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IYARINA
Napo-Pastaza, Ecuador
CENTER FOR LEARNING ALLIANCE: Fundación Cotococha | Andes and Amazon Field School | Shayarina Amazonian Resilience
Protium nodulosum
Family:
Burseraceae
The sap of another Burseraceae, Shirquillu, is used by ceramic artists to give a shiny glaze to chicha drinking bowls called macaguas. The collected sap is rolled into a waxy ball. As soon as the mucagua is taken out of the fire the ball of sap is applied to the hot surface. In contact with the heat the shirkillu melts and can be applied as a liquid to the surface of the mucagua. Covered in resin the shiny drinking bowl acquires a sweet turpentiny smell. The fruit of several Burseraceae are eaten by manyAmazonian groups.
Protium nodulosum sap used as a medicine for speeding up childbirth.
Kichwa women primarily collect the sap of Protium nodulosum for use as pottery glaze. However the form in which the sap coagulates suggests its use as a medicine. When the sap oozes out it cools into a rounded form that resembles the belly of pregnant woman. These belly shaped balls of sap are called "the children" of the tree. Because these "children" are born so easily shirquillu trees are understood to be women with a gift of giving birth easily. When consumed by a pregnant woman the sap works as a medicine to speed up childbirth. Because the tree is a human woman she must be asked politely to bestow her gift.
The sap of Protium nodulosu (shirquillu) is used by ceramic artists to give a shiny glaze to drinking bowls called mukawas.
When a cut is made int the bark the sap oozes out and coagulates in a rounded ball. The collected sap is then rolled into a waxy ball.
As soon as the mukawa is taken out of the fire the ball of sap is applied to the hot surface. In contact with the heat the shirkillu melts and can be applied as a liquid to the surface of the mukawa. Covered in resin the shiny drinking bowl acquires a sweet turpentiny smell.
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