The Matsés - First Contact - Oral Testimony and the Historical Record of First Contact and Cultural Transition by Lewis Powell

 was directly asked by Matsés elders to help document their history so it could be preserved accurately. This book is the result of that responsibility.

The first peaceful contact between the Matsés and the outside world took place on 30 August 1969. The people who were there are still alive today. Their voices form the foundation of this work.

Most accounts of Amazonian tribes have been written from the outside. They are often shaped by second hand reports, broad assumptions, or labels like “Mayoruna” that group different peoples together. That creates distortion. It removes clarity from what actually happened.

This book does the opposite. It centres the voices of the Matsés themselves.

Their recollections have been gathered alongside the historical record to build a clear account of first contact and what followed. Not just the moment people focus on, but the years after. The uncertainty, the movement between settlements, the decisions families had to make, and how life gradually changed.

This was not a single event. It was a long process that reshaped their world.

Where there are inconsistencies in commonly repeated narratives, they are addressed directly. Some widely accepted claims do not align with the memories of the elders who lived through it. This book looks at those differences properly instead of repeating them.

You will see how communities like Puerto Alegre were formed, not through a single decision, but through ongoing discussion, adaptation, and the need for stability while maintaining cultural continuity.

This is not written for entertainment. It is a historical record based on lived experience.

If you want to understand the Matsés, their history needs to be heard from them, not interpreted around them.

For more of my work, including practitioner training and ongoing projects with the Matsés, visit:https://www.kambopa.com

The aim is simple. To document first contact as it was lived, not as it has been assumed.