Mark Plotkin: What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t

Summary

An ethnobotanist shares his experiences documenting how indigenous tribes in the Amazon use local plants for medicinal purposes, highlighting the invaluable knowledge these tribes possess. He recounts a personal healing encounter with a shaman and emphasizes the urgency of protecting these cultures and their rainforests. He discusses the potential of traditional medicine, the threats these tribes face from modern society, and the importance of respecting their right to remain isolated. The speech underscores the need for a harmonious coexistence with nature and the preservation of indigenous wisdom.

Takeaways

• 🌿 Ethnobotanists document how indigenous people use local plants in rainforests.
• 🏞️ Indigenous cultures know their forests and medicinal plants better than outsiders ever will.
• ⚠️ Indigenous cultures are disappearing faster than the forests themselves.
• 🛠️ Western medicine has gaps that indigenous knowledge can sometimes fill.
• 🌍 Isolated tribes in the Amazon are the most endangered species due to external threats.
• 🍃 Indigenous treatments can sometimes cure ailments that Western medicine cannot.
• 🐸 Peptides from the skin of the green monkey frog are being studied for medical treatments.
• 🚫 The exploitation of rainforest resources often leaves local communities without benefits.
• 🌳 Deforestation releases significant amounts of carbon, contributing to climate change.
• 📜 The knowledge of isolated tribes is invaluable and should be protected from external threats.

Q & A

What is an ethnobotanist?

An ethnobotanist is a scientist who studies how people use local plants, often working in environments like rainforests.

What critical issue does the speaker highlight about indigenous cultures?

The speaker highlights that indigenous cultures are disappearing much faster than the rainforests themselves.

What experience did the speaker have with traditional healing in the Amazon?

The speaker injured their foot and received various Western medical treatments without success. However, a shaman in the northeast Amazon treated the injury using a fern and a special tea, providing long-lasting relief.

What comparison does the speaker make between Western medicine and traditional Amazonian medicine?

The speaker acknowledges that Western medicine is highly successful but has limitations, while traditional Amazonian medicine can sometimes cure conditions that Western medicine cannot.

What example does the speaker give of a traditional Amazonian treatment outperforming a Western treatment?

The speaker mentions a medicine man in the northeast Amazon who treats leishmaniasis with three plants, whereas Western treatment involves painful and expensive injections of antimony.

How did the green monkey frog impact scientific research?

The green monkey frog, used by indigenous people for its hallucinogenic properties, led to scientific research on its peptides for potential treatments for high blood pressure and drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

What lesson did the speaker convey from an ayahuasca shaman about healing?

The ayahuasca shaman conveyed that while Western medicine is suitable for infections, many human afflictions are diseases of the heart, mind, and spirit, which Western medicine cannot touch but can be cured by traditional methods.

What injustice does the speaker highlight regarding the development of ACE inhibitors?

The speaker points out that ACE inhibitors, a $4 billion industry based on venom from a Brazilian snake, were developed without any financial benefit to Brazil.

What environmental concern does the speaker emphasize about the Amazon Rainforest?

The speaker emphasizes the rapid disappearance of the Amazon Rainforest, highlighting its role in carbon sequestration and the impact of forest destruction on climate change.

What is the significance of Chiribiquete National Park according to the speaker?

Chiribiquete National Park is described as a treasure trove of botanical diversity and home to isolated tribes. It also contains over 200,000 pre-Colombian paintings, making it a significant cultural and natural heritage site.

How does the speaker suggest we should approach the protection of isolated tribes?

The speaker suggests introducing technology to contacted tribes in a culturally sensitive way, allowing them to map, manage, and protect their ancestral rainforest while keeping outsiders at bay.

What ethical stance does the speaker take on the rights of isolated tribes?

The speaker believes it is the human right of isolated tribes to remain in isolation if they choose, emphasizing that we should respect their decision to resist contact with the outside world.

