Nixi pae and its transcendental connection: An ethnographic essay on ayahuasca rituals in a Huni Kuin community in Brazil
Ana Verônica de Sá Resende, Txanawa Inu Bake, Fabrício Borges Carrijo
Etnografia Praktyki Teorie Doświadczenia December 16, 2024 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.26881/etno.2024.10.15 via OpenAlex
Summary
The Huni Kuin people of the Amazon rainforest utilize ayahuasca as a means to connect with different realms of existence. This study examines ayahuasca rituals within a Huni Kuin community in Acre, Brazil, highlighting their healing functions and significance in spiritual connections rooted in Huni Kuin cosmology. The authors employ a collaborative decolonial approach that emphasizes the community's perspectives on knowledge and healing.
Study at a glance
| Population | Huni Kuin people in the Amazon rainforest |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Ayahuasca rituals serve healing purposes and foster spiritual connections within Huni Kuin cosmology. |
Abstract
The Huni Kuin people, inhabiting the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and Peru, have mastered the use of ayahuasca, which serves as a conduit bridging different realms of existence. Grounded in an immersive personal experience of participating in an ayahuasca ceremony, this paper explores ayahuasca rituals in a Huni Kuin community in the Brazilian state of Acre, focusing on their healing purposes and role in fostering intimate connections with spirituality, as situated within Huni Kuin cosmology. Writing from distinct yet interconnected positionalities, we adopt a collaborative decolonial approach that centres Huni Kuin ways of knowing, being, and healing.