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    Simmons 2008 Vineofthe Soul

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    This document provides a summary of the book "Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia" by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. The book is based on the authors' fieldwork in the 1950s and 1960s and contains photographs and essays about the uses of plants by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Colombia. It describes plants used for food, medicine, hallucinogens, sacred purposes, and hunting. While the book highlights the traditional plant knowledge of Indigenous communities, the cultures described are now threatened by violence, drug trafficking, and loss of land in Colombia.

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    Simmons 2008 Vineofthe Soul

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    This document provides a summary of the book "Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia" by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. The book is based on the authors' fieldwork in the 1950s and 1960s and contains photographs and essays about the uses of plants by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Colombia. It describes plants used for food, medicine, hallucinogens, sacred purposes, and hunting. While the book highlights the traditional plant knowledge of Indigenous communities, the cultures described are now threatened by violence, drug trafficking, and loss of land in Colombia.

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    Simmons2008VineoftheSoul

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    This document provides a summary of the book "Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia" by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. The book is based on the authors' fieldwork in the 1950s and 1960s and contains photographs and essays about the uses of plants by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Colombia. It describes plants used for food, medicine, hallucinogens, sacred purposes, and hunting. While the book highlights the traditional plant knowledge of Indigenous communities, the cultures described are now threatened by violence, drug trafficking, and loss of land in Colombia.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    4 views5 pages

    Simmons 2008 Vineofthe Soul

    Uploaded by

    rparedes.business
    This document provides a summary of the book "Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia" by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. The book is based on the authors' fieldwork in the 1950s and 1960s and contains photographs and essays about the uses of plants by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Colombia. It describes plants used for food, medicine, hallucinogens, sacred purposes, and hunting. While the book highlights the traditional plant knowledge of Indigenous communities, the cultures described are now threatened by violence, drug trafficking, and loss of land in Colombia.

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    Vine of the Soul

    Article · January 2008

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    Indigenous Nations Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2008 179

    responses of the federal government. The cross-section of sourccs and


    interdisciplinary approaches are also refreshing.
    The weakncsses are important but do not fundamentally hurt eithcr work.
    B n ~ c cGranville Miller's introduction and discussion of ethnic identity and racial
    construction seems somewhat forced and unfocused. Further into thc book hc
    expands on issucs of blood quantum, but the book as a whole lacks a stronger
    foundation in thc literature on race and the ways in which dominant racial ideologies
    shapc state formation and national identity. Mark Edwin Millcr's introductory
    arguments also glance ovcr race, but hc tries to further tease out the complications
    behind Indians status as a racialized other. Moreover, both authors could have
    broadened their intellectual and theoretical stance by decentering and
    deconstructing the fundamental conceptualization of "recognition." A deeper
    analysis of the political, discursive, and colonial facets of the concept could help
    Indigenous nations better grapple with a process that is biased and stacked against
    their favor in the most basic sense. The authors could have elaborated on why
    recognition implicitly and inherently ties indigenous subalterns to the rhetoric and
    power dynamics of the nation-state because the very act of asking it for recognition
    confirms its dominance and legitimacy. The authors might have used this
    acknowledgement process as a window into the paradoxes and "devil's bargains"
    associated with neo-colonialism and the ongoing forces of colonization.
    Ultiinately, however, these are books make important contributions to the
    fields ofNative American Studies and Indigenous history. Their insights as scholars
    and participants in a coniplex process further enhance the value of the books.
    Their attention to detail and their respect for Native voice places them in a small
    crowd of authors whose scholarship narrows the gaps between academia, tribal
    leaders, and policy makers. And while their theoretical perspectives might have
    more directly engaged recent discussions on decolonization, these two studies
    will be of interest to many people for years to come.

    University of Texas at El Paso Jeffrey P. Shepherd

    Vine o f t h e Soul: Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian
    Amazonia. Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. Oracle: Synergetic Prcss,
    2004.290 pp. Paper, $29.95. ISBN: 090779 131X.

