Gulf Coast American Indian Tribes in southeast Louisiana impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be hosting a cultural exchange with their Ecuadorean counterparts who have been severely impacted for decades by Chevron’s oil contamination in Ecuador’s rainforest...The Ecuadorean leaders...hope to share their experiences in recovery and protecting health, livelihoods, and culture in the wake of an oil disaster of this magnitude...Texaco (now Chevron) deliberately dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste, 17 million gallons of oil, and left over 900 unlined oil pits in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest...The contamination has decimated Indigenous groups in Ecuador and caused an outbreak of illness, birth defects, and cancers that account for at least 1,400 deaths. [also refers to BP]