orchids and orchidology in central america. 500 ... - lankesteriana.org

ut we believe that they resemble the animated lips of
Oncidium cebolleta. The general shape is consistent
with this orchid, and the use of gold seems appropriate.
More convincingly, some of the artifacts are life-size
and others display what can be interpreted as the typical
callus of the orchid animated as the belly and claws
of a bird.” And they continue: “Oncidium cebolleta is
known to have been used by pre-Columbian Americans
in Mexico, perhaps as a hallucinogenic drug. In view of
these observations, we believe that the significance of
the gold artifacts needs to be reconsidered” (Atwood &
Mora de Retana, 1992: text to plate 1467) (Fig. 4B). And
Lawler confirms: “Oncidium cebolleta (Jacq.) Sw.: The
alkaloid-containing orchid is an important replacement
for peyote among the Taraumaras of México and may be
hallucinogenic”.
The Bribrí Indians from Costa Rica and Panama call
this species sulër kili (“symbol of the spear”) and use it
as a medicine against heartache. “They cut the plant in
little pieces, then crush it and seeth it; let it cool. Adults
must drink half a glass and infants one spoonful,
three times a day” (García Segura, 1994: 52). In the
language of the Cabecar, it is called suLègLi and they
say it cures colics. “You crush three stems, put them in
cold water and drink the juice, without heating it. You
must drink it every now and then, until your stomach
feels better” (Palmer, 1992: 104). From the fact that
the pre-Columbian goldsmiths represented precisely
this orchid can be inferred that they gave it a special,
possibly sacred value. Oncidium cebolleta, a species
that is found from Mexico to northern South America,
contains alkaloids with hallucinogenic properties, and
my conclusion is that this orchid played an important
part in indigenous rituals.
Hernando Colón, in the account of his father’s fourth
voyage, written in 1521, describes the interchange
between the Indians of Cariay (today Port Limón,
Costa Rica) and the Spaniards: “Seeing that we were
men of peace, they showed great desire to obtain
things from us in exchange for their own, which were
arms, cotton blankets and shirts, and small eagles of
guanines 6 which they carried hanging from their necks,
in the same way we carry the Agnus Dei or any other
relic” (Incer, 1990: 46). From the account of Hernando
Colón we may deduct again the religious importance
of the eagles in the culture of those Indians.
6 Guanines: gold of low fineness alloyed with copper.
ossenbaCh — Orchids and orchidology in Central America
We have information from another culture, close
to that of the Chibchas that utilized hallucinogenic
fungi that seems to confirm this theory: “The Sinú
culture of Colombia (from 1200 to 1600) has yielded
many enigmatic gold pectorals with mushroom-like
representations. They may imply the existence of a cult
using these intoxicating fungi… Many of the pectorals
have winglike structures, possibly signifying magic
flight, a frequent characteristic of hallucinogenic
intoxication” (Schultes et al., 1992: 65). In the Darién,
the border region between Panama and Colombia,
the Choco Indians still mix the flowers of Cycnoches
tonduzii Schltr. with genipab (= Genipa americana
L., from the Rubiaceae) and rub the mixture on their
hands to bring luck to the fishermen (Duke, 1956:
194). Finally, Donald Beaton, gardener of Sir William
Middleton, quotes George U. Skinner in a letter to
John Lindley (April 24, 1841): “Laelia superbiens ... is
one of the few plants whose magnificent flowers attract
the notice of the Indians of Panama; they carry it about
with them, and plant it before their doors...”.
The northern region of Central America before the
Spanish conquest
“Zan tlaocolxochitl, tlaocolcuicatl on mani
Mexico nican ha in Tlatilolco, in yece ye oncan on
neiximachoyan, ohuaya.”
(“Only sad flowers, sad songs, are here in Mexico, in
Tlatilolco, in this place these alone are known, alas”
in Brinton, 1890: 82-83)
The zeal of the Catholic Church in its efforts to
christianize the indigenous populations led to the
destruction of hundreds of documents that could
have thrown light on many unknown aspects of the
prehispanic history and culture of these people. One
of the saddest episodes occurred in the village of Mani
(Yucatan) in 1562, when the infamous Franciscan
Diego de Landa (1524-1579) presided over an Auto
de Fe in which he caused to be burned some 5,000
idols and 27 rolls of Maya codices, which he could
not read and described as “work of the devil”. “We
found a great number of books... and since they
only contained superstitions and perfidies of the
devil, we burned them all...” (Landa, 1978). Eduardo
Galeano remembers the moment in a dramatic way:
LANKESTERIANA 9(1—2), August 2009. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2009.
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