Rapé

Amazonian Rapé is a sacred medicine that has been an integral part of the traditions of various indigenous tribes, such as the Yawanawa, the Katukina, the Matses and others, who have passed on the knowledge of Rapé from generation to generation.

Each tribe has its own legends about the origin of sacred plants, and although these stories are unique to each group, they often share common elements.

For example, the Yawanawá pass on the story of their patriarch, King Ruwa, who lived at a time when death had not yet touched mankind. It is said that he was the first to experience death and was buried in his maloca or longhouse called Shuhu. In time, various plants began to grow over his body. A vine emerged, known as Uni or Ayahuasca. Other plants sprouted, some of which had been forgotten over time. Among them, there was a plant with large leaves that grew directly over his heart. At the time, people did not understand its purpose. Their shaman, a wise man in the community, instructed them to dry the plant and grind it into a fine powder. He then advised them to use a bamboo tube or reed to blow the powder up their noses. This, he explained, would uplift people and bring them to a state of deep connection and transformation.

Within the Yawanawá worldview, it is considered that most plants can be used for both positive and negative purposes, depending on the intention. However, with tobacco, it is believed that only good can be done. This does not mean that its excessive use cannot be detrimental to health, but rather that its use is reserved exclusively for positive healing and magical purposes. From the dawn of existence until their first contact with the outside world, the Yawanawá have used their Rumã, also known as Rapé, to uplift their spirits, focus, contemplate, heal and bond.

Rapé as we know it is mainly used by the Acre tribes that share the Pano linguistic roots. Tribes such as the Yawanawá, Huni Kuin, Nukini, Kuntanawa, Katukina, Shanenawa and Shawãdawa. In addition to the Pano tribes, the same region is home to the Aruak tribes, such as the Apurinã, who make the famous Awiry green snuff. These groups first came into contact with non-indigenous people during the rubber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time that, in retrospect, seems surprisingly recent.

Most tribes lost most of their knowledge about plants during colonisation. Only a few members of the older generation retained the knowledge of which herbs to use to make snuff, which trees to burn to make ashes, and so on. We know that some of the Huni Kuin have used it continuously, but very few.

The Katukina, who were the first to bring Kambô medicine to the outside world, also brought Rapé with them quite early.

As for the Yawanawá, we know that when the first white man, Angelo Ferreira, arrived, the chief served him Rapé to see what he was made of. Since then they have had a long and sad history of effective slave labour, with all the hardships that went with it. They lost most of their culture, until a new generation began to restructure their community in the 1980s and 1990s. They kicked out the missionaries and took back their medicines. When they brought back the last two living shamans, who had lived more or less as outcasts during the rubber boom, they began to regain their identity. They recovered what they could of their lost knowledge. They returned to the study of medicines such as ayahuasca or Uni and Rapé. The first to take up the diet was their chief Biraci.

Rapé is not simply a medicine, but a link to the history and cosmology of the Amazonian tribes. Each tribe has its own unique way of preparing and applying Rapé, which gives it a deep ritual significance. From the creation of specific blends to the way the powder is blown, every aspect of the process is imbued with purpose and connection to the spiritual world.