with leaves like coca and called guanguara or guanguala. 
Any person desiring to plant coca must get leaves from 
the mdma (priest). Cultivating and working the land is 
man’s work; but harvesting the leaves is woman’s task. 
As coca is a perennial, the leaves can be gathered at any 
time of the year, ‘The men prepare coca in the houses, 
a very painstaking chore, since coca is a sacred tree and 
must be duly respected when it is handled. The leaves 
are first cleaned of insects, petioles and damaged parts, 
and are then dried. ‘Then they are put into a pot kept 
only for this purpose and are toasted over a slow fire in 
the ceremonial hut. Constant stirring is necessary, for 
they must not be dried too much, in order to retain a 
bright green color. When ready, the leaves are put into 
a small cotton bag (86). 
As elsewhere, coca leaves must be mixed with lime 
before chewing. This alkaline agent is made by burning 
the shells of bivalves found on the Atlantic Coast. The 
burning is done on asmall pyramidal pile of grasses, and 
the lime is gathered up in a bottle-shaped gourd (Cucur- 
bita Pepo). 'The gourd, once filled, becomes for its owner 
a life-long companion; for in the initiation rites, young 
men are given the gourd and told that it symbolizes 
woman. The young man is married to this ‘‘woman’’ 
during the ceremony, and he perforates the gourd in 
imitation of defloration. 
The introduction into the gourd and the rubbing mo- 
tion of the stick are interpreted as coitus, and, culturally, 
it is understood that all true sexual activity should be 
repressed and should be expressed only in the use of coca. 
All biological needs, all frustrations, are thus concen- 
trated in this tiny instrument which, to the Indian, rep- 
resents food, woman and memory (86). 
Tobacco, amongst these people, is taken according to 
the native, to make coca more agreeable. ‘Tobacco plots 
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