What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t
-
0:00 - 0:02Now, I'm an ethnobotanist.
-
0:02 - 0:04That's a scientist who
works in the rainforest -
0:04 - 0:08to document how people use local plants.
-
0:08 - 0:11I've been doing this for a long time,
-
0:11 - 0:12and I want to tell you,
-
0:12 - 0:15these people know these forests
and these medicinal treasures -
0:15 - 0:18better than we do and
better than we ever will. -
0:18 - 0:21But also, these cultures,
-
0:21 - 0:22these indigenous cultures,
-
0:22 - 0:27are disappearing much faster
than the forests themselves. -
0:27 - 0:30And the greatest and
most endangered species -
0:30 - 0:32in the Amazon Rainforest
-
0:32 - 0:34is not the jaguar,
-
0:34 - 0:35it's not the harpy eagle,
-
0:35 - 0:39it's the isolated and uncontacted tribes.
-
0:39 - 0:43Now four years ago, I injured my
foot in a climbing accident -
0:43 - 0:44and I went to the doctor.
-
0:44 - 0:46She gave me heat,
-
0:46 - 0:48she gave me cold, aspirin,
-
0:48 - 0:52narcotic painkillers, anti-inflammatories,
-
0:52 - 0:54cortisone shots.
-
0:54 - 0:56It didn't work.
-
0:56 - 0:57Several months later,
-
0:57 - 1:00I was in the northeast Amazon,
-
1:00 - 1:02walked into a village,
-
1:02 - 1:04and the shaman said, "You're limping."
-
1:04 - 1:07And I'll never forget
this as long as I live. -
1:07 - 1:08He looked me in the face and he said,
-
1:08 - 1:12"Take off your shoe and give
me your machete." -
1:12 - 1:15(Laughter)
-
1:15 - 1:17He walked over to a palm tree
-
1:17 - 1:18and carved off a fern,
-
1:18 - 1:19threw it in the fire,
-
1:19 - 1:21applied it to my foot,
-
1:21 - 1:23threw it in a pot of water,
-
1:23 - 1:25and had me drink the tea.
-
1:25 - 1:29The pain disappeared for seven months.
-
1:29 - 1:30When it came back, I went
to see the shaman again. -
1:30 - 1:32He gave me the same treatment,
-
1:32 - 1:36and I've been cured for three years now.
-
1:36 - 1:39Who would you rather be treated by?
-
1:39 - 1:42(Applause)
-
1:42 - 1:44Now, make no mistake — Western medicine
-
1:44 - 1:47is the most successful system
of healing ever devised, -
1:47 - 1:49but there's plenty of holes in it.
-
1:49 - 1:52Where's the cure for breast cancer?
-
1:52 - 1:53Where's the cure for schizophrenia?
-
1:53 - 1:56Where's the cure for acid reflux?
-
1:56 - 1:58Where's the cure for insomnia?
-
1:58 - 2:00The fact is that these people
-
2:00 - 2:02can sometimes, sometimes, sometimes
-
2:02 - 2:04cure things we cannot.
-
2:04 - 2:06Here you see a medicine man
in the northeast Amazon -
2:06 - 2:08treating leishmaniasis,
-
2:08 - 2:10a really nasty protozoal disease
-
2:10 - 2:13that afflicts 12 million
people around the world. -
2:13 - 2:16Western treatment are
injections of antimony. -
2:16 - 2:18They're painful, they're expensive,
-
2:18 - 2:20and they're probably
not good for your heart; -
2:20 - 2:22it's a heavy metal.
-
2:22 - 2:25This man cures it with three plants
from the Amazon Rainforest. -
2:25 - 2:28This is the magic frog.
-
2:28 - 2:30My colleague, the late
great Loren McIntyre, -
2:30 - 2:33discoverer of the source
lake of the Amazon, -
2:33 - 2:35Laguna McIntyre in the Peruvian Andes,
-
2:35 - 2:38was lost on the Peru-Brazil
border about 30 years ago. -
2:38 - 2:43He was rescued by a group of
isolated Indians called the Matsés. -
2:43 - 2:47They beckoned for him to follow
them into the forest, which he did. -
2:47 - 2:49There, they took out palm leaf baskets.
