UMIYAC

Shamans and Apprentices Program

The loss of indigenous peoples impoverishes the country and the world at large beyond measure. The benefits from their survival extend well beyond their own welfare. This is not a simple economic equation; rather, cultural diversity supplies the wellsprings of our common human heritage, from which is drawn the sustenance of our past and future evolution as a species.

Indigenous knowledge has been a precious resource since the inception of our species. It has been particularly important to western society for over five hundred years, and may be even more valuable in the future. Despite the significant scientific and technological progress that they have brought, western models of political and economic development have spawned enormous problems. Poverty, inequality, urbanization, violence, pandemic neuroses and depression are but a few. The massive environmental degradation brought about by a relentless exploitation of natural resources has triggered a search for new models of use and development. Clearly, cultures which have survived in the same difficult environment for tens of thousands of years, be they the Tirios in the rainforests of Suriname or the Seris in the deserts of Mexico, have much to teach western society about sustainability.  In addition to their management and conservation of strategic ecosystems, Amerindian peoples can contribute valuable insights through their traditional health practices, their integrated vision of nature and sense of life, and the cognitive systems they apply in order to recognize, employ, and replenish highly useful biological resources.

Many years ago, the great anthropologist Weston La Barre (who did much of his early fieldwork with the eminent ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes) wrote:

“As scientists, we cannot afford the luxury of an ethnocentric snobbery which assumes...that primitive cultures having nothing whatsoever to contribute to civilization. Our civilization is, in fact, a compendium of such borrowings, and it is a demonstrable error to believe that contacts of ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ cultures show benefits flowing exclusively in one direction. Indeed, a good case could probably be made that, in the long run, it is the ‘higher’ culture which benefits the more through being enriched, while the ‘lower’ culture not uncommonly disappears entirely as a result of the contact.”

The Amazon Conservation Team is determined to do what it can to prevent this type of cultural degradation and independence. One of the greatest tragedies of our times occurs when younger members of a tribe, mistakenly believing that western culture has “all the answers,” neglect to appreciate and learn their ancestral tribal wisdom. Our Shamans and Apprentices Program is actively engaged (in partnership with our tribal colleagues) to reverse this trend. Tribal elders, with our active encouragement and assistance, are now teaching youngsters everything from traditional healing to legends, music and handicrafts. In the words of one of these apprentices: “We are protecting the irreplaceable and working with our elders to protect both our forest and traditions.”