In 2015, leaders of the Wampís did what no other Indigenous peoples have done in Peru’s modern history: They declared themselves an autonomous nation to gain greater control over their territory. For decades, the Indigenous Wampís (or Huambisa) of the northern Peruvian Amazon have protested against oil drilling and other extractive activities in their home, to little avail. By declaring autonomy, they sought to change this. A decade on from that declaration, now in 2025, they’ve seen rays of success. But the Wampís still find themselves vying for control over their land. The chief hurdle is that the Peruvian state won’t recognize their sovereignty, say Pamuk Teófilo Kukush Pati and Tsanim Evaristo Wajai Asamat, the elected leader and the justice director, respectively, of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW). The pair were at London Climate Week in June to discuss the importance of their autonomy, self-determination and self-governance with business leaders, policymakers, investors and civil society representatives. “The [Peruvian] state has little interest in our autonomy, but we want to be recognized,” Teófilo told Mongabay during an interview in a small room at the back of London’s Royal Anthropological Institute. He was wearing traditional Wampís garments with utsupak (chest pieces) and tawas (multicolored feather crown). A member of the Kanus Multiservices Cooperative, a project for the economic development of farmers in the Kanus Basin, wearing a tradition Wampís utsupak (chest piece). Image courtesy of Maria Goretii/Convoca. Without this recognition, the autonomous nation has struggled to develop local…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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