Section 8

Machiguenga Involvement with the Camisea Nanti

In this section we discuss the most important aspects of Machiguenga involvement with the Camisea Nanti, and the most significant instances. We will comment on the Nanti attitude towards these specific cases, and towards the Machiguenga in general.

Most of the contact that the Nanti have had with the outside world has been mediated by the Machiguenga. Several Machiguenga have lived among the Nanti for many years; there have been some very important consequences to their presence. When the Nanti, on rare occasion, travel downriver, they travel to Machiguenga communities. The Nanti have also become involved, if only passively, in internal Machiguenga conflicts, as the two rival Machiguenga organizations, CECONAMA and COMARU, fight over how the Nanti are to be handled. It is crucial, therefore, to understand how the Machiguenga have been involved with the Nanti since friendly contact was established in the late 1980s.

8.1  General Issues of the Involvement of the Machiguenga with the Camisea Nanti

As we discuss at length in Section 3, it is commonly believed among the Machiguenga, and as a result by most non-Machiguenga, that the Nanti are not a distinct ethnic group, but simply "savage" or "wild" Machiguenga. Much of present-day Machiguenga involvement among the Nanti is motivated by a strong sentiment among politically influential Machiguenga that these "wild" Machiguenga should be "civilized" as swiftly as possible and made part of the mainstream of Machiguenga political and cultural life. Little attention is paid, however, to the Nanti perspective on their impending assimilation, or the Nanti attitude towards participating in the Machiguenga project to "civilize" them.

Given the location of the Nanti, and the similarities between the Nanti and Machiguenga languages, the presumption made by the Machiguenga of close kinship between the two groups is understandable. Nevertheless, the authors of this report assert that there is sufficient linguistic and cultural evidence to justify classifying the Nanti as an ethnic group distinct from the modern-day Machiguenga, and that therefore they should be respected as such by all non-Nanti. This stance, also discussed further in Section 3, undercuts many of the justifications used by Machiguenga involved with the Nanti for interference in Nanti culture and society. For discussion of individual cases of Machiguenga involvement with the Nanti and their communities, refer to Section 5, and below.

We believe that the Machiguenga claim that the Nanti are merely "wild Machiguenga" serves important Machiguenga political interests. First, it greatly broadens Machiguenga territory. Now that the upper Rio Camisea is no longer the domain of "hostile Kogapakori", many Machiguenga wish to exploit the area for its natural resources. If the Nanti who already live in this territory are considered Machiguenga, there is no substantial obstacle to Machiguenga exploitation of Nanti territory. If the Nanti are considered as distinct from the Machiguenga, however, the Machiguenga claim to legitimate access to the region occupied by the Nanti is weakened. In other words, co-opting the Nanti as Machiguenga in a cultural sense provides strong justification for absorbing Nanti territory into the Machiguenga domain, while the cultural and political autonomy of the Nanti threatens Machiguenga claims to the upper Camisea.

Second, the absorption of the Nanti by the Machiguenga also increases Machiguenga influence over the Reserva de Kugapacori y Nahua, a point of some importance now that Shell has begun activities in the Camisea region. The arrival of Shell in Machiguenga territory, and even in their communities, marks the beginning of a very turbulent time for the Machiguenga, one in which the stakes are very high for them. Given that a substantial portion of the natural gas that Shell intends to extract lies under the Reserva de Kugapacori y Nahua, having the Nanti among their number, as well as having Nanti territory within the Reserva de Kugapacori y Nahua seen as under Machiguenga control, gives the Machiguenga added leverage in their negotiations with Shell.

The Nanti are also a playing piece in the strong and nearly decade-long political rivalry between CECONAMA and COMARU, the two Machiguenga political organizations. This rivalry has recently become more acute with the arrival of Shell, as each group vies to represent the Machiguenga communities in local, national, and international matters. All of the Machiguenga communities in the lower Urubamba river valley pertain to one of these organizations, and harbor suspicions and distrust of the other. These two organizations hold quite different philosophies regarding the involvement of the Machiguenga with non-Machiguenga: CECONAMA is pro-engagement and for "progress"; COMARU is very cautious and protective of its communities with regard to outside interests. These differences in philosophy have become very important with the commencement of negotiations with Shell, and each organization seeks leverage which will allow their view of how Shell and the Machiguenga should deal with each other to prevail.

