Decolonial-Feminist Account of Yagé
Summary
This research aims to explore, expose and problematize the Western scholarly discourse produced about yagé,
an indigenous medicine used in the Amazon region of Colombia. Drawing upon what has been said in scholarly
literature about this indigenous medicine, under the label “Ayahuasca”, I show how the construct of it by
Western scholars focus only in the chemical and therefore, medical aspects of it. Analyzing the Western
hegemonic discourse allows me to expose the epistemic location of such knowledge production. A knowledge
production that denies the spiritual side involved in a yagé experience, as well as the indigenous knowledge
required for it to be fully effective. I argue then, that Ayahuasca, as a commodified version of yage, is yet another
colonial project. Which opens up the possibility of cultural (mis-)appropriation with psychological consequences
for those who use the brew out of its indigenous context, as I demonstrate through the lived experience of 3
women living in the Netherlands. Working with decolonial and feminist theory, I also provide a counternarrative
by documenting the knowledge coming from within the indigenous context. For this purpose, I use
10 Colombian women's lived experience, in addition to the knowledge and experience coming from a male
Colombian-indigenous-curandero. This is weaved together by engaging with my own lived experience with
yagé. The analysis of the Western hegemonic discourse aims then to contribute to the current efforts of decolonial
thinkers whose intention is to demonstrate how Western knowledge production machinery is not innocent, nor
apolitical. While, by locating participant’s narratives at the center of the counter-narrative, this research elucidates
as well how the decolonial option, as opposed to the colonial way of producing knowledge, can be put to work
in the making of counter-discourses, whilst affirming the rights of the racialized-gendered Other in
producing/maintaining their own knowledge.