Physical Health Peru Project #22284

Sustaining Matses Indigenous Medicine - Phase II

by Acate Amazon Conservation

Project Report | Oct 24, 2022
October 2022 - Update on Governance Initiative

By Christopher Herndon and William Park | Co-Founders

Ministry of Health using Matses Indigenous Map

In April 2022, Acaté and the Matsés governing board (junta directiva) held an in-depth conference in the city of Iquitos. The conference was attended by all the officers of the Matsés junta. Acaté was represented by our Peruvian and US based team, David Fleck, Christopher Herndon, William Park, and Carla Noain. The Matsés junta was elected in December of 2021 and this was the first opportunity they had to meet as a governing body. Except for the President, who was reelected, the junta members were new and most had never been in leadership positions before. Due to the formalities of the Peruvian government and in general for interinstitutional meetings, we had to send official invitation letters to each agency, some delivered in physical form, and wait for the countersigned acceptance letters. The Matsés delegation flights were delayed several times so we had to reschedule all the myriad of meetings with governmental agencies (Health, Education, Culture and others) three times but after this juggling of schedules we were ready to begin. The objective of the meetings with the various agencies was to provide the leaders an opportunity to understand the programs that each agency provides and to build connections to improve their access to services in the communities. In an extremely bureaucratic country like Peru, that suffers from rampant corruption there are many services available on paper but actually benefiting from the programs requires significant effort and diligent follow through to navigate the barriers to accessing the services, which range from bureaucratic obstacles to lack of available ear-marked funding due to embezzlement at level of national or regional ministries.

The first conference meeting was with the El Programa Nacional. This program focuses on services for the international border areas of Peru that are underserved and, in the case of the Matsés, practically lack government services. The idea is to build government centers that would offer all services from access to the National Bank to healthcare and preschool education. The program has constructed two facilities in Matsés territory but a lot of the functionality has not been added apart from a kitchen that can be used for certain activities and satellite internet connection that can be turned on when they have fuel to run the generator, which is rare according to the Matsés. The Matsés had an opportunity to express their disappointment in the program and to make suggestions that the facility be turned over to members from the community. This was agreed to and the Matsés leaders now have all the contacts for the program directors in Lima who have published on-line their intention to bring the promised services to the Matsés. We will monitor this situation along with the Matsés leaders.

The next meeting was Asuntos Indígenas or the Native Affairs agency of the State of Loreto. Acaté had partnered with them for the evacuation and care of the Matses stranded in Iquitos at the start of the pandemic. They are aware of Acaté’s numerous successful projects with the Matses and wanted to assess the ability of the communities to carry out a sustainable economic project and in order to present a project for consideration they needed a lot of demographic data from the Matses. After breaking up into subgroups and much discussion it was decided that a program to sell banana flour in Iquitos would be the proposal that Asuntos Indígenas would submit. It usually takes about a year or more for this type of project to materialize so the admins believe it will start in early 2023 and employ over 100 Matsés.

El Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado – Sernanp was the next session. This was a very controversial meeting as the Matses National Reserve administered by SERNANP occupies much of the Matses Ancestral Territory. The long and sad story of the Matses losing their ancestral land is beyond the scope of this report and was discussed in June 2017 Field Report. Although the formation of the so-called Matsés National Reserve had been touted at the time by involved large international conservation organizations and Peruvian government as bringing job opportunities for the Matsés. The Matsés were told that there would be a specified number of jobs as park rangers to patrol and protect the Reserve. The reality, over a decade, is that the majority of park rangers (70% at the time of our meeting) are non-Matsés hired from local settlements outside of the Matsés communities. The Park Directors prefer to only work with the villages in the buffer zone that the government imposed on the Matsés. It was agreed as a result of the meeting that the National Park would Matsés would hire more Matsés. We are pleased to report that, as of writing the number of Matsés hired as park rangers for the Reserve has now more than doubled.