For this reason, CECONAMA would very much like to have Montetoni and Malanksiá as member communities, to increase the membership of its organization and thereby strengthen its claims to speak for all the Machiguenga; and at present, because of Silverio's sympathies, the Nanti communities are informally considered part of CECONAMA. But COMARU is equally committed to not allowing CECONAMA to claim these communities as member communities yet, and seems to be making moves to increase COMARU influence among the Nanti. Unfortunately, up to this point these relationships have simply been serving Machiguenga political interests, and have entirely side-stepped the question of whether or not the Nanti even are Machiguenga in order to belong to Machiguenga political organizations. There has been no dialog established by either organization with the Nanti to learn who they really are or what they really want.

It appears to the authors of this report that the interest of the Machiguenga in the Nanti is not, for the most part, due to a concern for the well-being of the Nanti. While we do not wish to imply that the Machiguengas' intentions are malicious, we do believe that many attitudes and actions of the Machiguenga have proven harmful to the Nanti, and will continue to be harmful. On a physical level, Machiguenga individuals have been the primary vector of illness into the Nanti population. Certain Machiguenga individuals have also exploited and used the Nanti as an unpaid labor force. On a cultural level, the Machiguenga disregard and marginalize the important differences between the Machiguenga and Nanti cultures and languages. This could lead to the extinction of both the Nanti culture and their language. On a political level, the will and desires of the Nanti, especially in Montetoni, are being ignored and even silenced by the Machiguenga, particularly by Silverio Araña, but by all the Machiguenga through the complicity of the Machiguenga organizations and community leaders.

Two non-Machiguenga organizations that have demonstrated concern for the well-being of the Nanti, and have had some involvement with them already are the SIL and CEDIA. While both of these organizations are aware to some degree of the issues surrounding the question of Nanti identity, each has thus far taken the stance of "leaving the Nanti to the Machiguenga". For example, CEDIA, as the organization that was instrumental in the creation of the Reserva de Kugapacori y Nahua in 1990, has put representatives of COMARU from the community of Cashiriari in charge of guarding the Reserve, and by extension, protecting the Reserve's residents. These Machiguenga, however, have done little to enforce the boundaries of the Reserve; see Section 5. By taking this stance, these influential organizations reinforce the perception that the Nanti are "just Machiguenga", and subject to the will and agendas of the Machiguenga.

The Nanti, initially very trusting of the Machiguenga in the first years after friendly contact was established in the late 1980s, have in recent years become increasingly wary of the Machiguenga. Unfortunate experiences with Silverio Araña and José Arisha among others, as we discuss in Sections 8.2 and 8.3, have made the Nanti doubt the good will of the Machiguenga. The Nanti told us on a number of occasions that they wanted no more Machiguenga living in their communities, and that they did not want Machiguenga to come to their territory to hunt or cut wood.

Migsero, the presidente of Montetoni, has had some exposure to CECONAMA, and speaks of being invited to CECONAMA congresses, but his overall enthusiasm for participating in the Machiguenga political arena is slim. Indeed, the growing sense of self-identity among the Montetoni Nanti is coupled to a sense that they are distinct from the downriver Machiguenga in some meaningful sense, and this is likely to dampen Nanti interest in involving themselves in Machiguenga political structures.

The involvement of the Machiguenga among the Camisea Nanti is a reality. However, we encourage all those interested in the Camisea Nanti, and the region in general, to consider that Nanti interests may not be well-served by allowing the Machiguenga a free hand with the Nanti. Experience has shown that just the fact that the Machiguenga are also an indigenous group has not meant that they will defend the rights of the Nanti or be concerned about Nanti autonomy and well-being. The needs and concerns of a "modernized" group like the Machiguenga are very different from those of a recently contacted group like the Nanti. We believe that there is a demonstrated need for continued external monitoring of the situation among the Camisea Nanti as it develops.

