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Written by The Wraith
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Tuesday, 21 December 1999 |
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Page 13 of 16
The alkaloids responsible for the pharmacological actions of much of the genus are well known: nicotine, nornicotine and anabasine are the major alkaloids of the genus, the proportion of each in the total alkaloidal extract depending on the species under investigation; strains of the two commercial species likewise show chemical variation. They are accompanied by some eight other pyridine alkaloids in minor amounts; several other common types of plant constituents have been identified in the genus which are listed in the extensive general references (e.g., Hegnauer).
Nicotiana tabacum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1 (1753) 180.
lukux-ri (Yukuna); ye’-ma (Tariana); a’-li (Bare); e’-li (Baniwa); mu-lu’, pagári-mulé (Desano); kherm’-ba (Kofán); dé-oo-wé (Witoto) Tobacco is one of the most important plants in the lives of all tribes of the northwest Amazon (Wilbert, 1987). It plays a part in curative rituals, in important tribal ceremonies and it is occasionally used as a recreational drug. In its various forms it is also employed in the ordinary medical practices of some tribes.
The Tukanoan peoples of the Vaupés often rub a decoction of the leaves briskly over sprains and bruises. Amongst the Witotos and Boras, fresh leaves are crushed and poulticed over boils and infected wounds. Tikuna men mix the crushed leaves with the oil from palms to rub into the hair to prevent balding. The Jivaros take tobacco juice therapeutically for indisposition, chills and snake bites.
In many tribes tobacco snuff may be employed medicinally for a variety of ills, particularly to treat pulmonary ailments.
Tobacco is smoked on rare occasions, except in ceremonies and curative rituals of the medicine men who blow smoke or spit tobacco juice over the patient or inhale the smoke, all with appropriate incantations and ritual. Recreational smoking amongst the Indians of the northwest Amazon is not common, and cigarettes are rarely smoked except in areas where tribal customs are breaking down due to acculturation and the availability of commercial cigarettes.
The Witotos sometimes smoke cigars, but this custom may be recently acquired. During ceremonies in which Banisteriopsis is taken, enormous cigars--some as long as 36 inches--are smoked, especially amongst the many tribes of the Vaupés. The Sionas of the Mocoa region, like the western Tukanoan tribes, also employ the gigantic ceremonial cigar, but occasionally make smaller cigars and smoke them for non-ritual use; they have probably learned this use from colonists who have come from the Andes. The Jivaros and Aguaruna of Ecuador smoke large cigars in a tobacco-smoking festival to celebrate the initiation of a youth into manhood.
The recreational use of tobacco is usually in the form of snuffing. Preparation of the snuff appears to be similar from tribe to tribe; the leaves are hung up to dry, sometimes over a low fire, then pulverized, finely sifted and mixed with about an equal amount of the ash of sundry plants. The product is a grayish green powder. The preferred source of ash for this admixture is the bark of a wild cacao tree--Theobroma subincanum. The snuff may be taken at any time during the day, but it is most frequently used towards evening when the men are taking coca. Usually it is sniffed alone, but on occasion Capsicum pepper may be added; it is said to make the snuff more “effective” The Witotos and Yukunas may; on rare occasions and in special festivals, mix powdered coca with the tobacco snuff. During festivals and dances, tobacco snuff is consumed in enormous amounts, often with Banisteriopsis amongst the Tukanoan tribes of the Colombian Vaupés. It is usually administered in snuffing tubes made of hollow bird bones or, occasionally; in long tubes made of marantaceous plants. Almost all tribes in the northwest Amazon take tobacco as snuff: Kubeos, Barasanas, Makunas, Tanimukas, Sionas, Koffins, Witotos, Boras, Muinanes, Mirarias, and others.
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