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Historic Meeting Representatives from all Amahuaca communities gathered for the first time to evaluate the sociopolitical status of this endangered language. The event, held last April, was organized by the Amahuaca Language Documentation Project, led by Dr. Pilar Valenzuela (Chapman University) and Dr. Roberto Zariquiey (PUCP), in collaboration with the Indigenous Federation of the Upper Inuya and Mapuya River (Fiarim). The organizing team also included Mag. Candy Angulo and Mag. Mariana Poblete.
"Thanks to this project, funded by the National Science Foundation of the United States through Chapman University in California and in collaboration with PUCP, representatives of the communities met for the first time. As a result of this event, an organization representing Amahuaca communities from all regions has been created," says Dr. Roberto Zariquey, co-investigator of the project.
Amahuaca: A Language in Danger
The meeting identified the challenges threatening the survival of this fascinating language of the Pano family.
"Amahuaca is a Pano language with very interesting features because it is key for comparative work and for studying the proto-language. What's interesting is that the representatives we contacted for the event assumed their language would disappear and had no value. Now they realize it is part of their heritage and something that must be saved due to its great importance," says Dr. Pilar Valenzuela, project leader, PUCP linguist, and Chapman University professor.
The Amahuaca people primarily live in the departments of Ucayali and Madre de Dios, and it is estimated that there are around a thousand people in total, of whom only 330 speak the language—many of them scattered and in voluntary isolation.
"The Amahuaca were once a larger people who suffered from internal conflicts and conflicts with other groups. During the rubber era, many were enslaved by more powerful groups who delivered them to rubber barons. Many fled, losing contact with others. In the 1950s, they came into contact with missionaries and began to emerge. Now they are a very small group living in more remote areas. Due to this dispersion, they end up being a minority in their communities," continues Dr. Valenzuela.
The meeting took place in the city of Pucallpa and included representatives from the Ucayali districts of Sepahua, Raymondi, Yurúa, and Purús, as well as the Río Piedras district in the Madre de Dios region.
"Many are in very remote areas, with little access to services and many challenges. It was admirable that people with so many needs felt such commitment to their language. Now they have a chat where they participate, sending photos and messages in Amahuaca. As linguists, it has been very moving to see a social movement around the language and culture emerge," says Dr. Zariquey, co-investigator of the project.
Linguistic Revitalization Plan
At the event, participants recognized that their language is severely threatened and at risk of disappearing, as in most communities, children only learn Spanish. They also identified the prevalence of interethnic marriages as the main reason Amahuaca is not spoken in homes and, consequently, not learned by children.
"We conducted an assessment and were sadly surprised to find that even in areas where the language is spoken, children no longer speak it. The language is being lost in a single generation. One factor is that they have partners who are not Amahuaca and enter the outside world with different kinship patterns. Additionally, there is no bilingual school teaching the language," says Dr. Valenzuela.
"After evaluating these factors, a plan of 20 actions was developed for each community to choose from. There are more complex things like organizing workshops to teach the language or gathering speakers from neighboring communities. But there are also simple things like giving Amahuaca names to each community and its people," Valenzuela continues.
Thus, the linguistic revitalization plan focuses on the intergenerational transmission of the language and includes measures such as implementing the "one-parent-one-language" method, using Amahuaca names for people and places, creating materials in the native language, and the need for Amahuaca-speaking teachers in schools attended by children from this ethnic group.
Strengthening the Amahuaca Nation
At the event, the first organization of the Amahuaca people, called the Interregional Union of the Amahuaca Nation (UINA), was created. This organization serves as a platform for the different communities of this people to coordinate efforts to preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage and advocate for their rights and interests as an indigenous people within the broader context of the Peruvian Amazon.
Representatives of groups in "initial contact" also participated, demanding concrete measures such as the creation of primary schools with Amahuaca-speaking teachers so their children can learn to read and write in their language and in Spanish.
"We are working to ensure that next year there will be at least two schools where the language is taught with Amahuaca-speaking teachers," says Dr. Valenzuela. She also emphasized the urgent need for the state to attend to the most remote communities that lack basic services.
"Additionally, as part of the project, there is a commitment to create materials. We are developing a dictionary in app form. We already made a smaller dictionary focused mainly on the school. We did it at PUCP during the pandemic with funding from the Academic Directorate of Social Responsibility. The idea now is to have a complete dictionary of the language so everyone can access this material. We are also creating learning materials, a school book, and some booklets for children," concludes Dr. Zariquey.