Jagua, A Journey Into Body Art from the Amazon

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Carine Jr. Fabius. Jagua, A Journey Into Body Art from the Amazon

Chapter One: Jagua—The Prequel

The Henna Back Story

Walking into Body Art

Chapter Two: Jagua, the Movie

Meeting Jagua

Chapter Three: Pascal’s Journal

A Brief History of The Matsés

Essays

Ahhh, Frog Sweat... By Peter Gorman

My Life Among the Humans: A Concise Autobiography By David W. Fleck

Chapter Four: Bringing Jagua Home

Chapter Five: The Jagua Fruit

Just the Facts

Medicinal Properties of the Jagua Fruit

The Vampire Catfish of the Amazon

Chapter Six: Jagua Magic

Mystical Jagua Beliefs

Traditional Jagua Tales

Indian Ink By Cristina Mittermeier

Jagua People

The Kayapo

The Zapara (or Sapara)

The Shuar (a.k.a. Jivaro)

The Tsachila

The Embera-Waounan (formerly the Chocos)

The Yucuna (or Yukuna)

The Kuna

The Yuqui

The Tikuna (or Ticuna)

The Yagua

The Arakmbut

The Ka’apor (a.k.a. Urubu)

The Canelos-Quichua (a.k.a. Quichua of Pastaza)

The Shipibo-Conibo

Chapter Seven: Jagua Tattoos

Henna vs . Jagua

Still, It’s Body Art

A Short History of Tattoos

The Rise of Tattoo Nation

The Ink Factor

Chapter Eight: Frequently Asked Questions About Jagua

Appendix I: Amazonia—Land of Jagua

Amazon 101

The Indians

Appendix II: Tales From The Amazon

The Legend of the Pink Dolphin

Tales of the Anaconda

Bibliography

Books

Studies, Essays and Articles

Websites

Photography and Graphics

Отрывок из книги

There is a fruit that grows in the lush and steamy verdant jungle of Amazonia that can only be described as noir. Dreamlike, strange, erotic, and cruel—these are some of the terms used in defining the classic film noir genre, and there is a case to be made for the comparison. Imagine a fruit whose innocent green skin belies a buttery yellow center, which yields a transparent liquid resembling fresh water. Smear this juice on your body and, a few hours later, a surreal transformation occurs. Your skin color has metamorphosed to black. Blue-black. Noir. Some might think it erotic; however, it is no stretch to imagine that, in some circles, this might be considered cruel. But relax. It’s not forever. Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll be back to normal....

The jagua fruit and flower

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And then we found out about the jagua fruit. We heard it was an edible fruit from the Amazon, full of medicinal properties, plus the ability to stain the skin blue-black—just like a real tattoo—and then disappear completely in 10–14 days.

It wasn’t easy, but after much investigation, following numerous leads that more often than not brought us to dead ends, sending a hundred emails and making a thousand telephone calls to friends, and friends of friends, and often complete strangers, someone finally put us in contact with an American living in Peru. I’ll call him Mr. X. This Mr. X had had dealings with a number of indigenous groups living in the jungle and, for a negligible fee, he offered to facilitate introductions. A couple of months and multiple conversations later, we decided to dispatch my husband and partner, Pascal Giacomini, on an extended trip to some of the most isolated villages in the world, deep inside the Amazon rainforest where jagua grows.

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