The heart of life: the Marañón River, from the kukama perspective

• Autor: Campanera Reig, Mireia
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2026
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Repositorio: Revistas - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/31914
• Enlace del recurso: http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/Kawsaypacha/article/view/31914
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Kukama-kukamiria; Agency; Rights of nature; Peruvian amazon; Marañon River, Peru; Agencia; Derechos de la naturaleza; Amazonía peruana; Río Marañón, Perú

This paper explores the Kukama society's concept of the river, based on their experiences in and with the Marañón River (Peru) following the recognition of their rights. From their perspective, bodies of water exist because they have a mother, the boa, and people (karuara) live beneath the rivers. Through the stories and daily experiences of various testimonies collected during different research stays in the lower Marañón, we understand that to be Kukama is to be-with-the-river, as the river is constituted by the relationships between humans and non-humans. The recognition of the rights of the Marañón River requires understanding how Kukama society conceives of and relates to it and thus pointing out the contradictory aspects that emerge in the implementation of the rights.