The magic of timbó: collective fishing in the red-water igarapé

Abstract

On October 8, 2023, the community of Matapí, located on the Tiquié River – Alto Rio Negro Indigenous Territory – where Eastern Tukano and Yuhupdeh peoples live together, organized an event that had not taken place for more than a decade, since the death of the former Tukano chief: a fishing expedition using timbó (fish poison). Early in the morning, at dawn, some men went up the red-water igarapé just above the community, carrying a canoe full of a mixture of pounded timbó and clay. The community was filled with great joy.