-
2:49 - 2:51There, they took out these
green monkey frogs — -
2:51 - 2:53these are big suckers,
they're like this — -
2:53 - 2:56and they began licking them.
-
2:56 - 2:59It turns out, they're
highly hallucinogenic. -
2:59 - 3:04McIntyre wrote about this and it was read
by the editor of High Times magazine. -
3:04 - 3:08You see that ethnobotanists have
friends in all sorts of strange cultures. -
3:08 - 3:12This guy decided he would go down
to the Amazon and give it a whirl, -
3:12 - 3:15or give it a lick, and
he did, and he wrote, -
3:15 - 3:18"My blood pressure went through the roof,
-
3:18 - 3:20I lost full control of
my bodily functions, -
3:20 - 3:22I passed out in a heap,
-
3:22 - 3:24I woke up in a hammock six hours later,
-
3:24 - 3:27felt like God for two days."
-
3:27 - 3:28(Laughter)
-
3:28 - 3:30An Italian chemist read this and said,
-
3:30 - 3:34"I'm not really interested in the theological
aspects of the green monkey frog. -
3:34 - 3:36What's this about the
change in blood pressure?" -
3:36 - 3:39Now, this is an Italian chemist
-
3:39 - 3:41who's working on a new treatment
for high blood pressure -
3:41 - 3:44based on peptides in the skin
of the green monkey frog, -
3:44 - 3:46and other scientists are looking
-
3:46 - 3:50at a cure for drug-resistant Staph aureus.
-
3:50 - 3:54How ironic if these isolated
Indians and their magic frog -
3:54 - 3:56prove to be one of the cures.
-
3:56 - 3:58Here's an ayahuasca shaman
-
3:58 - 4:01in the northwest Amazon, in
the middle of a yage ceremony. -
4:01 - 4:04I took him to Los Angeles to
meet a foundation officer -
4:04 - 4:07looking for support for monies
to protect their culture. -
4:07 - 4:10This fellow looked at the
medicine man, and he said, -
4:10 - 4:13"You didn't go to
medical school, did you?" -
4:13 - 4:15The shaman said, "No, I did not."
-
4:15 - 4:18He said, "Well, then what can
you know about healing?" -
4:18 - 4:19The shaman looked at him and he said,
-
4:19 - 4:23"You know what? If you have
an infection, go to a doctor. -
4:23 - 4:30But many human afflictions are diseases
of the heart, the mind and the spirit. -
4:30 - 4:34Western medicine can't
touch those. I cure them." -
4:34 - 4:39(Applause)
-
4:39 - 4:42But all is not rosy in learning from
nature about new medicines. -
4:42 - 4:44This is a viper from Brazil,
-
4:44 - 4:48the venom of which was studied at
the Universidade de São Paulo here. -
4:48 - 4:51It was later developed
into ACE inhibitors. -
4:51 - 4:53This is a frontline treatment
for hypertension. -
4:53 - 4:56Hypertension causes over 10 percent
-
4:56 - 4:58of all deaths on the planet every day.
-
4:58 - 5:01This is a $4 billion industry
-
5:01 - 5:03based on venom from a Brazilian snake,
-
5:03 - 5:06and the Brazilians did not get a nickel.
-
5:06 - 5:11This is not an acceptable
way of doing business. -
5:11 - 5:15The rainforest has been called the
greatest expression of life on Earth. -
5:15 - 5:17There's a saying in Suriname
that I dearly love: -
5:17 - 5:23"The rainforests hold answers
to questions we have yet to ask." -
5:23 - 5:26But as you all know,
it's rapidly disappearing. -
5:26 - 5:28Here in Brazil, in the Amazon,
-
5:28 - 5:29around the world.