The next part of the meeting focused on the major lack of communication and consultation with the Matsés leadership, which again was not what the proposed operating model with the National Park was formed. The Matsés leaders in attendance emphasized the importance of communication and consultation and an understanding was reached that this would be improved. In a follow up meeting in June the Matses leaders came back to Iquitos to negotiate a new Master Plan for the National Reserve on terms more favorable to the Matses especially with regards to new employment opportunities and prior consultation.

Last year, there was a tragic incident where a SERNANP speedboat struck at high velocity a Matsés canoe killing three Matsés. The families were not able to obtain relief, with many barriers and delays due to the complexities and requirements of the SERNANP insurance policy and the fillings required. This understandably is a point of major sensitivity and importance to the affected families as the Matsés communities at large. The Park Director informed the Matsés how to proceed in order to provide the SERNANP officials in Lima the papers required by their liability insurance to compensate the families of the deceased.

The next session was with the Department of Education. The representative they sent had visited the Matsés communities and knew some of the participants. It is well known that the Education Department is underfunded so the Matsés were appreciative that a large new school had just been completed in their largest village. The discussion turned to the issue of absentee teachers. These teachers give up half their salaries to corrupt administrators in return for being excused from work. Complaining to the corrupt administrators would not be effective but higher up the chain of command there are ombudsman who have to send carbon copies of official complaints to all the offices. They reviewed the procedure to remove these absent teachers and also how the parents associations can help to improve educational outcomes.

Defensoría del Pueblo is an independent agency of the government created by congress whose findings can not be overruled by any other agency of the state. Their function is to fight corruption and injustice. The lawyer who came to the meeting as their representative became wide-eyed as he heard about the total lack of services the Matses population receives from the District Government. It turned out the Matsés had previously tried to use Defensoría del Pueblo to fight corruption without any results due to a series of Catch 22s. You need documents from the corrupt government to file against them but the government won’t give anyone the required papers. The Matses feel that this agency is more bark than bite but were glad to have an update on the activities and possibilities from this agency.

The final agency was the Ministry of Health (MINSA). Acaté has a Memorandum of Understanding with them and we frequently help coordinate medical evacuations and pay for shortfalls in care, for which in absence of direct grant support with our own funding. The health care system does not really exist in Matsés territory but has an outpost in one village. MINSA apparently believed that this post, as limited as it is, served three of the largest Matses villages. We showed the map of Matsés territory so she could see that the villages are hours apart in the best circumstances and that it would be practically impossible to transport patients from one to the other. We agreed that the most remote Matsés villages need their own clinics and that more medicines were needed to stock the existing outpost. This is a very positive outcome for the Matsés but will require a multiagency funding.

The Ministry of Transportation and OSINFOR, the environmental police, both declined to participate in the program.

In addition to agencies of the Peruvian state we also wanted to coordinate with any other NGOs that might have programs to benefit the Matses. Unfortunately, although there are many that apparently work in the region, few have any presence in the region. CEDIA, who helped the Matses with their land title years ago in creation of the Matsés Communal Reserve, came to the conference but are focused solely on Land Titling at this point. Formabiop also came to the meeting and they specialize in training bilingual teachers for native communities. The Matses leaders showed a lot of interest in this program as there is a lack of properly trained teachers who speak Matsés. They signed the necessary papers so that Formabiop can seek funding to set up a training program for future Matsés teachers. Formabiop does excellent work but struggles with their own funding.

The conference also provided an opportunity to work with the new Matsés leaders and present them with the 10 year history of Acate’s activities with the Matses and answer any questions. We then went on to discuss our current projects with the leaders and present work plans and budgets. Then we discussed the types of projects that we could do in the coming years and got a sense of their priorities. It was apparent that they all had hopes for a carbon project that would be able to fund multiple different projects and we agreed that we would try to find a reputable partner.

The last session of the conference was dedicated to the community bylaws and the Life Plans as well as the roles of each member of the leadership council. We also had an opportunity to go over some general leadership principles and traits and the dynamics created through good versus poor leadership.