What historical events contributed to the isolation of Amazonian tribes?

Historical events like the rubber trade at the turn of the last century led to massacres and exploitation of indigenous peoples, contributing to their decision to remain isolated.

What modern threats do isolated tribes in the Amazon face?

Isolated tribes face threats from illegal gold mining, logging, drug trafficking, and inhumane practices like 'human safaris' that expose them to diseases and exploitation.

What is the ultimate message the speaker wants to convey about the future of the Amazon and its tribes?

The speaker envisions a future where the Amazon remains a vibrant, lush environment, allowing isolated tribes to maintain their knowledge and way of life if they choose, ultimately contributing to a better, healthier planet.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Ethnobotanist's Journey and Healing Experiences

An ethnobotanist shares his experiences of learning from indigenous tribes in the rainforest. After injuring his foot, he receives ineffective treatment from Western medicine but finds relief from a shaman's traditional remedy. The ethnobotanist highlights the deep knowledge indigenous people have about the forest and their medicinal plants, which can sometimes cure ailments that Western medicine cannot. He shares anecdotes of indigenous healing methods, such as using plants to treat diseases and hallucinogenic frog secretions that have inspired scientific research.

05:03

🌍 Challenges of Medicinal Discoveries and Environmental Impact

The speaker discusses the inequity in how discoveries from the rainforest, such as treatments derived from snake venom, benefit the pharmaceutical industry without compensating the local people. He emphasizes the rapid disappearance of the rainforest and its inhabitants, illustrating the stark contrast between preserved indigenous lands and deforested areas. The speaker underscores the environmental impact of deforestation, contributing to climate change, and describes the biodiversity and majestic wildlife of the Amazon, highlighting the importance of preserving these ecosystems.

10:06

🏞️ The Mystical Knowledge of Uncontacted Tribes

Focusing on the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon, the speaker explains their profound understanding of nature and their decision to remain isolated as a form of resistance. He recounts the tragic history of exploitation during the rubber trade and the ongoing threats these tribes face from illegal activities. The speaker points out the invaluable knowledge held by these tribes, noting that their elders are living libraries of traditional wisdom. He describes efforts to protect these tribes and their lands through modern technology and training indigenous people as park rangers to safeguard their territories.

15:09

🌳 The Future of Indigenous Tribes and Environmental Preservation

The speaker concludes with a call to protect uncontacted tribes and the rainforest. He shares a poignant story of colleagues who died protecting these tribes, emphasizing the spiritual rewards and dangers of this work. The speaker envisions a future where the climate improves, lush vegetation thrives, and isolated tribes can maintain their way of life if they choose. He advocates for a world where traditional healing practices and knowledge are respected and preserved alongside nature, urging everyone to contribute to this vision.

Keywords

💡Ethnobotanist

An ethnobotanist is a scientist who studies how people use local plants, particularly in indigenous cultures. In the video, the speaker explains their role in documenting how rainforest inhabitants utilize plants for medicinal and other purposes, emphasizing the deep knowledge these people have of their environment.

💡Shaman

A shaman is a traditional healer who uses plants, rituals, and spiritual practices to cure ailments. The speaker shares personal experiences of being treated by a shaman in the Amazon, highlighting the effectiveness of traditional medicine where Western treatments failed.

💡Uncontacted Tribes

Uncontacted tribes are indigenous groups that have chosen to remain isolated from modern civilization. The speaker describes these tribes as the most endangered species in the Amazon, emphasizing their right to remain isolated and the threats they face from external forces like deforestation and exploitation.

💡Western Medicine

Western medicine refers to the medical practices and treatments developed in Western countries, often involving pharmaceuticals and advanced technologies. The speaker acknowledges its successes but also points out its limitations, contrasting it with the traditional knowledge of indigenous healers.

💡Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a protozoal disease affecting millions worldwide, treated in Western medicine with painful and costly injections of antimony. The video highlights an Amazonian shaman's ability to cure it with local plants, showcasing the potential of traditional knowledge to address health issues.

