SHAMANS IN THE PANDEMIC
This series of interviews/documentaries is a valuable ethnographic resource. Conducted in the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, it draws on the testimony of various traditional healers to explore how indigenous peoples faced this health crisis, relying on collective memory, ancestral stories, and medicinal plants. The series is part of the Semillas de Identidad (Seeds of Identity) project, funded by the Banco de la República de Colombia through its Cultural Area in Leticia.
William Yucuna
Traditional healers during the pandemic
The shaman William Yukuna, a native of Mirití Paraná but resident of the city of Leticia, explains the impact that COVID had on the indigenous population of the city, and the way in which it was fought. Don William heavily relied on ancestral stories to understand the origin of this sickness and to find a way to prevent it. This work is part of the Semillas de Identidad project of the Área Cultural of the Banco de la República.
Angélica Vásquez
Traditional healers during the pandemic
During the pandemic, the Okaina shaman Angélica Vásquez remembered the stories that her grandparents told about the plagues that ravaged the Amazon in the past, and how they were fought by healers. With that experience, she faced COVID using yagé. This interview/documentary is part of the Semillas de Identidad project, developed by the Área Cultural of the Banco de la República.
Elicio Zafiama
Traditional healers during the pandemic
Elicio Zafiama, a Murui knowledge holder, recalls an ancestral story about the origin of the chickenpox plague that ravaged the Amazon in past times, tells us about some of the herbal remedies used to combat COVID-19, and recounts his experience of quarantine in the small room where he lives in the city of Leticia. This documentary interview is part of the Semillas de Identidad (Seeds of Identity) project, organized by the Área Cultural of the Banco de la República.
Community of Nazaret
Traditional healers during the pandemic
In this installment, we travel to the Tikuna community of Nazaret, near the city of Leticia. When the pandemic broke out, the community gathered its major and minor shamans to perform a general harmonization ritual. This interview/documentary is part of the Semillas de Identidad (Seeds of Identity) project of the Área Cultural of the Banco de la República.
