The ceramists of the Cenepa River preserve their culture and defend life in the Peruvian Amazon
Amidst the engines that roar day and night on the Cenepa River, a group of women and girls from the Awajún people keep the flame of hope alive. Faced with the advance of illegal mining that devastates their territories, they resist by molding clay and shaping life through traditional pottery, an ancestral art that has been passed down from mothers to daughters since time immemorial.
In the community of Cocoashi, in the Amazonas region, 14-year-old Heidi Wisum Ampam learned from her mother how to create tableware decorated with symbols of the forest: armadillo scales, bijao leaves, and lines that evoke rivers. At her school for women potters, along with 37 other students, she transforms clay into pieces that sustain not only her economy but also her identity. “I don’t want to work with the miners; I want to study and continue making ceramics,” Heidi says firmly.
The Association of Ceramicist Mothers of Cenepa leads this community initiative, which now has eight pottery schools along the river. There, women like Oliviana Wisum Chimpa and Teolinda Shajup Tijiats teach new generations the techniques, rituals, and spirituality surrounding Awajún ceramic art, which is deeply linked to Núgkui, the feminine spirit of the earth and life.
“The work of women potters is one of the pillars of our identity; it endures despite threats and external interference,” says Matut Impi Ismiño, vice president of the Awajún Autonomous Territorial Government (GTAA).
The advance of illegal mining threatens to contaminate the clay sources and rivers that sustain life. “Now we have to walk further into the jungle to find clean clay. The mercury in the river is damaging the land,” laments Oliviana Wisum. Despite this, the women continue to create, teach, and organize to defend their territory.
In 2021, Awajún ceramics were recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a recognition that reinforces the spiritual and cultural dimension of this ancestral practice. But beyond art, their work has become a form of ecological and cultural resistance, a living testimony to how faith, community, and art intertwine to care for our Common Home.
From the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), we raise our voices in solidarity with the Awajún women potters and with all the peoples who defend their territory and culture against extractive threats. Their example embodies Pope Francis’ call in Querida Amazonía: “They are the heart that cares for, protects, and gives life to the Amazon.”
May the clay in their hands continue to shape the future, justice, and hope for the entire Amazon.
Photos: Luis Javier Maguiña
Original Publication: EL PAÍS