Last, but not least, we are proud to announce that we have partnered with Matsés youth to revitalize the long defunct and inactive Matsés Youth Organization, restoring full its legal incorporation and standing, which is an involved process. The Matsés leaders and communities are presently working to enhance organization ByLaws, vision, and select members from all the Matsés communities. It is difficult to convey the excitement and support of the Matsés younger generations for the Matsés Youth Organization to become engaged as emerging leaders in their communities and effect positive change. More on this important development in future reporting.

Links:

http://www.acateamazon.org

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Apr 26, 2022
April 2022 Field Report - Interactive cell phone apps in the Matses language

By David Fleck, Ph.D. | Field Coordinator

By Dr. David Fleck

In the latest update from our ongoing initiative with the Matsés to support bilingual education and intergeneration transfer of ecological knowledge, Dr. David Fleck reports on the development of three new interactive cellular phone apps as well as the latest publication addition to Acate’s bilingual ecological readers collection.

Governments are finally acknowledging the importance of indigenous territories and promoting indigenous land ownership rather than national parks as the most effective conservation strategy. This shift is certainly a step in the right direction but stand-alone it is not a well-developed conservation strategy as it ignores the rapid cultural changes occurring in remote areas. It is the cultural practices and worldview of these groups that drive their protection of their territories so this strategy can only be effective if the people chose to maintain their cultures. It is within this context that Acaté has been working since 2012 to ensure the continued intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and especially ethnoecological knowledge among the Matsés. One of the drivers of cultural degradation is when young people become ashamed of their culture and feel it is backward compared to the technological marvels of the global culture. To engage young Matsés, Acaté has created three new educational mobile phone apps (downloadable here from Google Play store). Beyond the value of the apps as practical learning tools, they also demonstrate to the Matsés that they can both enjoy modern technology and maintain their culture.

The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting response in Peru has had devastating effect on the quality of education across the country. This is particularly true in Matsés territory, where internet service and cellular telephone service is absent. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Matsés education system struggled profoundly with chronic lack of teachers, educational materials and resources. The few available educational materials are poorly written. Last year, the Peruvian Ministry of Education has distributed tablets to students in some of Matsés villages, but without any content in the Matsés language which is their primary language. To provide educational resources, Acaté Amazon Conservation, in collaboration with Matsés elders, has produced four new cellular phone apps (download here from the Google Play store) that Matsés children can use to learn at home as well as another ecology advanced reader. In September 2021, Acate field coordinator, Felipe traveled to all the Matsés villages, installing the apps on the cell phones and tablets of the Matsés who have them and distributing the ecology reader to the children.

Aprende a Leer Matsés
This cellular application was an instant hit among the Matsés children. It is a fun interactive application with incorporated audio clips that teaches Matsés children to read at the word level in their language. The app features 200 illustrations drawn by Matses artist Guillermo. In the first half of this talking reader, each letter of the Matsés alphabet is introduced with 5 or 6 simple words. In the second half of the app, the different syllable types are introduced.

On the even pages, the introduced words are associated with images that can be tapped to hear the pronunciation of the word, and on the odd pages the children play a matching game with the same words and illustrations introduced in the preceding page (a correct match elicits an approval tune and the word and image disappear from the page). The matching game can be used by a single child as a self-evaluation exercise, or two or more children can play competitively taking turns to see who gets more correct matches.

Animales Matsés
This app features drawings of 504 species of animals present in Matsés territory by Matsés artist Guillermo, along with names of the animals in the Matsés language and in local Spanish, accompanied by sound clips of the Matsés names that play when an image is tapped.

Older Matsés men and women know the names of all the animals, but many young Matsés know only the more common species, so one of the principle aims of this app is to encourage the intergenerational transmission of traditional ecological knowledge. Non-readers can use the app to learn the animal names by tapping the images, emergent readers can learn to learn to read at the word level in Matsés, and older Matsés students can use it to learn the local Spanish names and to become familiar with scientific classification. At all levels younger Matsés will become familiar with the traditional nomenclature of all the types of animals in their territory.

