Herbalists in the dock

[Guest guest]

To: Langley ; Rutland Organics

; paula grove ; lucy

davies ; Nichols

; Barbara Hodkin

Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 12:35 AM

Subject: Fw: herbalists in the dock

> Please read this - it concerns ALL of of us using natural medicine in the

> western hemisphere.

> thanks, bruna

>

> The following was sent to us by people from Sarayacu who know this Shuar

> healer and support him in this case:

>

> January 5, 2002

>

> To Whom it May Concern:

>

> I am writing to inform you of the events that have

> befallen me, Uyunkar Tiutar, and my son Edgar

> Wainchatai Uyunkar, of the Shuar and Awajuno people of

> the Upper Marañon and Upper Amazon region of Ecuador.

> We are in Canada and we need your help. We were

> invited here to do healing work with the Wikwemikong

> Health Centre, which is part of the Wikwemikong First

> Nation (an aboriginal nation). We have been here since

> September of this year.

>

> As a result of tragic circumstances not related to any

> actions on our part, a woman died during one of our

> healing ceremonies. After an investigation, the death

> was attributed to natural causes and we were told we

> were free to leave, to return to Ecuador. However, we

> chose to stay until everything was resolved because we

> did not want our sacred medicines defamed in our

> absence. Three weeks later, the police took it upon

> themselves to treat the death as a crime, and we

> (along with our interpreter) were arrested. We are now

> free on bail but were ordered to surrender our

> passports and are not allowed to leave Canada until

> the resolution of the trial, which may take as long as

> two years or more.

>

> We are being accused simply because we practice an

> ancient way of healing which is not accepted by most

> medical doctors. The impact of our case on all

> original peoples is obvious. The charges against us

> challenge the fundamental right of original peoples to

> practice their own ancient, traditional medicine. Our

> brothers in the North recognize the attack on us as a

> threat to all their traditional medicines and

> ceremonies. Elders and warriors in North America are

> standing by our side ready to take on this fight.

>

> We are adamant that there has been no crime and that

> we be allowed to return to Ecuador.

> First, we must be cleared of all charges. We require a

> team of three lawyers (one for each of us as well as

> our interpreter), and we have spoken with prominent

> lawyers who wish to work with us. The defence of this

> matter will require international experts in addition

> to many hours of preparation and research. We have

> been told it will take $60,000 to begin our defence,

> and it could take two million dollars or more in the

> future. There are now powerful people working on our

> behalf to raise this money in North America.

>

> We urgently need your help in the form of letters of

> support showing that we are honest, credible,

> well-meaning individuals who would never stoop to

> comitting any kind of crime. We need people here to

> know that traditional healing has existed for

> millennia, that thousands of people today participate

> in this way of healing and living, and that it works.

> Please help us by telling people in Canada that you

> are in support of us.

>

> Please write letters to the grand chiefs of aboroginal

> nations as well as the individuals listed below. Our

> brothers from the north and south must unite now to

> preserve our sacred traditions. Please send the

> letters by fax or e-mail. The situation is of the

> utmost urgency, and time is moving very fast here.

> This fight is for all original peoples, and it is an

> international issue. Thank you very much for your

> help.

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Uyunkar

> c/o Ida Embry

> P.O. Box 204

> Manitowaning, Ontario

> P0P 1N0 Canada

>

> Please send letters to:

> Mr. Vernon Roote, Grand Chief

> Union of Ontario Indians

> North Bay, Ontario Canada

> Fax #

>

> Cooncome, Grand Chief

> Assembly of First Nations

> Ottawa, Ontario Canada

> Fax #

>

> Fox, Grand Chief

> Chiefs of Ontario

> Brandtford, Ontario Canada

> Fax #

> SRA Consul Isabel Valdez de Escalo

> Ecuadorian Consulate

> Toronto, Ontario Canada

> Fax #

>

> Lloyd Greenspoon, Lawyer

> Manitoulin Island, Ontario Canada

> Amna@...

>

> Please send copies to these people. They are helping

> us organize the defence.

>

> Margaret DeWys

> ndale, New York USA

> mdewys@...

>

> Azanza

> Quito, Ecuador

> jorgeazanza@...