-
5:29 - 5:32I took this picture from a small plane
-
5:32 - 5:34flying over the eastern border
of the Xingu indigenous reserve -
5:34 - 5:38in the state of Mato Grosso
to the northwest of here. -
5:38 - 5:39The top half of the picture,
-
5:39 - 5:41you see where the Indians live.
-
5:41 - 5:42The line through the middle
-
5:42 - 5:45is the eastern border of the reserve.
-
5:45 - 5:48Top half Indians, bottom half white guys.
-
5:48 - 5:50Top half wonder drugs,
-
5:50 - 5:54bottom half just a bunch
of skinny-ass cows. -
5:54 - 5:57Top half carbon sequestered
in the forest where it belongs, -
5:57 - 6:00bottom half carbon in the atmosphere
-
6:00 - 6:03where it's driving climate change.
-
6:03 - 6:05In fact, the number two cause
-
6:05 - 6:08of carbon being released
into the atmosphere -
6:08 - 6:10is forest destruction.
-
6:10 - 6:12But in talking about destruction,
-
6:12 - 6:14it's important to keep in mind
-
6:14 - 6:18that the Amazon is the mightiest
landscape of all. -
6:18 - 6:21It's a place of beauty and wonder.
-
6:21 - 6:23The biggest anteater in the world
-
6:23 - 6:25lives in the rain forest,
-
6:25 - 6:27tips the scale at 90 pounds.
-
6:27 - 6:30The goliath bird-eating spider
-
6:30 - 6:31is the world's largest spider.
-
6:31 - 6:34It's found in the Amazon as well.
-
6:34 - 6:38The harpy eagle wingspan
is over seven feet. -
6:38 - 6:40And the black cayman —
-
6:40 - 6:44these monsters can tip the
scale at over half a ton. -
6:44 - 6:47They're known to be man-eaters.
-
6:47 - 6:50The anaconda, the largest snake,
-
6:50 - 6:52the capybara, the largest rodent.
-
6:52 - 6:54A specimen from here in Brazil
-
6:54 - 6:58tipped the scale at 201 pounds.
-
6:58 - 7:00Let's visit where these creatures live,
-
7:00 - 7:02the northeast Amazon,
-
7:02 - 7:04home to the Akuriyo tribe.
-
7:04 - 7:09Uncontacted peoples hold a
mystical and iconic role -
7:09 - 7:11in our imagination.
-
7:11 - 7:14These are the people who
know nature best. -
7:14 - 7:15These are the people who truly live
-
7:15 - 7:18in total harmony with nature.
-
7:18 - 7:21By our standards, some would
dismiss these people as primitive. -
7:21 - 7:23"They don't know how to make fire,
-
7:23 - 7:25or they didn't when they
were first contacted." -
7:25 - 7:28But they know the forest far
better than we do. -
7:28 - 7:31The Akuriyos have 35 words for honey,
-
7:31 - 7:34and other Indians look up to them
-
7:34 - 7:38as being the true masters
of the emerald realm. -
7:38 - 7:40Here you see the face of my friend Pohnay.
-
7:40 - 7:42When I was a teenager rocking out
-
7:42 - 7:44to the Rolling Stones in my
hometown of New Orleans, -
7:44 - 7:47Pohnay was a forest nomad
-
7:47 - 7:49roaming the jungles of
the northeast Amazon -
7:49 - 7:53in a small band, looking for game,
-
7:53 - 7:55looking for medicinal plants,
-
7:55 - 7:56looking for a wife,
-
7:56 - 7:58in other small nomadic bands.
-
7:58 - 8:01But it's people like these
-
8:01 - 8:03that know things that we don't,
-
8:03 - 8:07and they have lots of
lessons to teach us. -
8:07 - 8:10However, if you go into most of
the forests of the Amazon, -
8:10 - 8:12there are no indigenous peoples.
