Yagecareos doctors are pronounced on the use of ancestral medicine

The Union of Medical of the Colombian Amazon (UMIYAC) that brings together indigenous leaders and knowingers of the Cofán, Inga, Siona, Koreguaje and Kamsä Biya, published a statement aimed at the academy, researchers, non -governmental organizations, humanitarian and development agencies, United Nations, World Organization for Intellectual Property, Students, Workers and International Civil Society, on the appropriation, abuse and improper marketing of the Sagrada del Yagé plant, of native traditions, practices and knowledge.

The Yagé, known in Peru as Ayahúasca, a name with which it has been popularized throughout the world, is one of the ancestral medicines of some villages in the South American Amazon region, in which Colombia has much of its territory. The peoples that have traditionally practiced the ritual use of the Yagé are known as Yageceros peoples. It is a drink prepared with two plants in the jungle: the caapi banisteriumsis, which is properly known as yagé, ayahuasca and other names and a second floor that can be the viridis psychotria, known as chacruna or another of similar effects such as the Cabrerana dipteryys. The first has harmonic and tetrahydroharmina, a beta-carboline alkaloid that acts as an oxidase monoamine inhibitor, the same that naturally blocks the action of the dimethyltriptamine (DMT) psychoactive component, which occurs naturally in plants and animals, among them the same human brain.

The interest of the western world in the effects of Yagé is quite old. The first Europeans who invaded the continent during the 16th century knew him and violently persecuted him, which made the indigenous ancestors hide it, as happened with many other religious, spiritual and traditional indigenous and African treasures. However, it is described by Catholic missionaries especially in the Putumayo region. Subsequently, French botanists explored the Brazilian, Colombian, Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon in search of medicinal plants and discovered the effects of the Yagé and others, which began to generate an international interest, the same one that was hindered by the presidency of Ronald Reagan with his so -called war war Against drugs, which has caused so much.

The fame of the Yagé, as well as other ancestral medicines not only of the Amazon but of other latitudes, of being healing of psychological, psychiatric diseases and allowing to open a awakening of consciousness, has made thousands of people around the world They travel to the Amazon in their search. As well as with the peyote between Mexico and the United States that ended up being the mecca of hippies groups and conscientious seekers, to the point of endangering it, the Yagé today lives a similar story today.

Those who live the experience, sometimes of well -experienced curacas, often of well -trained charlatans, end up confusing what the spirit of the plant teaches and designates themselves as the Messiah chosen with the mission of distributing Yagé throughout the planet. With this idea there are shamans in such distant places from the Amazon as Australia, Asia, Europe and, of course, the United States.

The clamor of the knowledgeable of the ancestral traditions of the Amazon is relevant:

There are indigenous young people who approach Yagé's medicine superficially,

They do not have wisdom, they do not know the plant but leave the communities, far

of the eyes of the spiritual authorities, to witness ceremonies assuming

improperly the role of traditional doctors. They disguise themselves with feathers and necklaces And they call them taitas, word that also means "father" and is a

I end up commonly used in Inga people communities. He

Objective of these people is to look for profits at all costs, putting at risk

spiritual health and even, even the life of their own patients.

It is important to support indigenous peoples and defend them from the trends of a world of consumption, banality and vanity. At the same time, it is important to reaffirm that it is the teacher's plant, which actually teaches and directs who is approaching with respect and desire to overcome.

You can see the full text of the statement:

Comunicado de las autoridades espirituales y organizaciones indígenas representantes de los pueblos indígenas amazónicos.