Roger Youderian lowered gifts to the Waodani.
When the Waodani returned the favor by sending a bird up in the basket,
the missionaries sensed opportunity. On Jan. 7, 1956, the five men left
their young wives at base camp and landed their plane on a sandbar near
the Waodani, making face-to-face contact for the first time.
The next day, the tribesmen speared them dead.
The killings made worldwide news at the time. Life
magazine devoted a spread to the story on Jan. 30, 1956, and a 1957
book, “The Gates of Splendor,” brought the story to millions of readers
from the Christian perspective of Elisabeth Elliot, who was widowed by
the killings.
Almost 50 years later, the tale — with updated
material chronicling the tribe’s radical change — has been retold in a
40-minute documentary, “Beyond the Gates of Splendor,” available free
of charge to churches, schools and para-church organizations.
A full-length, 90-minute version of the documentary
debuted on the big screen in a handful of cities this year and will be
available in retail stores on DVD in September, said Randy Swanson, a
spokesman for Every Tribe Entertainment (www.everytribe.com), the
company that produced it.
The documentary precedes a full-length theatrical
movie, “End of the Spear,” which is in final production and will debut
in theaters Jan. 20 near the 50th anniversary of the killings, Swanson
said.
The documentary focuses on the missionaries and
their families, the Waodani tribesmen and the unlikely story of courage
and redemption when two of the missionaries’ widows and one of the
missionaries’ sisters and – years later — the son, daughter-in-law and
grandchildren of Nate Saint settle among the tribe.
Described by its producer, Kevin McAfee, as a
“pre-evangelism” tool, the documentary profiles the Waodani from the
perspectives of two anthropologists who studied the tribe.
The film also probes the backgrounds, motivations and dreams of the
missionaries and their families before and after the killings through
recovered 16 mm home movies, still photos and interviews with widows,
family members and members of the search crew.
Two of the killers, Mincaye and Kimo, became
Christians and are featured in the documentary via interviews with
translators, who relate Mincaye’s humorous observations about American
culture after Mincaye visited the United States in the late 1990s with
Steve Saint, whose father Mincaye murdered.
The home movies help document several of the
missionaries’ time together at Wheaton College, their courtships and a
Christmas celebration just before the murders at the missionaries’ home
base down river.
McAfee, a member of the Oklahoma City-area Council
Road Baptist Church in Bethany, said during a Dallas screening that the
film aims to give insights into the missionaries as they sought to
reach the Waodani – food for thought that perhaps can be discussed over
coffee at Starbucks afterward, he said.
McAfee also is musical director of the film. His
work ranges from dramatic orchestral sounds to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet
Home, Alabama” during one of documentary’s lighter moments.
Beyond the Gates of Splendor received the Crystal Heart Award at the
Heartland Film Festival and “Audience Favorite” at the Palm Beach Film
Festival.
Mart Green, founder of Mardel, an Oklahoma
City-based Christian retail chain, is founder and chief executive
officer of Every Tribe Entertainment, which bills itself as “committed
to telling significant stories on film in the highest quality possible.”
In producing its first full-length project, Every
Tribe hired McAfee along with Bill Ewing, a former vice president at
Columbia Tri-Star to be company president, and Jim Hanon, a Cannes Film
Festival award-winner, as a writer and director.
(Churches may order “Beyond the Gates of Splendor”
by calling 1-800-695-9847 or by visiting the www.everytribe.com. For
more information about the upcoming movie, visit endofthespear.com.)