Upon reading Roger Rumrrill’s interview with Guillermo Arrévalo and Joshua Homan’s chapter, I had heard of ayahuasca through TV shows and movies, but my knowledge didn’t go much deeper than that. I associated ayahuasca with the media stereotypes of it being just another form of tripping or awakening parts of your mind. I had a vague understanding that it was a product of South America, but I had no idea of its spiritual and healing purposes.

In Rumrrill’s interview, Sr. Arrévalo mentioned that many people come for ayahuasca treatment due to troubling things like depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, as well as helping patients that have suffered from trauma. He uses the example of sexual assault and rape, in this case. This would indicate that ayahuasca healing is not only made for those suffering a spiritual crisis or unbalance but also those who are under psychological stress as well.

Something that really stuck out to me regarding this ayahuasca tourism was the number of people who claimed to be shamans who were administering the brew. He says “Many who say they are healers don’t know how to cure…They give the prepared potion to the client but get no results…If these European or American patients go to the liars, also, they constrain the work of real healers” (Rumrrill, 205). This could end up being dangerous for the patient, and I understand why he may be upset by this happening more often. I will say, though, that I do understand why many have turned to false shamanism. Being able to feed your family and afford a roof over your head are incredible motivators.

Prior to this week, agroecology was not part of my vocabulary. What really stuck out to me was the example given in the keywords post, talking about Brazil and its production of soybeans. While a crop like this can boost the national economy, monocropping can lead to decreased soil nutrients, a decline in biodiversity, overuse of fertilizers, and other significant issues. Some popular examples of this are corn and wheat, which are some of the widely grown industrial crops in the United States. From my understanding, Indigenous Agroecology combats issues like this through the utilization of natural resources, the implementation of Indigenous practices, and the utilization of plants available in the immediate region.

Discussing this made me recall something I’d learned from watching an episode of Chef’s Table a while back. The episode was about a chef named Virgilio Martínez and his restaurant called Central, in Peru. He enjoys focusing on and preserving native plants and ingredients as well as indigenous cooking techniques. He was particularly interested in Peruvian corn, and I was shocked when he showed all of the different varieties. I grew up in the United States, and I was only ever exposed to yellow, or maybe the occasional white corn. He explained that the beautiful range of the shapes, sizes, and colors of the Peruvian corn was a result of the preservation of biodiversity and indigenous cultivation methods.

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