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CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



November-December, IBIfS 



YOPO, AN INDIAN NARCOTIC 

 OF SOUTH AMERICA 



By LLEWELYN WILLIAMS 



CURATOR OF ECONOMIC BOTANY 



The use of narcotic plants or stimulants, 

 (or the purpose of exhilaration, intoxication 

 or in tribal ceremonies, has been practised 

 since ancient times. Plants of this class are 

 many, and the methods of using them are 

 likewise varied, some being employed for 

 smoking, chewing or as a snuff, while others 

 are prepared into beverages or infusions. 

 Unquestionably the best known is the 

 almost universal tobacco, in use over the 

 greater part of this continent before the 

 advent of Columbus. 



Among others may be mentioned dried 

 coca leaves, the source of the drug cocaine, 

 esteemed for chewing since remote times 

 by the inhabitants of the Andean highlands 

 and the west coast of South America; "yerba 

 mate" or Paraguay tea, and its close ally, 

 "cassine," of our southeastern states; the 

 "guarani" of northern Brazil; and "caapi" 

 or "ayahuasca," a woody vine whose leaves 

 are boiled down to furnish a potent infusion 

 popular among some of the Indians of the 

 Peruvian Amazon, and described in Field 

 Museum Neaft of March, 1939. 



REPORTED ON COLIIMBUS' VOYAGE 



One of the most unusual instances of the 

 use made by natives of a plant possessing 

 narcotic or stimulating properties is that 

 of the seeds of the "cojoba" (Pipladenia 

 peregrina), a tree of the bean family growing 

 spontaneously along the banks of the 

 Orinoco and Amazon rivers and their 

 tributaries, also in some of the Antilles. 

 The use of this narcotic was first recorded 

 in 1493 by Las Casas, the chronicler of the 

 second voyage of Columbus. Upon their 

 arrival in Hispaniola, the island now com- 

 prising the republics of Haiti and Santo 

 Domingo, Columbus and his companions 

 discovered that the natives used a snuff, 

 inhaled through the nostrils by means of a 

 bifurcated tube. The snuff was called 

 "cohoba" in the language of the islanders. 



Narratives of travelers in South America, 

 such as Father Gumilla (1741), La Conda- 

 mine (1745), Humboldt and Bonpland 

 (1819), and Spruce (1850), likewise describe 

 the use among savage tribes of this cere- 

 monial snuff, taken by means of a forked 

 tube. The custom may well have been 

 spread by the Caribs, since in all cases the 

 narcotic was prepared from the seeds of 

 Pipiadenia peregrina, the tree called "cojoba" 

 in Haiti and Venezuela. 



All the writers united in declaring that it 

 induced a kind of intoxication, accompanied 

 by visions regarded by the natives as super- 

 natural. While under its influence the 

 priests or necromancers, according to Safford 

 (Journ. Wash. Acad. Sci., vol. 6), "were 

 supposed to hold communications with 

 unseen powers, and their incoherent mut- 

 terings were regarded as prophecies or 



revelations of hidden things. In treating 

 the sick the physicians made use of it to 

 discover the cause of the malady or the 

 person or spirit by whom the patient was 

 bewitched." 



STILL USED TODAY 



While on the Chicago Natural History 

 Museum- Venezuelan Government botanical 

 expedition to the Upper Orinoco in 1942, the 

 writer had occasion to spend more than a 

 week with a group of Piaroa Indians, in the 

 delta of the Ventuari. During this stay it 

 was observed that these Indians were still 

 addicted to the use of a snuff prepared from 

 seeds of the identical tree, and employ the 

 same type of apparatus as that described 

 by Columbus' chronicler and travelers in 

 other regions of South America. 



In certain areas of the Upper Orinoco the 

 cojoba tree, also called "yopc" or "niopo," 

 is a common element of the savannas, or 



THE MUSEUM WILL CLOSE 

 CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S 

 DAY in order to permit as many 

 employees as possible to spend 

 the holidays with their families. 



open grasslands. It is small to medium- 

 sized, with very rough bark, and its leaves 

 resemble a mimosa or acacia. Its minute 

 white flowers are borne in clusters on a long 

 slender stalk, and its fruit is a leathery pod, 

 rough on the outside, with flat orbicular 

 seeds, green at first, turning black and glossy 

 when ripe. 



