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The Shaman’s
Apprentice
by Kosa Ely
The Indigenous
people of the Amazon rainforest have
struggled for 500 years to keep their land
and to keep their culture. From the year
1500 AD, when the first Spaniards
‘discovered’ the Amazon, until the present
time, these people and their lands have been
exploited for resources.
"They would
make fine servants…With fifty men we could
subjugate them all and make them do whatever
we want."
Christopher Columbus
Not every
foreigner came to exploit, however. In the
1800’s a wave of naturalists came to study
the Amazon region and its incredible variety
of species. It was here that the European
Naturalists observed the enormous variety of
plant and animal species and postulated
their theory of evolution by natural
selection.
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I’d be an
Indian here, and live content
To fish and hunt, and paddle my
canoe
And see my children grow, like wild
young fawns,
In health of body and peace of mind,
Rich without wealth, and happy
without gold!
Naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace |
In the 1940’s
another explorer came to the Amazon region
with an entirely different purpose. Nicole
Maxwell, an ethno-botanist from New York,
believed the native people, especially the
witch doctors, had knowledge of plants that
could help suffering people throughout the
world. And she had a great hope. If the
rainforest came to be valued as a treasure
house of medicinal plants, surely its
destruction would be halted. If the
Indigenous people gained honor and respect
for their knowledge of medicinal plants,
they, too, would be protected.
"I go to
the Indians to learn their wisdom. How can I
feel superior to people who know so much
more than I? The Indians sense this
essential difference between the native
whites and myself. I’m sure they do."
Nicole Maxwell
The first
obstacle was to find the medicine men. Many
of the tribes intentionally stayed out of
the reach of ‘civilized’ men; their guns and
their diseases. Other tribes, who lived on
the tributaries of the great Amazon River,
and were quite accessible, rarely disclosed
who their medicine men were. At this time in
history, the practice of shamanism was
illegal and punishable. The medicine men
concealed their identity from outsiders so
they would not be falsely accused of curses
or deaths.
Through months
of living amongst the Indians, helping with
her own medicines, and sharing prized gifts
with them, Nicole became family to them.
Even still, the knowledge she sought was not
readily given. The medicine men, for reasons
we may never know, do not openly share their
knowledge. For some tribes it is believed to
bring misfortune and even death.
"Shamanism
or anything to do with the supernatural was
forbidden by law, until recently. The good
ones (shamans) are dedicated and highly
trained men. To perfect their studies they
had gone through years of rigidly
disciplined deprivation; success requires,
they believe, a long period of drastic trial
by
ordeal."
Nicole Maxwell
Her genuine
concern and kindness for the Indians did
eventually gain her their trust. Over many
years she became known to them, and many of
their plant secrets were revealed to her.
Among them was a tree sap called sangre
de drago, which, when applied to wounds,
immediately relieved pain and promoted rapid
healing without leaving any traces of a
scar. Another salve called capinuri sap
dramatically reduces swelling and
inflammation.
Her greatest
triumph, she believed, was to learn of their
contraceptive plants. These, she learned
from the women.
"This trip
had made it possible for me to be the first
to break through the centuries-old secrecy
surrounding the tribal magic of transmitting
and withholding life. I’d got the plants so
often sought in vain ever since Franz Boas,
the father of American anthropology, first
revealed that these tribes knew botanicals
which could control the fertility of women.
I could hardly believe my good
luck."
Nicole Maxwell
The most
frustrating part of her efforts came when
trying to convince pharmaceutical houses and
drug companies of the importance of her
findings. The first pharmaceutical company
she worked for gained some great publicity
upon her return, but shortly thereafter
disregarded the plants and the field notes
she spent 8 months collecting and
preserving.
This kind of
treatment and eventual disinterest on the
part of her supposed sponsors happened
several times over. Each time Nicole got
wiser, but she never gave up. She moved her
base to Iquitos, in the heart of the
Peruvian rainforest. Here she continued to
learn and record the knowledge of the
Amazon’s medicine men, and build her
collections of voucher specimens and data of
hundreds of rainforest plants.
"A rising
global awareness of ecological crises and
the toxification of the environment cannot
fail to promote awareness of plants and
natural products as traditional curative
agents. One of the unsung pioneers in this
effort has been Nicole Maxwell. Nicole’s
long career has been driven by a wish to
participate in the preservation of the plant
medicines that have been painstakingly
garnered over many millennia."
Terence McKenna
Nicole’s 40
years of field work and global vision did
not disappear with her demise. In her
eighties, while living in Mississippi,
through a South American Wildlife
Photographer, she heard of a young treasure
hunter by the name of John Easterling.
"I had the
good fortune to meet the famous author and
explorer, Nicole Maxwell, who spent 40 years
in the Amazon researching medicinal plants.
At the age of 83, she accompanied me back to
the Peruvian jungle. Nicole helped me to
realize the power of the Rainforest herbs.
She inspired a vision for the Amazon Herb
Company, and she entrusted me with her
life’s work. All of her field notes, all the
information she gathered from the shamans
and Indigenous people, and other botanists,
she entrusted to me.
"We have
spent years building relationships with the
Rainforest people based on trust and mutual
respect. We have formed partnerships with
the Indigenous communities working hands-on
at the village level. Now they have the
resources to make choices about their own
future, and we have the benefit of their
life-giving botanicals. This is what Nicole
wanted."
John Easterling
"When the
big trees are gone, the birds have no home
and our children will not know the joy of
their songs. And now, with you, we have rice
and manioc and machetes and things for our
people. And for you, these plants so your
people can know the power of the forest. And
now when the sun comes, the big trees will
be there to greet the morning. I have
traveled for many days and this is what I
know."
Filipe, Chief of Porveneer
Spoken to John Easterling |