8.2  The Involvement of Silverio Araña with the Camisea Nanti

Because we have presented many of the details surrounding Silverio Araña's arrival and activities among the Nanti in Section 4, in this section we wish to discuss some of Silverio’s attitudes and ideas that inform many of his actions. Because of the power he presently has over the Nanti, both in their communities, and in their interactions with the outside world, we feel it is important to delve into these subtler issues.

Silverio's involvement with the Nanti is overwhelmingly characterized by self-serving motives. These range from a desire for personal material gain, which, for example, has lead to his use of Nanti labor without appropriate compensation and the taking of Nanti women as wives, to a desire to be admired by his fellow Machiguenga, which has led him to seize political control over the Nanti, in order that he can force them to become "civilized" and "modern", and thereby been seen as the leader and creator of a civilized people. During his tenure among the Nanti, he has shown little concern for their health or physical well-being, or for their intellectual development or education, as none of these concerns lead to substantial benefit or profit for himself. It is hard to imagine that there could have been a worse choice of schoolteacher to begin the challenging task of educating the Nanti.

We heard many stories in Montetoni of Silverio either coercing labor from the Nanti, or promising a reward for their work which they never received. Perhaps the most egregious example involved Silverio's use of a number of young Nanti men to cut and transport timber, which he subsequently tried to sell downriver. Logging in this region is labor-intensive work; trees must be felled, cut into manageable segments, rolled and dragged into the river, and then made into large rafts that must be guided downriver to the point of sale. Silverio promised these young men some clothes in exchange for this back-breaking work, to which they agreed. The young men performed this work over the course of several weeks, and Silverio eventually got the timber downriver. Before he was able to sell it, the timber was confiscated, since it is illegal to harvest timber without the appropriate permit, which he was unable to obtain, since the Reserve in which the Nanti live does not allow for commercial logging activity. The young men never even saw the t-shirts and shorts they had been promised. Silverio simply never brought the matter up, and the Nanti, loathe to confront anyone about an unpleasant matter, never did either.

Silverio routinely uses unrewarded Nanti labor in the clearing, planting and harvesting of his chacras, the building of his houses, the making of his boats, and the processing of his cash crops for sale to traders. He also has sold in Quillabamba parrots and monkeys captured by Nanti hunters. He promised to give the men goods equivalent in value to the money he made from the sales, but they never saw the promised goods.

One of the facets of Silverio's character that plays an important role in his justification for taking advantage of Nanti labor is his great sensitivity to mestizo criticisms of Machiguenga sloth. As he explained to us on several occasions, and as we have seen ourselves, the mestizos of the upper Urubamba hold a number of racist attitudes towards the Machiguenga. One of the most pervasive of these is that the Machiguenga do not work, and are congenitally lazy and unproductive. This is untrue, but mestizo judgments about whether one is hard-working are based substantially on whether one participates in work that earns money. Much Machiguenga labor, though arduous, consists of subsistence farming, fishing, and hunting activities -- activities which do not result in financial gain. Silverio has internalized the mestizo definition of productivity and industriousness, and simultaneously wants the Machiguenga to win respect in the economic arena, according to the mestizo definition of being hard-working. This attitude results in Silverio wishing the Nanti, who he views as "his" people, to be similarly virtuous. The Nanti have no interest at this time, however, in participating in the mestizo economic system, and are perfectly happy to continue living a subsistence lifestyle, as their forefathers did for millennia. The difference between Silverio's notion of economic virtue and the Nanti attitude towards the same subject has led Silverio to feel justified in coercing the Nanti to work against their own will, but "for their own good." Silverio spoke frequently to us, and to the Nanti at village meetings he called, about the need for them, and especially their children, to learn how to work, and not be lazy. Much of this "learning how to work" has involved carrying out labor for Silverio's personal benefit -- clearing his chacras, planting them, and then harvesting them. Although he sells some of this produce without compensating the Nanti for their labor, we believe that Silverio feels perfectly justified in doing so, because he is teaching them how to "work hard and not be lazy."

