After breakfast, we headed to the Siona Community of Puerto Bolivar, the largest ethnic group in the Reserve. This involved a two hour canoe trip during which we again had the opportunity to see a variety of plant and animal life. There was always something to watch and wonder about.

 
Once we reached the community, we could see a style of life well adapted to the rain forest. The houses are raised off the ground and appropriate for a hot, wet climate. There were a few chickens and other birds wandering about. I think they may have been pets rather than produce. 

We learned about different plants and their properties, including face painting. There were banana trees growing. I learned that the banana tree originally came from India, which was a surprise. Maria, our Siona guide, demonstrated how stinging nettle is used by using it on herself. This causes raised welts which are believed useful in the treatment of some illnesses.

 
 
 
For some of the group this was the first time they had seen cacao pods from which chocolate is made.
 


We took part in making flat bread from cassava, learning not only how to make it but how to plant and harvest it. Planting is quite easy as all you have to do is put a piece of the plant into the ground and wait for it to grow. Harvesting involves digging up the roots. The boys loved helping out with this part. 
 
Preparation involves a rigorous process of washing, drying, squeezing and finally baking on a clay plate. The whole process took about an hour. The results, eaten with tuna or jam, were delicious. Although the lodge had sent packed lunches for us, I greatly preferred the cassava bread with jam. Apparently the native people have been harvesting it for hundreds of years.

 

 
 

Next came our visit to the shaman, or native doctor. The shaman occupies an important role in the indigenous religious and healing beliefs. The indigenous people of the Amazon river basin use a substance called yajé or ayahuasa to see into the spirit world. Yajé is a vision-inducing drink made from a psychoactive jungle vine mixed with other plants. It is the shaman who, through years of training, uses the drug to identify the hidden causes of illnesses and then treat them through direct intervention. The shaman gave a demonstration of what he does in case of illness. However, it was not a diagnosis or treatment, just a demonstration. He also demonstrated the use of stinging nettles. 

 

In the evening we took a short night walk and met many insects and several spiders, not all of which were friendly. During our stay we also met a remarkable fellow traveler, Judy, who was making her dream of a round-the-world trip come true.
  

Background information:
Yajé occupies a role of fundamental importance in the indigenous religious and curing beliefs of the Siona. The use of yajé among the Siona is very similar to that of other tribes in the Amazon basin. It is ingested to know the ultimate reasons or causes for past, present, or future events, as well as to influence events, such as changing the weather, curing or sorcery.In Siona cosmology, the events in this world are affected by hundreds of spirits that lie behind each plant, tree, rock, or animal; by spirits that populate the rivers; by those in the underworld; by those in the three levels of heaven of the universe and by those in the ending place¨at the edge of the world.

The shaman, the specialist in Yajé, is singularly important in this system. Through many years of apprenticeship and training, he builds up power and knowledge so he can interpret and influence events by contacting spirits. Every aspect of Siona life on this earth is influenced by a vast spirit world. Everything in this world, the visible reality, has a spirit counterpart in another reality which controls it. Thus to maintain the well being of both society and its members, someone is needed to mediate between the Siona and the spirits. 

The shamans perform this function, for they have the knowledge and ability to deal with the spirits and forces which control this world. The knowledge is gained through very frequent ingestion of Yajé (ayahuasca). The power of the shaman to deal with the spirits enables him to influence all aspects of Siona life. No Yajé ceremony can be conducted without the presence of a shaman. The shaman´s role is of guiding the people through the other realities that are visited during the night of drinking Yajé. Before they drink Yajé, he ¨arranges¨ the Yajé by singing of the spirits and places he wishes to contact and chases away malevolent spirits. Then, when under the effects of Yajé he sings of what he is seeing; he sings of the spirits who are coming and describes their clothing, faces, houses and furniture. All the spirits have designs on their bodies and belongings, and the shaman sings of the motifs of the designs by naming the motifs and their colors. The shaman guides the visions of his people, helping them to experience other realms and spirits of the universe, protecting them on these journeys. The Yajé experience is treated with great respect. It is only taken under certain conditions when a master shaman is present to lead the visions and help those who may encounter trouble.