The harpy eagle is the epitome of hunting prowess. With its huge wingspan, powerful talons and acute vision, the harpy eagle is a formidable predator which, like the Machiguenga, feeds on monkeys in the forest canopy. The Machiguenga consider the feathers of eagles and hawk to be the best fletching for arrows since they have the ability to guide avian raptors as well as human arrows accurately to their targets. Machiguenga tales describe how the harpy eagle spirit, walking the earth in human form long ago, once taught human shamans the secrets of its own hunting skill: special toxic plants for sharpening vision, cleansing the body and purifying the soul.

Painful herbal drops applied to the eyes of young hunters infuse their body with the eagle's keen vision and predatory spirit. Many of the herbal eye drops used for hunting skill are also effective in the treatment of headaches.

Male hunting medicines come in four general types: sedges (like the one used by Cesar) chewed during hot pursuit to steady the hands and guide the arrow home; painful eye drops for improving vision and other senses; purgatives and emetics for cleaning out the body of impurities; and hallucinogens or narcotics for taking the soul to distant dimensions where hunters can commune with the harpy eagle or the jealous spirits believed to raise and release game animals for people to hunt.

SEDGES AND THE HUNTER'S SKILL

Sedges (Cyperus spp.), known as ivenkiki in the Machiguenga language, are the most important hunting medicines used by the Machiguenga.

Quispe shows off his favorite sedge variety for bow hunting for fish. The bulbs are chewed and spit into the water to mesmerize the fish and focus the hunter's attention. In a Machiguenga tradition of adopting special friends as kin, I treated Quispe as my Machiguenga "grandfather."

Dozens of varieties are cultivated by men in their gardens, each variety lending skill for a specific species of animal: there are varieties for spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, various species of game birds, various species of fish (also hunted with bow arrow) , even for valor during attacks by hostile indigenous tribes.