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‪This article explores the sociological and political effects of the use of land property laws by two indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, the Kakataibo and the Wampis, in a context of intense competition between these peoples, the State and extractive companies for access to land and its resources. We show that the determination of native populations to defend their territories, now legitimized by national and international legal frameworks, sometimes leads to the expression of political action that can challenge the sovereignty of the Peruvian State. The article proposes a reflection on the notion of sovereignty, which our ethnographic cases show cannot be conceived as an essential and universal attribute of a political entity. It is rather the result of a specific political action expressed in certain contexts, depending on the legal frameworks in force, and on the capability of the members of the group to unify and agree on the same decision. By historicizing the indigenous territorial claims of this part of the Amazon, the aim is to recognize the European and legal origin of the concept of sovereignty, which has been denounced by some Indigenous academics and intellectuals for its Eurocentrism and to show how Wampis and Kakataibo communities take up the legal frameworks to assert their territorial rights and their authority. This research aims to contribute to the renewal of political anthropology in the region and to offer a nuanced view of indigenous populations’ political realities and will.‪