Integration in Indigenous contexts
In this presentation, given in June 2024 at Exeter University, I explore why the concept of “integration” is not traditionally present in Indigenous contexts. Integration, as understood in modern terms, refers to the period following a psychedelic experience and the practices used to incorporate its insights into daily life. This concept has become increasingly significant […]
Ancestral Intelligence: Insights from the Yawanawá People
This talk offers a rare and meaningful opportunity to learn directly from the Yawanawá People. It illuminates the intersection of ancestral wisdom, modern science, and contemporary challenges. The talk focuses on ancestral intelligence’s role in changing our future and understanding Indigenous medicines. This segment is part of an event held at the Blessed Foundation in […]
What is medicine? Integrating indigenous with scientific ontologies in ayahuasca research
This presentation was given at the Harvard Divinity School Conference on “Alternative Spiritualities of Celebration, Resistance, and Accountability: Engaging Our Colonial and Decolonial Contexts”, in April 2024. The revival of psychedelics in Western research raises issues about the underappreciation of ayahuasca’s sacred significance and the Indigenous wisdom associated with it. Such oversight reflects a broader […]
Reconnecting with Ancestral Wisdom: A Conversation with the Yawanawá
In this conversation, Shaneihu, Yawatume, and Utxi Yawanawá – who come from the Rio Gregorio Indigenous Land, in the state of Acre in Brazil, talk to students at the University of Exeter about their traditions, chants, and medicines.
Indigenous rituals, Amazonian cosmologies, and the psychedelic renaissance
In this conversation, Fê Gebara delves into the realm of Western psychedelic research and practice juxtaposing them with Indigenous cosmologies and traditions in the Amazon. She sheds light on the repercussions of Western approaches to sacred medicines, which are often characterized by objectivity, reductionism, and commodification and tend to ignore essential compounds of traditional healing, […]
Indigenous spiritualities: cultural appropriation or the last salvation?
This presentation was given to Harvard Divinity School – “Uses and Abuses of Power in Alternative Spiritualities Conference” in April 2023. Here I analyse how Indigenous spiritualities are transforming non-indigenous realities. I investigate the way non-indigenous people are using them to overcome health issues (i.e. depression), but also how they are being commodified for other […]
Governance and conservation: Effectiveness in protected areas and indigenous and locally managed areas
Yin Zhang, Paige West, Lerato Thakholi et al. Annual Review of Environment and Resources Volume 48, 2023.
This is Our Everything
Six years ago, filmmaker Frederick Subei approached me, seeking assistance to connect with the Guajajara People. His vision was to capture the valiant efforts of the Guajajara warriors who were tirelessly safeguarding their forest.
Private sector perception of reducing deforestation in Brazil: Analysis of challenges from 2010 to 2019
Patrícia Gallo, Maria Fernanda Gebara, Tatiane Micheletti, Alice Dantas Brites. Rev. Prod. Desenvolv., Rio de Janeiro, v.9: e637, Jan-Dez, 2023.
Psychedelics: Revolution and Renaissance in Human Welfare
On the 15th of May 2023, Green Templeton College (GTC) hosted its 15th Human Welfare Conference, “Psychedelics: Revolution and Renaissance in Human Welfare”. Chaired by anthropologist Austen Fisher, it was the first college-led academic conference on psychedelic research and practice at the University of Oxford.
