Sustaining Matses Indigenous Medicine - Phase II

Matsés Advance Critical New Initiative for Indigenous Empowerment and Self-Governance

Indigenous groups the world over have historically been dispossessed of their ancestral territories, exterminated, or cheated for the extraction of their natural resources. Once missionaries established first peaceful contact with the Matsés in 1969, timber and petroleum interests quickly followed. In the turbulent years following sustained contact agents of timber companies took advantage of the Matsés communities by tricking them into cutting down high value timber species such as Spanish cedar and mahogany without any compensation. Petroleum companies carried out surveys and drilled exploratory wells deep into Matsés ancestral territory.

In February 2019, Acaté leadership and the Matsés governing body (Junta Directiva) met and agreed that following the completion of the Matsés Indigenous Mapping Initiative, our next major collaboration would be to address the very heart of the challenges that underpin the Matsés internal struggles and enable external threats. The Matsés Indigenous Leadership and Governance project is a critically important initiative. The benefits, developed through this project and realized by the participants and the wider communities include: 1) the ability to obtain benefits from government agencies and NGOs by avoiding pitfalls through navigating the bureaucracies, 2) the ability to participate in the national economy, and 3) the ability to protect their territory from extractive industry including oil and timber companies encroaching on their territory. Most importantly, the project will contribute to the capacity and resiliency of the Matsés in maintaining unity against the external forces that threaten to degrade their unique way of life.

As a result of the Matsés Indigenous Leadership and Governance Initiative to date, the Matsés have translated their community bylaws into the Matsés language and explained key Peruvian government regulations and documents to all their leaders and communities. Matsés have enhanced their ability to interface and access government agencies, thereby improving their services. During the process, the Matsés uncovered massive irregularities in government funding earmarked for their district that was never received. This is now under investigation by the Peruvian anti-corruption authorities.

Prior to the start of the project, most Matsés had never even opened up a computer, let alone have the proficiency in use of computers and software that is so critical for their success in governance and their interactions with the outside world. To date, the Matsés Indigenous Leadership and Governance Initiative has resulted in the training of over 140 Matsés in computer literacy as well as the set-up and equipping of the first computer lab in Matsés territory.

Further, the Matsés have 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 for and received United Nations recognition of the Matsés Ancestral Territory as an indigenous and community conserved area, the first such designation for an indigenous community in Peru.

Background

Traditionally, in the time prior to sustained contact, the Matsés lived in longhouses in large family groups. They had no formal governance, with decisions made through community consensus guided by the wisdom of respected elders. Following sustained peaceful contact with the Peruvian national culture, leadership structures were constructed in Matsés society based on Peruvian political structures. The requirement for Spanish speakers in leadership positions biased selection to primarily younger Matsés in leadership roles in order to facilitate communication with non-Matsés speakers in regional and national government. This had the effect of excluding many experienced and recognized elder Matsés community leaders from participating in the political decision making process and in official representation of their people to the outside world.

Elected Matsés leaders receive no formal training before starting office to prepare them for the enormous challenges they face. These Matsés leaders, with limited formal education, given no training or even an orientation class on assuming office, and supported with few external resources are left unaided to negotiate with well-funded timber companies, oil companies, NGOs, local government, regional government, national government, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of Culture, National Bank, adventure tourists, and even wildlife smugglers. These various organizations have their own agendas, and regrettably, not all are working in the best interests of the Matsés people or the rainforest the Matsés protect. The consequences have been profound for Matsés education, health, food security, and territorial integrity.

The specific aims of the Matsés Indigenous Leadership and Governance Initiative include the following goals:

1) To train Matsés participants and future leaders with knowledge of Peruvian laws and regulations

2) To provide training in accounting, regulatory compliance, and communication for good governance

3) To build their intrinsic governance and communication capacity across the communities

4) To capacitate Matsés participants and future leaders with computer literacy skills

5) To implement an innovative leadership training program for Matsés women’s empowerment

This initiative is designed to progress in four stages, three of which have been completed as of the writing of this field report.

