{{Short description|Ceremony with inhaled ground cojóbana seeds}} [[File:Pictografia cohoba.jpg|thumb|A pictograph depicting cohoba located in the Pomier Caves]]
'''Cohoba''' is a Taíno transliteration for a ceremony in which the ground seeds of the ''cojóbana'' tree (''Anadenanthera'' spp.) were used as a snuff via a Y-shaped snuff tube. Use of this substance produced a visionary or entheogenic effect.<ref>{{cite book | last = Aquino | first = Luis Hernández | author-link = | title = Diccionario de voces indígenas de Puerto Rico | publisher = Editorial Cultural |year= 1977 | location = | url = | doi = | isbn = 84-399-6702-0}}</ref> The ''cojóbana'' tree is believed by some to be ''Anadenanthera peregrina''<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927011649/http://www.quake-art.com/docs/Hallucinogenic%20Plants%20-%20A%20Golden%20Guide.pdf Hallucinogenic Plants]'' by Richard E. Shultes. Golden Press, New York, 1976.{{dead link|date=September 2013}}</ref> although it may have been a generalized term for psychotropics, including the quite toxic ''Datura'' and related genera (Solanaceae). The corresponding ceremony using ''cohoba''-laced tobacco is transliterated as ''cojibá''. This was said to have produced the sense of a visionary journey of the kind associated with the practice of shamanism. Researchers have suggested that cohoba may also have been used by ritual specialists in healing practices, particularly for diagnosing illness through visionary experiences.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pagán-Jiménez |first=Jaime R. |last2=Carlson |first2=Lisabeth A. |year=2014 |title=Recent Archaeobotanical Findings of the Hallucinogenic Snuff Cojoba (Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg.) in Precolonial Puerto Rico |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=101–116 }}</ref> Additional interpretations suggest that cohoba may also have functioned as an everyday stimulant and, in some cases, may have been incorporated into food preparations such as cassava, indicating a broader range of uses beyond strictly ceremonial or healing contexts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pagán-Jiménez |first=Jaime R. |last2=Carlson |first2=Lisabeth A. |year=2014 |title=Recent Archaeobotanical Findings of the Hallucinogenic Snuff Cojoba (Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg.) in Precolonial Puerto Rico |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=101–116 }}</ref>
The practice of snuffing ''cohoba'' was popular with the Taínos with whom Christopher Columbus made contact.<ref>''The Role of Cohoba in Taino Shamanism.'' Constantino M. Torres, in Eleusis No. 1 (1998)</ref> However, the use of ''Anadenanthera'' powder was widespread in South America, being used in ancient times by the Wari culture and Tiwanaku of Peru and Bolivia, and also by the Piaroa of Venezuela and Colombia, and the Yanomami of Brazil and Venezuela.<ref>{{Cite web |last=International |first=Survival |date=2008-11-24 |title=Los yanomami debaten sobre minería y salud |url=https://survival.es/noticias/3984 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=survival.es |language=es}}</ref> Other names for ''cohoba'' include ''vilca'', ''cebíl'', ''ñuá'' and ''yopó''. In Tiwanaku culture, a snuff tray was used along with an inhalation tube.