>

> Judith

> Manitoulin Island, Ontario Canada

> j2@...

>

> =================

>

> An article on this case from the web. More web articles with more

details

> are available from the moderator of this list -- email

WayusaWarmi@....

>

>

> Ecuadoran shaman, son await court date in Gore Bay, Ont., after

> healing-ceremony death

>

> (CP) - A renowned Ecuadoran shaman and his son, charged in the death of a

> woman in a healing ceremony, are victims of an " attack on indigenous

> medicine, " their lawyer says, as he prepares for their court appearance

this

> week in Gore Bay, Ont., a northern community near Sudbury, Ont.

>

> " When a sick person dies under the control of white medicine, they don't

> charge them, " said Lloyd Greenspoon, suggesting that an inquest would have

> been a preferable way to deal with the November death of Wikwemikong First

> Nation elder Jane Maiangowi, 71.

>

> " They would have found out the cause of death and seen there was no

> connection (to those charged). "

>

> Uyunkar, 48, his son Edgar, 21, both from Ecuador, have been charged

> with criminal negligence causing death, administering, trafficking in and

> importing into Canada a controlled substance [Ayahuasca].

>

> Their translator, Ventura, 32, of Manitowaning, Ont., was also

charged

> with criminal negligence causing death, administering and trafficking in a

> controlled substance.

>

> After a late November bail hearing packed with their supporters, according

> to

> Chief Glen Hare of nearby M'Chigeeng First Nation, all three were released

> on

> bail totalling $20,000.

>

> The funds were raised from within the First Nations community.

>

> " The people I have met and the people in the ceremonies I have been part

of

> have been overly grateful for ('s) help, " said Margaret De Wys, a New

> Yorker who has worked with the elder Uyunkar for three years. She was in

> Brazil when she got word of the arrests, and flew to Canada to comfort her

> friends and help raise funds to defend them and Ventura.

>

> " (The Uyunkars) are staying with elders who are very supportive of them,

but

> they want to be free to go back to Ecuador and be with their families and

be

> completely exonerated of this onerous charge. "

>

> De Wys accompanied the men on their first trip to Manitoulin Island in

> September, when they were invited by the band's health centre to visit the

> community and perform a healing ceremony.

>

> " People were healed of various diseases and, in my estimation, what I

> witnessed was a renewal in the community of health: a joy and a feeling of

> great pride in their culture and being able to share with their South

> American brothers. "

>

> In her travels through South, Central and North America with Uyunkar,

> De

> Wys said she has seen the medicine man of 33 years give lectures on

> alternative medicine at universities and heal people of cancer, asthma,

> headaches and broken bones.

>

> After the shaman's first successful trip to Wikwemikong, he was invited

back

> to perform another healing in November, where 260 people turned out for

> treatment.

>

> The substance the Uyunkars and Ventura are accused of administering during

> the late November ceremony is a mixture of South American plants, tobacco

> and

> water, called ayahuasca.

>

> When boiled together, the ingredients make a powerful brew that has side

> effects -- including hallucinating and vomiting -- similar to those of LSD

> or

> mescaline. Anthropologists say it has been used by South American Indians

> for

> more than 1,000 years for healing and worship.

>

> Because of a publication ban on the evidence heard at the bail hearing,

it's

> not known how many people ingested the substance, or if it was in fact

> present, during the ceremony.

>

> But most people who took part in Uyunkar's Wikwemikong healing

> ceremony,

> including Maiangowi, were thought to be suffering from some kind of

> sickness.

>

> " We understand (Maiangowi) was very ill, " said Greenspoon, who had not

seen

> Maiangowi's autopsy report as of early last week.

>

> " Everybody there was ill. "

>

> The Uyunkars and Ventura are to appear in court Tuesday in Gore Bay where

> they face the prospect of life imprisonment in Canada.

>

> " We've rounded up some long underwear and winter clothing for them, " said

> Greenspoon, noting that the Uyunkars have surrendered their passports and

> been ordered not to leave Ontario.

>

> " These men are from the jungle and here they're really like fish out of

> water. "

>

> http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=%7BEA59EC0B-D59D-4EF7-B33D-A

> 1C1FFD405A3%7D

>

>