Aguaruna...the original biotech industry

The Aguaruna know how to use the plants of the Amazon in a way that is just now being understood by western scientists. They, like other tribes of the Amazon used the bark of the Quina tree as a malarial antidote. The active ingredient, Quinine, was developed and spread around the world as the first preventative treatment of malaria by researchers, becoming one of the most important medicines of the 20th century. Other plants of the forest have been used by the Aguaruna to treat ailments such as gastritis, dysentery, snake bites, skin disease, constipation, and used as birth control. The Aguaruna have long extracted poison from frogs to use on arrows when hunting. This extract is a powerful muscle relaxant, a synthetic of which is used during surgery by major hospitals all over the world. Recently, the Garabato plant (cat’s claw), used by the Aguaruna as an anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory, was labeled by the World Health Organization as the most important medical discovery to come out of South America since quinine.
Of course, this great resource has again drawn outsiders into the Aguaruna territory. Bio-piracy, or the theft of Aguaruna plants and plant knowledge is the most recent threat to the Aguaruna people. Large corporations want to create new treatments from these plants without reimbursing the tribes. Fortunately, some companies have begun to help them share their medical knowledge in a way that will be mutually beneficial.
Most Aguaruna now realize that in the future they will be unable to remain as isolated as they have been in the past. Many of them are taking steps so that they can take control of their future. They have become politically savvy, organizing with other indigenous groups, and young Aguaruna have placed great importance on education. Their conflicts with outsiders are surely not over, but it is safe to say that they will be able to retain a great deal of cultural integrity for years to come.