Margarita Cumbia Sawao, San Martín

National GeographicSep 18

Meet the Indigenous Women Protecting Peru’s Amazon Rainforest

In Peru’s Amazon, Indigenous women are opening their communities to visitors and sharing traditions shaped by centuries of living alongside the rainforest. From cultivating medicinal plants and ...

Elder of the Awajún community, custodian of the Nuwas Forest.

12 things in this story

Nuwas ForestSightIndigenous women welcome visitors to share traditions and ancestral knowledge.
Margarita Cumbia SawaoPlaceElder of the Awajún community, custodian of the Nuwas Forest.
Awajún communityNeighborhoodIndigenous women preserve ancestral knowledge and welcome tourists.
Nivia CumbiaPlaceAwajún woman who shares traditions and crafts with visitors.
tsaikSightRevered 'tree of life' for the Awajún, believed to wash away negative energy.
guampooSightTree with enormous buttress roots, considered a home for forest spirits.
Elsewhere
Huallaga RiverSightChazuta, PeruRiver appearing between trees in the lowlands.
Consuelo RíosPlaceChazuta, PeruMember of Yana Rumi, a collective of female artisans in Chazuta.
Yana RumiPlaceChazuta, PeruCollective of female artisans preserving Chazuta's artisanal heritage.
marayPlaceChazuta, PeruA grindstone passed down for pulverizing pottery shards into dust.
shuntuPlaceChazuta, PeruTraditional pottery firing process taking up to 13 hours.
tinajaPlaceChazuta, PeruTraditional jar made of fired clay, decorated with geometric motifs.

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Margarita Cumbia Sawao

In the coverage1 story

Meet the Indigenous Women Protecting Peru’s Amazon Rainforest