Stage 1: Planning Workshop, Leadership Training, Translation of Matsés Bylaws, Meetings with government agencies

The Matsés territory is vast. It can take four days to travel from one upriver community to the most distant community on a different river. There is no phone service in Matsés territory and not all the villages have working radios. These communication issues are compounded by the expense of holding meetings. Matsés leaders are neither allocated funds by the Peruvian state to organize large community meetings nor support for food and travel costs. This lack of governance infrastructure is exploited by organizations with their own agendas to create agreements with Matsés individuals but without community wide engagement and consent.

One of the most egregious examples was the “Carbon Cowboy” incident in 2011. This was a scheme to get the Matsés to sign over their carbon rights. The modus operandi utilized by the unscrupulous actors involved in this scam was to pay one or more elected Matsés leaders to sign their documents. In the case of the Carbon Cowboy, these signed documents were written in English. The scheme failed. The Matsés who received the payments ended up moving away from their territory in disgrace, and no carbon projects were ever developed.

Although Western use of the term “tribe” may connote a sense of unity in a people, the reality is that many indigenous groups emerge from the turbulence of contact with the outside world fiercely divided. Although many organizations would be extremely cautious about the optics and irregularities of perceived corruption in dealings with elected officials at home in the United States or Europe, it does not hold them back from sending direct payments to elected Matsés leaders to advance their agendas in a setting where there is less direct accountability. These organizations show little regard for the internal conflicts that inevitably erupt as the Matsés community discovers the payments and the conflicts of interest.

Recognition of Matsés Ancestral Territory as an Indigenous Protected Area

The first sessions of the meeting were to get the Matsés Ancestral Territory registered with the United Nations as an internationally recognized indigenous protected area or ICCA. The Matsés Ancestral Territory comprises an area of 3.7 million acres in Peru and contains among the most intact, biodiverse and carbon-rich forests in the world. Their communities safeguard and shield some of the last remaining uncontacted tribes living in isolation from unwanted encroachment by the outside world. With climate change and the accelerated rates of deforestation in the Amazon Basin, this vast area of intact primary forest that generations of Matsés have fought to protect is of vital importance for their future and is of global significance.

The requirements and process were explained to the Matsés leaders by SERVINDI (Servicios en comunicación Intercultural), the communications partner of the United Nations Small Grants Program in Peru. Fortunately the documentation that usually takes years to accomplish, had already been done by the Matses in conjunction with prior initiatives with Acaté, including mapping their territory, documenting their culture, and most importantly protecting their forests. With a large team working on all the necessary documentation, including a Plan of Life, we generated, organized, and submitted the proposal to the United Nations Environment Programme including the maps, ethnoecological books, and descriptions of the traditional medicine program. The registry was completed and can be seen here.

Matsés COVID-19 Relief Effort

The next order of business was to present Acaté’s Matsés COVID-19 Relief effort. After decades of phantom projects with other NGOs, false claims of association with the Matsés, and no reporting nor transparency for the Matsés, the Matsés are rightly suspicious about projects and wanted to understand our COVID-19 relief effort that we led in collaboration with several partners including Pervuvian Ministry of Culture, Peruvian Ministry ofo Health, Xapiri Ground, Amazon Watch as well as the support of private donors. This was a great opportunity to present the basics of accounting and transparency using a real- life example of great interest to the leaders. The amounts and sources of the funding along with the receipts were presented. Then we created a report with the accounting, receipts, and photos of the effort with Matsés language explanations. The Matsés can now use this as a template for reporting to their constituents.

The requirements and process were explained to the Matsés leaders by SERVINDI (Servicios en comunicación Intercultural), the communications partner of the United Nations Small Grants Program in Peru. Fortunately the documentation that usually takes years to accomplish, had already been done by the Matses in conjunction with prior initiatives with Acaté, including mapping their territory, documenting their culture, and most importantly protecting their forests. With a large team working on all the necessary documentation, including a Plan of Life, we generated, organized, and submitted the proposal to the United Nations Environment Programme including the maps, ethnoecological books, and descriptions of the traditional medicine program. The registry was completed and can be seen here.

Navigating Governmental Agencies

For the next day’s session, we invited the Loreto Ministry of Culture to give a presentation on the relevant departments of the Peruvian government and their functions and responsibilities. This provided a basis for the Matsés to navigate difficult bureaucratic hurdles by knowing which agency is responsible.

