The Indigenous Nukak Return Home and Restore the Colombian Amazon

Since 1988, when the Indigenous Nukak came into contact with Colombian society, the nomadic tribe has longed to return to their lands in the Colombian Amazon. That year, their territory was invaded by drug traffickers and cattle ranchers, who forced many to flee, while exposure to multiple illnesses decimated the population.

In 1993, the Colombian government established the Nukak reservation, the largest in the country, but the creation of the protected area failed to expel the outsiders and protect the Nukak people.

In 2021, however, the Nukak tribe reached a deal with the settlers living inside the reservation that would allow some of their remaining 600 members to return home. But today, their reservation is one of the most deforested in Colombia due to the presence of extensive cattle ranching and farming of coca, the plant used to create cocaine.

In this reporting project, journalist Christina Noriega and photographer Alexandra McNichols-Torroledo tell the story of one Nukak community who returned to their homeland and who have embraced a traditional life, hunting and farming the land with tropical foods, and restoring areas devastated by cattle ranching.