The Matsés – First Contact: Oral Testimony and the Historical Record of Contact and Cultural Transition Hardcover – March 25, 2026

For decades, the story of the Matsés has been told from the outside.This book brings it back to where it started.Based on direct conversations with Matsés elders, including those who experienced first contact in 1969, this work documents their history through oral testimony rather than second hand interpretation.It explores the transition from life deep in the forest to settled river communities, the realities of early contact, and the cultural changes that followed.Some of what is widely believed about the Matsés is incomplete. Some of it is wrong.This book does not try to simplify or romanticise their story. It presents it as it is... complex, human, and still unfolding.At its core, this is not just a historical record. It is a correction.And a way of making sure their voices are not lost or rewritten again. Read more