The consequences of this lack of ability to interface with the Peruvian health and education agencies are severe. In the case of the health system, the impact can be measured in human lives. The health care provision to the Matsés communities is challenging and suffers from chronic and profound insufficiencies due to their remote geography and other contributing factors. In the morning, before we started the regular agenda, a team from the Ministry of Health met with the Matsés responding to an invitation from Daniel, the Matsés chief. This meeting led to doctor and dentist visits to the larger Matsés communities and a resupply of medicines. In addition, we now have a Memorandum of Understanding between the Health Ministry, the Matsés, and Acaté. There will be more on this major development in a future field report. 

The Ministry of Culture also provided the team with the agencies that provide funding to communities for economic projects and detailed some of the existing projects. They then took the Matsés through an exercise of developing a project with all the steps and information required.

Land Tenure and Rights

The next part of the meeting was to address the land tenure of the Matsés Ancestral Territory which spans their communal reserve, the Matsés National Reserve, and the Sierra del Divisor National Park. When the Matsés mapped their ancestral territory in the Matsés Indigenous Mapping Initiative, it became clear that many Matsés had no idea that a large portion of their territory had been negotiated away in the creation of the so-called Matsés National Reserve (Matsés ancestral territory in which the Matsés hold no title to the land) and the Sierra del Divisor National Park.

We brought in a local expert who worked on many projects in the region. The leaders were given a presentation on the rights and obligations of the Matsés titled land along with the applicable land codes under Peruvian law. Then the same was done for the National Reserve, which is the equivalent to a National Forest in the US, and the National Park. The event also included timber regulations. The most controversial aspect was the buffer zones established by the park authorities. We presented the regulations and, as this was very important, wrote a summary in the Matsés language.

Translation of Matsés Bylaws into Matsés Language

Throughout the conference we were working to update and translate the Matsés bylaws, developed on establishment of the Matsés Communal Reserve. The bylaws were written in Spanish and all were very reasonable. The problem was that they were out of date and not available in Matsés language, which is the primary language for most Matsés. The challenge with translating Spanish technical terms into Matsés is that there are simply no equivalent words in Matsés language. Through the efforts of Matsés native speakers, Peruvian lawyers, and Acaté field coordinator Davewho is the leading academic expert on Panoan languages, we decided that we would make the best translation possible and then supplement the document with explanations in Matsés. Given that so many updates were required, the leaders could not complete the updates without first getting the consent of the people. The final document was delayed until the village meeting and a general assembly were held to finalize the document.

Leadership

With so many difficult and controversial subjects that arose, we planned to finish the conference on a positive note with the creative leadership component. The leadership training portion of the program was led by Acaté staff member Carla who was certified during a New England Biolabs Foundation course run by The Creative Action Institute in Peru. This groundbreaking course for indigenous leaders and youth promotes creative problem solving. While creativity is often perceived as an abstract concept, numerous studies and reports indicate that creativity is becoming a key feature of 21st century leadership due to the need to generate innovative solutions, test new approaches, and respond effectively to the complex social and environmental challenges we face.

Although not commonly referred to in the context of indigenous communities in the remote Amazon, there are creative leaders in the Matsés community and through this program we helped to develop their potential growth to lead their communities. One of the creative techniques is called “Problem Tree/Solution Tree”. A large drawing of a “Problem Tree” is used to analyze the causes and effects of a specific problem in order to identify strategic interventions. The problem is written in the center of the trunk, the participants then exchange ideas and write down all the underlying causes in the roots of the tree and all the negative impacts on the branches. Next, a “Tree of Solutions” is used to identify how to transform the problems by reversing the original causes and to track the conditions that yield positive results. The objective is to visually analyze the origins and effects of a problem in order to identify possible solutions and strategic interventions. The result is the ability to identify the origins of a problem and transform them into solutions through strategic analysis, identification of intervention points, and project planning.

