Charlatans, seekers, and shamans: the ayahuasca boom in western Peruvian Amazonia

Abstract

Ayahuasca, an entheogenic beverage endemic to the Amazon, has been utilized by indigenous peoples in the region for hundreds of years for a wide range of purposes. Recently however, this beverage has entered into the Occidental consciousness, becoming a facet of Western popular culture and triggering a surge in tourism to the region. As this trend in tourism has grown over the past sixty years, ayahuasca has become increasingly commoditized and delocalized as it circulates on a global scale. Likewise, a number of scholars have critiqued the practice of ayahuasca tourism, labeling many practitioners as charlatans and tourists as "drug" users. In order to investigate this phenomenon and provide a deeper anthropologically informed critique, I draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2007 and 2008 in the far Western Peruvian Amazon. Utilizing field data and a review of the extant literature, I argue that the vast majority of shamans participating in ayahuasca tourism rely on an ontology based upon the notions of mimesis and alterity, which in turn structures their practice and experience. Underscoring the political economy of its use, I conclude by problematizing ayahuasca tourism's uncertain future.