Katataibo Jungle

The Katataibo forest corresponds to the Kakataibo country of Peru's eastern Andean approaches, around the Aguaytía, San Alejandro and Sungaroyacu rivers. Kakataibo is a Panoan language; many of its speakers identify themselves as uni, meaning people or true people. Their territory lay beyond the settled centres from which Franciscan missionaries tried to extend their influence into the Ucayali country.

Missionary incursions between 1727 and 1736 encountered groups called Carapachos in the reports, later identified with the Kakataibo. In 1757 the Kakataibo forced missionaries to withdraw, and around 1790 they continued to obstruct outsiders' navigation on the Aguaytía. These encounters made control of river access a practical expression of local autonomy. They also unfolded within relationships with neighbouring Indigenous societies, including competition over metal tools introduced through mission networks. The forest's colonial history was therefore shaped by selective access and resistance as well as by connections across the eastern foothills.