Who Are the Asháninka?
The Asháninka (also Asháninca or Campa) are the largest indigenous group in the Peruvian Amazon and among the most numerous in all of Amazonia, with approximately 100,000 people in Peru and smaller populations in Brazil. Inhabiting the central jungle region between the Andes and lowland Amazon, they have historically served as intermediaries between highland and lowland peoples. Their recent history includes devastating violence from the Shining Path insurgency, followed by remarkable community rebuilding and environmental activism.
The Cushma: Woven Identity
The cushma is the traditional Asháninka garment—a long, loose tunic woven from cotton grown in forest gardens. Brown-striped cushmas are worn by men, while women wear unstriped versions. Beyond practical clothing, the cushma carries deep cultural significance: it distinguishes the Asháninka from other peoples, marks cultural identity, and connects wearers to ancestors who wore the same style. Young Asháninka continue wearing cushmas for ceremonies and community events even while adopting Western clothing for daily use, maintaining visible connection to tradition.
Ayahuasca and Spirituality
The Asháninka practice traditional medicine and spirituality centered on the sheripiari (shaman) who uses ayahuasca and other plant medicines to heal illness, communicate with spirits, and protect the community. Ayahuasca visions reveal causes of sickness and appropriate cures. The forest is understood as inhabited by spirits requiring proper relationships—hunting, gathering, and farming all involve spiritual dimensions. This worldview underlies Asháninka environmental stewardship and resistance to extractive industries that disrespect forest spirits.
The Shining Path War
During the 1980s-90s, the Maoist Shining Path insurgency invaded Asháninka territory, seeking to control the jungle and forcibly recruit indigenous people. The Asháninka suffered terribly—an estimated 6,000 killed, 10,000 displaced, and thousands forced into servitude in Shining Path camps. Asháninka communities organized self-defense forces (rondas) that played crucial roles in defeating the insurgency. The trauma of this period continues affecting communities, while the resilience shown in rebuilding demonstrates Asháninka collective strength.
Contemporary Leadership
Today, Asháninka leaders are prominent in Peruvian and international indigenous movements. They fight illegal logging and coca cultivation that threaten their forests, develop community-based conservation programs, and advocate for indigenous rights nationally and internationally. Asháninka communities have won important legal victories protecting their territories. Their experience—surviving colonial incursions, rubber boom exploitation, insurgent violence, and ongoing extractive pressures—demonstrates how indigenous peoples persist through adaptation while maintaining core cultural identity.
References
- Weiss, G. (1975). Campa Cosmology: The World of a Forest Tribe in South America
- Brown, M. F. & Fernández, E. (1991). War of Shadows: The Struggle for Utopia in the Peruvian Amazon
- Hvalkof, S. & Veber, H. (2005). Los Ashéninka del Gran Pajonal