Peruvian Amazon Launches First 'Ancestral Knowledges Encounter'

Representatives of several Indigenous peoples from the Peruvian Amazon will meet on Thursday for the first 'Amazonian Ancestral Knowledges Encounter' in the country, marking the UN's International Day of the World's Indigenous People.

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The encounter will take place in Iquitos' Prefecture of Loreto at 4 p.m. local time and will involve the Arabela, Awajun, Kichwa, Kukama – Kukamiria, Maijuna, Matses, Murio – Muinan, Shipibo – Konibo, Shawi and Wampis peoples and languages.

During the event, people will be able to share and learn about the cultures from the Peruvian Amazon in conferences and conversations about rituals, dances, hunting, fishing, medicinal herbs, ceramics and the peoples' stories.

It aims to foster the exchange of knowledge and intercultural experiences, using analysis and representations to understand each others' everyday individual and community activities and their relation with myths, arts and rituals.

"Taking part in the preparations to organize the first Encounter of Amazonic Ancestral Knowledges, a unique event that will take place in Iquitos, Peru, on August 9 in honor of the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples."

The event was organized by Loreto's International Nature and Culture (NCI); the Bilingual Teacers of the Peruvian Amazon Training Program (Formabiap); the Chaikuni Institute; the Amazonic Center of Anthropology and Practical Application (CAAAP); the Yrapakatun Cultural Association; the Interethnic Association of Development of the Peruvian Jungle and the Temple of the Way of Light, and the Culture Ministry's Decentralized Direction in Loreto.

According to the Peruvian government, there are 55 Indigenous groups in the country, totalling 4 million people: roughly 12 percent of the population. They speak a total of 47 languages and dialectal varieties, out of which 25 are spoken in Loreto.

According to the UN, there are about 370 million Indigenous peoples in the world, occupying 20 percent of the Earth's territory.