Medicinal sedges, such as the one used by Cesar to hunt monkeys -- and the ones used by he and his wife Mamita to treat a feverish baby, a dog slashed by a peccary tusk, a sister-in-law undergoing a difficult childbirth -- were prohibited by Protestant missionaries working with the Machiguenga since the 1950's. The missionaries told the Machiguenga that these medicines were "Satan's work," and that they should be discarded lest their owners' souls be damned to an eternal life of suffering in Hell. Many Machiguenga abandoned their sedges years ago, and now regret that loss. But others remained confident in their traditional medicines, much in the way we remain confident in time-told remedies like aspirin and cough syrup. As one Machiguenga healer told me, "The missionaries told us to give up sedges and pray to God for healing and luck when hunting. But when I pray to God, I don't get better from sickness, and my aim stays bad.

(Contact the South American Explorers' Club to purchase the March, 1998 issue of 'South American Explorer' in which the above article will appear. South American Explorers' Club, 126 Indian Creek Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850. Email: explorer@samexplo.org)

Click here to read a selected bibliography on the Machiguenga, the Manu and the ethnobotany of the Amazon.

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