Amazonian Siekopai tribe battles for return to ancestral land

They call themselves "the multicolored people," or Siekopai, after the eye-catching traditional body paint and adornments they used to wear in their ancestral home in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. But the feathered crowns and animal tooth necklaces are now stored away for special occasions as the Siekopai live scattered between villages straddling the Ecuador-Peru border, far from their hunter-gatherer way of life and ancestral territory, which they are fighting to reclaim. With the Siekopai teetering on the brink of cultural extinction, their leaders say it is a matter of survival to reclaim their ancestral land, natively called Pe'keya, still largely untouched in the remote heart of the Amazon.  ...read more

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Published on Feb 10, 2023 07:19 PM IST

Siekopai indigenous Roque Piaguaje during the second binational meeting of the Siekopai Nation community in the Amazon region in Lagartococha, Peru, on January 10. The Siekopai are one of 14 recognized Indigenous groups in Ecuador, a country where seven percent of the population identifies as such. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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Members of the Siekopai tribe seen at the representation of the union of families during the second binational meeting of the Siekopai Nation community in the Amazon region in Lagartococha, Peru, on January 10. Displaced by decades of war as well as commercial and cultural intrusions, the Siekopai eke out a living doing odd jobs in rural towns bordered by oil fields, palm plantations, and a network of busy roads. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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Siekopai indigenous women seen drying their clothes on tree branches in the Amazon region in Lagartococha. During the war between the neighbors from 1941 to 1998, intense fighting drove them from Pe'keya -- which the Siekopai claim once stretched some three million hectares (7.4 million acres) along the Lagartococha River, which forms part of the Ecuador-Peru border. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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An aerial view of the Aguarico river, in the Amazon region of Lagartococha, Peru, on January 12. With the Siekopai teetering on the brink of cultural extinction, their leaders say it is a matter of survival to reclaim their ancestral land -- still largely untouched in the remote heart of the Amazon. They call the homeland Pe'keya in the Paicoca language. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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"Our big dream is to rebuild our territory -- to reunite our nation, our families along these rivers that are home to the spirits and creatures my grandfather used to tell me about," community leader Justino Piaguaje told AFP at a recent, rare Siekopai reunion in Pe'keya. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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A Siekopai indigenous girl seen getting face makeup done during the second binational meeting of the Siekopai Nation community, in Lagartococha, on January 10. The children wear jeans, T-shirts and sneakers, listen to reggaeton and, instead of learning to fish, hunt and make traditional plant brews when not in school. The Siekopai youth, said Sophie Pinchetti of the non-governmental organization Amazon Frontlines, "live in a complex reality: one foot in the modern, Western world and the other in their territory." (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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A Siekopai indigenous woman seen recording a video in the Amazon region in Lagartococha, on January 11. "New generations do not know this place, its history, its special energy. This meeting aims to strengthen the bonds between the elders and the young," added community leader Piyahuaje. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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For the binational meeting of the Siekopai Nation community, members erect tents among the hamlet's few houses and consume rice, lentils, and fish freshly caught from the river. The groups meet on the rudimentary football field or in the school's sole classroom to listen to the stories of elders.(Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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Siekopai indigenous Milena Piaguaje (R) and her grandmother, both with traditional paint designs on their faces, seen in Lagartococha. The Siekopai boast knowledge of more than 1,000 plants, including the "yage" hallucinogenic vine used in shamanic rites that create a bridge to the spirit world. They say that to regain this knowledge, they must return to their homeland. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)