Ashéninka

A short film series on traditional knowledge of Ashéninka

2012, 6x app. 10 min.

“Every time a medicine man dies, it is like a library burning down.“

Collecting-Processing-Use: Traditional Knowledge on Rainforest Plant Resources through Eye of Visual Anthropology

The main objective of the MA study was to examine the potential of Visual Anthropology in the protection of traditional indigenous knowledge related to ethnobotany. The field research implemented interdisciplinary methods for audiovisual documentation of collecting, processing and use of selected NTFPs derived from the Amazon Rainforest and used by the Ashéninka indigenous people.

The results proved that the new approach is valuable in the preservation of traditional knowledge whereby it directly or indirectly contributes to biodiversity protection, sustainable community development and indigenous rights. Since significant cultural deterioration was observed in the studied community, referring to the request of the leaders, I recommend a community-based development project focused on ethnic revitalization via the marketing of NTFPs and the transmission of traditional knowledge to the younger generation.

Keywords: 

Asheninka, ethnobotany, indigenous rights, non-timber forest products, Peruvian Amazon, rainforest, sustainable development, traditional knowledge, visual anthropology

Technical Specifications

• Genre: science video
• Language: Spanish, English, Ashéninka
• Subtitles available: English, Czech
• Countries of production: Peru, Czech Republic
• Shooting location: Peruvian Amazon
• Runtime: 6x app. 10 min.
• Format: 16:9 Full HD
• Sound: stereo

Film Crew

• Camera, directing and editing: Pavel Borecký
• Translation: Rafael “Rafiko” Fuks, Manuel Deza, Alexander Rollo
• Research supervision: Vladimír Verner
• Consultations: Petr Kokaisl, Ladislav Kokoška, Ludmila Škrabáková, Bohdan Lojka, Zbyněk Polesný

Production

Institute of Tropics and Subtropics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Partners

• National University of Ucayali
• Centro de Investigaciónes Fronteras Amazónicas – Jorge Washington Vela Alvarado
• The Explorers Club: Exploration Fund
• Humi Outdoor
• Ferrino
• Mikov
• Tilak

Festival Selections:

• Expedition Camera Film Festival – Czech Republic
• Native and Indigenous Film Festival (NAIFF) – Czech Republic
• Antropofest – Czech Republic

Euterpe precatoria – huasai

• vernacular name: huasai, tsirintsi (Asheninka)
• family: Arecaceae
• use: roots (kidneys, lungs, anemia, fertility, diarrhea), fruit (beverages), timber (fencing), palm heart is edible

Heteropsis spp. – tamshi

• vernacular name: tamshi, tsrompita 
• family: Araceae 
• use: aerial roots (craft – brooms, baskets, carrier, weaving, house construction)

Uncaria tomentosa – uña de gato

• vernacular name: uña de gato, tskontotshe 
• family: Rubiaceae 
• use: bark (digestive track, intestines, kidneys, venereal disease), water drinkable

Aphandra natalia – piasabba

• vernacular name: piassaba, kasankariki
• family: Arecaceae
• use: fiber (craft), fruit is edible

Guazuma crinita – bolaina

• vernacular name: bolaina
• family: Malvaceae
• use: construction material, firewood

A venison skinning

This is an example of the skinning practice. Approximately three kilometres northwest, 15 kilograms weighing deer was tracked and killed by a shotgun. The body must be skinned immediately at the spot where it was hunted. Firstly, urine must not enter the body; secondly, insects must not be attracted to the village.