Peru Declares Ayahuasca Cultural Patrimony
In 2008 the Peruvian Directorate of the National Institute of Culture declared the knowledge and traditional uses of Ayahuasca practiced by the native Amazon communities as Cultural Patrimony of the Nation (Resolution Number 836/INC), (translated link) based on the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, stating:
The effects produced by Ayahuasca, widely studied due to their complexity………. but always within a culturally delimited margin and with religious, therapeutic and cultural affirmation properties;
“Said plant (ayahuasca) is known to the indigenous Amazonian people as a wise or teacher plant that teaches initiates the very foundations of the world and its components. The effects of its consumption constitute the entrance to the spiritual world and its secrets, so that around the Ayahuasca ritual it is structured medicine.”
FULL (Translated) TEXT:
The traditional knowledge and uses of Ayahuasca practiced by native Amazonian communities are declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation
NATIONAL DIRECTORAL RESOLUTION No. 836/INC
Lima, June 24, 2008
Having reviewed Report No. 056-2008-DRECPC/INC dated May 29, 2008, issued by the Directorate of Registration and Study of Culture in Contemporary Peru;
CONSIDERING:
Article 21 of the Political Constitution of Peru states that it is the function of the State to protect the cultural heritage of the Nation;
Article 2, paragraph 1, of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage states that “Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, providing them with a sense of identity and continuity and thus contributing to promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity”;
Article VII of the Preliminary Title of Law No. 28296 – General Law of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation, provides that the National Institute of Culture is responsible for registering, declaring and protecting the Cultural Heritage of the Nation within the scope of its competence;
That, numeral 2) of article 1 of Title I of the aforementioned Law establishes that the creations of a cultural community based on traditions, expressed by individuals unilaterally or as a group, and which are recognized as part of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation to the expectations of the community, as an expression of cultural and social identity, in addition to the values transmitted orally, such as the native languages, dialects and dialects, traditional knowledge and wisdom, whether artistic, gastronomic, medicinal, technological, folkloric or religious, the collective knowledge of the peoples and other cultural expressions or manifestations that together make up our cultural diversity;
That, by means of National Directorate Resolution No. 1207/INC, of November 10, 2004, Directive No. 002-2004-INC, “Recognition and declarations of current cultural manifestations as cultural heritage” was approved;
That, it is the responsibility of the National Institute of Culture, in compliance with the function assigned to it by law, and with the active participation of the community, to carry out a permanent identification of said traditional manifestations of the country that should be declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation;
That, through the document in question, the Directorate of Study and Registration of Culture in Contemporary Peru requests the declaration as Cultural Heritage of the Nation of the traditional knowledge and uses associated with Ayahuasca and practiced by native communities
Amazonian, according to the File prepared by Mrs. Rosa A. Giove Nakazawa of the Takiwasi Center – Tarapoto and presented by the Regional Management of Economic Development of the Regional Government of San Martín to the Regional Directorate of Culture of San Martín;
The Ayahuasca plant -banisteriopsis caapi- is a plant species that has an extraordinary cultural history, by virtue of its psychotropic qualities since it is used in a brew associated with the plant known as Chacruna -Psychotria viridis;
This plant is known to the indigenous Amazonian world as a wise or master plant that teaches initiates the very foundations of the world and its components. The effects of its consumption constitute entry into the spiritual world and its secrets; thus, traditional Amazonian medicine has been structured around the Ayahuasca ritual. Its use and the results thereof are necessary for all members of Amazonian societies at some point in their lives, and indispensable for those who assume the role of privileged bearers of these cultures, whether they are those in charge of communicating with the spiritual world or those who express it artistically.
The effects produced by Ayahuasca, extensively studied due to their complexity, are distinct from those usually produced by hallucinogens. Part of this difference lies in the ritual that accompanies its consumption, which leads to diverse effects, but always within a culturally defined framework and with religious, therapeutic, and cultural affirmation purposes;
That, based on the supporting information, it is clear that the practice of Ayahuasca ritual sessions constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of the identity of the Amazonian peoples and that its ancestral use in traditional rituals, guaranteeing cultural continuity, is linked to the therapeutic virtues of the plant;
That, the protection of the traditional use and sacred character of the Ayahuasca ritual is sought, differentiating it from decontextualized, consumerist and commercially motivated Western uses;
Having reviewed the approval of the Director of Management, the Director of Registration and Study of Culture in Contemporary Peru and the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs;
In accordance with the provisions of Law No. 28296, “General Law of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation” and Supreme Decree No. 017-2003-ED, which approves the Regulations of Organization and Functions of the National Institute of Culture;
IT IS RESOLVED:
Sole Article.- DECLARE the traditional knowledge and uses of Ayahuasca practiced by native Amazonian communities as CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE NATION, as a guarantee of cultural continuity. Register, communicate and publish.
JAVIER UGAZ VILLACORTA
Head of the National Directorate
National Institute of Culture
224627-3