For millennia, the Peruvian Amazon has been a true refuge for indigenous people, a place where different cultures converge and where the richest biodiversity in Latin America predominates.
However, today many indigenous people are disappearing and along with them, the dialect, traditions and culture.
One of these native peoples are the Machiguengas, a people connected to the diversity, wisdom, and folkways of the forest.
They live in various parts of the jungle of Cusco and Madre de Dios.
The forest is their main source of food, clothing, medicine, and economic sustenance, which is why they pay complete attention to its care.
Despite the vital importance of this community, its existence is threatened every day due to illegal mining and logging, which seeks to displace them from their lands to continue exploiting the forest for resources.
Growing coffee is the entire livelihood of this region’s native Mameria community. This small community is made up of Percy Toledo, his 12 wives, his children and grandchildren.
Getting to this community can be quite a physical challenge. The nearest road is in the community of Naranjayoc, 18 hours away from Mameria on foot or by mule.
Aside from the lack of road suitable for vehicles, the footpath itself is unclear in these steep mountains and deep woods. The only way to access the area is with someone who knows the intricacies of the way. The area has no telephone signal or internet, so the disconnection is total.
Until 2021, the natives of this community did not have any kind of official identification from the government. Subsistence in this area seems almost impossible for anyone else—but not for the Machiguengas, who find in this forest their ancestral homeland.
