UMIYAC

Union of Yagé Healers of the Colombian Amazon (UMIYAC)

The Union is the result of the ACT-sponsored Gathering of Shamans that took place in 1999 in Yurayaco, Caqueta. At the Gathering, 40 of the most prominent indigenous healers from seven tribes met for the first time to discuss the future of their forest, their medicine and their people. There they jointly signed a declaration that has become the basis of their alliance. ACT works with UMIYAC toward the following goals:

• Establishment of a fund to provide meals and emergency healthcare for the most elderly shamans, most of whom live in great poverty;
• Supporting traveling health brigades, which not only provide traditional medicine services to communities but also strengthen traditional authority;
• Construction/establishment of traditional ceremonial houses and medicinal plant gardens for the propagation of their plants of knowledge and healing;
• Publishing of the Beliefs of the Elders: Code of Ethics of Indigenous Medicine of the Colombian Amazon;
• Expansion of a Shamans and Apprentices Program, which includes 55 UMIYAC shamans and their respective apprentices; and
• Support for the logistics and operations of UMIYAC.