Emilio Fiagama, a 60-year-old Uitoto indigenous man, belongs to the Jipikuenɨ clan, meaning clan of the caimo tree. Jaɨnauma "leaning caimo tree" is the name given to him by his mother when Emilio became cacique "spiritual leader" of the maloka "house of indigenous knowledge" to which he has belonged for more than 25 years. The creator of the Uitoto and father of wisdom is Mo Buinaima. The Uitoto indigenous community was born from the earth, from a hole in the Amazon jungle through which women and men came out.
Mo Buinamina "father of wisdom" gave the medicine of Mambe and ambil to Jurama, the first indigenous to receive the knowledge of these plants.
1- Mambe or jibina is a power obtained from the mixture of coca leaf and ash from the Yarumo tree. Mo Buinaima gave this medicine to Jurama, special properties and infinite wisdom are attributed to him, it gives strength and clarity to his thoughts, it is used to pass his knowledge from generation to generation.
2- The ambil or Dɨona which means blood of Mo Buinaima, the god of Uitoto wisdom, this is an extract of tobacco mixed with a salt extracted from plants or a palm. According to Uitoto stories, the process of making ambil was delivered to Monaya Jurama, the most important indigenous person to this community, through dreams.
The ambil and the mambe come together to give teaching or knowledge, it is a duality to "do good". The coca, with which the mambe is made: "warns" and the ambil: "executes", materializes that knowledge.
This photograph is part of the documentation of a Uitoto indigenous family that lives on the outskirts of Florencia in Caquetá-Colombia and resists with their ancestral traditions despite being displaced from their territory by the armed conflict.
