The struggle for life, territory and dignity of the Amazonian peoples has been recognized worldwide with the awarding of theGoldman Prize 2025 a Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari, leader of the Kukama indigenous people and president of theFederation of Women of Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana.
From the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, Mari Luz has led, along with other Kukama women, a firm and hopeful process of defense of theMarañón River, considered in their worldview not only a source of life buta spiritual being with rightsThanks to their struggle, they achieved ahistoric court rulingwhich recognizes the Marañón River asrights holder, an unprecedented step in the legal protection of Amazonian ecosystems.
“For the Kukama people, rivers are very sacred, fundamental to life, to my country, and to the world,” said Mari Luz upon receiving the award on April 21. “The earth is our mother. ‘Ku’ means ‘chacra’, ‘kama’ is ‘teat’. In our worldview, the beings of the river, of the forest, have the spirit of people.”
Mari Luz’s testimony also exposes the structural violence faced by environmental defenders in the region. According to the international observatoryGlobal Witness, 58 people have been murdered in Peru between 2012 and 2023 for their defense of their territories and their common home.
“When someone raises their voice and fights, the government criminalizes them. And that’s not fair,” she said. “I have been criminalized, so I want to leave this final message for the world: to humanize ourselves and defend our common home, which is Mother Nature, which gives us the air to breathe, our daily food, and our water to drink.”
Mari Luz, with profound ancestral wisdom and spiritual conviction, concluded:
“We Kukama women exist and resist in defense of nature, rivers, and territory.Without a river there is no forest.”From theEcclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA)We celebrate and join in this recognition, which not only exalts an indigenous woman defender of the river, but reaffirms the urgent call toWeaving networks of solidarity, justice, and synodality in defense of Amazonian life.