TUKANO

Tukano: translation

Shamans, orpayé, among the Tukano of Colombia usetobaccoandayahuascain order to engage with suchother-thanhumanpersonsas the powerfuljaguar. Key research among the payé was conducted by Colombian anthropologistGerardo ReichelDolmatoff, who wrote the classicThe Shaman and the Jaguar(1975) in which he summarized that the principal spheres of apayéare the curing of disease, the obtaining of gameanimalsand fish from their supernaturalmasters, the presiding overritualsin the individual life cycle, and defensive or aggressive action against personal enemies. In all these aspects the role of thepayéis essentially that of amediatorand moderator between superterrestrial forces and society, and between the need for survival of the individual and the forces bent on his destruction—sickness, hunger and the ill will of others.

Reichel-Dolmatoff’s work onentoptic phenomenain the geometric art of the Tukano was also influential on the shamanistic approach torock art.