Silverio's behavior and comments suggest to us that apart from avarice, the other major motivation for his work with the Nanti is his desire to prove his personal greatness to the Machiguenga downriver, especially in his own community of Chokoriari and in Quillabamba, by establishing what he considers a great and modern town in Malanksiá. There is strong evidence to suggest that he left his previous post in Chokoriari under a cloud of accusations of serious abuse of his position, and he appears driven by a need to vindicate himself in the eyes of his fellow Machiguenga. We had many conversations with Silverio in which he talked avidly about how, in a very few years, Malanksiá would be a "better" community than Segakiato, Camisea, or Chokoriari. Although these other communities had been established decades ago, he explained, he would create, in just a few years, a community that would shame other Machiguenga communities. At that point, the Machiguenga would turn to him to learn how to make good communities.

His vision of this ideal community includes a big school with a huge soccer field and students in uniforms; adult villagers dressed in "proper" clothes and shoes; various pieces of property that he associates with civilization, including a chain saw and a radio phone; and he himself established as the beloved governor of this village.

Above all, though, his immediate task is to civilize the Nanti, against their own will, if need be, since as an ignorant, primitive people, they are incapable of judging what is in their own best interest. Silverio's notions of what is "modern" and "progressive" are remarkably superficial, consisting mostly of the more obvious trappings of mestizo life in the small semi-urban centers of the jungle, like Quillabamba, Pucallpa, and Sepahua. A few examples serve to illustrate Silverio's thoughts on these issues. A single-family, multi-story dwelling made of planks, joined by nails, and roofed with corrugated iron is "modern" and hence "good", and is vastly preferable to a dwelling that is either communal, single story, made of tree trunks and pona (palm tree bark, commonly used as flooring material in the jungle), joined by bark or vine, or thatched. Arguments can be made for the superiority of the former structure, but Silverio's critique of the latter rests on that it is a "backwards" or "primitive" structure in which to live, and that mestizos do not choose to live in such a dwelling. He evinces a similar attitude towards dress, citing modern western clothing as civilized, and any deviation from such garb, including the koriki, or nose-discs, worn by Nanti women and the magityensi worn by Nanti men, let alone any form of nudity, as primitive and barbaric. Once again, arguments can be made for the utility of western clothing, but in talking about clothing and adornment, Silverio does not cite this utility, but instead criticizes the "primitive" nature of traditional Nanti clothing and adornment. Likewise, Silverio's aversion to the traditional communal dwelling pattern of the Nanti, in which large family groups live under a single roof, rests not on any concern about disease transmission or anything of that sort, but simply the feeling that "civilized" people live as nuclear families, in separate dwellings.

What might be considered the more substantive aspects of "modern" life are generally of little interest to Silverio. As a result, for example, Silverio has made no effort to educate the Nanti about hygiene or disease prevention, and neither Montetoni nor Malanksiá has ever had a latrine. Similarly, formal education, perhaps the central pillar of modern civilization, receives surprisingly little stress, as we discuss in Section 7.

In attempts to make his work among the Nanti seem more heroic, Silverio frequently tells false stories about the Nanti, depicting them as incredibly ignorant and brutal, in order to emphasize their dire need for his presence. For example, when Dr. Cabrera from the medical post at Boca Camisea visited Malanksiá in July, we overheard Silverio telling him that the Nanti don't normally breastfeed their babies, and that he himself had had to teach them to do so. He told us that prior to his arrival, the Nanti did not cook their food; did not practice agriculture; slept under trees like animals; that Nanti men did not give food to their women or children, but left them to fend for themselves, and so on. These fabrications allow Silverio to take credit for the traditional state of Nanti culture as something that he has created and given to a people who, in his own words, "lived like wild animals" before his arrival.

Silverio is well aware that his treatment of and behavior towards the Nanti is unlikely to be looked on kindly by most outsiders, and lies egregiously to cover his misdeeds and abuses. He hides evidence of his extra Nanti wives, and claims that his large chacra, cleared and cultivated by the Nanti, is a "community" chacra. He is very deceitful about his successes as an educator, claiming that his students are literate and know how to speak Spanish. Most critical, however, are the falsehoods he utters regarding the desires and will of the Nanti. He regularly tells visitors that the Montetoni Nanti wish to move down to Malanksiá, and will do so soon. As recently as January 1998, a COMARU representative visited Malanksiá, and after talking to Silverio, left with the impression that the Montetoni Nanti would be relocating to Malanksiá shortly. The pervasiveness of his dishonesty makes it difficult to know when he is telling the truth, and we recommend that outsiders interacting with him, and investigating the state of affairs among the Camisea Nanti be exceedingly cautious in evaluating his statements.

