Going Tribal - Aguarunas

Arrived this part of the Amazon basin in a military plane, canvas seats facing the aisle, loaded with gasoline drums. A missionary gave me a ride in his boat to the Aguaruna's capital, Yutupis. Gave him a bag containing 10lb of apples- a very valuable present when you are in the middle of nowhere.

Agurunas, living near the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border, are Jibaro indians, described by Captain Benavente in XVI century as the most ferocious warriors and headhunters the Spaniard Conquistadors had ever fought. Conquistadors wanted gold- and this land has a lot of it. In a good day you can panhandle 0.3 oz.

As soon as arrived to Yutupis -a neolithic village, discounting its hospital- I was given masato, a sort of beer women made chewing cassava and spitting the mix of root and saliva in a big pot, let to ferment.

I trained health promoters in the use of microscopes to diagnose tuberculosis and tropical diseases as lung fluke. I encouraged the use of the local language to name the chemicals: "capanto dutikatin numasupicbau" meant "red stain for rods [bacilli]". Promoters invited me to their homes and offered me delicacies such as roasted monkey.

After training was done, a health promoter came. In a broken Spanish, he said that people in his remote hamlet were dying from a misterious disease. I could not understand his description but I concluded it probably was a severe viral disease such as yellow fever. I told him bluntly that I was not sure what specific disease it could be. I left town the next day. I should have tried to sound more reassuring. They concluded that, if a specialist from the country's capital was unable to make a definitive diagnosis, then it was a case of witchcraft. Relatives of the dead killed the local witch doctor the night I left. The good news was, relatives of the witch doctor did not retaliate -perhaps his death is regarded as an occupational hazard. Months later I learned the outbreak had been rabies, transmitted by vampire bites.

I had mixed feelings about Aguarunas. They lived very hard lives -you can assess the quality of life by looking at pets and there, adult dogs looked like rats. These indians had been exploited by Europeans and their descents. Werner Herzog came there once to make a movie about Fitzcarrald, a XIX century guy Aguarunas considered somebody that exploited and killed Amerindians. Angry Aguarunas donning war paint in their faces destroyed Herzog's camp and filming equipment and made crew and actors flee for their lives.

But Aguarunas were -and probably continue being- polygamous. The displaced older wife was often set aside as an old sneaker. The socially acceptable behavior left to her was a suicide -the main cause of death among adult women- by drinking curare, an extract of a tropical vine that paralyzed muscles and slowly suffocated the poor woman.

Aguarunas live in a beautiful part of the Amazon basin -even some cockroaches are beautiful. One species, the size of a fist, was gorgeous in pale green and white. Still, I don't recommend tourism there- a couple of UK entomologists was killed a few years ago when entered this land without permission.