^
Eva walks every morning to a small pool of fresh water by her house inside the wood for her and her brother Ashivanti’s daily wash.
ASHANINKAS
The Ashaninkas are the most numerous and extended ethnic group of the Amazonia. Ashaninka means
“person” in their language and their culture counts on universal values based in the respect of nature and
respect the others as basic principles. They live spread around hundreds of hectares in the Peruvian Ama-
zonia and they gather in small communities by the Rivers Ene and Tambo, mainly.
They reject violence and they believe in education as the driving force of human progress. The jungle
is their main source of life and they consider it their home. They are not just the inhabitants of the Amazonia,
but also the guardians of the jungle.
The Ashaninka Community was one of the most afflicted by the violence and terror brought by Shining Path
(Sendero Luminoso), a radical maoist group with a strong sectarian touch that terrified all Peru for more than
20 years. Besides terrorism, active since the 80’s, the Ashaninkas fear that the coca growing fields close to their
area end up occupying their ancestral land. The increasing interest of energy companies, who are yearning for
a big piece of rain forest, is one of the main concerns of the Asháninkas.
Despite of living in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, the Asháninkas continue to live as they used to, as
they are adapting slowly to modern times while fighting to preserve their life style and accepting
development providing that their culture is always respected.
Work in progress
“person” in their language and their culture counts on universal values based in the respect of nature and
respect the others as basic principles. They live spread around hundreds of hectares in the Peruvian Ama-
zonia and they gather in small communities by the Rivers Ene and Tambo, mainly.
They reject violence and they believe in education as the driving force of human progress. The jungle
is their main source of life and they consider it their home. They are not just the inhabitants of the Amazonia,
but also the guardians of the jungle.
The Ashaninka Community was one of the most afflicted by the violence and terror brought by Shining Path
(Sendero Luminoso), a radical maoist group with a strong sectarian touch that terrified all Peru for more than
20 years. Besides terrorism, active since the 80’s, the Ashaninkas fear that the coca growing fields close to their
area end up occupying their ancestral land. The increasing interest of energy companies, who are yearning for
a big piece of rain forest, is one of the main concerns of the Asháninkas.
Despite of living in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, the Asháninkas continue to live as they used to, as
they are adapting slowly to modern times while fighting to preserve their life style and accepting
development providing that their culture is always respected.
Work in progress
^
View of Samaria, ashaninka community in Mazamari’s district, one of the eight in the Province of Satipo.
^
Social roles are very defined in the Ashaninka culture, even though sometimes they share duties and collaborate in all the daily tasks. Women usually cook
while men go hunting and fishing in search of food for the whole family.
while men go hunting and fishing in search of food for the whole family.
^
Eva is twelve years old and she helps her mum at home in both, cooking and taking care of her younger brothers and sisters. Sometimes she cooks the whole
dinner by herself and she enjoys it very much.
dinner by herself and she enjoys it very much.
^
Benjamin and his son Diego have a rest minutes before dinner.
^
Eva and her sister Ana Sha do their homework everyday. Among other subjects, Ashaninkas learn English (from 13 years old onwards), science and
environment, communication in Ashaninka and in Spanish, religion, sports and arts. Education plays a key role in the Ashaninka culture, it is essential for
theirintegration and their understanding of the globalised world they live in, even though they are in the jungle, far away from the cities. They give a great value
to speaking languages and learning about their environment.
environment, communication in Ashaninka and in Spanish, religion, sports and arts. Education plays a key role in the Ashaninka culture, it is essential for
theirintegration and their understanding of the globalised world they live in, even though they are in the jungle, far away from the cities. They give a great value
to speaking languages and learning about their environment.
^
View of Samaria from the playground where all the kids of the village gather everyday after school.
^
Ana Sha and her brother Koakiti play and enjoy their spare time after school.
^
Ashaninkas love celebrations and happenings. They enjoy very much when they gather all together in the community and they usually dress in their best cushmas
(dresses) and get ready for the party.