Taxonomía de Plantas Matsés
This app is in effect the botanical counterpart of the Animales Matsés app. It is the first of its kind. The 122-page application illustrates the amazingly high plant diversity found Western Amazonia along with the sophisticated traditional plant knowledge of the Matsés people with drawings of 361 species of plants drawn by Matsés artist Guillermo. It is the product of more than a year or research trekking through the forests with Matsés elders, searching for and photographing trees and plants with fruits or flowers (without which it is difficult to identify Amazonian plants). We will also be seeking funding to produce even more educational applications for the Matsés, including math games, games for teaching Spanish and English, and talking ecological readers.

If you have an Android cell phone or tablet, we encourage you to download and check out the apps here. If you do not have access to an Android device, you can download pdfs below:

Aprende a leer Matsés

Animales Matsés

Taxonomía de plantas Matsés

Ecología Completa de los Reptiles (Complete Natural History of Reptiles)

This 77-page printed book (also available as a pdf) is the third volume in Acate’s collection of advanced level ecological readers, which are designed to facilitate the intergenerational transfer of traditional ecological knowledge and assist Matsés students in learning to read.

The book was written by Matsés author Jessenia based on recorded monologues about reptile natural history provided by Matsés elders Joaquin and Luis. Scenes depicting behaviors of 54 folk species of reptiles are illustrated with 70 watercolor drawings by Matsés artist Guillermo. The advanced reptile ecology reader was distributed in September 2021 to all the Matsés communities in Peru.

Counting the 7 elementary level ecological readers published by Acate in 2018, the Matsés now have 10 published bilingual ecological readers for helping children learn their ancestral ecological knowledge and to learn to read in their language and in Spanish. This body of work has effectively doubled the number of educational books in the Matsés language. The next book in the advance ecology reader series will be one on amphibians, and later ones on fish, invertebrates, monocot plants, and dicot plants.

We would like to express our gratitude to Nouvelle Planète who generously financed this project.

If you missed it, take a look at our July 2021 Field Report on major advances in the Matsés critical initiative for indigenous empowerment and governance! As a result of this initative, the Matsés have translated their community bylaws into the Matsés language, explained key Peruvian government regulations to all their leaders and communities. The initiative has resulted in training of over 140 Matsés in computer literacy as well as the set-up and equipping of the first computer lab in Matsés territory. The Matsés developed a written Plan of Life (Plan de Vida) to guide their implementation of their vision and aspirations for their communities and protection of their ancestral territories for years to come. The Matsés applied and received United Nations recognition of the Matsés Ancestral Territory as an indigenous and community conserved area (ICCA), the first such designation for an indigenous community in Peru.

Links:

April 2022 Field Report

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Nov 29, 2021
November 2021 Field Report: Monitoring and Protecting Matses Ancestral Lands

By Christopher Herndon and William Park | Co-Founders

Guard post on Upper Yaquerana River

Background: To reach the Matsés territory requires either a weeklong boat trip passing through Brazil; a flight on a small plane; or a multi-day walk through the jungle. This inaccessibility and the Matsés fierce reputation have been the major factors protecting this area historically. The Matsés communal territory is the key to a binational area that includes the Matsés National Reserve, the Sierra del Divisidor National Park, the Javari Tapiche Indigenous Reserve and the Vale do Javari Reserve in Brazil (alone the size of Austria). Together this area is one of the largest and wildest areas left on our planet and the home of the highest number of people still living in voluntary isolation or uncontacted people. These people are at extreme risk of disease should they be contacted by adventure seekers; fanatical missionaries; or illegal resource extractors. The Matsés have had encounters with the uncontacted in their ancestral hunting grounds and there is the potential for conflict. South of the Matsés territory there have been deadly conflicts when uncontacted bands raid isolated villages seeking metal tools and food stores. The movement patterns of the uncontacted groups that enter the Matsés Ancestral Territory are not understood but are likely linked to land use changes to the southeast in Brazil and to normal seasonal movements for hunting. The potential for conflict remains if one of these bands should raid a Matsés camp looking for axes or other metal implements. The Yaquerana River (headwaters of the Javari) is the international border between Peru and Brazil through part of Matsés territory. As such, it is not legal for the Matsés to close the river to boat traffic from the settler communities downriver in both Peru and Brazil. Poachers take advantage of this to enter the territory for commercial fishing, endangered turtle egg collecting, and timber cutting. The construction of a road from the Ucayali to the Javari makes this work even more urgent. The road will bring a wave of settlers looking for new land to exploit along with the timber mafias who will use the road to exploit previously inaccessible highly valuable timber species like Spanish Cedar and Mahogany.

