Coca leaf producers, Bolivia, 2013. PA Images / Juan Karita. All rights reserved.It begins with the careful parceling out of coca leaves, into small bundles called k’intus. The tip of each leaf points to the sky, to Inti (the sun god), while the stem is directed to Pachamama, mother earth. The bundle is blessed with a gentle breath, and offered as a gift to a sacred place, sometimes with a wish (‘may the rain stop’). The bundles are then exchanged – k’intus are always prepared for others, unless one is alone. Elders are prioritised, as are guests; reciprocity is key, and the process is an important part of social mediation. Once the exchanges are complete, a benediction is shared: hallpakusunchis. Let us chew coca together.
This ritual is performed up to five times a day across the Andes, binding people to their communities and their ancestral traditions. “Coca is our culture and our identity”, Bolivia’s president Evo Morales told the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) last week, emphasising that for indigenous people the plant is a symbol of life, not death. In the nations that make up the former Inca empire – Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and northern Argentina – the consumption of this plant is legal; yet under international law, coca leaf is classed as a narcotic drug on a par with cocaine. In 2016, the EU still refuses to back an amendment to the 1961 Single Convention that would acknowledge the legitimacy of coca consumption.