8.3  The Other Machiguenga Residents Among the Camisea Nanti

There are three Machiguenga men besides Silverio whose behavior among the Camisea Nanti has had a strong influence on Nanti attitudes toward the Machiguenga. Like Silverio, each of these men has "taken" a Nanti woman for a wife. The Nanti strongly believe that Nanti women are for Nanti men, and not for outsiders. Though the Nanti have not, and likely will not, ever ask these men to leave their communities, the Nanti are now emphatic that no more Machiguenga men come to live, or even stay, among them; in fact, any single man is unwelcome, and all outside men are distrusted with respect to Nanti women. This issue is a very serious one for the Nanti; as consistently non-confrontational as they are in character (see Section 4.6), the Nanti men of Montetoni made it clear to us that had Lev come alone, he would have been asked to go, and they asked us to spread the word downriver that no more Machiguenga should come to their villages.

Thus, given the gravity of this issue for the Nanti, we wish to describe these men and the circumstances of their arrival among the Nanti. We wish to point out that the Nanti were not given any say in whether these men were welcome among them; Silverio's approval was all that mattered.

Rudi Araña Sandoval is the teen-aged son of Silverio Araña Gomez and Elva Sandoval Alvina. Silverio's family, including Rudi, arrived in Montetoni in 1992. Rudi's education came from his father's schools, first in Chokoriari and then in Montetoni. When the authors of this report visited Montetoni in 1995, Rudi was not living there; he had been sent to school in Quillabamba. Apparently, he did not meet with academic success there, and returned to live with his family on the Rio Camisea after an absence of about a year. He presently lives in Malanksiá with a young Nanti wife and their infant. Like the other Nanti wives of Machiguenga men, Rudi's wife is now essentially estranged from her siblings and her parents, who are influential members of the Montetoni community. As of July of 1997, he was constructing his own house, but his wife worked in the cooking hut of Elva, and Rudi did not yet have his own chacra.

Rudi takes after his father in personality. He is moody and aggressive, and prone to outbursts of temper, which he displayed to us on several occasions Malanksiá, against his timid wife. Rudi is once again attending his father's school, and functions as Silverio's "second in command" in the community. He is active in supporting his father's manipulation of the Nanti, especially by influencing the group of Nanti youths who are his peers, and who are Silverio's primary supporters among the Nanti.

At present, Rudi himself does not present much of a political threat to the Nanti, except in being his father's accomplice; please see discussion in Sections 4.5 and 8.2. However, Rudi almost always travels with his father downriver, and therefore is a very likely vector for illness into the Nanti population, especially to his wife and child.

Ignacio Sausa Basimo is a Machiguenga of about 30 years of age, born on the Rio Picha. He claims that Silverio's wife Elva Sandoval Alvina is his sister, and calls Silverio Araña his brother-in-law, but we are skeptical that this is a blood relationship. Ignacio is from a small settlement on the Rio Picha, but lived in Chokoriari prior to moving to Montetoni at Silverio's invitation. Apparently, Ignacio arrived among the Nanti at the same time that Silverio's family arrived in 1992. Because Ignacio's Spanish is poor, and Silverio does not wish to discuss matters such as these, the details of Ignacio's presence among the Nanti are obscured to us. Nonetheless, he has lived among the Nanti continuously since 1992, first in Montetoni, and now in Malanksiá. Prior to our visit in 1995, Ignacio had a Nanti wife, but she died shortly before our arrival. He now has another Nanti wife, who is perhaps 15 years old, and had an infant daughter during our 1997 stay with the Nanti. Unfortunately, in December we learned from Dr. Cabrera in Boca Camisea that this child died during the November 1997 diarrhea epidemic.

