Ashaninka

The Asháninka inhabit the forested rivers and foothills of the central Peruvian Amazon. Their communities are spread across a landscape of rivers, wooded slopes and the high grasslands of the Gran Pajonal. The eastern Andes and the forest lowlands meet here, making the region a place of contact between distinct peoples and ways of life.

In 1742 Juan Santos Atahualpa gathered Indigenous followers in the Gran Pajonal and began an uprising against Spanish missionaries and settlers. Asháninka communities joined the movement, which spread towards the Perené and brought together other peoples of the central forest, including Yanesha communities living in neighbouring river basins. The rebels destroyed or forced the abandonment of missions, preventing colonial authorities from re-establishing their earlier hold for generations.