Fernando Ortiz Fernández, the founder of Cuban Cultural Studies, offers a detailed analysis of the use of ''cohoba'' in his important anthropological work, ''{{interlanguage link|Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar|es}}''.<ref>''Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar'', Additional chapter VIII, Fernando Ortiz (Madrid: Cátedra, 2002).</ref>
== History == Cohoba is also known as yopo.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Safford/cohoba|url=https://www.samorini.it/doc1/alt_aut/sz/safford_coh.htm|access-date=2020-11-09|website=www.samorini.it}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Rodd|first=Robin|date=September 2002|title=Snuff Synergy: Preparation, Use and Pharmacology of Yopo and Banisteriopsis Caapi Among the Piaroa of Southern Venezuela|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2002.10399963|journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs|volume=34|issue=3|pages=273–279|doi=10.1080/02791072.2002.10399963|pmid=12422937 |s2cid=23288809 |issn=0279-1072|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Historically, this narcotic snuff was prepared and used by the indigenous people living in South America and the natives of the Caribbean. Archaeological analysis of residues recovered from a grinding artifact at a precolonial habitation site in eastern Puerto Rico dated to approximately A.D. 1150–1250 identified starch grains consistent with Anadenanthera peregrina seeds, suggesting that cohoba powder was prepared locally.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pagán-Jiménez |first=Jaime R. |last2=Carlson |first2=Lisabeth A. |year=2014 |title=Recent Archaeobotanical Findings of the Hallucinogenic Snuff Cojoba (Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg.) in Precolonial Puerto Rico |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=101–116 }}</ref> Early accounts of it first appeared during the time of Christopher Columbus's exploration, with its first documentation written in 1496 by Ramon Pane—who travelled with Columbus in the second voyage. The name of "''cohoba"'' refers to the finely ground, cinnamon-colored snuff itself, as well as the ceremonial practice using it by South American tribes.<ref name=":1" /> Cuiva and Piaroa people of Orinocoan descent commonly consume Cohoba. As a part of important shamanistic rituals, cohoba represents identity and sociality.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Rodd|first1=Robin|last2=Sumabila|first2=Arelis|date=2011-03-28|title=Yopo, Ethnicity and Social Change: A Comparative Analysis of Piaroa and Cuiva Yopo Use|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2011.566499|journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs|volume=43|issue=1|pages=36–45|doi=10.1080/02791072.2011.566499|pmid=21615006 |s2cid=45493221 |issn=0279-1072|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[File:Spatula, 900–1492. Caribbean, Greater Antilles, Taino, 10th-15th century. Manatee bone.jpg|thumb|left|Carved spatulas were used to blend powdered herbs by Taíno]] The blending step of the plant mixture determines the potency of ''cohoba,'' based on the quality of the ingredients and its preparation.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> ''Cohoba'' seeds are harvested once they mature, from October to February, such that ''cohoba'' can be prepared fresh by shamans throughout the year, when necessary. The bark of the ''cohoba'' tree is then collected, with its quality judged by the fineness and whiteness of the powdered ash after burning the bark. Meanwhile, the seeds of the ''cohoba'' plant are pulverized and skillfully blended with the powdered bark ash to create a dough resembling butter. A coral grinding artifact found in Puerto Rico indicates that cohoba seeds were ground using milling tools prior to being mixed with ash for ritual preparation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pagán-Jiménez |first=Jaime R. |last2=Carlson |first2=Lisabeth A. |year=2014 |title=Recent Archaeobotanical Findings of the Hallucinogenic Snuff Cojoba (Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg.) in Precolonial Puerto Rico |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=101–116 }}</ref> Once the desired texture is achieved, the dough is flattened into a cookie and cooked over a fire. Traditionally, ''yopo'' is taken by deep inhalation through bifurcated tubes from a special apparatus resembling a slightly deep, concave wooden plate.
== Symptoms == Though there are myriad somatic symptoms, ranging from violent sneezing to increased mucus production and bloodshot eyes, ''cohoba'' is appreciated for the altered, other-worldly state of consciousness it lends to the user. Even though ''cohoba'' is often snuffed with tobacco, it has pharmacologically intriguing properties distinct from tobacco.<ref>{{Citation|last1=McKenna|first1=Dennis|title=New World Tryptamine Hallucinogens and the Neuroscience of Ayahuasca|date=2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/7854_2016_472|work=Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs|pages=283–311|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|isbn=978-3-662-55878-2|access-date=2020-11-03|last2=Riba|first2=Jordi|volume=36 |doi=10.1007/7854_2016_472 |pmid=28401525 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The active components in ''cohoba'' responsible for the hallucinogenic effects are DMT (''N,N-''dimethyltryptamine) and bufotenine (''N,N-''dimethyl-5-hydroxytryptamine).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lindsay P. |last2=Olson |first2=David E. |date=2018-10-17 |title=Dark Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: N , N -Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00101 |journal=ACS Chemical Neuroscience |language=en |volume=9 |issue=10 |page=2351 |doi=10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00101 |pmid=30036036 |issn=1948-7193|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The effects of DMT include kaleidoscopic visions similar to LSD that may lead to scenery hallucinations, accompanied by auditory hallucinations. The psychotic effects derived from bufotenine have been suggested to have resulted from central nervous system activity. Though ''cohoba'' usage is not as widespread as before, it is still taken up today by various localities of South America for the aforementioned rich, hallucinogenic properties.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== * Hallucinogenic snuff * Bufotenin
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Psychedelics}}
Category:Psychedelic drugs Category:Entheogens Category:Taíno