💡ACE Inhibitors

ACE inhibitors are a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure, derived from the venom of a Brazilian viper. The video uses this as an example of how valuable pharmaceutical discoveries can be made from rainforest biodiversity, yet often without fair compensation to the source countries.

💡Deforestation

Deforestation is the large-scale clearing of forests, contributing significantly to carbon emissions and climate change. The speaker illustrates the stark contrast between preserved indigenous lands and deforested areas, stressing the environmental importance of protecting rainforests.

💡Chiribiquete National Park

Chiribiquete National Park in Colombia is highlighted as a significant region of botanical diversity and home to uncontacted tribes. The speaker describes its untouched landscapes and rich pre-Colombian art, underscoring its cultural and ecological value.

💡Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous knowledge refers to the traditional wisdom and practices of native cultures, particularly regarding their environment and medicinal plants. The speaker advocates for respecting and integrating this knowledge with modern science, citing examples of its efficacy in healing and conservation.

💡Human Safaris

Human safaris involve tourists intruding on isolated indigenous tribes to observe and photograph them, often bringing disease and disruption. The speaker condemns these practices as unethical, highlighting the negative impact on the health and autonomy of the tribes.

Highlights

Ethnobotanist working in the rainforest to document how people use local plants.

Indigenous cultures are disappearing faster than the forests themselves.

Greatest and most endangered species in the Amazon Rainforest is the isolated and uncontacted tribes.

Personal anecdote of being treated by a shaman after conventional medicine failed.

Western medicine is the most successful healing system but has many gaps.

Medicinal plants and treatments by indigenous people can cure ailments that Western medicine cannot.

Example of a medicine man curing leishmaniasis with three Amazon plants.

Discovery of potential treatments for high blood pressure and drug-resistant Staph aureus from the green monkey frog.

Shaman's perspective on healing diseases of the heart, mind, and spirit, which Western medicine cannot address.

ACE inhibitors, a frontline treatment for hypertension, were developed from Brazilian snake venom.

The saying: 'The rainforests hold answers to questions we have yet to ask.'

The significant impact of deforestation on carbon release and climate change.

The diversity and unique wildlife of the Amazon Rainforest.

Uncontacted tribes like the Akuriyo have extensive knowledge of the forest.

The loss of indigenous cultures is likened to a library burning down.

Chiribiquete National Park is a treasure trove of botanical diversity and pre-Colombian art.

The challenges and dangers faced by uncontacted tribes due to external pressures.

Mapping and protecting ancestral rainforest territories with the help of technology and indigenous knowledge.

The urgent need to stop the massacre of uncontacted tribes.

The vision for a world where shamans heal with mystical plants and sacred frogs, maintaining their knowledge and mystery.

Transcripts

Now, I'm an ethnobotanist.

That's a scientist who works in the rainforest

to document how people use local plants.

I've been doing this for a long time,

and I want to tell you,

these people know these forests and these medicinal treasures

better than we do and better than we ever will.

But also, these cultures,

these indigenous cultures,

are disappearing much faster than the forests themselves.

And the greatest and most endangered species

in the Amazon Rainforest

is not the jaguar,

it's not the harpy eagle,

it's the isolated and uncontacted tribes.

Now four years ago, I injured my foot in a climbing accident

and I went to the doctor.

She gave me heat,

she gave me cold, aspirin,

narcotic painkillers, anti-inflammatories,

cortisone shots.

It didn't work.

Several months later,

I was in the northeast Amazon,

walked into a village,

and the shaman said, "You're limping."

And I'll never forget this as long as I live.

He looked me in the face and he said,

"Take off your shoe and give me your machete."

(Laughter)

He walked over to a palm tree

and carved off a fern,

threw it in the fire,

applied it to my foot,

threw it in a pot of water,

and had me drink the tea.

The pain disappeared for seven months.

