Taita Giovanni Moriano

Exploring the Wisdom of Yagé: “The ceremony is only 50% of the work”

About Taita Giovanni Moriano

Taita Giovanni (born Luis Evelio Moriano) is a traditional healer from the Awá community of
Putumayo, Colombia. Taita Giovanni has been serving yagé for over 30 years and founded his
maloka, “Inkal Awá” (“people of the river and the mountain”), in Medellín 25 years ago.

Over the years, the medicine path has allowed Taita Giovanni to travel and hold ceremonies
abroad in Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, El Salvador, Panamá, and Ecuador. In addition to healing
with yagé, Taita Giovanni is trained in other traditional practices such as acupuncture and
eastern massage. Also known by his spiritual name, Arvani, which translates to “keeper of
nature,” Taita Giovanni is working to restore his ancestral lands in Putumayo into a natural
reserve.

In this interview, we explore the ways in which yagé is used inside and outside of the jungle, the
training process of becoming a taita and the prominence of charlatan shamans, and the pre-and
post-ceremony work that’s necessary to receive the benefits of the medicine.
 Fernando Choa Falla
The Wonders of Mambe and Ambil: An Author's Perspective

About Fernando Choa Falla

Fernando, whose spiritual name is Nɨmairatofe (meaning “tree of wisdom”), is an author, speaker, and
ancestral wisdom keeper from the Witoto indigenous community of Amazonas, Colombia. He is the
author of three books and is currently working on his fourth.

Fernando’s passion lies in exploring the traditional mythologies of his community and he left the jungle
around 15 years ago to share this ancestral wisdom with the wider world. He is well-versed in the ways
and wonders of the mambe (coca leaf) and ambil medicines, and also shares his word through
mambeos, conferences, and sharing circles.

In this interview, he gives us an insight into the sacredness of mambe and ambil for his community and
how these medicines allowed him to develop his own wisdom about the ‘why’ of the world.

Roberto Piaguaje
Ancestral Teachings of the Siekopai Healers
About Roberto Piaguaje

Roberto is a connoisseur of medicinal plants native to the Amazon Rainforest. He lives in the present day
Siekopai territory located in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. He is one of the wise men of the
indigenous Siekopai Nation.

He began his study with yajé when he was 6 years old; yajé is related and similar to ayahuasca. Among
the great wise men of the Siekopai people, he was born in the ancestral territory of Miuña in present-
day Peru. Today he shares his experience and wisdom with the community.

In this interview, he shares various ancestral teachings that were passed on to him by his elders and
speaks of the importance of preparing the body every time yajé (ayahuasca) is drunk. He also shares
about the ways to undergo a proper dieta so as to allow the body to connect with celestial beings, and
the spiritual relevance of the Kakotëkawë period for drinking as a Siekopai native.

juana payaguaje
Drinking Yajé as a Siekopai Woman

About Juana Payaguaje
Juana is a wise woman from the Siekopai Nation. She holds the traditional practices of women’s
healthcare that were taught to her from the Siekopai grandmothers. She knows the care that women
must take into account when drinking Yaje and other plant medicines.

She was born in Wajoya, the origin of the Siekopai people in the sacred territory of present day Peru.
She currently lives in the Siekoya Remolino community in Ecuador, province of Sucumbios.

In this interview, she harnesses the guidance that she received from her grandmothers, who were
dedicated yajé drinkers, to offer the do’s and don’ts to women who drink yajé.

Jimmy Piaguaje
Yajé and the Siekopai Cultural Sovereignty

About Jimmy Piaguaje

Jimmy is a filmmaker, producer, and community leader of the Siekopai people. He currently lives in
Siekoya Remolino with his community; the Siekopai territory stretches from Northern Ecuador to Peru.
Jimmy has worked for various organizations working to protect the Amazon; including Alianza Ceibo,
Amazon Frontlines, Fundación Raíz, and others.

He is currently the director of the indigenous led Siekopai organization, Sëra, whose aim is to create a
circular economy, food security, value creation education, and the defense of their territory.

In this interview, he discusses the changes he has undergone in his personal life through yajé
(ayahuasca) that led to the changes in the community in order to continue to protect their territory and
culture.

Victoria Corisepa Dreve

Ayahuasca and Leadership: The Story of a Harakbut Elder
About Victoria Corisepa Dreve

Victoria is from the 2000-strong Amazonian Harakbut tribe of the village of Shintuya in the Madre de
Dios region of Peru. She has dedicated herself over the past few years to growing her knowledge of the
wider world and of the political dynamics that directly affect the series of communal lands across which
her people are spread.

In this interview from the first Harakbut Women's Congress, she talks about the rights of the women in
her culture and the oppressive, extractive activities of mining and logging industries, as well as about
ayahuasca as a powerful medicine, leadership skill promoter, and tool for reconnecting to cultural roots.

Jaime Corisepa Neri

Ayahuasca & Sacred Allyship: The Emancipation of Harakbut Women

About Jaime Corisepa Neri

After serving 2 years in the Peruvian army, Jaime Corisepa Neri, born Mek Topo of the Harakbut
community, started working for the National Federation of Río Madre de Dios and tributaries
(FENAMAD). He became president of this organization in 2010 and currently in the process of creating a
self-governing body for the Harakbut Nation.

In this interview from the first Harakbut Women's Congress, he talks about the role of ayahuasca in
strengthening the Harakbut cultural identity, and the work he's doing to support the rallying of Harakbut
women to reclaim their social, cultural, and economic sovereignty.

Cecilio Soria Gonzales

Shipibo and Harakbut: A Cross-Cultural Amazonian Alliance

About CECILIO SORIA GONZALES

Cecilio is a lawyer and Shipibo communicator, one of the founders of AIDESEP (Interethnic Association
for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest), ex-president of REDCIP (The Peruvian Network of
Indigenous Communicators), two times councilman of the district of Coronel Portillo, ex-national
director of the CCP (Peruvian Farmers’ Confederation), and the founder of Voz Indigena: La Hora
Shipiba, a magazine and radio show about indigenous nations published in Shipibo and Spanish.

A promoter of the Shipibo culture and Shipibo empowerment, in this interview from the first Harakbut
Women's Congress he talks about the cross-cultural alliances with the Harakbut nation and the
importance of protecting the rights of Peru's indigenous populations.

NOVO FUTURO

The Huni Kuin Cultural Renaissance

Directed by Lara Jacoski & Patrick Belem, Bem-Te-Vi Produções

Alongside the Psychedelic Renaissance, is a Great Shamanic Revival that sees indigenous
wisdom keepers traveling around the world sharing their knowledge, spirituality and culture to
an industrialized world hungry for meaning and authentic connection.

Filmed in the Huni Kuin community of Novo Futuro in Acre, Brazil, this mini documentary
shares the tribe's decision to open their village to outsiders and seek alliances with people from
the Global North.

Directed by Brazilian filmmakers Lara Jacoski and Patrick Belem from Bem-Te-Vi Produções,
you will witness the Huni Kuin people’s long process of recovering their roots, remembering
their culture, and emergence into better times, the era of indigenous rights.

WATCH THE Q&A WITH DIRECTOR JARA JACOSKI