Huni Kuin Rapé – Uxi

The Truest Rapé

Amongst the countless and wonderful medicinal Rapés of the Huni Kuin, the shamanic recipe that embodies the spirit of the tree known as Uxi Amarelo deserves particular attention. In collaboration with the makers of this traditional product, Sacred Connection widens our collection of snuffs and, at the same time, contributes to the economy and elevates the reach of this amazing culture to the entire world.

Our Huni Kuin Uxi Rapé is specially special – that’s right, twice as special, and for two reasons!

Firstly, the basis of this recipe carries the strength of locally planted and harvested tobacco, by the very hands of the Kaxinawá. Though this might seem like an intuitive concept, its become harder and harder, nowadays, to find products made with tobacco that’s planted as part of the regular harvesting customs of native peoples established in the Amazon Basin territory, as they mostly acquire their own tobacco from distributors. That is why the special nature of this Rapé lies in its originality!

Secondly, but not any less important, the charm of this snuff comes from Endopleura uchi, a tree popularly known as Uxi Amarelo or Cumatê/Pururu, part of the Humiriaceae family, categorized by a few genuses categorized as medicinal plants. This tree has even been the subject of studies carried by the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia), whose observations sought to determine and denote in scientific terms what’s already common knowledge to the Huni Kuin: that the Uxi plant, as many others, can be quite beneficial to the treatment of certain ilnesses and to the health of the physical body.

The Uxi Amarelo is rich in components such as tannins, saponins, and coumarines, which enrich this plant with antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, diuretic and imunologically boosting effects. These can enhance the body’s resistance to harmful agents, protect organssuch as the bladder and the uterus, all the while making for a proper natural treatment alternative to issues such as arthritis, endometriosis, urinary infections, menstrual cramps and regulation.

In addition, it has been traditionally used to help with cases of asthma, stomach pains, gastritis, infections, kidney stones, cholesterol, and even rheumatism.

For our Rapé, we make use of the ashes of the Uxi Amarelo tree, which add a pleasant scent to this recipe!

Huni Kuin or Kaxinawá?

The name Huni Kuin, which can also be written as Huni Kuĩ, is one that carries the idea of “truth”, and for that reason, the members of this community are known as the “true people” or the “people of the truth”, terms which encompass all the subgroups that compose this indigenous family, part of the Pano linguistic group.

To identify themselves, this group also makes use of another “inside” term: Kaxinawá, which comes from the junction of the words Kaxi, which means “bat,” and Nawa, meaning “people.” This designation that becomes similar to “the Bat People” comes from interactions that date back to the origins of this community’s establishment as a solidified group, in the dynamics of the subgroups that compose it to identify aspects common to certain parts of their culture, such as clothing, culinary customs, ritualistic and daily practices, and even in linguistics.

In either case, the Huni Kuin or the Kaxinawá are a great, rich group, whose rituals and ceremonies are just as varied and unique, and of extreme importance to the Amazonian Basin scenario as well as Brazilian culture, especially the aspects of it related to sacred medicine. According to a census carried by the FEPHAC (Huni Kuin People’s Federation of the State of Acre) in 2007, approximately 14 thousand individuals who identify as being part of the Huni Kuin group resided in Brazil. Nowadays, it is highly likely that this number has only becom greater. The largest community in the state of Acre, in the northern region of Brazil, they are spread across 12 indigenous lands including the Alto Rio Purus and the Igarapé do Caucho lands, which alone add up to around 286 hectares.

The importance of Culture

Nowadays, efforts are being made by community leaders to emphasize the importance of spreading their oral traditions and culture, either by creating programs or adapting schools/classes to reclaim such a central aspect of their heritage. Not only their language, too, but also daily practices and even medicinal knowledge. Such processes would only enrich and strengthen their traditions and bonds.

It is through the communication that’s so unique to the Kaxinawá that individuals from different subgroups might unite as part of cultural exchange programs, including even practices and knowledge relate to medicinal aspects, something that’s of utmost importance for their proper survival, in addition to being a prime form of subsistence, considering the entire process that flows from the moment of plantation and cultivation of herbs and local flora, to the harvesting and selling of traditional products like the very Rapés offered by Sacred Connection.

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Sacred Connection’s product range includes sacred snuffs, Sananga eye drops, and more. We believe in making transformative medicines accessible to everyone at an unbeatable price. 

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