ANCESTRAL MEDICINE
Union of Indigenous Yagé Medics of the Colombian Amazon
Yagé Medicine
(ambiwaska or ayahuasca)
The Ancestral Science of Amazonian Indigenous People
Declaration about cultural appropriation from the spiritual authorities, representatives and indigenous organizations of the amazon region
NOVEMBER 2019
Ancestral Medicine for Peace
Over fifty years of war in Colombia have caused incalculable suffering and the destruction of the country’s social fabric. Mother Nature has been desecrated together with the fundamental rights of our people and communities. At risk of physical and cultural extermination is wording used by the Colombian courts to describe the condition of 31 of the 102 indigenous peoples in Colombia. In response to this humanitarian tragedy, we, elders and traditional doctors, believe that spirituality and yagé ceremonies must play a role to help our communities heal from the scars of war.
Amazonian Indigenous Center of Ancestral Medicine
As elders and traditional healers, we assume our responsibility to care for the corporal and spiritual wellbeing of our people and communities. It is with this purpose, and to revitalize the social fabric of our communities and to harmonize our territories, that we have began a fundraiser to strengthen ceremonial houses throughout our regions and to build the first Amazonian Indigenous Center of Ancestral Medicine.
REBUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES THROUGH YAGÉ AND SPIRITUALITY
We envision the Amazonian Indigenous Center of Ancestral Medicine as a knowledge hub, a place of intercultural encounters, a thinking space and a place for healing though our sacred yage medicine. Above all, we view the center as a sacred location where people who carry deseases as well as victims of the armed conflict, can attend yage ceremonies to ease their pain and find mental and spiritual confort. Finally, we view the Amazonian Medicine Center as place where people addicted to alcohol and other licit or illicit drugs can find corporal and spiritual healing, under the care of our elders, medicine men and medicine women.
