Mark Plotkin: What the people of the Amazon know that you don't
Mark Plotkin: Čo amazonskí domorodci vedia a my nie
As fast as the rainforest is disappearing -- the people of the rainforest are disappearing even faster. Mark Plotkin works to preserve generations of knowledge. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
works in the rainforest
miestne rastliny.
and these medicinal treasures
a jeho liečivé poklady
better than we ever will.
than the forests themselves.
most endangered species
foot in a climbing accident
som si pri lezení zranil nohu
lieky proti zápalom,
this as long as I live.
me your machete."
to see the shaman again.
of healing ever devised,
aký kto vymyslel,
in the northeast Amazon
zo severovýchodnej Amazónie.
people around the world.
po celom svete.
injections of antimony.
not good for your heart;
from the Amazon Rainforest.
z Amazonského pralesa.
great Loren McIntyre,
lake of the Amazon,
border about 30 years ago.
niekde na hranici Peru a Brazílie.
isolated Indians called the Matsés.
zvaní Matsékovia.
them into the forest, which he did.
čo aj urobil.
green monkey frogs —
Phyllomedusa bicolor,
they're like this —
highly hallucinogenic.
by the editor of High Times magazine.
k editorovi časopisu High Times.
friends in all sorts of strange cultures.
z rôznych divných kruhov.
to the Amazon and give it a whirl,
v Amazónii tiež roztočiť,
he did, and he wrote,
my bodily functions,
aspects of the green monkey frog.
ma príliš nezaujímajú.
change in blood pressure?"
for high blood pressure
of the green monkey frog,
Indians and their magic frog
izolovaní indiáni s ich zázračnou žabou
the middle of a yage ceremony.
uprostred ayahuaskového rituálu.
na stretnutie s chlapíkom z istej nadácie,
meet a foundation officer
to protect their culture.
na ochranu ich kultúry.
medicine man, and he said,
medical school, did you?"
you know about healing?"
an infection, go to a doctor.
nech ide k doktorovi.
of the heart, the mind and the spirit.
srdca, mysle a ducha.
touch those. I cure them."
Ja to vyliečiť viem.“
nature about new medicines.
s učením sa o liekoch od samotnej prírody.
the Universidade de São Paulo here.
tu na univerzite v Sao Paole.
into ACE inhibitors.
for hypertension.
na jede brazílskeho hada
way of doing business.
spôsob podnikania.
greatest expression of life on Earth.
výrazom života na Zemi.
that I dearly love:
ktoré mám veľmi rád:
to questions we have yet to ask."
ktoré sa ešte len budeme pýtať.“
it's rapidly disappearing.
mizne veľkou rýchlosťou.
of the Xingu indigenous reserve
rezervácie kmeňa Xingu,
to the northwest of here.
na severozápad odtiaľto.
dolná polovica belosi.
of skinny-ass cows.
in the forest where it belongs,
uhlík uložený v lese, kam patrí,
into the atmosphere
landscape of all.
kraj zo všetkých.
is over seven feet.
vyše dva metre.
scale at over half a ton.
kde tieto tvory žijú,
mystical and iconic role
hrajú mystickú a ikonickú rolu
know nature best.
považovať za primitívov.
dismiss these people as primitive.
were first contacted."
keď sme ich prvýkrát stretli.
better than we do.
of the emerald realm.
hometown of New Orleans,
doma v New Orleans,
the northeast Amazon
lessons to teach us.
the forests of the Amazon,
vo väčšine amazónskych lesov
the edge of the stone axe.
kedysi brúsili svoje kamenné sekery.
as you see here.
je zárez na kameni, aký vidíte.
of isolated peoples.
there are 14 or 15 isolated groups
je asi 14 –15 izolovaných kmeňov
know there's an outside world.
vedia, že vonku je iný svet.
human right to remain so.
zostať v nej.
that hide from man?
was set off in 1492.
začalo už v roku 1492.
equivalent of a gold rush.
v tomto príbehu.
butchered Indians
right hand side of the slide.
ktorých ste videli napravo.
come out of the forest,
were contacted in the '80s.
Boli kontaktovaní v 80.rokoch.
are preliterate societies.
tieto spoločnosti nepoznajú písmo.
taken over the Nukak lands,
take you to the southwest,
landscape in the world:
and Colombian colleagues,
a mojim kolumbijským kolegom
of botanical diversity.
prvýkrát preskúmal
what it looks like today.
mountains are still lost.
sú stále stratené.
atop the Bell Mountain
with the Bell Mountain
trove of botanical diversity,
rastlinnej diverzity,
three isolated tribes,
troch izolovaných kmeňov,
of the Amazon Rainforest.
Amazonského pralesa.
down to the southeast,
is bigger than New England.
ako Nové Anglicko.
border to the right —
can look at the roofs
outside world is crowding in.
increased in Putumayo.
na rieke Putumayo.
the Civil War in Colombia,
for commercial purposes.
coming from the south,
move through the park
sa cez park snažia prekliesniť
picture is out of focus
in a hurry, here's why.
(smiech)
from the Brazilian Amazon.
z brazílskej Amazónie.
shouldn't mess with uncontacted Indians.
zahrávať s nekontaktovanými Indiánmi.
on the Brazil-Peru border
z pohraničia Brazílie a Peru,
a very nasty business.
groups to take their picture.
aby ste si ich vyfotili.
clothes, when you give them tools,
znovu z peruánskeho pohraničia,
on the Peru border,
sponsored by missionaries.
misionármi sponzorované lietadlá.
and turn them into Christians.
a obrátiť ich na kresťanstvo.
to the contacted tribes,
kontaktovaným kmeňom,
ancient shamanic wisdom
starej šamanskej múdrosti
of ancestral rainforest.
starého pralesa.
and cultural destiny.
a kultúrnym osudom.
domorodí strážcovia rezervácie,
as indigenous park rangers,
longhouses, were burned.
slaughter uncontacted peoples
kmeňov samopalmi
disgusting human rights abuse
prečin proti ľudskosti
it can be dangerous.
passed away recently
the better rather than the worse.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mark Plotkin - Amazonian ethnobotanistAs fast as the rainforest is disappearing -- the people of the rainforest are disappearing even faster. Mark Plotkin works to preserve generations of knowledge.
Why you should listen
Mark Plotkin is an ethnobotanist, studying the traditional uses for plants in Central and South America forests. He works closely with shamans, community leaders who practice traditional healing techniques using plants and animals, learned over uncounted generations. But when forests are disrupted (by illegal logging, for instance), that knowledge risks being lost. Plotkin's work helps to collect and share shamanic learning, with a twofold goal: to preserve the rainforest by showing its value as a source of yet-to-be-discovered pharmaceuticals.
Plotkin pioneered his research working with the Trio Indians of southern Suriname, and has also worked with elder shamans from Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil. He's the author of the best-selling book Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice. With his wife, Liliana Madrigal, he co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team, a group that helps indigenous people purchase and protect their sacred sites.
Mark Plotkin | Speaker | TED.com