    Kne of the Sorrl, by Richard Schultes and Robert Raffauf, is an intrigning


    collection of photographs and short essays about how plants arc used by
    Indigenous peoples in thc Ainazon region of Colombia. The book is based on the
    author's field work in Columbia the 1950s and 1960s. The present edition is a
    rcprint of the original 1992 edition.
    The phrase, "vine of the soul:" is a translation of the name of ayahuasca, a
    medicinal plant that is native to the upper Amazon. However, this book is about far
    more than ayahuasca -the text and photographs provide a wealth of information
    on the uses of food and medicinal plants, cosmology, customs, religious beliefs,
    rituals, and the daily life of several groups of Indigenous peoples in the upper
    Amazon region.
    Both of thc authors of Vine oj'the Sotrl are now deceased (Schultes died in
    2001, Raffauf in 2002). This 2004 edition of the book includes apreface by one of
    Schultes' former students, Wade Davis; a forward by Sir Ghillean T. Prance; and an
    epilogue by Michael J. Balick. In his preface, Davis points out that Schultes collected
    more than 30,000 herbarium specimens during his Amazon fieldwork, encountered
    300 species new to Western science, and described the use of more than 2000
    mcdicinal plants by Indigenous peoples. Davis also mentions that the first edition
    of thc book was dedicated to Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, a Colombian
    anthropologist who was instrumental in enacting legislation in Colombia to provide
    protection for the rights of Indigenous peoples. In the introduction to the first
    edition, Schultes wrote that "This book is the story of a time that was - a time
    when the Amazon Indian was free to roam the forests and the rivers, happy with
    the social institutions that he had developed, unencumbered by acculturation, the
    cultural destruction of his ancient societies and his virgin forests brought about
    by the intrusion of commercial interests, missionary efforts, tourism and supposedly
    well-intentioned government or bureaucratic attempts to replace this precious
    heritage of an aboriginal people with something alien to their culture and its natural
    environment" (4). Nevertheless, in his foreword to the 1992 edition, Prance added
    that "Although some acculturation of the people has since taken place, the
    Colombian Amazon is where the future of tribal peoples has the most hope" (1).
    Sadly, this situation is now changing rapidly - the cultures described in fine of
    thr Sozil are now all threatened due the pressures of the Colombian guerilla war,
    cocaine production and trafficking, and the United States government's war on
    drugs (Plan Colombia).
    The text (pages 4-272) is organized into ten thematic sections - plants in
    cosmic communication. payes in the community. plants of secondary importance,
    Indian beliefs. sacred dances, abodes of the spirits, births and contraception, art
    and architecture, and hunting and fishing rituals and plants. The glossary (pages
    3'i6-279) provides definitions of key Spanish, Indigenous, and scientific terminology
    uscd in the tcxt. There is an index of quotations, which also functions as a
    bibliography (pages 280-282).
    Although the subtitle of the book includes the term "medicine man," in the
    text the authors cxplain that they do not like the term. The authors prefer the name
    payc, a word uscd widcly in thc rcgion covcrcd by thc book, as it is morc dcscriptive
    of the role the individuals play in society than is the Western construction,
    "medicine man." The authors consistently use paye throughout the text.
    This is primarily a collection of photographs and essays. The photographs
    (,all black and white) are of high quality, particularly considering that they were
    Indigenous Nations Journal. Vol. 6, No. 1 , Spring 2008 181