Riverine turtles play a vital role in the ecology and their eggs are an important indigenous traditional food throughout Amazon region. They are now threatened with extinction due to over collecting of eggs from their nesting beaches and the hunting of adult turtles. The largest turtle in the Amazon, known locally as Charapas (Podocnemis expansa), which can weigh up to 200 pounds, is facing extinction in Peru because the large adults are easily hunted and the eggs are large and highly sought after. For the Matsés the eggs from both the Charapa and the smaller Taricaya (Podocnemis unifilis) are a important source of protein and calories. Unfortunately, there are now stretches of the Yaquerana river where the turtle nests are no longer found due to commercial egg poaching. It is important to emphasize that the lack of controls on the egg trade will eventually lead the poachers further up river. Egg collecting can not be seen in isolation as the poachers will also hunt for bush meat and potentially cut timbers. Without an intervention these activities will spread up river further endangering those in voluntary isolation.

The objectives of this project were to provide protection both for the Matsés Ancestral Territory and peoples living in voluntary isolation. This was accomplished as follows below:

Project Achievements:

In a General Assembly Meeting (Matsés legislative session) all the Matsés communities and their leaders agreed that the protection of peoples living in voluntary isolation is important and that the Matsés would take appropriate measures to avoid conflicts with them while shielding them from encroachment.
During the same General Assembly Meeting the Matsés agreed to set aside a portion of the Yaquerana River beaches as a turtle conservation area. This is very important as in general conservation projects fail due to the lack of engagement with the local communities. In this case the Matsés took the initiative to learn how to successfully hatch turtle eggs and gained the cooperation of the other Matsés communities who do not have nesting beaches near their own communities. Additional Matsés villages including two in Brazil want to participate in the project and have a vision of restoring the precontact turtle populations.
A team of 12 Matsés was equipped to patrol the upper Yaquerana in shifts and deploy camera traps looking for evidence of uncontacted peoples entering the Matsés Ancestral Territory.
Construction of a guard post downriver from the Matsés community of Puerto Alegre. The poachers stay away from the Matsés villages and the sounds of their motors can’t be heard from the villages. This guard post allows the Matsés to monitor a key area of the Yaquerana as a base of operations for the patrols. The presence of the post also discourages poachers.
We supplied the Matsés with two boat-motors to use for the patrols.
We purchased a short-wave radio that will allow for communication of the guard post with all the other Matsés communities and government agencies if necessary.
We supplied the 30 patrol members with project uniforms, flashlights, and boots.
We supplied fuel and food supplies so they can reach distant areas and remain on extended patrols.
We supplied equipment for the collection of turtle eggs and for the construction of a turtle egg hatchery. The hatchlings were returned to their nesting areas for release. When the patrols reach the turtle eggs before the poachers it discourages poaching as the poachers come back empty handed.
7000 turtle eggs were collected and we are especially pleased that the rare giant river turtle eggs were also collected bringing hope for the restoration of these turtles in the area.
The patrols are also removing turtle traps and freeing the turtles they find trapped.

River turtle rendering by Matses artist Guillermo

Note taking at night

River turtle nest in sand

Links:

Acate Amazon Conservation

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