In March 2022 I visited the Healing center of the Yawanawá village Mutum at the Gregorio river in Acre, Brazil.
In the healing tradition of the Yawanawa, Rapeh is a medicine prepared from Tabacco leaves and the ash of a tree called Tsunu. It's a snuff that traditionally is passed to another person through a Tepi or through self usage with a Kuripe.
It is a medicine that has been part of their culture for as long as they know, used by their ancestors far before any westerners came to their land.
Hushahu, together with her sister, were the first woman who entered into a shamanic study in the story of their people. Before this path was only open to the men of the tribe. As a young woman curious to discover the world of the pajes, she asked her father to study and eventuallyhim and the paje Tata accepted her onto the path to study and she did a diet of one year and three months isolated in the forest with her teachers. During her diet she began to discover the world of the Pajes as a woman, expressing this through her art and her voice, receiving female voices for the traditional songs. In the words of her father she was "discovering the secrets of the pajes". Today the designs that she received are used in the artworks of many different tribes in Brazil. Following her diet Hushahu continued to study with Tata until his death and the path of spirituality opened for the women of the tribe. Today many women are studying and singing as equals to the men in ceremony.
To elaborate rapeh the Yawanawa traditionally use the ashes of the Tsunu tree. Tsunu is a tall and majestic tree, one of their most sacred trees. There are many benefits related to this Rapeh, it is uplifting and comes with healing power and spiritual force, it aids to energetic cleansing.
The rapeh is from Mutum village on the Gregorio river in Acre/Brazil, elaborated by Hushahu herself, Yamarume, her nephew, and Rasu paje Tata´s grandson.
And another Tsunu rapé elaborated by Mew, a spiritual leader of the Matrixa Village with very special study on healing herbs.
The rapeh shall be used in ceremonial setting of for deep study during meditation only.
These five types of rapé come in a 5,10,20,50,70 and 110 gr bottles.
On biubiu.biutiful we only work with Yawanawá rapé.