When it came back, I went to see the shaman again.

He gave me the same treatment,

and I've been cured for three years now.

Who would you rather be treated by?

(Applause)

Now, make no mistake — Western medicine

is the most successful system of healing ever devised,

but there's plenty of holes in it.

Where's the cure for breast cancer?

Where's the cure for schizophrenia?

Where's the cure for acid reflux?

Where's the cure for insomnia?

The fact is that these people

can sometimes, sometimes, sometimes

cure things we cannot.

Here you see a medicine man in the northeast Amazon

treating leishmaniasis,

a really nasty protozoal disease

that afflicts 12 million people around the world.

Western treatment are injections of antimony.

They're painful, they're expensive,

and they're probably not good for your heart;

it's a heavy metal.

This man cures it with three plants from the Amazon Rainforest.

This is the magic frog.

My colleague, the late great Loren McIntyre,

discoverer of the source lake of the Amazon,

Laguna McIntyre in the Peruvian Andes,

was lost on the Peru-Brazil border about 30 years ago.

He was rescued by a group of isolated Indians called the Matsés.

They beckoned for him to follow them into the forest, which he did.

There, they took out palm leaf baskets.

There, they took out these green monkey frogs —

these are big suckers, they're like this —

and they began licking them.

It turns out, they're highly hallucinogenic.

McIntyre wrote about this and it was read by the editor of High Times magazine.

You see that ethnobotanists have friends in all sorts of strange cultures.

This guy decided he would go down to the Amazon and give it a whirl,

or give it a lick, and he did, and he wrote,

"My blood pressure went through the roof,

I lost full control of my bodily functions,

I passed out in a heap,

I woke up in a hammock six hours later,

felt like God for two days."

(Laughter)

An Italian chemist read this and said,

"I'm not really interested in the theological aspects of the green monkey frog.

What's this about the change in blood pressure?"

Now, this is an Italian chemist

who's working on a new treatment for high blood pressure

based on peptides in the skin of the green monkey frog,

and other scientists are looking

at a cure for drug-resistant Staph aureus.

How ironic if these isolated Indians and their magic frog

prove to be one of the cures.

Here's an ayahuasca shaman

in the northwest Amazon, in the middle of a yage ceremony.

I took him to Los Angeles to meet a foundation officer

looking for support for monies to protect their culture.

This fellow looked at the medicine man, and he said,

"You didn't go to medical school, did you?"

The shaman said, "No, I did not."

He said, "Well, then what can you know about healing?"

The shaman looked at him and he said,

"You know what? If you have an infection, go to a doctor.

But many human afflictions are diseases of the heart, the mind and the spirit.

Western medicine can't touch those. I cure them."

(Applause)

But all is not rosy in learning from nature about new medicines.

This is a viper from Brazil,

the venom of which was studied at the Universidade de São Paulo here.

It was later developed into ACE inhibitors.

This is a frontline treatment for hypertension.

Hypertension causes over 10 percent

of all deaths on the planet every day.

This is a $4 billion industry

based on venom from a Brazilian snake,

and the Brazilians did not get a nickel.

This is not an acceptable way of doing business.

The rainforest has been called the greatest expression of life on Earth.

There's a saying in Suriname that I dearly love:

"The rainforests hold answers to questions we have yet to ask."

But as you all know, it's rapidly disappearing.

Here in Brazil, in the Amazon,

around the world.

I took this picture from a small plane

flying over the eastern border of the Xingu indigenous reserve

in the state of Mato Grosso to the northwest of here.

The top half of the picture,

you see where the Indians live.

The line through the middle

is the eastern border of the reserve.

Top half Indians, bottom half white guys.

Top half wonder drugs,

bottom half just a bunch of skinny-ass cows.

Top half carbon sequestered in the forest where it belongs,

bottom half carbon in the atmosphere

where it's driving climate change.

In fact, the number two cause

of carbon being released into the atmosphere

is forest destruction.