(dresses) and get ready for the party.
^
The kids of the community get together everyday after school at the soccer field and they invent new ways of having fun.
^
Eva and her aunt Airontsi are about to get lost in the jungle in search of wood for cooking.
^
The School of Samaria. Samaria is a small community in the District of Mazamari. There’s one single school for initial level (3 to 5 years old) and primary
school (6 to 013 years old) and there are 32 students in total. The kids start learning Spanish from 3 years old.
school (6 to 013 years old) and there are 32 students in total. The kids start learning Spanish from 3 years old.
^
A group of kids from the initial level stand with Mercedes, the teacher. Generally, the teachers are not ashaninkas. It is very hard to find ashaninka teachers for
all the different communities. This is not a problem at all, as non-ashaninkas are accepted in the community as if they were ashaninkas. They actually prefer
teachers coming from the mountains or from Lima, the capital, instead of the jungle because this guarantees a higher and better education. Teachers who
come from other places in Peru generally have more knowledge and are more prepared to be teachers.
all the different communities. This is not a problem at all, as non-ashaninkas are accepted in the community as if they were ashaninkas. They actually prefer
teachers coming from the mountains or from Lima, the capital, instead of the jungle because this guarantees a higher and better education. Teachers who
come from other places in Peru generally have more knowledge and are more prepared to be teachers.
^
The Ashaninkas generally have a very balanced diet composed of fish, meat, and an infinite list of tropical fruits, most of them impossible to find out
of the Amazonia.
of the Amazonia.
^
Olinda has five children and she was a victim of Shining Path’s violence in the nineties. When she was 7 years old an armed group attacked her community
killing almost everyone in her village. She escaped and a helicopter found her alone some days after the attack. She was taken to a refugee camp close to
Satipo, where she lived until she was 15 years old. Olinda still gets scared at night when she hears a weird noise and she never wants to talk about the
episode of her childhood. She just wants that her children don’t have to live what she did.
killing almost everyone in her village. She escaped and a helicopter found her alone some days after the attack. She was taken to a refugee camp close to
Satipo, where she lived until she was 15 years old. Olinda still gets scared at night when she hears a weird noise and she never wants to talk about the
episode of her childhood. She just wants that her children don’t have to live what she did.
^
Koakiti cuts the grass everyday to have some living space around their home. The grass grows very fast in the jungle and it’s necessary to cut it off very often
to avoid being eaten by the vast vegetation of the Amazonia. Humidity combined with heat increases the growing rhythm of the plants.
to avoid being eaten by the vast vegetation of the Amazonia. Humidity combined with heat increases the growing rhythm of the plants.
^
The kids enjoy watching movies in DVD’s that their relatives bring for them very often from their trips to the cities of Lima or Satipo. They love the movies, even
though sometimes they don’t understand what they say.
though sometimes they don’t understand what they say.
^
Benjamin rests while his family sleeps under the mosquito net. In spite of malaria and the big amount of mosquitoes, spiders and other insects in the jungle,
not all the Ashaninkas are enough lucky to have a mosquito net to protect themselves from bites when they sleep.
not all the Ashaninkas are enough lucky to have a mosquito net to protect themselves from bites when they sleep.
^
Airontsi makes masato after sunset. Masato is the drink of the jungle, made of fermented manioc mixed with women’s spits. The art of making masato and the taste
of it are very appreciated among the Ashaninkas. When a foreigner visits a community, they generally offer a bowl of masato to the guests who arrive to welcome them.
of it are very appreciated among the Ashaninkas. When a foreigner visits a community, they generally offer a bowl of masato to the guests who arrive to welcome them.
^
Chinke plays hide-and-seek with his brothers and sisters. Hide-and-seek can be a never ending game in the jungle, where two steps ahead into wood means
getting lost in the density of the bush, and sometimes they get bored before finding the rest of the players.
getting lost in the density of the bush, and sometimes they get bored before finding the rest of the players.