The Machiguenga tend to avoid conflict whenever possible, often "turning the other cheek" time and time again, only to eventually reach a point of sudden and drastic action .

Mateo Italiano, Machiguenga healer and apprentice ethnobotanist who worked with Berkeley anthropologist Glenn Shepard for 18 months collecting plants in Manu. Mateo's last name "Italiano" comes from his great-grandfather, who as a teenager revolted against the atrocities of an Italian rubber-baron at the turn of the century. After killing the man, he took on the name Italiano, "The Italian," and became one of the most powerful Machiguenga chiefs.

The Machiguenga wear hand woven, hand-spun cotton tunics called "cushmas", probably a form of dress borrowed through contact with the Inca Empire before the arrival of the Spanish.

Mariano, a great Machiguenga storyteller and former shaman of Manu, wearing a cotton tunic decorated with geometric designs taught to him by the spirit of the sacred ayahuasca plant. After more than ten years of ongoing research and friendship, Mariano adopted anthropologist Glenn Shepard as his "son" according to Machiguenga tradition.