During the dry months of January and 

 February, hordes of Guahibo and Piaroa 

 Indians roam over the savannas, especially 

 around the famed rapids of Atures and 

 Maypures, in search of the long pods. The 

 seeds are removed, moistened, ground into 

 a fine paste and finally roasted. 



HOW it's taken 



For taking the snuff, part of the parapher- 

 nalia consists of a Y-shaped apparatus sug- 

 gesting a tuning fork, made of the leg bones 

 of herons or other long-shanked birds. The 

 two upper tubes are joined together with a 

 thread and this is covered over with a pitch- 

 like resin of the "peram&n" tree {Sym- 

 phonia). The ends are tipped with per- 

 forated knobs, usually palm fruit. When 

 not in use, a pair of stiff trimmed feathers, 

 joined with a crossbar, is inserted in the 

 tubes, to keep them clean. 



When desired, a small quantity of yopo 

 is placed on a wooden dish, and broken up 

 into a fine powder which is cinnamon brown 

 in color. The Piaroa holds the dish in 

 his right hand, and inserts the knobs of the 

 tubes in his nostrils while he constantly 



NEW HOPEWELL SCULPTURE 

 DISPLAY IN HALL B 



By GEORGE QUIMBY 



CURATOR OF EXHIBITS (ANTHROPOLOGY) 



Hopewell sculpture is the subject of a new 

 exhibit recently installed in Hall B (Ameri- 

 can Archaeology). The Hopewell Indians, 

 who lived in Ohio from perhaps a.d. 1100 to 

 1400, were the best sculptors in eastern 

 North America. From such materials as 

 bone, antler, fossil ivory, cannel coal, stone, 

 and wood they made beautiful carvings. 

 These Indians also made excellent figurines 

 of pottery and in some instances of virgin 

 copper beaten and annealed. 



The sculpture shown in the new exhibit 

 consists entirely of carved objects. There 

 are representations of humans, animals, 

 birds, amphibians, and fish. In some figures 

 the eyes are depicted by fresh- water pearls 

 set into the carving. All of the sculptures 

 exhibited are outstanding as fine examples 

 of Hopewell art. 



All of the sculptures are small. Because 

 of this, it seemed necessary to exhibit the 

 carvings in such a way that attention would 

 be sharply focused upon their aesthetic and 

 technical qualities. We know, for instance, 

 that when previously exhibited these sculp- 

 tures were missed by many visitors, who, 

 although they observed the exhibit failed to 

 see the individual carvings. The sculptures 

 actually were lost in the exhibit. 



The new exhibit overcomes the defects 

 of previous installations. All of the sculp- 

 tures are shown in four brightly lighted 

 niches with colored backgrounds. By virtue 

 of size, form, and color the niches contrast 

 markedly with the surrounding expanse of 

 wall, and serve to attract attention. Closer 

 observation, however, focuses the observer's 

 scrutiny upon individual niches in any order 

 he wishes to follow. And within each niche 

 the individual sculptures, well illuminated, 

 stand out against the background color, 

 which is selected to bring out the best 

 qualities of the exhibited specimens. 



The exhibit was designed by Artist 

 Gustav Dalstrom, Chief Curator Paul S. 

 Martin, Curator Donald Collier, and the 

 writer. 



moves the lower end of the tube over the 

 dish, at the same time forcibly inhaling the 

 powder. The entire operation is completed 

 in less than a minute. So stimulating is its 

 effect that a small portion of yopo will 

 produce violent sneezing, even among those 

 long accustomed to its use. The eyes 

 become blood-shot, and a type of hypnotic 

 state endures for a few minutes, followed by 

 a soothing influence which lasts longer. 



Although the tree is widespread in South 

 America, and its seeds have long been known 

 to travelers and botanists as highly narcotic, 

 as far as we know yopo has not been 

 studied chemically, and the exact source 

 of its narcotic properties is a mystery. 