But in talking about destruction,

it's important to keep in mind

that the Amazon is the mightiest landscape of all.

It's a place of beauty and wonder.

The biggest anteater in the world

lives in the rain forest,

tips the scale at 90 pounds.

The goliath bird-eating spider

is the world's largest spider.

It's found in the Amazon as well.

The harpy eagle wingspan is over seven feet.

And the black cayman —

these monsters can tip the scale at over half a ton.

They're known to be man-eaters.

The anaconda, the largest snake,

the capybara, the largest rodent.

A specimen from here in Brazil

tipped the scale at 201 pounds.

Let's visit where these creatures live,

the northeast Amazon,

home to the Akuriyo tribe.

Uncontacted peoples hold a mystical and iconic role

in our imagination.

These are the people who know nature best.

These are the people who truly live

in total harmony with nature.

By our standards, some would dismiss these people as primitive.

"They don't know how to make fire,

or they didn't when they were first contacted."

But they know the forest far better than we do.

The Akuriyos have 35 words for honey,

and other Indians look up to them

as being the true masters of the emerald realm.

Here you see the face of my friend Pohnay.

When I was a teenager rocking out

to the Rolling Stones in my hometown of New Orleans,

Pohnay was a forest nomad

roaming the jungles of the northeast Amazon

in a small band, looking for game,

looking for medicinal plants,

looking for a wife,

in other small nomadic bands.

But it's people like these

that know things that we don't,

and they have lots of lessons to teach us.

However, if you go into most of the forests of the Amazon,

there are no indigenous peoples.

This is what you find:

rock carvings which indigenous peoples,

uncontacted peoples, used to sharpen the edge of the stone axe.

These cultures that once danced,

made love, sang to the gods,

worshipped the forest,

all that's left is an imprint in stone, as you see here.

Let's move to the western Amazon,

which is really the epicenter of isolated peoples.

Each of these dots represents

a small, uncontacted tribe,

and the big reveal today is we believe there are 14 or 15 isolated groups

in the Colombian Amazon alone.

Why are these people isolated?

They know we exist, they know there's an outside world.

This is a form of resistance.

They have chosen to remain isolated,

and I think it is their human right to remain so.

Why are these the tribes that hide from man?

Here's why.

Obviously, some of this was set off in 1492.

But at the turn of the last century

was the rubber trade.

The demand for natural rubber,

which came from the Amazon,

set off the botanical equivalent of a gold rush.

Rubber for bicycle tires,

rubber for automobile tires,

rubber for zeppelins.

It was a mad race to get that rubber,

and the man on the left, Julio Arana,

is one of the true thugs of the story.

His people, his company,

and other companies like them

killed, massacred, tortured, butchered Indians

like the Witotos you see on the right hand side of the slide.

Even today, when people come out of the forest,

the story seldom has a happy ending.

These are Nukaks. They were contacted in the '80s.

Within a year, everybody over 40 was dead.

And remember, these are preliterate societies.

The elders are the libraries.

Every time a shaman dies,

it's as if a library has burned down.

They have been forced off their lands.

The drug traffickers have taken over the Nukak lands,

and the Nukaks live as beggars

in public parks in eastern Colombia.

From the Nukak lands, I want to take you to the southwest,

to the most spectacular landscape in the world:

Chiribiquete National Park.

It was surrounded by three isolated tribes

and thanks to the Colombian government and Colombian colleagues,

it has now expanded.

It's bigger than the state of Maryland.

It is a treasure trove of botanical diversity.

It was first explored botanically in 1943

by my mentor, Richard Schultes,

seen here atop the Bell Mountain,

the sacred mountains of the Karijonas.

And let me show you what it looks like today.

Flying over Chiribiquete,

realize that these lost world mountains are still lost.

No scientist has been atop them.

In fact, nobody has been atop the Bell Mountain

since Schultes in '43.

And we'll end up here with the Bell Mountain

just to the east of the picture.

