Kichwa (Quichua)
Kichwa inhabit both highlands and lowlands of Ecuador. The way of life of the lowland Kichwa has been significantly altered only in the past few decades. Many Kichwa natives still hold many of their customs and cultivate yuca a other traditional food in their permaculture gardens. The Napo province of Ecuador has an abundance of powerful yachaks - "those who know" or "who have the knowledge and power". In the Kichwa tradition, it is the shaman who drinks Ayahuasca, in order to see the illness in the patient's body and spirit and be able to cure it. In their songs, the Kichwa shamans call many Spirits (supai runa) from different power places (yaku - water, waira - wind, allpa - earth, urku - mountain, rumi - stone, yura - tree, rayu - lightning). Common is the use of surupanga leaf-fan (the same plant as the peruvian chacapa) and also use of both commercial and hand-made perfumes.
