The Plant Spirit Summit
Ancient Medicine for Modern Times
Voices from the amazon
Hear from indigenous wisdom keepers and thought leaders
Taita Giovanni Moriano
Exploring the Wisdom of Yagé: “The ceremony is only 50% of the work”
Taita Giovanni (born Luis Evelio Moriano) is a traditional healer from the Awá community of Putumayo, Colombia. Taita Giovanni has been serving yagé for over 30 years and founded his maloka, “Inkal Awá” (“people of the river and the mountain”), in Medellín 25 years ago.
View SessionFernando Choa Falla
The Wonders of Mambe and Ambil: An Author's Perspective
Fernando, whose spiritual name is Nɨmairatofe (meaning “tree of wisdom”), is an author, speaker, and ancestral wisdom keeper from the Witoto indigenous community of Amazonas, Colombia. He is the author of three books and is currently working on his fourth.
View SessionRoberto Piaguaje
Ancestral Teachings of the Siekopai Healers
Roberto is a connoisseur of medicinal plants native to the Amazon Rainforest. He lives in the present day Siekopai territory located in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. He is one of the wise men of the indigenous Siekopai Nation.
View SessionJuana Payaguaje
Drinking Yajé as a Siekopai Woman
Juana is a wise woman from the Siekopai Nation. She holds the traditional practices of women’s healthcare that were taught to her by the Siekopai grandmothers. She knows the care that women must take into account when drinking yajé (ayahuasca) and other plant medicines.
View SessionJimmy Piaguaje
Yajé and the Siekopai Cultural Sovereignty
Jimmy is a filmmaker, producer, and community leader of the Siekopai people. He currently lives in Siekoya Remolino with his community; the Siekopai territory stretches from Northern Ecuador to Peru. Jimmy has worked for various organizations working to protect the Amazon; including Alianza Ceibo, Amazon Frontlines, Fundación Raíz, and others.
View SessionVictoria Corisepa
Ayahuasca and Leadership: The Story of a Harakbut Elder
Victoria is from the 2000-strong Amazonian Harakbut tribe of the village of Shintuya in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. She has dedicated herself over the past few years to growing her knowledge of the wider world and of the political dynamics that directly affect the series of communal lands across which her people are spread.
View SessionJaime Corisepa
Ayahuasca & Sacred Allyship: The Emancipation of Harakbut Women
After serving 2 years in the Peruvian army, Jaime Corisepa Neri, born Mek Topo of the Harakbut community, started working for the National Federation of Río Madre de Dios and tributaries (FENAMAD). He became president of this organization in 2010 and currently in the process of creating a self-governing body for the Harakbut Nation.
View SessionCecilio Soria Gonzales
Shipibo and Harakbut: A Cross-Cultural Amazonian Alliance
Cecilio is a lawyer and Shipibo communicator, one of the founders of AIDESEP (Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest), ex-president of REDCIP (The Peruvian Network of Indigenous Communicators), two times councilman of the district of Coronel Portillo, ex-national director of the CCP (Peruvian Farmers’ Confederation), and the founder of Voz Indigena: La Hora Shipiba, a magazine and radio show about indigenous nations published in Shipibo and Spanish.
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