Let me show you what it looks like today.

Not only is this a treasure trove of botanical diversity,

not only is it home to three isolated tribes,

but it's the greatest treasure trove

of pre-Colombian art in the world:

over 200,000 paintings.

The Dutch scientist Thomas van der Hammen

described this as the Sistine Chapel of the Amazon Rainforest.

But move from Chiribiquete down to the southeast,

again in the Colombian Amazon.

Remember, the Colombian Amazon is bigger than New England.

The Amazon's a big forest,

and Brazil's got a big part of it,

but not all of it.

Moving down to these two national parks,

Cahuinari and Puré

in the Colombian Amazon —

that's the Brazilian border to the right —

it's home to several groups

of isolated and uncontacted peoples.

To the trained eye, you can look at the roofs

of these malocas, these longhouses,

and see that there's cultural diversity.

These are, in fact, different tribes.

As isolated as these areas are,

let me show you how the outside world is crowding in.

Here we see trade and transport increased in Putumayo.

With the diminishment of the Civil War in Colombia,

the outside world is showing up.

To the north, we have illegal gold mining,

also from the east, from Brazil.

There's increased hunting and fishing for commercial purposes.

We see illegal logging coming from the south,

and drug runners are trying to move through the park

and get into Brazil.

This, in the past, is why you didn't mess

with isolated Indians.

And if it looks like this picture is out of focus

because it was taken in a hurry, here's why.

(Laughter)

This looks like — (Applause)

This looks like a hangar from the Brazilian Amazon.

This is an art exhibit in Havana, Cuba.

A group called Los Carpinteros.

This is their perception of why you shouldn't mess with uncontacted Indians.

But the world is changing.

These are Mashco-Piros on the Brazil-Peru border

who stumbled out of the jungle

because they were essentially chased out

by drug runners and timber people.

And in Peru, there's a very nasty business.

It's called human safaris.

They will take you in to isolated groups to take their picture.

Of course, when you give them clothes, when you give them tools,

you also give them diseases.

We call these "inhuman safaris."

These are Indians again on the Peru border,

who were overflown by flights sponsored by missionaries.

They want to get in there and turn them into Christians.

We know how that turns out.

What's to be done?

Introduce technology to the contacted tribes,

not the uncontacted tribes,

in a culturally sensitive way.

This is the perfect marriage of ancient shamanic wisdom

and 21st century technology.

We've done this now with over 30 tribes,

mapped, managed and increased protection

of over 70 million acres of ancestral rainforest.

(Applause)

So this allows the Indians to take control

of their environmental and cultural destiny.

They also then set up guard houses

to keep outsiders out.

These are Indians, trained as indigenous park rangers,

patrolling the borders

and keeping the outside world at bay.

This is a picture of actual contact.

These are Chitonahua Indians

on the Brazil-Peru border.

They've come out of the jungle

asking for help.

They were shot at,

their malocas, their longhouses, were burned.

Some of them were massacred.

Using automatic weapons to slaughter uncontacted peoples

is the single most despicable and disgusting human rights abuse

on our planet today, and it has to stop.

(Applause)

But let me conclude by saying,

this work can be spiritually rewarding,

but it's difficult and it can be dangerous.

Two colleagues of mine passed away recently

in the crash of a small plane.

They were serving the forest

to protect those uncontacted tribes.

So the question is, in conclusion,

is what the future holds.

These are the Uray people in Brazil.

What does the future hold for them,

and what does the future hold for us?

Let's think differently.

Let's make a better world.

If the climate's going to change,

let's have a climate that changes for the better rather than the worse.

Let's live on a planet

full of luxuriant vegetation,

in which isolated peoples

can remain in isolation,

can maintain that mystery

and that knowledge

if they so choose.

Let's live in a world

where the shamans live in these forests

and heal themselves and us

with their mystical plants

and their sacred frogs.

Thanks again.

(Applause)