The expansion of the uses of the secretion of kambo (Phyllomedusa bicolor)

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The Psychedelic Society of San Francisco Proudly Welcomes

Beatriz Caiuby Labate

to present

The expansion of the uses of the secretion of kambo (Phyllomedusa bicolor): Reinvention and Controversies

The secretion from the frog Phyllomedusa bicolor, known in Portuguese as kambô, has traditionally been used as a stimulant and an invigorating agent for hunting by indigenous groups in the southeast Amazon, such as the Katukina, Yawanawá and the Kaxinawá. Since the mid 90s, its use has expanded to large cities in Brazil and, since the late 2000s, abroad to Europe and the US. The urban diffusion of the use of kambo has taken place via healing clinics that offer alternative therapies, by way of members of the Brazilian ayahuasca religions and through trips, mainly by Amazonian rubber tappers, the Katukina and the Kawinawa Indians. This presentation provides an overview of the history, classification, and indigenous uses and modes of application of kambo. It then focuses on urban reinventions—such as an idea that kambo is a kind of “teacher plant” analogous to peyote or ayahuasca—and the controversies that have followed. These include disputes over the origin of and monopoly of this knowledge, patents, marketing, possible forms of state regulation, and even reports of deaths. Finally, the aftermath in the Amazon is contemplated; for example, the transformation of kambo into the Katukina’s ethnic symbol. Kambo’s ambiguous status as poison, remedy, and drug makes it a good test case to ponder the role of set and setting in drug use, as well as our biomedical and legal classifications of “drugs.”

http://vimeo.com/73480853

SCHEDULE

Doors 6pm
Lecture 6:15pm
Q&A 7:15 - 7:45pm

The author's many books and other writings will be for sale after the Q&A.

Recommended Readings

Kambo: From the Forests of Acre to the Urban Centers (http://www.erowid.org/animals/phyllomedusa/phyllomedusa_article2.shtml)

The Shaman who turned into a frog: a promise of a patented medicine (http://www.erowid.org/animals/phyllomedusa/phyllomedusa_article3.shtml)

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Beatriz Caiuby Labate has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the State University of Campinas (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of psychoactive substances, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, and religion. She is Visiting Professor at the Drug Policy Program of the Center for Economic Research and Education (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, CIDE - Región Centro) in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She is also Research Associate at the Institute of Medical Psychology, Heidelberg University, co-founder of the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP), and editor of NEIP’s website (http://www.neip.info (http://www.neip.info/)). She is author, co-author, and co-editor of nine books, two with English translations, one special-edition journal, and several peer-reviewed articles. For more information, see: http://bialabate.net/

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