FEATURES

Without haste or editorial demands, avoiding commonplaces, taking time to live with the people. From the disastrous effects of oil exploitation, to the struggles of indigenous women to provide higher education for their children, to surreal criminal investigations with the help of plants of knowledge. These stories, written with great stylistic freedom, show the daily life of Amazonian societies and the way they adapt to globalization. Originally published in Spain, Colombia, Peru or the United States, in outlets such as El País, eldiario.es, Interviú, El Espectador, Cáñamo or Native Peoples, they are presented here grouped according to the different series in which they were included.

Chronicles of the End of a World

The integration of indigenous peoples into the market economy is bringing about radical transformations. Chronicles of the End of a World focuses on how traditional dynamics are adapting to the challenges of global society through stories that address issues such as environmental degradation, migratory movements, health crises, and development and conservation projects.

Modern Amazons

How do indigenous women integrate their traditional knowledge into the market economy? This series of three features, funded by the Pulitzer Center, explores what it means to be an "Amazon" in the 21st century: the village healer who becomes a global shaman; the traditional cooks who take their cooking to international forums; the artisans who struggle to provide higher education for their children.

Iquitos, Mecca of Ayahuasca

In 2019, around 36,000 tourists traveled to Peru to try ayahuasca in specialized retreat centers. This series of nine features offers all the angles of a business that is worth millions of dollars in Iquitos, and which has had remarkable consequences. Local shamanism, which a few decades ago was in decline, like so many other customs, has been revived. The plants, however, subjected to intense exploitation, are in decline.

The Power of Plants of Power

What is the current place of shamanism in indigenous societies? What does the future hold for it? This series of features explores how plants such as ayahuasca or coca, of great ritual and political importance in the past, have become privileged elements for dialogue between indigenous peoples and Western "others" in the present.

Ayahuasca in the Triple Border

Six ayahuasqueros, six life stories, three countries. Through these six installments, we delve into the reality of the Brazil-Colombia-Peru Triple Border, from a privileged point of view. The hermit who renounces the world, the old man whose children have no interest in collecting his legacy, the professional healer who makes a living combating witchcraft.

The Quest

In his fifties, the American writer Randal Nerhus left everything to learn shamanism guided by the cocama ayahuasquero Rogelio Carihuasari. He built his isolated house in the middle of the jungle and set out to diet for two years. His story gives an insight into the relationships between whites and indigenous people in the context of ayahuasca shamanism.

Ayahuasca Churches

The result of the encounter between indigenous peoples and migrants from northeastern Brazil, the ayahuasca churches constitute an extraordinary social phenomenon in the Brazilian state of Acre. Santo Daime, União do Vegetal and Barquinha are the three churches whose histories and local importance are explored in this series.