    taken 40-50 years ago undcr difficult field conditions. Duc to thc q ~ ~ a l i tand y
    subject matter of the photographs, a reader can approach this book cqually wcll as
    a collection of artistic photographs or a collection of pliotographs that serve as
    ethnographic docu~uents.The short essays are uniforn~lyclear and well-written.
    The fol-mat of the book makes for easy rcading and stimulating browsing. Each
    two-page section includes a photograph (or, in a few cases, a line drawing) with a
    brief quote from an historic text, accompanied by a short essay concerning thc
    subject of the photograph. The photographs include plants, landscapes, and
    Indigenous peoples engaged in daily tasks or ritual activities (e.g., descriptions of
    the music performed with panpipes. rattles, and drums). The historic tcxt quotcs
    come from an impressive serics ofAmazon travelers. The oldcst sourcc quoted is
    Sir Walter Raleigh (1 595). The quotations add a rich texture to the book, providing
    additional information and, in some cases, adding literary color to the text.
    Schultes and his students were instrumental in bringing many plants with
    medicinal properties to the attention of Western scientists. Indeed, many of the
    plants described in this book have derivatives in use in Western medicine. Although
    exploitation ofmedicinal plants has become a political issuc in much ofthe world
    during the last decade, at the time when the field rcsearch reported in this volume
    was conducted. the endeavor was viewed differently. In this regard, a fcature of
    the text that stands out is that at a time when there are many serious questions
    regarding thc exploitation of native peoples, it is refreshing to find thc essays
    writtcn with such an obvious respect for the payes, their belief systcms, and their
    extensive knowledge of plants. Schultcs conducted his field research in an open
    and straightforward fashion, taking a direct approach to the communities hc worked
    with, and dcmonstrating his respect for their customs and beliefs.
    The book addresses several important groups of plants, including medicinal
    plants, food plants, hallucinogenic (magic) plants, sacred plants, and plants used
    for hunting (poisons). Although the plant species presented in this book may not
    be familiar to the general public, some of the products dcrived from them will be,
    including coca (the leaves are refined to make cocainc paste), rubber, achiote
    (used as a spice and a food coloring), kapok (used as stuffing in furniture), and
    curare ( a derivative is used as a painkiller). Some of the plant descriptions include
    information that is very intriguing, but not explained further in the text. For example,
    a plant that is used to make the latex masks that are worn during the Dance of the
    Yukunas (184) is in the same family as St. John's Wort, which is a natural
    antidepressant. The Dance of the Yukunas is part of the Kai-ya-ree ritual which
    restores and maintains balance in Yukuna society, much like St. John's Wort can be
    used to restore and maintain balance in one's life.
    Because ayahuasca (also known as yage) is a hallucinogenic plant, thc quest
    for it has drawn many explorers, scientists, and nefarious characters to the region.
    The long list of popular books about the search for ayahuasca includes Nicole
    Maxwell's Witch Doctor k Apprentice: Huntingfo~.hledicinal Plutlts it?the.4n1uzon
    (1990) who described an "ayawasca ritual" that shc witnessed in 1958; Bruce
    Lamb's Wizardof the UpperAnzazon: The Stoq.o f ' i 2 1 u ~ ~Cd~pdova-Rios
    ~~el ( I 971),
    which preserltcd a sornewliat romantic view of the role of the shaman in native
    society; and the joint effort by novelist William S. Burroughs and poct Allen
    Ginsbcrg, The 121irge Leriers (1963). Burroughs visited Schultes in the US before
    setting off on his quest to South America to experience ayahuasca. To Schultes,
    Burroughs was just another one of the many experimenters that he had to put up
    with.
    Interest in medicinal, magical, and sacred plants, particularly in ayahuasca,
    has grown inimensely since Schultes and Raffauf visited the payes of the Upper
    Aniazon 50 pears ago. This interest has produced many books, articles, and web
    sites (few of v e ~ yhigh quality) and most recently, ayahusaca-sampling experiences
    tor tourists. Givcn the vast amount of misleading information available on the
    subject of Indigenous plant use in the Amazon, it is refreshing to have this
    thoughtful collection of photographs and essays that carefully places the plants
    and thcir use in an historic and environmental context.

    Penn State University John E. Simmons

    l'he Bear River iWassacre and the Making of'History. Kass Flcisher. Albany:
    State University of New York Press, 2004. 34Xpp. Cloth, $71.50; paper, $25.95.
    ISBN: 0791460649.

    In The Bear Kiver Mussa~~rr and the Making qfHistot?;, Kass Flcisher strives
    for rrlorc than a simple rccoullting of this act of genocidc. Rathcr, she problemctizcs
    the forgctting and subsequent remembering of thc atrocity by asking how historians
    and others have colluded to shape the memory of it to suit modern intcrcsts.
    Flcishcr wants to raise awarcncss of this little-known tragedy, but she sccks to do
    so without privileging any onc vcrsion of it, particularly bccausc significant
    discrcpancies distinguish Northwestcrn Shoshoni from non-Nativc accounts.
    Flcishcr cxplores reasons why Americans do not know about tlic Bcar Rivcr
    Massacre and uses this silencc to launch an investigation into problcms with thc
    production and consu~nptiollof history. Does thc process of bring~ngthese stories
    back into public discourse mattcr, shc asks, and how docs thc knowlcdgc of such
    cvcnts changc us as we continue to crcatc new versions of thc past'?
    Flcischcr answers thcsc qucstions in threc parts. 111 thc first scction of tlie
    book, she providcs scveral accounts of the Bear Kivcr Massacre. On January 23,
    1863, mclnbcrs of thc California militia attacked a band ofNortliwestcrn Shoshonis
    cncalnpcd along the Bear River in Idaho. Most accounts concur that the niililiarncn
    killcd at least thrce hundred mcn, womcn, and childrcn, but tlie versions diverge
    on what happcncd next: somc say the troops rapcd female survivors, including
    those wllo lay dying of thcir wounds. Others consider mass rape to have bccn
    ilnlikcly.

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