Although, as we discuss in more detail in Section 3.3, Ignacio does not actually speak the Nanti language well, he gets along well with the Nanti due to his simple and good-humored personality. He was a frequent visitor to us while we stayed in Malanksiá, and evidenced warm friendships with many of the Nanti men. Perhaps because he has no political pretensions nor economic aspirations, and rarely leaves the upper Camisea to visit the Machiguenga, he has essentially been assimilated into the Malanksiá community. He seems a largely harmless presence among the Nanti, except that he willingly does Silverio's bidding.

José Juan Arisha began living among the Nanti in Montetoni in about February of 1995. He came in the capacity of promotor de salud at the invitation of his friend Silverio Araña; both men are from the Machiguenga community of Chokoriari on the Rio Urubamba. When the authors of this report arrived in Montetoni in June of 1995, José was still living in a Nanti hut and, as he did not yet have a producing chacra of his own, was being fed by the Nanti. José told us at that time that he had no previous health care experience, but wished to learn to be a promotor and serve in this position in Montetoni. It is clear to the authors of this report that the Nanti were not given any choice in accepting José as a resident of their community; Silverio invited him, and that was all it took. To be fair, it is unclear if the Nanti would have voiced any reservations about having José among them at the time of his arrival.

Now, however, many Nanti hold certain opinions about José, which they expressed to us. They told us that they had fed and housed him for nearly a year when he first arrived, but that now that he had several large chacras and cash crops, he was not generous with them. They told us that he did not attend to the sick in the communities, but spent most of his time at his chacras or on fishing trips, and that once he had relocated to Malanksiá, he never came to Montetoni at all. The Montetoni Nantis' displeasure that José has taken a young Nanti wife is compounded by their knowledge that he already had a Machiguenga wife who he abandoned in Chokoriari prior to moving to Montetoni. Interestingly, although José gets along fairly well with the Nanti despite all of these factors, his Nanti wife is estranged from her family, and is avoided by many of the Nanti. For her part, she behaves rather scornfully toward other Nanti, and seems to prefer living outside of the Nanti villages.

José also has benefited quite a bit from Nanti labor. As we discuss in Section 4.5, the land adjacent to Malanksiá that is considered José's chacra was cleared by all of the Nanti men, but the Malanksiá Nanti are not welcome to take produce from it. We also witnessed an occasion on which a Nanti woman was told by José to harvest achiote from his chacras near Montetoni, so that he could take the achiote downriver to sell it, but it did not appear to us that she was compensated in any way for her labor, or even had any option not to do this work for him. This relationship between José and the Nanti appears to stem from a combination of the cooperative and mild nature of the Nanti, and the expectation fostered by Silverio and held by José that the Nanti are an available free labor source.

José's behavior and attitude make obvious his disinterest in actually being promotor de salud, or in doing anything else but living as comfortably and quietly as possible. During our stay in Malanksiá in 1997, he consistently treated us, and any sick Nanti, and anything to do with health or his position as promotor, as a nuisance. In fact, he spent very little time in the village while we were there, retreating to his downriver chacras, to avoid all of these things. Likewise, we observed that he treated Silverio's demands and harangues with strained tolerance, and evidenced complete disinterest in all of Silverio's schemes regarding manipulation of the Nanti. What he clearly enjoys is telling stories to Ignacio and his Nanti friends, having his chacras prosper with minimal personal labor, and the company of his young wife.

It was clear to us as of our departure from Malanksiá in September of 1997 is that José’s presence does not in any way benefit the Nanti, but does present a threat to their health. For example, it seems that it was upon his return in May of 1995 from his first training as promotor de salud that he brought the germs that caused the diarrhea epidemic that we encountered in Montetoni. For further discussion of José's performance as promotor de salud, please see Section 6.6.

While we were in Malanksiá in July of 1997, we witnessed obvious tension between José and Silverio, and Silverio told us privately that he wanted José to leave the community. Therefore, when Angel Diaz told us in December of 1997 that he believed that José had renounced his post as promotor de salud, and relocated to the Kuria settlement, we were not surprised.

Although it would seem that José is no longer living in his house in Malanksiá, he does have a Nanti wife, and several chacras near to Malanksiá and Montetoni. It would be logical to assume that he will continue to have regular contact with the Nanti communities, and therefore continue to be an easy vector for the transmission of illness into the Nanti population.