Stage 2: Village Meetings to Disseminate the Information from Stage 1 and Community Engagement

After Stage 1 was completed we worked with the Matsés chief to compile all the information in digital and print form. Then a team of Matsés leaders and their main advisor, Pepe, visited each of the 15 Matsés communities. Pepe was essential to this project because his experience and background. As both former Matsés chief and a former local Mayor, Pepe could speak with authority after having experience dealing with all these issues. We can only imagine how difficult it was in the past for the Matsés village leaders to report on material they were not very familiar with written in, what is for them a second language. With a projector and all the documents in digital form supported by the tribal leaders the village chiefs were able to inform their villages of all that had been learned. Each village was also given copies of the documents, explanations, and translation in print. It was during this phase that the final bylaws were prepared for ratification at the general assembly. 

Stage 3: Computer Training for Future Matsés Leaders

Nowhere is the “digital divide” more stark than in Matsés territory. Most young Matsés, except for those who go to school in Angamos, have never used a computer. In Matsés territory, some leaders and teachers have computers but there are none in the schools or available for people to use. The irony is that we have never encountered people who pick up computers and software faster than the Matsés. In the Stage 3 of the initiative, the Matsés set up a computer lab with 12 computers, projector and printer in the community of Anushi. Then they developed a plan to hold twelve week-long courses for all the Matsés communities with spaces apportioned according to village size. Prior to the start of the classes we held a training session in Iquitos for the Matsés computer teachers, Daniel, Jesinia, and Felipe. They developed an appropriate course curriculum for Matsés with little to no computer experience. The course started with basic usage and the operating system. Then the course progressed through Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. For many Matsés who have never used a computer their lack of experience is a source of shame. As soon as Matsés start to gain confidence in their computer skills their perceived inferiority to outsiders fades. They realize that they can use a computer but an outsider could never thrive in the forest.  total, to date, we trained 144 Matsés students.

Prior to this initiative, both a lack of computers and the lack of training in document preparation among the Matsés population limits the number of potential leaders who can function in their roles. Capacitation in these domains will strengthen the ability of the Matsés to represent themselves to the outside world, navigate the bureaucracies of government agencies, participate in the national economy, and enhance coordination of their communities to foster strength in unity. Through this initiative, the Matsés will be better able to resist the powerful external forces that threaten the environment they depend on for their survival and sustain their unique way of life. The initiative will engage younger generations by inspiring youth that their identity as Matsés can lie in both traditional and modern systems, and that to choose one is an artificial choice; one can thrive in the outside world, yet retain a proud identity as Matsés.

Links:

• June 2021 Field Report-Matses Indigenous Leadership & Governance

After chance encounter with an uncontacted group in remote headwaters of their ancestral territory, Matsés are launching new measures to help ensure continued protection of isolated peoples.

In the age of satellite communication and globalism, the fact that there are still tribal groups isolated from the outside world and its technology excites the imagination and sparks curiosity. Yet, this excitement can obscure the extreme fragility and precarious situation of these last remaining people in voluntary isolation. The reality is that there are few places left on the planet that are still remote enough to shelter isolated peoples.

The headwaters of the Yaquerana (Javari), in the Matsés Ancestral Territory (Territorio Ancestral Matsés) and the Sierra del Divisor National Park in Peru, is one such area. The adjoining Javari Valley Reserve across the river in Brazil contains the highest number of tribal groups living in isolation in the world. There is evidence that isolated groups may also inhabit the Tapiche-Blanco area on the western border of the Matsés Ancestral Territory. The Matsés have long served to shield uncontacted groups, whom they regard as their brothers and sisters, in the region from unwanted contact from the outside world. Matsés communities are strategically positioned at the gateways to these remote areas.

Earlier this month, on a follow-up survey from the Matsés Indigenous Mapping Initiative, in the headwaters of the upper Yaquerana river, the Matsés had a chance encounter. They were there to verify some data points from a previous journey and to check on the status of an abandoned exploratory oil well. This area lies within the now annulled petroleum concession lot #135 that was leased by Pacific Stratus Energy. Pacific Stratus and the concession are gone but the status of the exploratory well and the extent of any damage done remains unclear.

While walking along a stream, the Matsés survey team noticed a trail marked by plant stems bent in half, not cut with a machete. As they reached a small stream they saw a set of bare footprints along the bank. They then heard scattered voices of a small group of individuals who were imitating spider monkey calls. Realizing it was the isolated people hunting, the team immediately withdrew back to the river to avoid any contact.

