Putting the "field" in "fieldwork" (at last)

I've been in Lima long enough! Tonight I'll take the overnight bus up to Chiclayo, and tomorrow morning a bus to Bagua where I have some people to meet before going out to the communities.

Of course Lima time isn't wasted time! I've met with native Aguaruna and Huambisa speakers and already started getting answers to some nagging grammatical questions. More importantly, I've made the contacts that will allow me to actually visit some indigenous communities. Aguaruna and Huambisa people are very protective of their lands and suspicious of outsiders, and with good reason: the area is rich in valuable timber, oil and gold, and as a result extraction operations (both legal and illegal) are a constant threat to the indigenous people's way of life.

In June 2009 nationwide protests against a series of decrees issued by then President Alan García ended in a violent confrontation between Aguaruna and Huambisa protesters and the police near Bagua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Peruvian_political_crisis).

Ultimately this has resulted in the repeal of the problem decrees and the passing of a law of prior consultation, but tensions remain and the indigenous communities are still on high alert. The practical outcome for me is that there is absolutely no way I, or any other stranger, can get access to any community without first establishing connections with local authorities. In Lima I visited AIDESEP, the national indigenous organisation, and through friends there I have arranged to get a letter of recommendation from ORPIAN, the local indigenous organisation based in Bagua, which I can present to the chiefs of communities I want to visit.

[The picture is from an article about the effects of law changes on indigenous communities. It was taken in the Aguaruna community of Temashnum, and the family on the right are friends whom I hope to see this coming Sunday. Guess where that T shirt came from...?]