-
8:12 - 8:14This is what you find:
-
8:14 - 8:17rock carvings which indigenous peoples,
-
8:17 - 8:22uncontacted peoples, used to sharpen
the edge of the stone axe. -
8:22 - 8:24These cultures that once danced,
-
8:24 - 8:26made love, sang to the gods,
-
8:26 - 8:28worshipped the forest,
-
8:28 - 8:31all that's left is an imprint in stone,
as you see here. -
8:31 - 8:34Let's move to the western Amazon,
-
8:34 - 8:37which is really the epicenter
of isolated peoples. -
8:37 - 8:39Each of these dots represents
-
8:39 - 8:41a small, uncontacted tribe,
-
8:41 - 8:46and the big reveal today is we believe
there are 14 or 15 isolated groups -
8:46 - 8:50in the Colombian Amazon alone.
-
8:50 - 8:52Why are these people isolated?
-
8:52 - 8:55They know we exist, they
know there's an outside world. -
8:55 - 8:57This is a form of resistance.
-
8:57 - 8:59They have chosen to remain isolated,
-
8:59 - 9:02and I think it is their
human right to remain so. -
9:02 - 9:05Why are these the tribes
that hide from man? -
9:05 - 9:06Here's why.
-
9:06 - 9:09Obviously, some of this
was set off in 1492. -
9:09 - 9:11But at the turn of the last century
-
9:11 - 9:13was the rubber trade.
-
9:13 - 9:15The demand for natural rubber,
-
9:15 - 9:17which came from the Amazon,
-
9:17 - 9:20set off the botanical
equivalent of a gold rush. -
9:20 - 9:22Rubber for bicycle tires,
-
9:22 - 9:23rubber for automobile tires,
-
9:23 - 9:25rubber for zeppelins.
-
9:25 - 9:28It was a mad race to get that rubber,
-
9:28 - 9:31and the man on the left, Julio Arana,
-
9:31 - 9:34is one of the true thugs of the story.
-
9:34 - 9:35His people, his company,
-
9:35 - 9:38and other companies like them
-
9:38 - 9:41killed, massacred, tortured,
butchered Indians -
9:41 - 9:46like the Witotos you see on the
right hand side of the slide. -
9:46 - 9:48Even today, when people
come out of the forest, -
9:48 - 9:51the story seldom has a happy ending.
-
9:51 - 9:54These are Nukaks. They
were contacted in the '80s. -
9:54 - 9:58Within a year, everybody over 40 was dead.
-
9:58 - 10:00And remember, these
are preliterate societies. -
10:00 - 10:02The elders are the libraries.
-
10:02 - 10:04Every time a shaman dies,
-
10:04 - 10:07it's as if a library has burned down.
-
10:07 - 10:10They have been forced off their lands.
-
10:10 - 10:14The drug traffickers have
taken over the Nukak lands, -
10:14 - 10:16and the Nukaks live as beggars
-
10:16 - 10:19in public parks in eastern Colombia.
-
10:19 - 10:22From the Nukak lands, I want to
take you to the southwest, -
10:22 - 10:25to the most spectacular
landscape in the world: -
10:25 - 10:27Chiribiquete National Park.
-
10:27 - 10:29It was surrounded by three isolated tribes
-
10:29 - 10:32and thanks to the Colombian government
and Colombian colleagues, -
10:32 - 10:34it has now expanded.
-
10:34 - 10:36It's bigger than the state of Maryland.
-
10:36 - 10:39It is a treasure trove
of botanical diversity. -
10:39 - 10:42It was first explored botanically in 1943
-
10:42 - 10:44by my mentor, Richard Schultes,
-
10:44 - 10:47seen here atop the Bell Mountain,
-
10:47 - 10:49the sacred mountains of the Karijonas.
-
10:49 - 10:51And let me show you
what it looks like today. -
10:51 - 10:53Flying over Chiribiquete,
-
10:53 - 10:56realize that these lost world
mountains are still lost. -
10:56 - 10:58No scientist has been atop them.
-
10:58 - 11:00In fact, nobody has been
atop the Bell Mountain -
11:00 - 11:02since Schultes in '43.
