A curandero, or feminine curandera, otherwise known as curandeiro, sabia, or shaman, is a traditional healer of the American native population. The word, while Spanish and used most commonly to refer to native healers of Latin America, is also used to describe any native healer through North, Central, and South America. Curanderos use traditional native healing practices, including the extensive use of natural ingredients, to administer health care to their communities.
Due to the enormous geographical size of the Northern and Southern American geography, there is a great diversity of practice among curanderos and as such the term curandero is something of a catch-all phrase to describe healers of all types in native American cultures. From one culture to another there may be different types of curanderos for different types of ailments, and in each culture different healing modalities, rituals, and medicines.
In the context of native Amazonian peoples, curanderos make use of the extensive array of flora that grows natively in the Amazon jungle. Native Amazonian curanderos also employ the use of icaros, or ceremonial chants, to deepen connection to the spirit world and summon strength and guidance during a ceremony.
Alongside the well-known use of ayahusaca, curanderos use a number of other plants as part of their healing modalities. Among these plants, a curandero might use
