Through Gates of Splendor

The next phase of the operation was to make contact with the Huaorani through flyovers, dropping gifts to them from Nate Saint’s plane. This tactic was a common practice for such encounters, having even been used by the Shell Company when it was setting up outposts in the area years before. Most of the chapter is again told via extracts from Nate’s diary, in which he explains the technical challenges of lowering gifts attached by a line to people on the ground. Their first attempt, dropping an aluminum kettle, along with buttons and salt, appeared to be successful, placing the gift within range of a Huaorani settlement. They continued dropping gifts in subsequent weeks, including tools like machetes and axes, and on the next gift-drop they spotted several Huaorani running around as they approached: “Now we felt sure that they had received our gift of last week and that the idea had caught on in a hurry. If it was half the sport for them that it was for us, their excitement was understandable” (139). As the flyovers continued, they got to the point where they even began attempting to shout some Huaorani phrases to those gathered on the ground.