-
11:02 - 11:05And we'll end up here
with the Bell Mountain -
11:05 - 11:07just to the east of the picture.
-
11:07 - 11:10Let me show you what it looks like today.
-
11:10 - 11:13Not only is this a treasure
trove of botanical diversity, -
11:13 - 11:16not only is it home to
three isolated tribes, -
11:16 - 11:18but it's the greatest treasure trove
-
11:18 - 11:21of pre-Colombian art in the world:
-
11:21 - 11:23over 200,000 paintings.
-
11:23 - 11:26The Dutch scientist Thomas van der Hammen
-
11:26 - 11:32described this as the Sistine Chapel
of the Amazon Rainforest. -
11:32 - 11:34But move from Chiribiquete
down to the southeast, -
11:34 - 11:36again in the Colombian Amazon.
-
11:36 - 11:39Remember, the Colombian Amazon
is bigger than New England. -
11:39 - 11:41The Amazon's a big forest,
-
11:41 - 11:42and Brazil's got a big part of it,
-
11:42 - 11:44but not all of it.
-
11:44 - 11:45Moving down to these two national parks,
-
11:45 - 11:47Cahuinari and Puré
-
11:47 - 11:49in the Colombian Amazon —
-
11:49 - 11:51that's the Brazilian
border to the right — -
11:51 - 11:54it's home to several groups
-
11:54 - 11:56of isolated and uncontacted peoples.
-
11:56 - 11:58To the trained eye, you
can look at the roofs -
11:58 - 12:00of these malocas, these longhouses,
-
12:00 - 12:02and see that there's cultural diversity.
-
12:02 - 12:04These are, in fact, different tribes.
-
12:04 - 12:06As isolated as these areas are,
-
12:06 - 12:11let me show you how the
outside world is crowding in. -
12:11 - 12:13Here we see trade and transport
increased in Putumayo. -
12:13 - 12:16With the diminishment of
the Civil War in Colombia, -
12:16 - 12:18the outside world is showing up.
-
12:18 - 12:21To the north, we have illegal gold mining,
-
12:21 - 12:23also from the east, from Brazil.
-
12:23 - 12:26There's increased hunting and fishing
for commercial purposes. -
12:26 - 12:30We see illegal logging
coming from the south, -
12:30 - 12:32and drug runners are trying to
move through the park -
12:32 - 12:34and get into Brazil.
-
12:34 - 12:37This, in the past, is why you didn't mess
-
12:37 - 12:39with isolated Indians.
-
12:39 - 12:41And if it looks like this
picture is out of focus -
12:41 - 12:44because it was taken
in a hurry, here's why. -
12:44 - 12:46(Laughter)
-
12:46 - 12:52This looks like — (Applause)
-
12:52 - 12:55This looks like a hangar
from the Brazilian Amazon. -
12:55 - 12:58This is an art exhibit in Havana, Cuba.
-
12:58 - 12:59A group called Los Carpinteros.
-
12:59 - 13:04This is their perception of why you
shouldn't mess with uncontacted Indians. -
13:04 - 13:06But the world is changing.
-
13:06 - 13:08These are Mashco-Piros
on the Brazil-Peru border -
13:08 - 13:10who stumbled out of the jungle
-
13:10 - 13:12because they were essentially chased out
-
13:12 - 13:15by drug runners and timber people.
-
13:15 - 13:17And in Peru, there's
a very nasty business. -
13:17 - 13:19It's called human safaris.
-
13:19 - 13:22They will take you in to isolated
groups to take their picture. -
13:22 - 13:25Of course, when you give them
clothes, when you give them tools, -
13:25 - 13:27you also give them diseases.
-
13:27 - 13:30We call these "inhuman safaris."
-
13:30 - 13:32These are Indians again
on the Peru border, -
13:32 - 13:35who were overflown by flights
sponsored by missionaries. -
13:35 - 13:38They want to get in there
and turn them into Christians. -
13:38 - 13:41We know how that turns out.