Over the years, the Matses have reported similar encounters in the jungle although this one occurred closer to their communities. It is generally thought that isolated groups come across the river from Brazil in the low water season, although this group may reside semi-permanently on the Peruvian side.  Matsés who have had encounters indicate that some of the words spoken by uncontacted people calling out to each other are intelligible to them, supporting the Panoan origin theory (family of languages spoken in Peru, western Brazil, and Bolivia). The Matsés, and most of the neighboring tribal groups in the Javari including the Matis, Marubo, and Korubo are Panoan-language speakers. The tribal groups in isolation are not Matsés; the Matsés report that all their kin were accounted for at the time of their sustained contact with the outside world.

The headwaters of the Matsés Ancestral Territory shelter thriving populations of giant river otters, a species that has been extirpated in most areas of the Amazon due to pelt trade and mining.

The best policy towards people living in voluntary isolation is to leave them alone with sufficient territory to live in peace and respect their autonomy. Contact attempts by missionaries, adventure seekers, and government agencies has, in most cases, led to tragic outcomes. Isolated peoples are extremely vulnerable to disease pathogens, with mortality rates ranging from 25% to 100% in the immediate time period post-contact. The survivors face a grim future, in which their culture and self-sufficiency are stripped away, leaving them struggling to reclaim their identity in a new world marked by poverty and external dependence. The forests, which once supported their way of life, are soon exploited post-contact for commercial resource extraction.

For the Matsés, chance encounters come with risks to their own lives. Isolated peoples do not have the context to distinguish between protectors and outsiders with malintent. Isolated peoples avoid outsiders and likely associate them with conflict and disease, both from stories passed down from their elders as well as in their living memories.

The few remaining forests in the world that can support isolated groups often are beset with incursions and encroachment from miners, loggers, and narcotraffickers generating conflict. Desperate to protect their lives, their kin and their way of life, and indeed to avoid annihilation, isolated people will resort to violence to protect themselves. This danger was highlighted earlier this year with the tragic killing of experienced FUNAI sertanista Rieli Franciscato from the arrow of an uncontacted group in western Brazil.

In response to this potentially dangerous situation Acaté and the Matsés leadership are launching new measures to help ensure the continued isolation of the uncontacted and decrease the likelihood of conflicts with Matsés hunters who fear being shot at with arrows. This new initiative is an important extension of the Matsés Leadership and Governance Initiative launched last year to monitor and protect the Matsés Ancestral Territory (Territorio Ancestral Matsés) through an enhanced communication network between the widely separated villages; the establishment of monitoring stations at sensitive areas; and the use of camera traps to detect incursions into their lands.

This plan of action was finalized in August 2020 during a nine-day workshop held in Iquitos supported by Acaté. At this extraordinary meeting, the Matsés leadership, including representatives from each village, created a draft of their Plan of Life. This comprehensive document lays out the Matsés vision and plan for protection of their territory and culture. In it, the Matsés commit to continue to protect their isolated brothers and sisters. Our next report will detail this important initiative.

Acaté Amazon Conservation is a non-profit organization based in the United States and Perú that operates in a true and transparent partnership with the Matsés people of the Peruvian Amazon to maintain their self-sufficiency and way of life. Operating at the leading edge of conservation, our initiatives have included the first indigenous medicine encyclopedia as well as projects with original methodology in sustainable economic development, traditional medicine, medicinal agroforestry, nutritional diversity, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity inventory, education, native language literacy, and mapping of ancestral lands. All of our initiatives are developed with, led and implemented by the Matsés indigenous people. Donations are tax-deductible and go directly to fund these on-the-ground initiatives that operate with unparalleled transparency.

Recent Field Reports

July 2020 – Emergency COVID-19 relief efforts and safe return of the Matsés to their communities!

June 2020 – Completion of the first-ever dictionary phone app created for an Amazonian indigenous language and more from our ongoing initiative with the Matsés to support bilingual education and intergeneration transfer of ecological knowledge.

December 2019 – Completion of the landmark five-year Matsés Indigenous Mapping Initiative in which the Matsés mapped and demarcated for the first time their entire ancestral territories in Peru. The resulting maps, written in their language, are comprehensive cartographic records of their ancestral territory, history, land use and culture. 

Links:

• http://www.acateamazon.org