Article
Spanish
ID: <
10670/1.hmjvtn>
Abstract
This article analyses the role of the State in the production of indigenous territories among the Arakbut of the South East Peruvian Amazon. The demarcation of the lands of native communities and communal reserves has enabled the State to control the areas and indigenous populations of the Amazon. Indigenous territories have not only facilitated the administration of natural resources on the basis of private interests, but have also created new notions of territory and identity that exacerbate tensions between Arakbut communities. However, arakbut have not been mere victims of state policies to territorialise the Amazon. They have contested the territorial authority of the State not by rejecting their territories but by appropriating them to legalise their claims. In doing so, however, the arakbut have played a central role in the State formation processes in the Amazon.