-
13:41 - 13:42What's to be done?
-
13:42 - 13:45Introduce technology
to the contacted tribes, -
13:45 - 13:47not the uncontacted tribes,
-
13:47 - 13:50in a culturally sensitive way.
-
13:50 - 13:54This is the perfect marriage of
ancient shamanic wisdom -
13:54 - 13:57and 21st century technology.
-
13:57 - 14:00We've done this now with over 30 tribes,
-
14:00 - 14:03mapped, managed and increased protection
-
14:03 - 14:07of over 70 million acres
of ancestral rainforest. -
14:07 - 14:12(Applause)
-
14:12 - 14:15So this allows the Indians to take control
-
14:15 - 14:19of their environmental
and cultural destiny. -
14:19 - 14:21They also then set up guard houses
-
14:21 - 14:23to keep outsiders out.
-
14:23 - 14:25These are Indians, trained
as indigenous park rangers, -
14:25 - 14:27patrolling the borders
-
14:27 - 14:30and keeping the outside world at bay.
-
14:30 - 14:33This is a picture of actual contact.
-
14:33 - 14:35These are Chitonahua Indians
-
14:35 - 14:37on the Brazil-Peru border.
-
14:37 - 14:38They've come out of the jungle
-
14:38 - 14:40asking for help.
-
14:40 - 14:41They were shot at,
-
14:41 - 14:44their malocas, their
longhouses, were burned. -
14:44 - 14:47Some of them were massacred.
-
14:47 - 14:52Using automatic weapons to
slaughter uncontacted peoples -
14:52 - 14:57is the single most despicable and
disgusting human rights abuse -
14:57 - 15:00on our planet today, and it has to stop.
-
15:00 - 15:06(Applause)
-
15:06 - 15:09But let me conclude by saying,
-
15:09 - 15:12this work can be spiritually rewarding,
-
15:12 - 15:15but it's difficult and
it can be dangerous. -
15:15 - 15:18Two colleagues of mine
passed away recently -
15:18 - 15:20in the crash of a small plane.
-
15:20 - 15:22They were serving the forest
-
15:22 - 15:24to protect those uncontacted tribes.
-
15:24 - 15:26So the question is, in conclusion,
-
15:26 - 15:28is what the future holds.
-
15:28 - 15:30These are the Uray people in Brazil.
-
15:30 - 15:32What does the future hold for them,
-
15:32 - 15:35and what does the future hold for us?
-
15:35 - 15:37Let's think differently.
-
15:37 - 15:39Let's make a better world.
-
15:39 - 15:41If the climate's going to change,
-
15:41 - 15:45let's have a climate that changes for
the better rather than the worse. -
15:45 - 15:48Let's live on a planet
-
15:48 - 15:51full of luxuriant vegetation,
-
15:51 - 15:53in which isolated peoples
-
15:53 - 15:55can remain in isolation,
-
15:55 - 15:57can maintain that mystery
-
15:57 - 15:58and that knowledge
-
15:58 - 16:00if they so choose.
-
16:00 - 16:02Let's live in a world
-
16:02 - 16:04where the shamans live in these forests
-
16:04 - 16:07and heal themselves and us
-
16:07 - 16:10with their mystical plants
-
16:10 - 16:12and their sacred frogs.
-
16:12 - 16:14Thanks again.
-
16:14 - 16:18(Applause)
- Title:
- What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t
- Speaker:
- Mark Plotkin
- Description:
-
"The greatest and most endangered species in the Amazon rainforest is not the jaguar or the harpy eagle," says Mark Plotkin, "It's the isolated and uncontacted tribes." In an energetic and sobering talk, the ethnobotanist brings us into the world of the forest's indigenous tribes and the incredible medicinal plants that their shamans use to heal. He outlines the challenges and perils that are endangering them — and their wisdom — and urges us to protect this irreplaceable repository of knowledge.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 16:35
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t | ||
Cynthia Betubiza accepted English subtitles for What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t |