Delsy Loyola
Tatiana Gamarra
The content of this news item has been machine translated and may contain some inaccuracies with respect to the original content published in Spanish.
"In the year 1500, the ancient certainties, relative tranquility and isolation of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon were shattered forever," writes John Hemming as he begins Tree of Rivers. The Story of the Amazon. Thus begins a journey of 11 chapters and more than 400 pages that are a vivid, agile and exciting journey. It is no coincidence that Hemming is also the author of The Conquest of the Incas, one of the most famous popularization books of our history.
Tree of Rivers narrates in detail the transformations that the Amazon River has gone through in more than five centuries. Of course, the Amazon is not only territory. Flora and fauna are important characters, but the center is undoubtedly the native peoples who inhabit the jungle and the constant clash with the Western world and its -or our- colonizing vision.
Hemming, a historian of extensive experience, gives voice to populations that had been or are still forgotten and narrates his experiences after almost five decades of traveling the Amazon territory. In addition, he reflects the importance of the Amazon as the lungs of our planet and recognizes the fundamental value of these territories. In this sense, it is impossible for him to avoid the impact we have caused and the risks we represent for nature. "The damage is terrible and has affected several hundred species of trees and animals. It is very difficult for some species to grow again," he told us on Thursday 21, after receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the PUCP.
Twelve years after its publication in English, the Fondo Editorial PUCP presented the long-awaited Spanish translation of Árbol de ríos. This is one of the several novelties it brought to the FIL Lima 2022.
Historian and writer
John Hemming has a countless number of experiences in the Amazon. But there is one that he will always remember. This was the one that also motivated his curiosity to learn about the history of the Amazonian populations and led him to become an expert on the subject, he told us at the CCPUCP.
It happened in 1961, when, as part of the Iriri River expedition in Brazil, he lost one of his best friends and expedition leader. Hemming recalls that they were very excited to traverse places that had never been described on maps. "It was an unexplored river in the jungle and we wanted to be the first to discover the surroundings. It's hard to imagine it now, but it was totally unexplored," he says.
They found the river, but, on one of their many treks, a tribe ambushed the expedition with bows and arrows. "My best friend was killed. But that's what the Indians did," he says, aware that his group was the one invading their territory. Hemming returned many years later, when everything had changed. He understood, then, the changes in the relationship of the native peoples and went deep into an investigation that is reflected in this now famous book.
"I invested several years and asked for permission to visit 45 communities. No one ever had that permission before. I was very fortunate. I became an expert on indigenous populations. Even 4 of them had never been contacted by anyone before," he recounts.
As Hemming points out, he dedicated much of his life to researching and learning about the history of the Amazon; however, he emphasizes that he attributed the name of this book to two main reasons.
First of all, because of what one observes from the rivers upwards, this space always directs you towards the trees. Also, because both trees and rivers are "the two most glorious things in the Amazon". Says someone who has been visiting them for five decades.
This publication in Spanish is a joint effort of the Fondo Editorial PUCP and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. As historian Charles Walker describes in the foreword to this edition, "the reader will gain from this book, both readable and profound, an understanding of the ecology and history of the Amazon, with a fine attention to its native population or populations. I repeat, all this in an entertaining narrative". Not to be missed.
Professor, University of California, Davis
Dr. John Hemming
PUCP Editorial Fund
Available for S/56 at the Fondo Editorial de la PUCP website and at FIL 2022.
Last Thursday, July 21, our University recognized Hemming with the important distinction of honorary doctorate. The PUCP Rector, Dr. Carlos Garatea, presented him with the recognition and congratulated his work in contributing to the history of our country.
Also present at the event were Dr. Miguel Costa and Dr. Francisco Hernández, professor and head of the Academic Department of Humanities, who recognized the historian's extensive career. "With his many books and articles, he joins those whose silent work helps to decolonize history," Hernández noted during the ceremony.
