Seasonal agriculture, territoriality and Kukama-Kukamiria relational ontologies in the Peruvian floodplain Amazon

Rivas-Ruiz R. · Desde el Sur (2026) · DOI: 10.21142/des-1802-2026-0032

Resumen

This article analyzes Kukama-Kukamiria seasonal agriculture in the floodplains of the Peruvian Amazon as a system that integrates agricultural techniques, rituality, and relational ontologies. The ethnographic research was conducted in four island communities with no access to mainland: Bretaña (Lower Ucayali), Nueva Fortuna, Leoncio Prado, and San Martín de Tipishca (Lower Marañón). The methodology combined in-depth interviews and participant observation with 13 Kukama agricultural experts, recognized by their communities and mostly speakers of the language. Five farmers were interviewed in the Huallaga, five in the Marañón, and three in the Ucayali, which allowed for the triangulation of technical knowledge and cosmological narratives concerning the management of alluvial soils, agricultural calendars, and ritual practices associated with the river regime. The study concludes that highly unstable Kukama seasonal agriculture, cannot be understood solely as an adaptation to the fluvial ecology, but as an integral practice where cosmology, technique, and politics converge.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana