"End of the Spear"
The fatal mission of five that transformed many

-- Leah Otto Johnson

More than a box office film meant to entertain, this 2005 Heartland Film Festival Grand Prize winner for Dramatic Feature is a story of great measure, courage and sacrifice.

Based on true events around 1956, "End of the Spear" retells the story of five young missionary men (Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming and Roger Youderian) who endeavored to make peaceful contact with the Huaorani Tribe, also called Waodani or "Aucas," of the Eastern Ecuador rainforest—the most violent society ever recorded.

As stated an article titled "Did They Have to Die?" by Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint), "Every encounter with the Huaorani had ended in death, from the sixteenth-century conquistadors to seventeenth-century Jesuits to nineteenth-century gold and rubber hunters." It took little to incite the Huaorani to kill or attack even neighboring Huaorani tribes. Six of every 10 deaths among the Huaorani were reported to have been homicides.

In the mid '50s, oil companies closing in on Huaorani territory were growing weary of the tribe’s killing prowess. "Soldiers had been dispatched to protect oil camps, and there was talk of a military attempt at wiping out this 'nuisance,'" said Saint. The missionaries knew the risk but felt it was necessary to take. If not by the hands of the military, it was thought the Huaorani would cause their own annihilation.

Writer and Director, Jim Hannon, also directed the award-winning precursor "Beyond the Gates of Splendor," a documentary inspired by Gates of Splendor, a novel by Elisabeth Elliot (the widow of Jim Elliot).

Elliot and Rachel Saint, Nate Saint’s sister, knowing the Huaorani killed their loved ones, volunteered to live among the Huaorani after the tragic incident occurred. "End of the Spear" succeeds in capturing the extreme tension between these two cultures, the great courage of these women as they successfully brought a message of peaceful living and forgiveness to the Huaorani, along with the remarkable challenge for the Huaorani to change.

In 1987, anthropologists Clayton and Carol Robarcheck documented reports given by the Huaorani that homicides by spearing dropped an amazing 90 percent within a few years of Elliot and Saint’s testimony. In fact, this is the first generation of living grandfathers amongst the Huaorani.

Though initially reluctant to have their story filmed, the Huaorani, after hearing of the school shootings in the United States, felt the story of their turn from violence to peace would be a compelling model for others to follow after.

With breathtaking footage of the Eastern Ecuador rainforest, this well-written, directed and acted film is a compelling watch. Though inspired by missionary work, "End of the Spear" goes beyond evangelism to display an inspiring human story of two divergent cultures and their ability to rise above barriers of grief and fear to transform—to form a bond of friendship that still thrives, even today.

In the words of martyr Pete Fleming, "What more could be given to life?"

This movie has a PG-13 rating and is available on DVD Jun. 13. Every Tribe Entertainment will donate 50 percent of all proceeds from "End of the Spear," including sales from the original motion picture soundtrack, to the Huaorani and other indigenous peoples. For further information on the Huaorani and/or Steve Saint, visit http://www.itecusa.org.