Yajé como política. Territorio, petróleo y pandemia en los siekopái de la Amazonía ecuatoriana

Abstract

This article shows the political adaptations of the yajé ritual in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It focuses on the siekopái's practices of resistance, negotiation, and self-affirmation around three contemporary issues: the recognition of their ancestral territory, the demand for reparations for environmental damage resulting from oil exploitation, and the management of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that the inclusion of the yajé ritual in these contexts corresponds to a contested shamanic tradition, and that the deployment of its political potential is due to communal reasons and the shamans' negotiating skills in the invisible world. We conclude that the adaptations indicate an institutional flexibility that has allowed the siekopái to survive to this day in a changing and threatened environment.