While the Jenaro Herrera artisans have been focused on weaving insect ornaments for CACE, they've found inspiration for an ornament and a bit of extra income from a frog. Dora caught a medium-size frog that was green on top with a beautiful camouflage mosaic of white, orange and brown patches on its underside and toes. Doilith was making a cardboard mold of the frog as a model for making an ornament while Dora scraped the slime off of its back onto three sticks which was planned to sell to a man in Iquitos who was going to use them in a healing ceremony. She related that this process apparently involved burning the skin of the patient with a cigarette and then putting a small amount of the frog slime into the wound. Checking online, I found that their amphibian friend is apparently called a Green Leaf frog - presumably Phyllomedusa bicolor. It is the source of a potent traditional shamanic medicine called ibogaine. I was glad to learn that Dora was preparing to release the frog back to the wild the next day. See pictures of the Jenaro Herrera artisans at: https://www.facebook.com/amazonecology.org/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1429902723705253
Comments will be approved before showing up.
