Uneven territorial sponsorship: NGOs and ancestral recognition in inter-indigenous territorial disputes in Amazonia

Indigenous peoples often call upon allies with resources (e.g., states, academics, NGOs) to render their lived relations to place legible for legal institutions and, thereby, claim ancestral territories. Such alliances strengthen Indigenous territorial claims against dispossession by private interests. Yet, these allies can also unevenly shape the distribution of territories among Indigenous groups by favoring some groups over others. In this article, we explore the problem of uneven territorial sponsorship. To do so, we detail a recent trial from the Ecuadorian Amazon in which one Indigenous community with significant sponsorship legally captured nearly a third of a territory long occupied by another Indigenous community that lacked such support. Prior to the 20th century, Indigenous territories in the Amazon shifted over time and overlapped but, today, amidst diminishing resources and widespread land disputes, NGOs have become key territorial brokers, underwriting territorial claims through fundraising, cartography, digital storytelling, and legal representation. In turn, uneven sponsorship may undermine inter-Indigenous mediation, drive judicial competition, and erode the social legitimacy of territorial divisions. We call for critical reflections regarding how NGOs, academics, and other territorial brokers impact land disputes and for historically grounded interpretations of ancestral territory in regions characterized by disputes among ancestral groups.