ECUADORIAN HEALER HEADS HOME

MANITOWANING---With acclamations of gratitude from both hosts and guests, Juan Uyunkar, the Shuar healer who came from his native Ecuador three years ago to share the indigenous healing practices of his people with the people of the North is heading home.

Mr.  Uyankar's stay in this country was extended far beyond what he originally intended when a tragedy struck during a healing ceremony in South Bay two years ago, a tragedy that resulted in the unexpected death of respected Wikwemikong Elder Jean ( Jane ) Maiangowai.

That tragedy led to Mr.  Uyankar and his son, Edgar pleading guilty to one federal charge, Trafficking in a Controlled Substance as defined under Schedule 3 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and one provincial charge of Administering a Noxious Substance.  Remaining charges of Criminal Negligence Causing Death, Importing into Canada a Controlled Substance and Possession of a Controlled Substance, were dropped in a negotiated plea that allowed Edgar Uyankar to return home.

The noxious substance in question was referred to as a mixture of harmaline ( the psycho-active ingredient contained in the South American vines used ) and tobacco.  The substance was intended to purge the participants bodies of impurities and to induce visions to be spiritually interpreted.  Called Ayahuasca, the substance has been a main ingredient in Shuar healing ceremonies for millennia and is regarded by the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon as a sacred medicine.

The presence of harmaline in the mixture supplied to Mrs.  Maiangowai was hotly contested by the medicine man's defence team, which included local lawyer Lloyd Greenspoon, of Ice Lake.

Mr.  Uyankar was free to return home on March 24, 2004, but his departure was delayed as he completed a number of outstanding commitments in this country.

Mr.  Uyankar will return, he assured his supporters gathered at the Rainbow Ridge Golf Course last Thursday for a farewell feast.

"Not 'Adios amigo,'" he said, referring to a large banner that graced the hall.  "Hasta la vista ( Till we meet again )."

Mr.  Uyankar intends to return to this country sometime this summer.

He was philosophical about his stay in Canada, noting that all things in life happen for a reason, and that perhaps he was meant to stay longer, to share his knowledge and to learn more about this country, its flora, fauna and people before he returned to his native jungle.

"In three years I study," he said.  "In three years I see many people."

His time here was both sweet and bitter, for in addition to receiving the love and support of many people across the country, he said, he has also had to bid farewell to a number of Elders and friends he has come to know and love who have passed away while he was here.

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you," he said throughout his address to his supporters.  "The people of South America, the people of North America, Aboriginal culture, different colour, no, everybody community, everybody family.  People say where is your Nation, my Nation is everybody.  I come from Nation Shuar."

The sacred pipe, the sacred tobacco, the sacred buffalo and the sacred eagle, all have come into union, he said.

He invited everyone to come to visit his home in Ecuador, where he said, they would find little differences in food, language and culture, but a great similarity in the important things, family, friendship and community.

He called for support of all medicine, both traditional and contemporary.

Medicine is for everybody, he said.  Not for the Shuar, not for the Ojibwe, but for everybody.

Before Mr.  Uyankar spoke, a steady stream of supporters came to the fore to give testimonials as to the character of the traditional healer and his devotion to his craft.

Ida Embry spoke of how she first met Mr.  Uyankar at a spiritual centre in Pennsylvania.

"I told him of the health problems in our community," she said.  "I asked him if he would come to share his healing work."

Upon her return to the Island, Mrs.  Embry contacted the Wikwemikong Health Centre and a series of events eventually led to the Chief and Council inviting Mr.  Uyankar and his son Edgar, also a Shuar healer to come to the community.

"We all know what occurred, it was very unfortunate," she said, but out of the events that came from that tragedy, an organization was formed to help protect and preserve the practice of indigenous medicine throughout the globe.

Jim Murray, of Tehkummah, told of how he was asked to take Mr.  Uyankar to Misery Bay, as part of the Shuar healer's community service hours.  Dressed in bush gear, wielding a machete, Mr.  Uyankar headed resolutely into the bush.

"I realized after a few moments that I did not have my compass with me," said Mr.  Murray.  "He was walking through the bush like it was downtown Young Street."

An unerring sense of direction and completeness of place kept the healer confident of his path.

Mr.  Uyankar's path will now take him home to Ecuador, as he flies from the Toronto airport on Friday to meet his wives, children and the grandchildren that he has not seen in three years.